In 2008 there were 565,000 deaths by cancer in the United States. One in three people will get some form of the disease during their lifetime. We now have 17 million Americans walking around with cancer somewhere along the continuum from initiation of a cancer cell to detectable tumor. These startling statistics are from Mark Hyman (The UltraMind Solution) in the foreword to this empowering guide by Leigh Fortson who has coauthored and edited numerous books on health, nutrition, and alternative medicine.
Although many talk about the war on cancer, there are other ways of looking at this disease and its treatment:
"Healing doesn't comprise a fight. Rather healing is proactive and busy, contemplative and still. It is a process of educating ourselves about the options available and choosing the best fit. Healing also invites us to continually release every belief or habit that blocks us from living in peace. Healing is a holistic experience that inventories our physical and psychological lives, and then adjusts them if they are at odds with our purest intention to be well."
Fortson learned that she had cancer in 2006, and by 2008 she set out on her own to find that diet plays a major role in cancer treatments. She also acknowledges the significance of the mind-body relationship. Fortson shares her story (she is now cancer free) along with empowering accounts of others and the testimony of experts such as Dr. Larry Dossey, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Dr. Daniel Rubin, and others.
There are chapters on forgiveness, authority, energy, belief, mystery, intuition, fortitude, faith, gratitude, dedication, and trust. Fortson brings us up-to-date on the variety of traditional, alternative, and integrative treatments for cancer; she has put together an impressive array of thought-provoking quotations and ends the book with a fine bibliography and Reader's Guide.
