Alternative therapies

Wednesday 17th January

Still feeling very tired. Probably more so than this time the last cycle. They did say that the side effects would be progressive, although the only one I’m aware of being progressive is the fatigue. I‘ve still got a fair amount of hair on my head. Not anywhere near a wig yet, and I didn’t need any extra nausea pills this time. I compared notes with about four others in the ward last Friday and they were all complaining about severe headaches and some sickness during the first few days. I seem to have had a lighter sentence in comparison. It seems that they were not aware of, nor had taken advantage of the Haven Breast Cancer Charity's free sessions that help with the side effects of chemo and radiotherapy, so I think it most likely that the Medicinal Herbs from Alex Haig; Acupuncture from Chris and Reflexology from Claire Nicholls at the Health Food shop in Fulham that I am having to help the body de-toxify and heal, are indeed working and I have given the other girls this information. As a matter of fact, the acupuncture session I had with Chris at the Haven last Tuesday has definitely given me some evidence of this, as, when I went to him I complained about the very sore vein on my left wrist which had been badly nuked on session two and had gone into spasm and had been very painful for several weeks. So painful that I had taken to wearing my watch on the other wrist because of it. There had been no sign of the condition improving and I was told by a nurse that it would take a very long time for my vein to soften. I’m not sure if Chris stuck a needle into the vein or whether it was nearby as I didn’t fancy watching them going in, but I certainly felt enormous heat from his hands which he held about 8 inches away from me over my wrist, my wound and my head. Two days later the vein had shrunk to half its previous size and there was no pain. “You are definitely a healer” I said to him, and he replied mysteriously “We all are”! I found Chris quite fascinating. He is greatly present in the moment and there was a stillness about him. We started to speak about spiritual matters and, although I like to think of myself as being fairly “deep”, he left me standing and I lost him along the way.

I did however introduce him to a fascinating book I have just read called “Mutant Messenger Down Under” which is about an American woman who accepts an invitation from an Aborigine Tribe to receive an award for the work she has been doing for underprivileged ethnic races. She is collected from her smart Australian Hotel in a peach suit with matching silk blouse, and driven off on a two hour drive into the Bush. When she arrives at the Settlement, she is told to take off all her clothes and put on a wrap-around rag dress of theirs, and leave all her worldly belongings folded and piled up on a chair. She is then told that they are going “Walkabout” and agrees, presuming she will be back in a couple of hours. As they set off, she sees her sees her pile of clothes, shoes, handbag containing camera, mobile phone, wallet and expensive jewellery, dropped into the fire! She decided that not offending the tribe would be a wise policy and that she could replace all these things and search the ashes for the jewellery on her return When she asks when they would be back she was told “In three moons!” and they set off walking. As she had no money, no phone, and hadn’t clue where she was, she had no alternative but to go along with them. Thus unfolded an amazing experience of survival in the bush with no worldly possessions and no money. This paragraph leaped out at me on page 111:

“These people say they have been here for all time. Scientists know they have inhabited Australia for at least fifty thousand years. It is truly amazing that after fifty thousand years they have destroyed no forests, polluted no water, endangered no species, caused no contamination, and all the while they have received abundant food and shelter. They have laughed a lot and cried very little. They live long, productive, healthy lives and leave spiritually confident”.

I also remember reading a lovely piece in one of the daily papers about an Aborigine chief who, to make a point, sailed a raft up the English Channel on Australia’s 200^th Anniversary; landed; stuck a flag in the ground and “claimed England”.

My Christmas cacti which began as a tiny sprig of a cutting from my mother- in-law’s plant and took three years to produce two blooms on my first date with Roger in 1993 (I saw that as a good omen at the time, but with hindsight, I realise, it was sticking two fingers at us!) has burst into bloom again and presented me with over two hundred blooms. It is now too heavy to lift in for the winter months and I have had to leave it out in the patio with a bubble wrap blanket on cold nights. So far it has weathered well, but I am dreading a really deep frost in case I lose it. That would be really sad as it has become a good friend, but it’s grown so big that there just isn’t room for it inside the house any more even if I could stagger in with it.

Have been encouraged today by another reader who is enjoying my mutterings so will continue to share my strength, hope and experience in the hope that it will be helpful.