spiritual self
Facing Cancer ~ Finding Peace
By Patti Fluger
Oct. 6, 2008 was a beautiful Fall day. The leaves were beginning their majestic change to colorful splendor, and the sky was the clearest blue I’d ever seen. Everything seemed right with the world, but the war had only begun raging inside of me. There was no lump, bump or strange-looking mole, just a feeling of exhaustion and uneasiness. I knew something was wrong, but never anticipated anything so life changing. I had been diagnosed with leukemia, and everything as I knew it was about to change.
Leukemia is a blood cancer and requires eight extensive rounds of chemotherapy. During the first round, I would be admitted to the hospital for a month, being carefully monitored for reactions to the poison I was receiving. Then I would endure seven more rounds, each with five to six days in the hospital, before being sent home to recover for three weeks. During my time at home, I would drive the 70-plus miles to the hospital in Chicago to receive blood transfusions. Many times this would require an entire week of commuting, not an easy task for someone who just had five days of chemo. The first four rounds were tolerable, but shortly after Christmas, my body began to wear out.
A friend who was a certified massage therapist, told me about Reiki, a complementary therapy in which a practitioner uses his or her hands to move energy throughout a person’s body system to create deep relaxation and healing. I was intrigued by the idea but not convinced of its healing powers. How could anything make me feel better and give positive energy? I was full of poison and felt broken and damaged beyond repair. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through the winter. She continued to put the thought in my head, and I continued to pray for guidance.
The next year I was struck with pneumonia and RSV, a deadly viral infection of the lungs. With a raging fever and being barely able to breathe, I fought death with everything I had. As I lay on a bed of ice, I thought for certain that God was taking me home. But I was not ready – I had three children to raise and a husband to grow old with! I prayed for a miracle, and God sent one. In walked Nancy, and this time I knew I had to listen.
Right there, among the nurses, doctors and modern medicine, she began her healing power. As she laid her hands on me, I could feel the warmth of her soul deep within my core. I had been gasping for breath for two weeks, but Reiki was able to slow my breath. To this day, I do not know what she prayed, but God was with us that day and she brought Him there. I had felt peace for the first time in five months and I knew if I was going to make it through this, I was going to have to trust her.
After three weeks, I was discharged from the hospital and sent home to recover before my next step of chemotherapy would begin. This time was different – I had a secret weapon, and nothing in the world would keep me from continuing with the healing power of Reiki.
As the weeks and months passed, I had fallen into a new routine of hope. After my return from the hospital, Nancy would visit on a weekly basis. I would lie in the middle of my bed, and she would maneuver herself around me for the treatment.
The smell of her hands is ever-present in my mind, and I could feel God’s healing grace work through her hands. My nausea, headaches and bone pain were relieved. My restlessness was calmed, and I slept better than I ever have. I experienced peace, hope and well being for days after our sessions.
I now have been in remission for more than a year. I continue to see Nancy every week and have expanded my sessions to include Thai yoga massage. She maneuvers my weakened body with strength and grace, as we continue to work toward my well being. We are a team, and we have worked together through very difficult times. What modern medicine has done to restore my body, Nancy has done 10 times that in restoring my soul. She continues to be an integral part of my recovery, and words will never express my gratitude. I am convinced that she took an impossible situation and made it tolerable through her hands.
She taught me to listen to my body and to nourish it with what it needs. None of us know what the future will hold, but I have felt the power of healing touch, and I know it is real. This is one thing I am certain of.
 She is thankful to Nancy Zick (left),
massage therapist and Reiki practitioner,
whose business, Healing Grace, is based
at the CATHE Center, Burlington, WI.
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