I want to share some resources that I have found helpful during these sheltered-in days. You will find them in the “News and Resources” section of our April 2020 Newsletter, here.

Even though I am getting weary of reading and hearing about the novel coronavirus, I feel compelled to share my reactions to what I perceive as some underlying assumptions in the mainstream messages permeating the airwaves. I can’t help but notice the similarities between these assumptions and those related to cancer.

One assumption is that we are helpless bystanders in relationship to the virus (and cancer), totally dependent on outside sources to treat it. When I was diagnosed with cancer, the only treatments offered were chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery – all treatments of the body focused on attacking the cancer. This is what motivated me to create the “Cancer as a Turning Point” conference that exposed people to the many strategies they could use to alter the terrain of the body. There are two distinct ways of dealing with cancer – attacking the tumor, or creating a terrain that isn’t conducive to the growth of cancer.

I think the same thing is true for the coronavirus, but the mainstream focus is on finding a drug to treat it, or finding a vaccine to immunize us against it. It is general knowledge that those with other health conditions or weakened immune systems are the most vulnerable to this virus. Why isn’t anyone talking about how we can make ourselves less susceptible? How can we create a terrain that fends off the coronavirus? If our population was healthier in general, would so many people be dying of the coronavirus?

My friend, Loolwa Khazoom, recently posted a blog entitled “What Cancer Taught Me about How We Should be Responding to Coronavirus.” The indented quotes in the following paragraphs come from that blog.

The premise behind the “Cancer as a Turning Point” conference was that cancer (or any illness) can be a wake-up call that can lead us to actually increase our wellness.

“When approached with the right mindset, illness paradoxically can open the door to enhanced wellness. Seizing the opportunity for such transformation, however, requires a radical shift – not only in mindset, but also in allocation of financial resources. Sadly, neither shift seems forthcoming in the current medical or governmental model, so what has been going on with cancer is now going on with Coronavirus as well – leading to unnecessary suffering and death.”


“Despite the 1,000-plus scientific studies in peer-reviewed medical journals, proving the efficacy of lifestyle medicine in healing from cancer, as documented in the NY Times bestselling book, Radical Remission, by Kelly Turner PhD; and despite the fact that the “war on cancer” – waged through chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery – has been an utter failure, with the incidence and mortality rates for cancer higher now than when this war was declared half a century ago, lifestyle medicine is not recognized as “real medicine,” whereas pharmaceuticals and surgery are. As an upshot, those facing a cancer diagnosis are bullied into choosing conventional medical treatment, either from fear-mongering or economic pressure.”


“We desperately need a medical paradigm shift and reworking of our cultural values – not only for Coronavirus, but for all chronic health issues and medical crises. Health care needs to be just that: health care, not sick care. We need to be proactive instead of reactive, looking at what people can do and amplifying that ability, instead of focusing on what is outside people’s control and quivering in our collective boots about it. We need to empower individuals with knowledge, tools, and resources, instead of dismissing the innate healing intelligence of the human body and bullying people into outsourcing care to “the experts.” We need to Make America Healthy Again, by ensuring that mind-body-spirit practices and fresh, organic, and whole foods are at least as widespread and subsidized as pharmaceuticals and surgery, to prevent the need for the latter in the first place.”

I hope we don’t miss the opportunity the current health crisis is creating to educate ourselves about the foundation of health and move towards healthcare instead of sick care. It could empower us to deal with the current pandemic with less fear, more hope, and better results. It would leave us more prepared to deal with the next health crisis. And it would give us more effective tools to deal with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and all the chronic conditions that are creating so much suffering and leaving us vulnerable to any new virus.

As always, I welcome your comments; to reply please click here.