Hypnotherapy as a Complement to Cancer Treatment
I continue the series of posts on the integrative cancer therapy experiences of Maria Claudia White as reported by Erin Quinn in Natural Solutions magazine. Maria Claudia’s oncologist recommended hypnotherapy from a PhD in hypnosis practicing at Duke University Medical Center’s Integrative Medicine clinic. She had five appointments over a two month period which included two surgeries.
The sessions were an hour each, and each were recorded for Maria Claudia to use later including during the surgeries. Listening to repetitive suggestions about pain relief or heart rate stability during the surgeries resulted in much less anxiety and stress and a greater feeling of being in control. After the surgeries, she took fewer pain medications than normal and had less bruising around the incision. Her energy remained high, and she never lost her appetite. The results surprised her surgeons.
One of the surgeries was considered very serious and involved going through the ribs, collapsing a lung, and removing a tumor behind the lung. A cardiac team was in the room just in case. A long, painful healing process was expected. Maria Claudia took no pain medication after being released from the hospital and completely recovered in record time. Her breast lumpectomy later required no pain medication at all. Previous surgeries without hypnotherapy had been accompanied by extreme pain, long recoveries, nausea, and extended loss of energy.
Hypnotherapy is a relatively new concept in cancer surgery. Integrative oncologists who stay abreast of the latest complementary therapies for their patients often recommend it and other therapies that reduce pain, shorten healing time, require less medication, and cut the overall expense of the surgery. Without these added stresses and artificialities, the patient’s own natural cancer fighting system is at maximum effectiveness and conventional therapies are enhanced.