Bell Lap Blog

My experiences with the seriously ill convince me that the will to live, or its surrender, can affect the number of our days and breaths. Not every time or for everyone, but clearly for some. This is less profound in the era of modern medicine because medical interventions can play such a dramatically determinant role. However, the effect of the will is, nonetheless, real and deserves attention and respect. Murray Trelease puts it well: "It is not that human will changes reality, but that it is a part of the reality of life and needs to be reckoned with.” The intuition of the terminally ill needs to be cultivated, recognized, honored and empowered.

CONFRONT THE ILLNESS

Illness and disease are not the same. Illness is what happens to your life when disease attacks your body. Do not confuse them. You have a role in dealing with both, but it is only the illness for which you have responsibility and over which you must take complete control. Recruit doctors to battle the disease and hand off most of that responsibility to them. Then find the wisdom to deal with your illness as it impacts your life and gather your team to do it. (next section). Unmanaged, the illness can persist for years after the disease is in remission or cured. Many mistakenly assume it will go away when the disease does; it doesn’t. Many who don't deal with the Dragon up front and every time it turns up have him with them forever. Academics call it PTSD or better PTCD: Post Traumatic Cancer Disorder