Zen and the Art of Personal Health Maintenance

Breast cancer survivor:  "The information that you get at your doctor’s office is focused, it is objective, it is unattached emotionally, it is not at all comforting… and none of those things are going to get you through it.  The things that are going to get you through it…are to be encouraged by others and maybe be shown how, like how the hell am I going to get this wig on and not look like I’ve got a mop on my head?”

Several years ago I did a series of long interviews with women who had breast cancer, exploring where they found the information that had been useful to them in deciding upon treatment and coping with the condition.  Conducting this research gave me a chance to slow down, sit in an unhurried fashion and listen to women tell their stories as they talked about such a major transformative event in their lives.  This leisurely conversation was far from the 15-30 minute office visit I had grown used to, one loaded with questions I directed to the patient about new symptoms, medication side effects, and evidence-based guidelines on screening and prevention. 

Looking back on it, I suppose these long interviews were the beginning of something that has proved transformative for me.  The transcripts from those conversations say much about the challenges people face as they sift and sort through information they need to cope well in the face of chronic illness.  Clearly, the role of the doctor is secure and often decisive in helping individuals select what they feel is the best course of therapy.   Making this judgment requires a comprehensive understanding of how to categorize and stage the disease as well as working knowledge of an extensive literature on clinical response to various treatments.  For many, especially older adults, they trust their doctor to know best and will do what s/he recommends.  

But when it comes to the day-to-day coping with the enormity of a life forevermore changed by a diagnosis - waking up with the anxiety that this could be the day a recurrence rears its ugly head, or the frustration of wanting one’s original body back, thank you very much - the doctor’s office is not a place to find answers or much comfort.  I wish it were otherwise.  For this, women found helpful their connections with others – women (and men) who had themselves experienced cancer, friends, family, ministers and other practitioners.

I am reminded Robert Pirsig’s, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” which explored of the tug between rational thought based on the Greek tradition vs. the eastern way of knowing through being, and who asserted that humans need both types of wisdom to make the most of their experience.   

Discussions of the art and science of medicine are not new, but in the brave new (and improved) world of patient empowerment, let’s think anew of the art and science of patient-hood.  Individuals are gaining access to the quantitative and rational information needed to make their own decisions while also finding a ready source of common wisdom through social health networks like myhealthvillage.com.  The two opportunities are complementary and not in competition with one another.  Let’s use the village to help use them both to their maximal good!

Jan