Fort Pierce Tribune
Health and Fitness Section
Monday, March 20, 2000
By Priyanka Sheth

Healing Journey
Dr. Jeremy Geffen's seven-step program for cancer patients guides them on a path to better physical, emotional, and spiritual health

Lesley Brough is a product of science and medicine.

For the past 25 years, the Toronto native has spent her life giving flu vaccinations and advice to youngsters about issues such as eating disorders and suicide. She also has dispensed chemotherapy and radiation treatments to sick patients in Canadian hospitals.

Today, the 51-year-old nurse finds herself at the receiving end of that care. In September, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent life-altering surgery at the University of Toronto and was told by her doctors that she needed further treatment with chemotherapy and radiation.

But, Brough realized she needed more than drugs, needles, and radiation coursing through her body. She also needed emotional and spiritual healing. She found that -- along with advanced, sophisticated medical care she needed -- with Dr. Jeremy Geffen and his staff at the Geffen Cancer Center and Research Institute in Vero Beach.

The 5-year-old center excels in high-tech medical treatment for cancer, as well as alternative and complementary therapies, including acupuncture, massage therapy, yoga and meditation, and the center's support group.

"I was in fear," Brough said. "But with the work I have done with Dr. Geffen and my support group, I have a lot more faith. I am now able to look at the picture and say, 'If I am going to be fearful, that is not going to help me heal. So I am replacing my fear with faith. Faith is what will get me through.'"

Since November, Brough has been receiving leading-edge chemotherapy along with constant care and relief from her support group and Geffen's medical team. She has also been getting individual counseling, on-site massage therapy and meditation lessons once a week, and has made changes in her diet as well.

"I am trying to incorporate everything," she said, with a serene smile. "I have been taking long walks on the beach and exercising. I do routine things in the day, with a little more pampering for myself. I am taking the time to listen to music, and I read books. I value things more, appreciate them."

Thanks to Geffen's approach to helping and caring for his cancer patients.

"I realized very early on in my career that cancer patients and their families members are living right on the edge between two worlds," said Geffen, a board-certified medical oncologist and Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

"On the one hand, they need very high-tech conventional medical technologies to help them get through this crisis." On the other hand, they are also quite often literally staring into the abyss of the unknown. So they need love, wisdom, and incredible kindness as well. In oncology, I have the opportunity to address all of these dimensions of healing in a way that is unique."

Geffen recently authored The Journey Through Cancer: An Oncologist's Seven-Level Program for Healing and Transforming the Whole Person, which describes his philosophy and approach.

"The book evolved after working with hundreds of cancer patients and family members over many years, listening carefully to them, and doing everything to answer their questions," he explained. "It wasn't something that I dreamed of intellectually and then tried to impose on patients. Rather, it evolved in a very natural, organic way, from the genuine recognition of what people were really asking for, what they really needed, and what could really help them."

In the Western world, where cancer is thought of in militaristic terms, as a war, this was an epiphany.

"The problem with that kind of terminology is that it has violent undertones,"Geffen said. "For many patients and their families, cancer is not a war that you win or lose. Rather, it is more like a journey, an opportunity to learn and grow in terms of living life in a better way. I have found that to be a much more empowering, healthy, and uplifting metaphor."

There are other physicians like Geffen who have recognized that there is much more to caring for human beings than just giving them drugs or surgery. Millions of Americans are now using alternative and complementary therapies, often on their own initiative. Recognizing this trend, doctors are now beginning to explore the possibilities it presents.

"One of the most important messages that I give to all of my patients is that you have a physical body that needs love, care and attention. And we will most certainly provide this for you, in a meticulous way," Geffen said.

"However, who you are is not limited to your physical body. You are a human being, and you also have a mind, a heart, and a spirit. And these other dimensions of who you are need and deserve love, care, and attention as well. Ignoring this is one of the biggest mistake patients and their family members make on the journey through cancer. Frankly, it is one of the biggest mistake that medicine makes as well."

As a board-certified medical oncologist, Geffen is the product of conventional medicine. As recently as 10 years ago, physicians weren't trained to address the patient's emotional and spiritual needs.

