What are you working through now?
"Just wanted to say hello and let you know I am thinking of you Michael as I reach my 2 plus years of post cancer diagnosis anniversary mark. I'll be going for my six month check up in about a week and wanted to share more great news. My husband retired, and we are going to Aruba this week to relax in the sun, sand and surf. Love and smiles!" - CM
More people are experiencing anxiety, depression and cancer worldwide. I know that you are intelligent and didn't see this new normal of feeling wounded coming, you don't trust your own mind and body right now. It feels uncertain, but you just want to comprehend this complex new reality even if it's just a little bit, so you can be more resilient in avoiding the unexpected stress to move forward. How are you going to actually feel just 'enough'? About taking care of yourself post-oncology treatment, during and after a virus epidemic, more than just "the average" lumped together statistic but "individual" just like you? A "Thrivor" and not just a "Survivor".
Yes, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a father, a husband, a son, a brother and unfortunately, this can be forgotten in far too many approaches to health-care that are limited to the "we are all patients" one-size fits all approach. I believe that it's not only how we talk but how we connect to our clients/patients matters, everyone experiences illness and life differently. It's not just what we say that matters, but what we don't say is where the truth that's unique for each one of us still remains.
What does someone need to hear when everything continues to feel uncertain? When someone who has been struggling to find some sort of mental, emotional and physical relief from a traumatic experience. Are we promoting a strong belief in the body’s ability to heal itself? Faith? Empowerment? Or are we promoting more fear?
That is the human element that cannot be automated or replaced with AI apps. That is when it's time to make a more intuitive, up close, loving, committed, deeper dive by listening and connecting into the different layers of emotions and personal life experiences. It does matter! This has actually been studied! Those receiving much deeper support during and after chemo treatments had better outcomes in recovery and back to heath and life beyond cancer.
Is just having great supplements and recommendations from lab results enough?
Or is "loneliness" the equivalent to smoking 16 packs of cigarettes per week? We've all been taught or told that we can isolate a dis-ease with a simple nutrient, medication, treatment protocol and how to do something, but are we actually doing it in feeling better? Any book or study telling you otherwise can be misleading. The remission experience can not be measured or googled. We can run the latest greatest, fanciest functional labs. We can offer the most current lifestyle advice. But if we are not truly connected in the conversations, engaged to the actual person in finding and dismantling the root-cause most common puzzle pieces of cancer. Dis-ease and especially cancer can be that much of a harder puzzle to solve.
But with all marathons, time and consistency pays off in overcoming the most difficult challenges. Preparation in looking at their diagnosis differently. To now make more informed choices about thinking of their cancer "not" as a sprint but an illness that they can live long with, but even better, overcome in remission all facets of their life to keep going forward a little bit more even during the most failing moments. A Placebo Effect in being less about a diagnosis and recommendations for urgent decisions and weakness in "the leading causes of death" and more about strengths in "the leading causes of life".
Despite belief, all forms of care have limitations, and so many practitioners 'do' care, are well intended, highly intelligent individuals. I work in collaboration with not just my own supporting practitioners but with all of your doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, oncologists, therapists, health coaches, healers, medical and health professionals in adding more trust and support. It takes time for the client/patient to develop a trusted relationship with their doctors. So, I know in my soul that I'm "not" called in service to replace, diagnose or be the global dis-ease expert. This goes way beyond information and providing certifications. Because my gift and wisdom is the whole mind-body, spiritual, lifestyle and compassionate functional mental health coach to innately enhance your joy, love and willingness to thrive in remission despite life's circumstances for now understanding a long, satisfying quality of life.
"I AM YOUR FUNCTIONAL ONCOLOGY AND INTEGRATIVE HEALTH COACH BUT I AM NOT YOUR DOCTOR"
A Therapeutic-Relationship on what you deeply want to discuss and improve, within the circumstances of your uniquely different situation in focusing on understanding restoring a flourishing healthy lifestyle. Who else do you turn to when you need to talk about more than just cutting edge medical treatments and recommendations? We all deserve another partner to turn to with whom we can entrust, lean on and talk about it all. It’s important for me to feel that you are just as confident in someone’s care as they feel about properly treating you.
What are you doing to give yourself the best chance in remission?
Due to the in-voluntary circumstances of a virus pandemic, our genetic inheritance, underlying illnesses, toxicity from pollutants, allergens, artificial ingredients, nutrient poor diet, genetically engineered food, lack of sleep, trauma, social disconnection, technology, prescription over stimulation.
Are you putting other's needs before your own? As real life shows up and limiting beliefs get in the way of our own self-care, our bodies, minds, and spirits have become more and more separated from nature, each other, and ourselves. For many years we have gotten away with just treating and turning off the symptoms of dis-ease. But what are we actually doing to our emotional, physical and mental immune response?
