Finding the jigsaw box lid...

Well I have completed the,' Living Well with the Impact of Cancer', free course, which is open to anyone living with or affected by cancer and very good it was too. A three day group course, spread over three weeks, it was fronted by the Bristol Charity Penny Brohn & funded by Douglas Macmillan.  The Penny Brohn Charity was established in 1980 and  recognises that,

 'when people are faced with the diagnosis of cancer, it raises a multitude of issues & emotions and that often, medical treatments alone is not enough'

I have spent an enjoyable & educational three days considering diet & relaxation, the psychological impact of cancer, emotions & relationships, financial & welfare considerations, spirituality, mindfulness & imagery; and all in the context of The Whole Person. 'Whole' as in; mind body, spirit & emotion.

So we examined facts & techniques, considered our responses and shared our experiences, skilfully led by medical & alternative therapy facilitators. And it was the shared experiences, the common norms and the strengths & weaknesses of the group, that lifted this course from mere  information sharing to the realms of self realisation.

Heavy words, but so true, as we each faced our angels & demons/ our strengths of character & our fears & emotion. So I want to say a thank you to all those fellow participants who gave & shared with me so much; its been a blast! We were part of, what my husband ( a cancer survivor of some 25 years) refers to as; 'A  very exclusive club, not one you choose or even want to belong to, but one which will always stay with you' and,  for me it was a privilege to meet some of my fellow members.

And at the end when asked what we took away from all our action planning & consideration, what was important to us, the responses were varied but all positive. From improved diet & exercise extension, to practising the relaxation or daily meditative activities
It made me realise that I need to adapt my thinking; its not just that I have cancer for life (whether it kills me or not), its about having happiness for life. The analogy with a diet comes to mind; we can cut back, exclude food types, starve & binge and do crazy stuff but unless we adapt to a healthy diet for life nothing will really change.  So to make this current feeling of being in control of my destiny, normal, I must practise. I must not just drift on the tide of medical diagnosis & vague outcomes, I must make this normality a state of mind.

So when asked what I took from the course I replied, " the knowledge that I can survive beyond  medics & statistics, beyond the uncertain outcomes and lack of control". I am greater than a body with cancer, I am a whole, thinking feeling, sentient being, and I can apply myself to live beyond cancer. In short, I am Gestalt person, the 'whole is greater than the sum of my parts' and my parts, like my grey jigsaw, are within my remit.

What did Penny Brohn give me in those three short days, it gave me hope. And as I look at the assorted pieces of my diagnosis jigsaw life, I think  they gave me a measure of control. I finally have a glimpse of the jigsaw box cover and the sun is shining in the big picture.