"In my era of going through medical school and oncology training, most of these ideas were dismissed, if not openly ridiculed," he said. "We were taught that the most important thing was getting the correct tissue diagnosis and prescribing the correct chemotherapy. While this is of course extremely important, vitally important, it is also clear that -- on a human level -- there is much more involved in providing the very best possible care for a person with cancer."

However, the paradigm is now shifting. In recent years, many medical schools have begun offering courses in alternative and complementary medicine. There also is a newly coined phrase, called integrative oncology, which describes the blending of conventional therapy with alternative and complementary approaches to healing.

"Most cancer patients don't want to abandon conventional medicine," he said. "What they want is everything that can be done to help them heal, feel better, and have the side-effects of their treatment minimized."

"And they want to feel heard."

Lesley Brough felt very well heard. She received excellent advice and medical care from Geffen and his team, as well as ongoing support, kindness, wisdom, and love.

"I felt a complete trust with my chemotherapy nurse who talked to me at length the first day I came to the center,"she said. "The nurse told me everything I needed to know about what I would be receiving. She also discussed my symptoms and side-effects, and answered all my questions."

"And I think that has had an incredible impact on how I've gotten through this experience."

"Just as it can in the physical body, cancer can metastasize in the mind," Geffen notes.

"Negative and fearful thoughts can run wild in the mind, very much in the same way that cancer cells can run wild in the body," he continued. "I believe it is time for all physicians, and especially oncologists, to openly and wholeheartedly focus their time and attention in helping people overcome their mental anguish. We must do this with as much skill and integrity as we bring to caring for the physical body."

Toward that end, Geffen offers a seven-level approach to mind-body healing:

In Level One, physicians and staff members educate and inform patients to allay their fears. A relaxed mind will help patients make appropriate and informed decisions about treatment options, and help them to heal more deeply.

In Level Two, physicians address the level of psychosocial support each patient is receiving during their treatment program.

In Level Three, patients are encouraged to nurture their body as a garden, through diet, exercise, meditation, and other alternative and complementary forms of healing.

In Level Four, patients and family members address the emotional challenges often associated with cancer.

In Level Five, patients explore how their own thoughts and beliefs influence every aspect of their journey.

In Level Six, patients learn to discover and reconnect with their life's deepest meaning and purpose.

In Level Seven, patients connect to the spiritual dimension of life we all share.

Geffen said all seven levels are explored concurrently, and on an ongoing basis. Depending upon the type of cancer and the desires of the patient, each program is modified to meet individual patient's needs.

Since November, Lesley Brough has received seven chemotherapy treatments. She has one more to go and will then receive radiation.

"Lesley had surgery, and all of the cancer was removed," Geffen said. "But without further treatment the risk of her cancer coming back is unacceptably high. Fortunately, however, all of her treatment will be delivered in a specific and well-defined period of time.

"My hope and goal for Lesley is that by the time her treatment is done, she will have developed a sense of mastery and understanding of what these seven levels are all about, so that she can use them for the rest of her life, to live a healthy, more joyful, and more empowered existence," he said. "That is a lifelong process."

And Geffen's lifelong gift.

Geffen is currently working on his next book, which takes his seven-level philosophy and expands it beyond cancer.

"Every human being, whether or not they have a specific disease, can learn and benefit from these seven levels," he said. "For example, everyone needs education and information. Also, no man is an island. We now know that connection with others lies at the heart of healing. Furthermore, just think how the culture would transform in a heartbeat if everyone would make a commitment to love and cherish their body as a precious garden, rather than a machine. And, I believe that with a greater understanding of our mental, emotional, and spiritual self, the possibilities for greater healing and transformation are breathtaking."

The Journey Through Cancer: An Oncologist's Seven-Level Program for Healing and Transforming the Whole Person, (Crown Publishers, February 2000) by Dr. Jeremy Geffen is available at all major bookstores. Price is $24. For more information about Geffen Cancer Center and Research Institute in Vero Beach, Call (561) 770-5800 or visit their website at www.geffencenter.com.