The hope of radical remission

I don’t know this to be totally true, but I suspect there are few families in our community who haven’t been touched by cancer. It seems that everywhere I listen carefully, someone’s close or distant relative is dealing with, or has dealt with, some kind of cancer.

That is why I was eager to learn more when I heard that one of our community leaders, Tamie Martinsen, has begun to teach classes about dealing with and surviving with cancer. Tamie’s day job is as case manager for Bonner Homeless Transitions.

But Tamie is also a cancer survivor. And last fall she received training in New York state on a fascinating program called radical remission. Tamie is now a certified radical remission instructor, and just completed leading her first group of students last week.

The class centers on learning from the best-selling author of “Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds”. Its author, Dr. Kelly Turner, has spent ten years as a medical researcher. Her study of 1500 cancer survivors has shown a remarkable thing: there are nine (9) common factors that all cancer survivors show in their lives.

These common factors are:

1) Radically changing your diet;

2) Taking control of your health;

3) Following your intuition;

4) Using herbs and supplements;

5) Releasing suppressed emotions;

6) Increasing positive emotions;

7) Embracing social support;

8) Deepening your spiritual connection; and

9) Having strong reasons for living.

When Tamie first shared these with me, I thought they sounded like every-day common sense. And they do! But when persons are faced with cancer, particularly at a very serious stage, common sense doesn’t always function consistently.

These factors not meant to replace traditional medical procedures, but to supplement traditional medicine. This approach to “living with cancer”, as opposed to “dying with cancer”, has not been fully embraced by the medical community.

I can understand that, at least to a point. But my mother’s journey with terminal cancer taught me that Life is not always done following a certain protocol. Living with cancer is nourished by more than chemotherapies or radiation treatments.

As Tamie briefly de- scribed how these nine factors interact with each other to enhance cancer survivors’ lives — no matter how long those lives may be — I wondered how my mom’s own life would have been enriched during her year-long struggle.

Next Tuesday, April 10, the Geezer Forum welcomes Tamie Martinsen as our guest resource person. During our time together, Tamie will more fully explore the nine factors I identified; and help us understand how they contribute to persons who live with cancer take more control of their daily lives.

I’m in the process of reading a Kindle version of “Radical Remission”. I find Dr. Turner’s writing both compelling and humble. She knows both the limits and the possibilities of her insights for cancer survivors.

I am eager to learn more about her research and also hear some of the stories from Tamie and other cancer survivors who attend how these nine factors have made strong differences in their lives. I invite you to join us at the Geezer Forum next Tuesday, April 10, 2:30-4 p.m. in the Community Room of Columbia Bank, Fifth and Church.

Paul Graves, M.Div., is Lead Geezer-in-Training of Elder Advocates, a consulting ministry on aging issues. Contact Paul at 208-610-4971 or elderadvocates@nctv.com.