Both And ...

I'm learning with a great deal of fervor that dogma exists everywhere, not just the halls of religion. It is especially prevalent in both the worlds of conventional and alternative medicine. That being said, I am trying to sort through what feels like an ocean of dogma to get at what is true. When it comes to cancer, everyone has their own "truth " if you will, in that what is right for me, may not be right for another breast cancer patient. Every tumor is different and every person is different.

As I write this we are sitting in the waiting room at Dr. Block's, waiting to see him, it's Thursday afternoon and Tuesday I emailed 2.5 typed pages of questions at Dr Block's behest so that he would be prepared to answer them. Now we wait and see.

I'm sort of resigned to my fate here but that hasn't lessened the sense of fear I have about chemotherapy. I'm hoping Dr. Block can calm some of those fears. In the end I recognize much of life is a "both and" situation, not "either or". As a result I am not just doing diet and lifestyle changes, I am probably doing chemo as well. Both - And, not either or. Our spiritual director once said that Jesus was "both and" too. We are the ones that create dogma...ideas that must sit in either one camp or another, making compromise or seeing the good in all, impossible or at least extremely difficult.

It makes sense that each camp has truth that we need to see and follow.

So here's to BOTH...AND.