– You Don’t Have Cancer

YOU DON'T HAVE CANCER

By Mary Beth Gonzalez

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10

Hearing the words “You have cancer” is scary. Cancer is inconvenient and cancer is disruptive. Cancer is a failure on many levels which serves to signal that your physical, emotional, and spiritual life is out of balance, but cancer is not a destination.

Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez, M.D. (1947-2015) often told his cancer patients that their illness could be managed in much the same way that people manage diabetes. In other words, he believed that treating cancer effectively requires making lifestyle changes that enable the body to heal itself. He knew this from vast and hard-earned clinical experience. For nearly 30 years, he treated all types of cancer with The Gonzalez Protocol® and documented the best results in the history of medicine.

One of the most important things that you can do if you hear this diagnosis is realize that you don't have cancer. Cancer doesn’t possess you nor do you own it. Cancer is a diagnosis. Cancer is an unwelcome, toxic invasion into your healthy body that can be dealt with, while you visualize yourself healed and healthy. Maintaining this positive outlook provides you with the fuel for coping with this diagnosis.

Of course, in life there are many things that we cannot control. However, we can learn how to regulate how we react and respond which then influences our physiological response. Dr. Gonzalez explained it to his cancer patients in the following way:
“When you allow yourself to be afraid and get anxious, you turn on the sympathetic nervous system. When you have no faith that things are going to go well, you live in a state of vigilance. When we live in a state of vigilance, the sympathetic nervous system fires constantly. When the sympathetic nervous system fires constantly, you get too acidic, cell membranes get way too tight, nutrients and enzymes can't get to the site of the tumor, and the lack of faith in physiological channels leads to death, period. It happens all the time.”

Dr. Gonzalez's mentor, Dr. William Donald Kelley, famously stated that "Healing is 100% physical, 100% emotional and 100% spiritual." Dr. Kelley believed that in order to heal, you must address all three (body, mind and spirit) and not just treat your physical body. The good news is that prayer, meditation, and positive thinking act to neuro-chemically block sympathetic (nervous system) firing. They actively stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nerves, when firing, enhance digestion, the absorption and utilization of nutrients, and the building up of tissues, rather than breaking them down. These “relaxation techniques,” from a purely physiologically perspective, do in fact lead to a healing response.

“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” - Colossians 4:2

The health benefits of prayer and meditation are abundant and well documented; showing that when people engage in these activities they protect neurons and DNA and enhance immune function. This is because when you calm your mind, everything else in your body relaxes, including your autonomic nervous system. Your blood pressure lowers, you produce fewer stress hormones, and your heart rate slows.

It is a normal reaction to be afraid. This is never more so than when you must confront an illness and a serious diagnosis. How you channel your fear and choose your treatment path that can empower and heal you. It is your choice. You always have options and the very act of making a choice, your choice, is a positive step towards reclaiming your health.

Dr. Gonzalez's decades-long clinical observations support that cancer patients who can maintain an optimistic outlook are more likely to do well than patients who are fearful and negative. He found that patients who approach his rigorous therapy with enthusiasm rather than with a sense of anxiety and despair, not only experience an easier course than those who perceive the treatment as a large burden, an intrusion on their life, but clinically they do the best. He suspected this observation must be related to the neuro-physiological effect of gratitude specifically and faith, as opposed to resentment and doubt. He encouraged cancer patients to find love, hope and optimism. He encouraged them to find freedom from fear and resentment, to find peace of mind and joy. Following this positive approach will help to create an environ-ment in which healing can take place.

The numbers don’t lie. Science, as well as legions of formerly stricken cancer patients have been witness to the historic effectiveness of Dr. Gonzalez’s approach. Nevertheless, every day new cancers will be diagnosed, and new patients will face the very real constellation of emotions that come with a cancer diagnosis. It can be exceedingly difficult to keep one’s head at such moments. That is why the very practical advice that Dr. Gonzalez and The Nicholas Gonzalez Foundation have stood by bears sharing.

If overcoming your initial fear feels too difficult, here are a few ways to confront your anxiety before it sabotages your decision making:

• Allow yourself time to pause and breathe even if just for a short time before rushing into a treatment plan. Most cancers grow slowly and there are usually always at least a few days before you need to go on the offensive.

• Give your fear a name. What is it that you are most afraid of? What is the worst that can happen? Of course, some people are afraid of dying when they hear this diagnosis. You can choose one thought over another. You can redirect this fearful, negative energy to ignite your healing efforts.

• Don’t give in to despair – there aren’t any answers for you there. If you are feeling depressed, seek professional help and talk about your concerns with people you trust.

• Avoid toxic people and negative thinkers who don’t have your best interests in mind. Those people tend to focus on the bad things that might or could happen. People are healed of the most dreadful cancers all the time and why shouldn’t you be one of those people?

• Get grounded. Grounding is basically a way to distract yourself by focusing on something other than the emotional pain you are experiencing. It can anchor you as you feel your mind and your body as connected and working together bringing you in contact with the present moment.

• Connect with nature. Go outside and feel the sun on your face. Dig your bare feet into the grass (or sand or dirt) around you. Envision nature giving you a warm embrace and holding you tight.

• Make small, healthy choices every day and feel their impact. Realize that you have already proven to yourself that you can adapt and grow and change.

• Laugh. Life is full of humor that can relieve your stress. Laughter increases the endorphins that are released by your brain. It can stimulate your heart, lungs and muscles which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress. It can make you feel happier and more relaxed. Plus, it is fun to laugh and giggle.

• Know that you are not a victim; in this situation, you can choose to be a Victor. You now have the opportunity to create your own customized, coping strategy. For the nearly 30 years that Dr. Gonzalez practiced medicine, he observed that when you do not see yourself as a victim of cancer, you are better able to gather your strength, manage your anxiety and visualize a positive healing path.

How do you start on this positive, victorious path?

1. Do your own research: explore a variety of cancer treatments – conventional, complementary and alternative.
2. Look for cancer treatment solutions with historical scientific evidence and examples of good patient outcomes.
3. Trust your intuition. Through prayer and meditation, you can hear what your body is asking you to do.
4. Once you make a treatment decision, then make it the right one by committing 100%.
5. Don’t try to be your own doctor or follow Dr. Google. Find a doctor whom you trust who can guide you. Be honest with them about what you are doing physically, emotionally, and spiritually to manage your diagnosis.

This evolving path enables you to become even stronger. It empowers you to believe and to understand that, despite the cancer diagnosis, you can be victorious. You will be equipped with the knowledge that the best of your life is yet to come.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” - 2 Corinthians 4:17

I encourage you to look up, look out and look inward. Look at how healthy you actually are and look at the physical, emotional and spiritual power that is within you to heal from any diagnosis.

A Prayer for Healing:

Lord, may you oversee each area of my physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Empower my doctors, nurses and entire medical team with wisdom, skill, and compassion. Protect, comfort, and keep me as I look forward to my recovery and my future. All this I place in your loving hands and ask in your name.