Treat the Whole You -- Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual
Video Transcript
ROBIN ROBERTS: You know as I
personally discovered,
it's not always enough to simply
treat the disease itself when
you're fighting cancer.
We often overlook
our complete physical,
emotional,
and spiritual well-being
in the healing process.
And that's why the idea
of treating the whole you
is so important in the cutting
edge of cancer.
When Sheila Cox had finished treatments for her breast cancer, she tried to run full force back into her life. But instead, she stumbled.
SHEILA COX: I had three surgeries. I thought I was healed, and I thought I was ready to go. And I wasn't. I felt physically, emotionally, and spiritually devastated by it all.
ROBIN ROBERTS: There's this feeling that, OK, you've had your surgery. You got a good prognosis. So, [CLAPS], done. That's just not the case, is it?
SHEILA COX: That's when you felt really alone.
ROBIN ROBERTS: How do we let the people know that the journey continues even after the treatment? A different type of journey continues.
SHEILA COX: And that's actually really where the real recovery and healing begins. Whenever I was depressed, the way out of depression for mean was through movement. And that was lost to me. I wasn't acquainted with my new body. I was holding myself in a strange way and wasn't breathing properly. And I was fearful. And I had never been fearful in my life.
ROBIN ROBERTS: And for you to use that phrase like that, that it was lost, how did you find it again?
This is how she found it again. Across the country, cancer treatment programs are increasingly using innovative treatments such as this fitness class at the Bendheim Integrative Medicine Center in New York City.
JUN MAO: Our dream and our goal is to make integrative medicine part of the standard cancer cure.
ROBIN ROBERTS: As you can see here, integrative medicine is a more holistic approach to cancer treatment. These patients, many still fighting cancer, some even stage four, are participating in movement therapies, acupuncture, massage, and meditation.
SPEAKER 4: Bring the mind back to the present moment.
ROBIN ROBERTS: There's even music therapy, known to have a tremendous soothing effect in hospital settings. Small miracles are happening every day, even for those diagnosed as terminal, who say they are actually feeling stronger.
ELEANOR: Stronger isn't a strong enough word.
RICHARD: I'm in the best shape I've ever been in my life. I'm having the most fun in my life.
ROBIN ROBERTS: One reason, instead of just depending on chemo, radiation, or surgery to treat the cancer, integrative medicine focuses on the well-being of the whole patient in a new way, something I discovered on my own cancer journey, after the treatments I received for breast cancer led to a rare blood disorder called myelodysplastic syndrome. It was integrative therapies like yoga that helped me not only recover physically but spiritually and mentally, as did one of my oncologists, Dr. Sergio Giralt my guiding light.
I remember being hospitalized for 30 days, and the different therapies that you had come in-- the music therapy.
SPEAKER 7: (SINGING) Oh to the glory.
ROBIN ROBERTS: I will never forget her coming in, and I remember singing before I left. And people all wonder, how can that be a part of the process of healing?
SERGIO GIRALT: All these integrative strategies that we have -- acupuncture, yoga -- are you exploring the ability of an individual to heal themselves. You sang and you felt better. And when we feel better, there are chemicals behind this. And it generates a downstream effect on the immune system, on your ability to recover.
ROBIN ROBERTS: I have been waiting 174 days to say this. Good Morning America.
I was given a sense of hope and energy that helped me re-enter my life.
SPEAKER 9: Open.
ROBIN ROBERTS: There's a very palpable vitality, a life force given back to cancer patients taking part in integrative therapies.
ELEANOR: Two years ago, this week, I really was in a wheelchair. Watch this baby.
ROBIN ROBERTS: All right, Elly!
There's no doubt that integrative medicine has helped the patients here.
Your confidence has returned.
SHEILA COX: It has.
ROBIN ROBERTS: Yeah. I look at -- you are beautiful. You absolutely -- I mean, the light that is coming through your eyes and the way that you hold yourself. I don't know about you, I'm not crazy about the word survivor.
SHEILA COX: Oh, I'm not -- I hate that word. I hate that word.
ROBIN ROBERTS: I like the way we are thriving. And I say we. We are thrivers.
