Posts Tagged ‘chemotherapy’

12
Dec
2015

Reframing Cancer & Chemotherapy

categories: Health, Silence, Spirituality & Religion

(written in March 2012)

The notion flooded into me just moments ago, with great clarity, urgency, and force. With my chemotherapy Shiva-Shaktisessions beginning tomorrow, I “heard” that I was to rename and reframe both the chemo and my cancer.

From this moment on, I will no longer use the word “cancer,” nor will I use the word “chemotherapy.” I have renamed them Shiva and Shakti, respectively.

Thus, “non-small cell lung cancer with EFGR mutation” becomes SHIVA, and Alimta Chemotherapy becomes SHAKTI.

Shiva, meaning “auspicious one” is the aspect of the Supreme Being  that continuously dissolves to recreate in the cyclic process of creation, preservation, dissolution and recreation of the universe. Shiva is the destroyer of evil or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Though he is one with great power, he lives a life of a sage at Mount Kailash. Shiva is seen as the Supreme God and has five important works: creator, preserver, destroyer, concealer, and revealer (to bless).

Shakti, meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the personification of divine feminine creative power, sometimes referred to as “The Great Divine Mother” in Hinduism. Not only is the Shakti responsible for creation, it is also the agent of all change. Shakti is cosmic existence as well as liberation, its most significant form being the Kundalini Shakti, a mysterious psychospiritual force. Shakti exists in a state of svatantrya, being interdependent with the entire universe. (more…)

19
Aug
2014

Six Months to Live

categories: Authentic Living, Health

It was November 2011, and I had just finished leading a week-long retreat in Bali.

I was scheduled to return to Los Angeles, but I was too sick and incapacitated to fly all that way. Instead, I flew to the much closer Australia, where I had lived from 2005 till May 2011.

Bali temple

I was experiencing chronic and acute pain in my back. I was progressively losing leg strength. I could stand only on crutches. Lying down, I could not lift my legs and barely wiggle my toes. From various chiropractors, physical therapists, and other holistic healers, I had received a general diagnosis of spinal disc problems. No therapy relieved the pain or symptoms.

On Christmas Eve 2011, I was flooded with the awareness that something was truly wrong and that I needed to go to a hospital immediately. A few hours later, I was admitted to the emergency room of a local hospital. (more…)

01
Jul
2014

Chemotherapy & Pony Rides to Oblivion

categories: General Interest, Health

I have been asked by several people, What happens when you receive the chemotherapy, what I’ve termed chemo-shakti, treatments? I experience many things, at different levels.

The actual infusion is delivered at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and takes almost four hours, during which time I receive the chemo-shakti intravenously, along with an anti-nausea medication and Zometta (for bone strengthening). After a day or two, I start to feel these physical effects, which intensify over the subsequent 10 days: a buzzing in my body, weakness, dizziness, nausea, and extreme tiredness. After three or four days, I lose all appetite, and I won’t eat for several days. (I weigh about 25 pounds lighter than I did six weeks ago.) I will sleep for up to 16 hours a day. I can barely get out of bed. These effects begin to clear within 14 days after receiving the chemo-shakti.

India, c. 1974

India, c. 1974

(more…)