Wise Traditions Winter 2009

Homeopathy for Cancer Anxiety

Joette Calabrese,HMC,CCH,RSHom

Published in Wise Traditions, Winter 2009, “Holistic Cancer Treatment”

Christopher likes to keep active and stretch his creative muscle. He's a landscape architect with a business that's vital, like him. Today, in fact, he completed the design work on what he considered the flagship of his career: a city court building in the upside of town. He felt swollen with pride; satisfied and light-hearted. But it wasn't long ago that Chris wasn't so hearty. Instead, he was burdened with fears and anxieties. It was a maddening way to live. . . those nights of anguish and terror. Chris suffered a weighty fear of cancer that panicked him right out of bed nearly every midnight.

It's not as though he didn't have reason to fret. Both of his parents had been stricken with cancer and his father had succumbed to it only one year earlier. But you'll understand why these thoughts were so plaguing to Chris when a deeper glimpse of his family tree is revealed.

Three first cousins died of cancer; one of breast, one of lung, and another of leukemia. It was also revealed that his maternal grandmother had died of breast cancer, and her paternal grandfather's fatal cancer was of the throat. “Yikes!” Chris first thought. “What's wrong with my family?” Then, “What's wrong with me?”

These threatening feelings began to arrange themselves in his mind not merely on a regular basis, but they became a species of a morbid background song. They pursued him like noxious elevator music in a discordant nightmare. Each new blemish was agonizing. Every unusual ache brought certainty that death was near. Chris was aware of a mind-body connection and that made him feel even worse, for he knew he could potentially bring his fears to fruition. Or at least that's what he'd read. His livelihood was put on hold for awhile—no, actually for months on end while he pursued a new vocation: doctor hopping. He submitted to prostate exams, colonoscopies, x-rays, sonograms, CAT scans and biopsies. Ouch! Burp! Ick! But nothing appeased the torture of his angst. “It's only a matter of time,” he'd agonize. Then one day Chris was reading a magazine in a waiting room while waiting to meet with a psychiatrist for his disturbing attacks. There was an article about how it was possible to become pro-active in disallowing chronic illness to occur, particularly cancer. Chris's meeting with the psychiatrist was nothing more than a legalized drug arrangement, but it didn't really matter because it was the article in the waiting room that turned his head. And it was with only the publication and jammed it in his pocket on the way out of the office.

Later, over a beer, Chris pored over the methods expounded in the exposé that might help in his quest to remain cancer free. “Come on, come on,” he impatiently scanned the suggestions that were all too familiar. “Amalgam removal, regular tests and, and. . . ” Then his eyes fell upon the word homeopathy. He had known of it from the time he had studied in England in high school. The family he lived with had a homeopath who had treated their son after a diagnosis of colon cancer. The boy underwent surgery to remove a tumor and then was treated with homeopathy afterwards to keep the cancer from returning. Their homeopathic doctor as well as the surgeon agreed that this was the best way to shield their son. That was over twenty-five years ago. The moment Chris got home he emailed his English family to see how everyone was doing. And “Yes, Edward was fine! No, no cancer and yes, he still sees a homeopath regularly. It's his strategy,” reported his now elderly mum. Chris turned this over in his mind for days. Strategy. A cancer preventing tactic. That's what I want! He called his chiropractor who had connections with the best holistic practitioners to see whether he knew of a homeopath. He readily recommended one who had helped him with his allergies. “Between chiropractic, my raw milk, and homeopathy, my strategy is in order and I'm free of my debilitating chronic illness.”

There's that word again! Chris couldn't dial the homeopath fast enough.

For nearly a year he met with his homeopath every few months or so. He took remedies such as Nux vomica, Carcinosin and Thuja. Now thoughts of cancer no longer plague him. His “vital force” has been girded. The homeopath had used this term and Chris understood it to mean that his immune system was showing signs of vigor.

How does he know this? Well, everything in his body is running smoothly now. His bowels, which were never quite right, began to function daily, and indigestion of fifteen years' standing was resolved. The nightmares and sleep were set straight, and even the warts that had occupied his trunk and extremities had dissolved. But the most weighty transformation was the decade-long anxiety that was noticeably absent from his life. Not just minimized, but abolished from his thoughts. Now Chris is free to pursue his challenging career, enjoy his raw milk, and allow himself plenty of time to dig about in his own garden. Unlike those in his family who suffered before him, he's got a resolute firmness in his step and a lifelong plan: homeopathy as a sound strategy!

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR CHRONIC ILLNESS

Homeopathy has a worldwide reputation for working deeply to aid against chronic illness by righting imbalances in the body as well as the mind. In tandem with sound nutritional practices, chiropractic and other quality healing modalities, homeopathy rights the wrongs and minimizes the chances for chronic illness to develop. The English Royal Family has used homeopathic physicians (as well as drunk raw milk!) for generations. This is perchance why Chris's English family could readily benefit from the fruits of both surgery and homeopathy. Perhaps more interestingly, the Vatican has also considered homeopathy the choice of care for the Popes. Indeed, several homeopathic physicians to the Popes have been awarded the Papal Cross of Distinction, one of the most honored awards bestowed by the Vatican. So Europe has known for centuries what Americans are rediscovering. . . homeopathy is a medical discipline worthy of our attention. The remedies Chris's homeopath suggested weren't specifically for cancer or even anxiety, but expressly for Chris. The same would hold true for Prince Charles or Pope Benedict because that's the way homeopathy works. It treats the person, not the disease. Is it no wonder that Chris can find comfort in his revitalized state? No longer does he needlessly worry about life because he now has a reliable and individualized life-long health strategy.