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Suzanne’s Birthday

To compensate for cutting her finger, Gail Teehan agreed to meet me for lunch today at Kitty’s Place. At least, this gave me the opportunity to tell her what was going on with me and to find out what her trip to Santa Barbara was like. After lunch, we took a nice walk in Fort Baker on Hawk Hill, where we saw magnificent views of San Francisco, the Pacific Ocean, and Rodeo Beach. I was fairly exhausted from the effort, and decided to rest for a few hours.

During my rest period, I watched two documentaries on Tibet on PBS. The plight of the Tibetans is as bad as any people in exile. I felt like spending the $500.00 to attend a reception for the Dalai Lama that I was invited to on June 10, and I still may do so. When I was in India in 1975, I visited the village of Bodh Gaya, the location of the Bo Tree where Buddha became enlightened. There was one Tibetan restaurant there, and I at there frequently. The people were so kind, even though one of the spoke very little English – just enough to all me to order. There is a special beauty about the Tibetans I’ve met, and along with Thich Nhat Hanh, I consider the Dalai Lama the most influential Buddhists of our day. If anyone is interested in helping out the Tibetan cause, please let me know!

When the programs were over, I decided to go to Suzanne Schmidt’s birthday party, which turned out to be very special. Instead of the usual shuffling around and trying to figure who to talk to, Suzanne told us a story about her life, and two other women read pieces of their writings. I was touched by all of this, for I felt that each one of the women were more accomplished writers than I, and I had something to aspire to in my writing. I am not putting myself down, I’m recognizing the talent I saw last night.

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What Kind of Day was This?

February 8, 1997 – What Kind of Day was This?

Saturday morning, I received a phone call from R. M. that Suzanne was ill and that R. and I were to lead the workshop that was scheduled for 11:00. This was really weird! We had to improvise most of the morning, but somehow, we managed. Several people, including myself, explained how Suzanne’s “new therapy” worked and how they felt about it.

After the strange workshop, I had my first walk outdoors since the surgery. Boy! Did it make me exhausted. When we got home, I really had to listen to my body and I took a long nap.

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Pissing Contest

February 5, 1997 – Pissing Contest

M. L. T. picked up J. so that we could meet with Dr. Peter Carroll, the Oncological Urologist that everyone said was the best in the Bay Area. L. C. met us at the U. C. Medical Center in his office. After a brief case history and yet another prostate exam, Dr. Carroll once again explained the standard of treatment for bladder cancer: radical cystectomy. We were encouraged by his some two hundred bladder removals and eighty urinary diversion operations. We felt that this was the man to do any cutting, if any was to be done. We asked him all the questions in Appendix 3. We left there feeling confident that Dr. Carroll could handle any surgery that I might need.

Later that afternoon, I saw my therapist, Suzanne Schmidt for the first time since November. She was going through some radical changes in healing herself, which included almost daily visits to Yokey Kim. We started a new therapy involving self-massage of the chakras (seven energy points within the body described by Indian yogis) and the mental and emotional pain associated with them. We were quite in synch during the whole session, which lasted over two hours. We seemed to be healing each other, but I still did not get a clear idea of how to treat my bladder cancer. I left her house feeling very good!

Suzanne had recommended that I try to see Kim every day, if possible, so when I got home I called him. He said that I could come in at 6:00 P. M., which I did. The second treatment was better than the first, in that I was more relaxed and knew what to expect.

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No Magic Bullets

February 4, 1997 – No Magic Bullets!

The next morning, we shipped J. off with M. L. T. and headed for Dr. Roger Morrison, a world renowned homeopath. We explained the situation to Roger, and he was all for the bladder saving approach, especially because it provided an option to save the bladder, as well as a fallback position of bladder removal. However, we didn’t learn very much new from Roger, and this was rather disappointing. We were looking for a magic bullet, but none was to be found.

no magic bullets

In the afternoon, I saw the Russian healer, Nicholi Levaschov, in San Francisco. I loved the man at first sight, as I could see his healing qualities and felt good in his presence. However, I found it very difficult to understand his English, and therefore have not followed up with any further treatment, as yet. What he did was quite remarkable, though. He seemed to be able to stand over my body and evoke healing energy. He moved his hands in circles around the area of my bladder, and I felt the energy quite clearly. I sensed that he was working with colors and when I felt the color, yellow, I made a comment. He confirmed my sensitivity and continued the treatment. All in all, I was there for about thirty minutes and enjoyed the experience quite well.

My next appointment was with Suzanne Schmidt’s healer, Yokey Kim, at his studio, Kim’s Yoga Body Design in Japan Town in San Francisco. Kim is a Korean shiatsu and acupressure healer of top quality. I felt a lot of tension release from my shoulders and legs during the treatment, which lasted about one hour. The cost of the session was only forty dollars!

Although Roger, Nicholi, and Kim are all incredible natural healers, there were no magic bullets to be had! I was left to my own devices, such as “mind stories” and other spiritual practices.