Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990 TAG: 9004110323
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS RELIGION WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
"If they ask me how I am, I tell them if I'm having a bad day," he told about 275 people at a recent seminar at Saint Alban's Hospital, "and in our talking, we both feel better."
That's holistic medicine as Siegel practices it. The frequent guest on TV talk shows and author of the 1986 best seller, "Love, Medicine and Miracles," says real living occurs in the terminally ill who have learned to love without expectation of reward.
They share their pain - physical, mental and spiritual - with their doctors, family and friends and draw closer to the community of humankind. And for Siegel, as for many of his patients, drawing closer to fellow sufferers also means drawing closer to God.
The doctor, who spoke at Radford University last week, practices from the ECAP - Exceptional Cancer Patients - Center in New Haven, Conn. He opened the center 12 years ago after a career of operating on people with life-threatening disease and wondering why some recovered and others died quickly even when prognoses seemed similar.
The difference is attitude, also called the will to live, he said. Some people who become seriously ill truly want to die to end a life that they have always seen as more or less useless. Others discover only when their doctor has told them they will soon die that life is to be enjoyed day by day.
Such sufferers are learning, Siegel noted, to lose their old life of blaming, controlling and striving for vague and unsatisfying goals and to give of themselves fully in the time they have left.
They may or may not die then physically. Siegel read anonymously from several letters patients have written him to show that healing of the mind and spirit often occurs before physical death. In a number of cases, tests later showed the healing of spirit was followed by disappearance of physical disease.
Ultimately, the doctor implied, healing is in the hands of God, and though many doctors won't make overt expressions of religion, an increasing number are sharing with their patients the power of prayer.
Although Siegel works with cancer patients, he has found holistic medicine important in caring for those with AIDS and other terminal illnesses.
It is important for people, whether they are sick or well, to share their feelings in community - such as a support group or a church with an understanding of human relations - Siegel emphasized. Suffering alone intensifies the psychic as well as the physical aspect of illness.
Not only does attention to the spirit increase the chance of recovery from physical illness but unresolved anger and losses will sooner or later turn a well person into a sick one, the speaker said.
"If you deny [your body's] needs, it will soon kill you."
Statistically, single men who become ill have a poorer chance of recovery than those who have stable family lives. And women, as a whole, survive serious illness better than men, Siegel noted.
Many adults, especially those aware of their aging, say they can cope with any problem as long as they keep their health. Siegel said this is only partially true, for the physically ill who turn their attention from themselves to other interests have not lost all reason for living.
Many terminally ill people, supported by others who love and understand them, make beautiful witnesses of their last weeks and months. Their reason for living, Siegel said, is to set an example of how to die.
In a discussion period, Siegel said more doctors are updating their medical education to include a more holistic outlook. More rapid change is dependent on the education of both students and patients.
A person facing recovery from a life-threatening illness must learn to balance self-assertion and his or her own sense of "being nice to people," Siegel said, quoting from a letter in which a patient asked how to do this.
The two attitudes are not contradictory, he said. A cancer patient need not feel guilty for saying no to a request from someone to take on a task that will cause additional strain. But "you don't kill yourself for doing what you want to do."
For some ill people, giving of themselves is the most healing thing they can do. Siegel said it should not be discouraged by loved ones as long as the sick person takes pleasure in the task.
Siegel's workshops include exercises to help participants get in touch with their lives and feelings. In the morning he guided his audience through a 15-minute meditation based on a journey of their lives and ending with the suggestion that they choose a new road for continued adventures. Following lunch, participants used paper and crayons to picture their "illness."
By that, Siegel said, he meant anything that frightened or troubled them in their "dysfunctional" lives.
by CNB