SHEILA COX: I would add to the thriver, I feel like I'm a warrior.
ROBIN ROBERTS: A warrior ready to fearlessly test the waters of her life once again.
When Sheila Cox had finished treatments for her breast cancer, she tried to run full force back into her life. But instead, she stumbled.
SHEILA COX: I had three surgeries. I thought I was healed, and I thought I was ready to go. And I wasn't. I felt physically, emotionally, and spiritually devastated by it all.
ROBIN ROBERTS: There's this feeling that, OK, you've had your surgery. You got a good prognosis. So, [CLAPS], done. That's just not the case, is it?
SHEILA COX: That's when you felt really alone.
ROBIN ROBERTS: How do we let the people know that the journey continues even after the treatment? A different type of journey continues.
SHEILA COX: And that's actually really where the real recovery and healing begins. Whenever I was depressed, the way out of depression for mean was through movement. And that was lost to me. I wasn't acquainted with my new body. I was holding myself in a strange way and wasn't breathing properly. And I was fearful. And I had never been fearful in my life.
ROBIN ROBERTS: And for you to use that phrase like that, that it was lost, how did you find it again?
This is how she found it again. Across the country, cancer treatment programs are increasingly using innovative treatments such as this fitness class at the Bendheim Integrative Medicine Center in New York City.
JUN MAO: Our dream and our goal is to make integrative medicine part of the standard cancer cure.
ROBIN ROBERTS: As you can see here, integrative medicine is a more holistic approach to cancer treatment. These patients, many still fighting cancer, some even stage four, are participating in movement therapies, acupuncture, massage, and meditation.
SPEAKER 4: Bring the mind back to the present moment.
ROBIN ROBERTS: There's even music therapy, known to have a tremendous soothing effect in hospital settings. Small miracles are happening every day, even for those diagnosed as terminal, who say they are actually feeling stronger.
ELEANOR: Stronger isn't a strong enough word.
RICHARD: I'm in the best shape I've ever been in my life. I'm having the most fun in my life.
ROBIN ROBERTS: One reason, instead of just depending on chemo, radiation, or surgery to treat the cancer, integrative medicine focuses on the well-being of the whole patient in a new way, something I discovered on my own cancer journey, after the treatments I received for breast cancer led to a rare blood disorder called myelodysplastic syndrome. It was integrative therapies like yoga that helped me not only recover physically but spiritually and mentally, as did one of my oncologists, Dr. Sergio Giralt my guiding light.
I remember being hospitalized for 30 days, and the different therapies that you had come in-- the music therapy.
SPEAKER 7: (SINGING) Oh to the glory.
ROBIN ROBERTS: I will never forget her coming in, and I remember singing before I left. And people all wonder, how can that be a part of the process of healing?
SERGIO GIRALT: All these integrative strategies that we have -- acupuncture, yoga -- are you exploring the ability of an individual to heal themselves. You sang and you felt better. And when we feel better, there are chemicals behind this. And it generates a downstream effect on the immune system, on your ability to recover.
ROBIN ROBERTS: I have been waiting 174 days to say this. Good Morning America.
I was given a sense of hope and energy that helped me re-enter my life.
SPEAKER 9: Open.
ROBIN ROBERTS: There's a very palpable vitality, a life force given back to cancer patients taking part in integrative therapies.
ELEANOR: Two years ago, this week, I really was in a wheelchair. Watch this baby.
ROBIN ROBERTS: All right, Elly!
There's no doubt that integrative medicine has helped the patients here.
Your confidence has returned.
SHEILA COX: It has.
ROBIN ROBERTS: Yeah. I look at -- you are beautiful. You absolutely -- I mean, the light that is coming through your eyes and the way that you hold yourself. I don't know about you, I'm not crazy about the word survivor.
SHEILA COX: Oh, I'm not -- I hate that word. I hate that word.
ROBIN ROBERTS: I like the way we are thriving. And I say we. We are thrivers.
SHEILA COX: I would add to the thriver, I feel like I'm a warrior.
ROBIN ROBERTS: A warrior ready to fearlessly test the waters of her life once again.