Preventing Cancer Trauma by Learning from Cancer Specialists, Cancer Patients and Cancer Survivors for Improved Treatment Options
By Dana Terrell
Preventing cancer trauma is easier than treating cancer and PTSD. Cancer is now the 2nd leading cause of death. So, are there steps that can help us? This article will look at a variety of options to help us prevent cancer trauma, pain and distress.
Cancer is a trauma. It is an ongoing trauma that can include diagnosis, worsening diagnosis, certain tests and treatments, or too much power/control being given to cancer and taking away the will to live life to the fullest. It can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. I am a specialist in PTSD treatment using EMDR Therapy, one of the two treatments so validated by research that it is recommended by the World Health Organization for the treatment of PTSD.
Perhaps you know someone now who has cancer. If so, please read my report on 2015 research demonstrating that the EMDR Group Treatment Protocol can resolve PTSD in cancer patients. I would also recommend it for their loved ones and caregivers who can definitely experience PTSD due to the fears of losing their loved one, and secondary traumatization related to diagnosis and difficult tests or treatments.
Cancer and PTSD – Minimizing the Trauma
But I am writing this particular article solely from the perspective as a loved one of a cancer patient. I am not a cancer specialist of any kind. But I’ve done a lot of research recently, reading, speaking with specialists or patients. I want to share what I’ve learned about prevention. It is important both for those with cancer currently and for those who would like to prevent it. According to the CDC, here are the stats for 2014 on leading causes of death in the US:
- Heart disease: 611,105
- Cancer: 584,881
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 149,205
Thus, Cancer is the #2 leading cause of death, nearing the total for heart disease.
Thus it is wise to learn methods to prevent cancer in the first place.
Prevention Tips:
Diet and Exercise
It is known that diet changes can help greatly with cancer prevention and recovery. The American Cancer Society also urges an active lifestyle to prevent obesity, as it is associated with various cancers as well. For more info, link here:
An abundance of fruits and vegetables are known to make a big difference. It is helpful to look at the nations of the world to see their rates of cancer and some of the relevant factors in their diets.
Our dear friends Janet Sobel and Ed White shared this info about Juice Plus as a way to boost nutrition as well:
“Juice Plus+ is a nutritional capsule, actually whole food in powder form (toxin, sugar, and gluten-free), that provides all the phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables that are so important to healing. MD Anderson, a leading cancer clinic, conducted a study of JP+ on stage 2-4 ovarian cancer patients and concluded that JP+ promoted well-being and aided recovery. Apparently, MD Anderson was trying to find a way to help cancer patients take in enough fruits and vegetables, which is difficult even for healthy people, and especially hard for people dealing with serious cancer issues. They found JP+ helped the patients to stay sufficiently full of the important nutrients in fruits and vegetables, notwithstanding how hard it is to consume 7-14 servings/day of those important foods. It is known to aid regularity, too!”
Diet, Naturopathy and Ayurvedic Herbs
Did you know that Naturopaths are MDs with an added year of training in nutrition? A great book which gives you the benefit of naturopathic research is written by Jeff Primack. Link here to access:
In India, that rate of cancer is 20% our rate of cancer, per natural cancer specialist Robert Borchert, MD. Indians eat a lot of vegetables and fruits, and include a number of herbs/spices known to be “anti-cancer” in their daily cooking of foods. These include turmeric, cumin, asafoetida (or “hing”), raw onion and raw garlic. Dr. Borchert is an MD, a Master Homeopath, and Master Herbalist. He has an herbal formula for cancer treatment that both is anti-cancer and strengthens the immune system.
In Japan, there are no cancers of breast and prostate, per epidemiologist and “better cancer treatment advocate” Gar Hildenbrand. They take 12-20 mg of iodine daily, a much higher rate than Americans take. Iodine is essential to the development of the breast. This is from researcher Carmen Aceves of Juriquillo, the Autonomous University of Mexico.
Gar Hildenbrand, Epidemiologist
To learn more about Gar Hildenbrand, please visit his website, and read my article about Cancer Treaments, which includes information he freely shared with me during two phone conversations totaling 80 minutes.
Gar’s Generous Sharing of Information
My Learnings for Cancer Treatment
The Ancient Art of Dowsing for Modern Purposes:
Finding Geothermal Stress
In England and Germany, a different direction is being attended to for cancer prevention or to reduce stress factors which may be contributing to active cancer. It involves identifying geothermal, or geopathic stress. What is this? My understanding is that just as the human body has energy meridians that have been identified by the science of acupuncture, the earth also has energy meridians. Some are natural, some are due to cell phone towers, and some are due to underground water flow, perhaps hundreds of feet below the surface. Such things are generally quite harmless unless you spend many hours a day in the path of one of these lines of geopathic stress. The ancient art of dowsing (often used for finding water in order to drill a well in a fruitful location) can identify these lines and magnets correctly placed to interrupt the line of energy flowing into a harmful place, such as the bed where you sleep or the chair where you sit for 8 hours a day at work.
