As soon as she started telling people about the cancer, Claire received many suggestions for alternative and complimentary treatments. One of the first people she was put in touch with had received a diagnosis worse than hers, and he was cancer-free at the time. He used both Western (chemo/radiation) and Eastern treatments, and he had met with a healer who lived in Idaho.
Claire also met with the healer, who gave her a book about Essiac – a detoxifying tea that purportedly has strong cancer fighting properties www.cancer.gov. Claire has been drinking the tea, but did not sign up to work directly with the healer to learn how to harness her own energy and brain power to fight the cancer. “I really felt like I needed to educate myself about what he was suggesting, and believe in it before I devoted the time and money to trying it,” she says.
MSTI also offers several options for non-traditional treatment. So far, Claire has tried I-Rest integrative restoration – a kind of guided meditation and Reiki a healing session with a Reiki master, which is meant harness the body’s energy flow for healing purposes.
“I’ve also read many books about creative visualization and similar topics that all try to teach you the power your mind can have,” says Claire. “They all seem to say much the same thing, which is reassuring in its own way, and I’m starting to understand more about what the healer would be teaching me.”