Visualize it! Kicking cancer’s butt in your mind.

Bob Kiesendahl (with his beautiful family) used visualization, and look at him now!

I’m a fan of the show, Brothers and Sisters on ABC, but was less than thrilled when one of its characters, Kitty (AKA Calista Flockhart), found out she had cancer. “OK,” I thought, “Here comes the head-in-the-toilet vomiting scenes and other stereotypical and dated cancer images you see all the time.”

The story line did start that way, but it’s getting much better. I was surprised at the realistic depiction of the cancer experience, and how I could relate to lots of it.  First of all, I was impressed by Kitty’s need for normalcy.  She’s not a victim; she just wants to go on and live her life with laughter, fun and purpose.

Kitty also talks about using visualization, picturing her cancer being erradicated in her mind. I have used visualization as part of my regimen, even making a drawing of my white blood cells and chemo attacking some scared-looking cancer cells. The whities even wore green healing capes and pronounced,”Don’t worry Tami, we’ve got them!”

I’ve created a new drawing that includes the original cast of characters with a wash of yellow marker symbolizing God’s healing light melting the cancer cells away. It seems more humane somehow.

Several of the survivors I have interviewed for my book mention using visualization with great success. Bob Kiesendahl was diagnosed 10 years ago at age 29 with chronic mylogeneous leukemia (CML). His disease was in its final stage and spreading very quickly. He was given a 25 percent chance to survive – and that was with a bone marrow transplant. Visioning, as well as a successful transplant, helped him become cancer-free:

Having an athletic background, I placed my battle into a simple sports model. All my pre-transplant treatments – the radiation and chemo – were my practices and training for the big game. The transplant was my personal Super Bowl. I was going to play as hard as I could and win.

I did some visioning of what was happening to my body. I viewed all the unpleasant side effects from the treatments as proof that the cancer cells were leaving my body and dying. I also used visioning to focus on where I wanted to be when I regained my life. It wasn’t a matter of if I was going to survive, it was when I survived. And I knew when this was all over, I wanted to do something to help others affected by cancer.

Daniel Levy

Daniel Levy, who was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of  brain cancer in 1991, also used visualization:

I believe the act of participating in getting better puts out good chemicals to your brain. The mind has a tremendous capacity to heal. The brain listens and sends the right chemicals to cure the cancer. For that reason, I did a lot of visualization. My view was that I had an extremely healthy body, but there was something going on in my head that I had to eliminate.

I knew exactly where the tumor was located. For example, when I had an MRI, I closed my eyes and pretended that the loud tapping noise was a line of prison guards firing their rifles at my malignant cells. At home, would lie in bed, close my eyes, and see those spots that appear to all of us. I would label the bright spots as bad and dark as good, staring down those bright spots until they went black. This all may seem somewhat ridiculous, but I am certain that your thoughts and imagination cause your brain to secrete chemical necessary to destroy disease.

 So let’s hear it: Have any of you tried visualization? Please share!