20
february/march 2019yogajournal.com.auAdapted from Saving My Neck: A Doctor’s
East/West Journey through Cancer by
Timothy McCall, MD, © 2018 Timothy McCall
(Whole World Publishing). McCall is the
bestselling author of Yoga as Medicine and
has been Yoga Journal’s medical editor since- Learn more at drmccall.com.
The results
Three months post-chemoradiation
treatment, I return to the hospital for
another PET scan to evaluate my
response. I’m told that the areas that lit
up on my initial tests seven months ago,
indicating cancer, have returned to
normal. Neither of my doctors, both of
whom examine me carefully, fi nds any
evidence of cancer in my mouth
or lymph nodes. I have what they call
a “complete clinical response.”
In my experience practicing
medicine, cancer treatments can be both
overused and overly aggressive. For
many malignancies, including mine, an
integrative approach that includes the
best of modern scientifi c medicine, but
which also addresses the many areas of
mind, body, and spirit that the fi eld
systematically neglects, appears to offer
the best hope.
Holistic systems of medicine such as
Ayurveda and traditional Chinese
medicine work like an organic gardener
who makes plants (in this case the body)
hardier by strengthening the soil rather
than simply pouring on pesticides. But
sometimes you need both. One aspect of
good holistic care is that it welcomes
treatments such as drugs and surgery
when they seem like the right tools for
the job. You might say the integrative
path I chose to deal with the pernicious
invader that is cancer incorporated the
toxic chemicals of chemotherapy along
with the soil-enhancing effects of diet,
stress reduction, and gentle herbal
remedies.
I didn’t choose this cancer adventure.
But I see clearly that my choices set the
karma in motion that brought me to it.
In trying to deal with it as skillfully as
possible, given the imperfect collection
of information I’d amassed by the time
each decision needed to be made, I did
the best I could. And overall, I’m happy
with the choices I made.
All you can do is the best you can do
at any given time and not second-guess
yourself. That’s skill in action—the
Bhagavad Gita’s defi nition of yoga. Is it
also yoga to use your life and struggles
to learn and grow, turning seemingly
bad events into things that serve you.
Yoga teaches that it’s possible, through
your actions, to change some bad karma
into good karma.
I chose the path of holism, taking
one small step at a time and trying to
look at specifi c aspects of my situationAll you can do is
the best you
can do at any
given point in
time... As hard as
I’ve worked to
get through the
cancer, I’ve
surrendered the
illusion that I can
control it.
in hopes of shifting the whole in a
helpful direction. I addressed my
structure, my breathing, my nervous
system, and my mind. In addition to the
Ayurvedic treatments, I had dozens of
acupuncture treatments and regular
visits to a physical therapist for body
work called myofascial release. And I
continued my journey of psychological
excavation, jettisoning attitudes and
behaviours that may have served me in
my diffi cult childhood but which I no
longer needed.
As hard as I’ve worked to get through
the challenge of cancer, I have also
surrendered the illusion that I can
control it. After getting the news I’d
been hoping for at my follow-up
appointment, I learned that there is a 5
to 10 percent chance the cancer will
recur in the fi rst three years. Optimistic
as I am, I’m aware that my efforts may
not have been enough. Part of my
hopefulness is that I know that if the
cancer should recur, I have tools to help
me get through it. To heal even if I
cannot be cured. To live however much
life I have left with joy and contentment
and love. And the urgency the diagnosis
has brought is to live life more fully, to
bring even more passion and discipline
to the work I feel like I’ve been put on
the planet to do.