To explain dowsing, I will digress with a personal story about insomnia – a very common modern problem that can also plague cancer patients and their caregivers.
I learned about dowsing from Inez Lindsey, my outstanding energy worker who practices Jin Shin Jyutsu. She wanted to share dowsing with me for years before I became receptive enough to learn more about it. Inez is the president of the local Dowsing Society in San Diego. Eventually I took her 3 hour course in how to dowse.
For years I’d had problems with insomnia. Inez was able to help me on a temporary basis with Jin Shin for which I was very grateful. But I had to have treatments weekly.
Once she was finally allowed to dowse our bedroom, she corrected the two lines traveling through my body, bringing too much energy into me while I was trying to sleep. By the second night I was sleeping deeply. She correctly predicted that on the first night, I wouldn’t sleep well because I’d feel like I was sleeping in a whole new place.
Since I also have insomnia when I travel, I learned to dowse so I could correct any lines of geopathic stress in my hotel rooms. I can now sleep when I travel.
What I like about dowsing is that it is easy and inexpensive. The solution is placing a magnet or a copper wire in a way that it stops the excess energy flowing through your body. The materials may cost from $3 to $15 to correct a problem. Interested persons can hire a dowser from the
The natural next question is “What does dowsing have to do with cancer?” Rolf Gordon is a father in England who lost his adult son in his late 20’s to testicular cancer. Shortly before his son died, he learned that geopathic stress has been found to contribute to cancer. The information arrived too late to help his dear son, but he determined to do his own research to see if it was true. Indeed, of 1,000 patients who died of cancer every one of them had a water vein running under their bed.
In Rolf Gordon’s book, he also gives instruction for how to dowse. Please link here to purchase the book:
I dowse as a hobby, a fun way to help friends with various issues. If you would like to see the results of my own informal research as I attempted to help friends and acquaintences with dowsing, please link here:
Inflammation and the Value of Grounding
One added factor that can help bodies heal from inflammatory conditions (which will be found in any healing site) is a recent approach to grounding. It’s an invention called an Earthing Sheet. We have an epidemic of inflammatory conditions. Please see article by Barbara Goshorn, RN
What she doesn’t mention, is that depression and anxiety are also inflammatory conditions of the brain. Read more about this issue in article about neuroscientists research on depression. They looked for proof that depression is caused by neurochemistry, but couldn’t find it in their research or in that of others. Instead their research, and lots of confirmation in research reports, indicated that depression is caused by stress, resulting in micro-injuries in the brain, causing an inflammation response designed to heal the injuries, and this leads to “sickness” behavior such as lethargy, sleepiness, low energy. The body is trying to concentrate on its job of healing. Modern man doesn’t appreciate this condition or make time for that patient healing. We push ourselves on, calling the condition depression.
Neuroscientists and Depression
The neuroscientists concluded that perhaps cure through biochemistry should be questioned. They found 3 meta-analyses of all research on anti-depressants which concluded the same, with one exception. They all agreed that anti-depressants do truly help with severe depression. Therapists all know that in these cases, they can save lives. And of course medications for bipolar disorder (which wasn’t studied by these neuroscientists) is now very effective and life-saving for those with this condition.
But I digress (actually, I have a lot I want to share and this is the big opportunity I’ve been waiting for).
I’d mentioned that an invention called an “Earthing” sheet can be valuable for various kinds of healing. It has been shown to help with healing from wounds by cyclists in the Tour de France. It’s been demonstrated to help blood go from a static condition that makes cells stick together (often solved medically with blood thinners) to individual cells in just 15 minutes. Some RNs believe that it would be advisable to have it in recovery rooms after surgery to immediately promote quick healing to begin.
I shared this information with my sister-in-law who put it to work when she had a hip replacement. She kept herself surrounded with an Earthing sheet, half sheet, or pad for 24/7 as she healed her hip. Her doctor was amazed at the speed of her recovery.
I don’t want to describe the Earthing sheet in more detail because their website and book (which is freely given when you make certain purchases – ask their customer service representatives if your purchase will give you a free book) are all extremely informative. The book telling the story of how the sheet was developed and invented is fascinating reading. Link for more info to:
I hope you have found this “download” of info my mind has been collecting to be helpful for you and your loved ones.
Best wishes in maintaining health and well being throughout your life and recovering more quickly if difficulties befall you.
©2015 Dana Terrell