Are you someone who believes that age is a dis-ease? Too much of this focus is placed solely on finding blame in age or a simple protocol in order to heal. Rather than the root-cause and life-style contributors that are making us vulnerable to dis-ease. Ultimately, we are all at a predisposition in some sort of way to the increased risk of lifestyle and behavior wearing us out now that the going has gotten really tough amidst the ongoing dis-ease pandemics. But what we are really trying to get to is life beyond chronic illness. Common, conventional medicine brings tremendous stability and acute-care when necessary, but on it's own, there are 'not' a lot of options "after all the attention" to bring a real journey of mind-body health, balanced optimal function and age-less lives. This approach often views disease as an enemy to be conquered, and the expensive Immunosuppressive pharmaceuticals and treatments can be inspiring but in the long-term may 'not' always work for everyone.
What does progress after oncology treatment look like for you?
It's OK if you are in bad place, contrary to beliefs, literature and studies are proving that your predisposition of a dis-ease or cancer diagnosis does 'not' have to be your predetermined fate of well-being. Yes I get it, taking control of your dis-ease is far more complex than a few well-intended website paragraphs, social media pages and blogs. A single target for a "magic silver bullet" and talking to someone about your dis-ease is personal but you just want to know more ways to truly "improve" and feel like you are more than 'enough' emotionally and mentally to now re-align, re-balance, reverse side effects and actually avoid progression of your cancer.
I believe someone's personal health is a sort of re-birth and integrative coaching is a powerful and necessary bridge between Medical PTSD, cancer treatment and longevity. I'm personally here to get to know you and help you navigate the battles, the trickiest trails of both our medical system and balanced health. Cancer is extremely complex, it's one thing to diagnose and treat the cancer, but it's another to actually treat the patient in helping them to 'avoid' the unexpected long term unmet physical, mental and emotional needs. To move beyond just more "silver bullets".
Where does feeling more like yourself start after a diagnosis?
Where do you go from here? Unfortunately, how to optimize long term recovery knowing how to feel prepared and 'enough' in overcoming not just the physical, but most importantly the emotional burdens of suffering and whom to see you through is the most neglected post-after treatment, or remission phase.
How are you feeling in-between the good moments? "I'm fine", sound familiar? No need to sugarcoat anything, it's time, you get to stop pretending it's OK when it's not so OK to talk about everything that got you through all of it.
Have you been given the "all clear", "ring the bell" diagnosis? Nothing to see here? Just because you've been told the magic words "remission" or " no evidence of disease", that doesn't mean your emotional, physical, mental cancer experience is "over." Finishing treatment merely marks the start of a new, not necessarily better, but different chapter in your ongoing journey.
Many cancer conditions have long incubation periods in our mind-body. So what are we doing to create the right conditions?
And since the symptoms are similar to those of other conditions, some cancers can be hard to identify. Googling your diagnosis at 2 a.m won't truly serve you. When it comes to cancer and the underlying root-causes, the better prepared you are at incorporating preventative practices to finally start honoring your mind, body and it's needs in the present moment, the better your chances in getting your mind, body and soul to best serve you before another dis-ease pandemic, and even a secondary-cancer becomes even more of an burden to your emotional, physical, mental and financial health?
Cancer can affect people in a variety of ways and my experiences on the battlefield of cancer may look much different than yours, but that doesn't mean that either of us are doing it wrong. As long as you do not let the idea of having cancer keep you from making the necessary lifestyle and even undergoing aggressive medical and integrative treatments needed, there is nothing wrong, and a lot right with exactly where you are at. While many of life's challenges may be inevitable, "how" we deal with these challenges is totally up to us.
You are 'not' the sum of someone else's response in recommendations. Not your politics, not your doctor, not me, because at the end of the day, the data is just the data. It is you who must contemplate more scans, more tests, more appointments, more treatments, more doctors and perhaps most difficult of all, more loneliness. In seeing people who have had and will get a diagnosis of a dis-ease pandemic such as cancer.
I am not trying to avoid the inevitable in transitioning beyond this life for us all, but no matter what happens in this life journey. I am on a mission from God, so this is much bigger than me and my passion. But really about my purpose in the Devine love and light I get to share through helping others during and after cancer treatment re-establish balance and position people for and even greater impact on living. And even if that means they have reached a more satisfied and peaceful end with their loved ones in positioning for their greatest Kingdom impact. To feel like they are more than 'enough' and prepared about living long in avoiding the unpleasant, even traumatic physical, mental, emotional and spiritual surprises attached to a cancer diagnosis, through deep connection coaching, root-cause functional medicine oncology. I look forward to it all …
You have worth and a voice beyond your diagnosis. So, let's get to know each other a bit better outside of just your Cancer?
"Just wanted to share the good news with you Michael! No new tumor growths seen in the most recent scans, thank you again for all of your love, prayers and support throughout the year. I'm just happy to celebrate this wonderful news with my special coach." - Celeste
"Michael, Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have not felt my best for quite some time. You sure put a light in my life. Thank you so so much! You're heaven sent! God Bless you." - Kaila
"Just celebrated my third year anniversary of being cancer free with my recent scan Michael!! May we continue to remember and celebrate this day together Michael and thank you so much for being a part of my journey." - J
