Walking Through

I tell my patients that the fight they are about to begin is like walking through the woods. I ask them to notice that as they step into the trees there is a path to follow. There will always be a place to step. At all times, there will be solid ground below, if they will just glance down to find it, and take time for steadiness before they advance.

I ask them to pay attention to the spanish moss hanging from the trees, sometimes seeming to block their way, but moved easily, if they will just brush it aside. The moss filters the light from above, and the darkness may be frightening, but the woods are also cool with the dark canopy provided overhead, These woods provide a place to escape from the demands of work and other stressors, if only for a little while.

I ask them to listen to the sounds of the woods, to the water dripping from rocks, collecting in small pools and moving on to form streams, to the birds, and to the insects. And I ask them to listen to the sound of their own breathing while they are in that quiet, calm, dark, cool place.

It will not be long before they approach the brightness of the clearing and realize that they have come through their treatment. They will have walked through what was a fearful place into another phase of their lives. None of us knows what that phase holds. It could be cure, it could be more disease and more treatment, or it could be acceptance of letting the disease take it's course. The treatment and it's outcome are different for each person.

I'm recalling this simple guided suggestion that I make with my patients because I've come to make it almost out of habit, and I sometimes wonder why I do what I do. Today, I was reminded. I would never give the details (of the particular encounter), and I won't know the outcome for a very long time. But I love the practice of Oncology. I have no idea what is in store for me, where I should practice, or in what capacity. But I witnessed grace today. I am so very, very thankful, and I felt compelled to write about it in some way. I suppose it's all part of my own walk through the woods.