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Bump In The Road: Bernie Siegel, MD Part I

Bump In The Road: Bernie Siegel, MD Part II

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What is #CancerRoadTrip and how did it come to be? Read this post to get the backstory!

Follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and at Anti-Cancer Club. Connect with me! I may need a place or two to stay along the way!

Bump In The Road: Bernie Siegel, MD (Part II)

by Pat Wetzel | Jul 20, 2020 | Bump In The Road, Podcast, Road Trip, The Story

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Bernie Siegel, MD

Bernie (he prefers to be called by his first name) was born in Brooklyn, NY. He attended Colgate University and Cornell University Medical College and did his surgical training at Yale New Haven Hospital where he later became an assistant clinical professor of surgery of general and pediatric surgery.

In 1978, he originated Exceptional Cancer Patients (ECaP), a specific form of individual and group therapy that employed patients drawings, dreams, images and feelings to heal. Bernie realized that everyone was capable of exception healing using our inherent physical, spiritual and psychological insights and strengths.

Part One of my interview with Bernie Siegel includes some anecdotes from my own connection with him over the years. I hope you’ll read it here.

Here is the second half of my talk with Bernie:

Bump In The Road: Bernie Siegel, MD Part II

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Books By Bernie Siegel

Bernie Siegel Quotes (Part II)

Compliments are the helium that fills everyone’s balloon; they elevate the person receiving them so he or she can fly over life’s troubles and land safely on the other side. It’s not about curing the disease, but healing the life; then the physical benefits come.

Love is giving with no expectations…Love cures, heals, and rewards two people: the lover and the beloved.

When you embrace the mystery and open yourself to it, a new life is created, resistant to the old problems. You will notice at times that the new life isn’t what you asked for. But asking for specific items or for particular events to occur isn’t how I define prayer. I cannot guarantee that the orders you place with God will always be filled. Prayer is not a test of God, but a call for help to find your inner strength and talent.

To paraphrase something the anthropologist Ashley Montagu once said, the way I change my life is to act as if I’m the person I want to be.

When you wake up and act like a loving person, you realize not only that you are altered, but that the people around you are also transformed, because everybody is changed by the reception of this love.

I love how Mother Theresa said she wouldn’t attend an anti-war rally but if there was a peace rally to call her. So I realized it’s not about waging a war against everybody’s disease and diagnosis but rather about helping them live.

People have taught me what most doctors don’t learn, in other words, when somebody does better than expected, the doctor will tell them they’re doing very well and to keep it up. I learned to say, “You didn’t die when you were supposed to so what’s going on?”, and they always had a story to tell me.

Do not be afraid to love. Remember dear old Don Quixote, viewing the world with love. He saw many beautiful things no one else saw. Try being dear Don Quixote for a day. You’ll see that love improves your vision and allows you to see more than your eye has ever seen before. But be forewarned: Those who look on the world with love will need a handkerchief, not to use as a blindfold, but to blow their nose and dry their tears.

Bobby and I were married in 1954 and by now we know that anger does not mean “I don’t love you” or “I want a divorce.” It means, “I am wounded and in need of love, and I feel safe telling you about it because you are my family.” Sometimes our behavior with each other is no different from the cry of an unattended baby.

Past Posts on Bump In The Road

Traumatic Brain Injury and Re-Learning How To Learn

Bump In The Road: Bernie Siegel, MD Part I

iTunes | GooglePlay | iHeartRadio | Libsyn | Spotify

If you’re interested in learning more about photography (or cooking or film or any number of topics) check out MasterClass All-Access Pass for on-line excellence:

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links.

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What is #CancerRoadTrip and how did it come to be? Read this post to get the backstory!

Follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and at Anti-Cancer Club. Connect with me! I may need a place or two to stay along the way!

Bump In The Road: Bernie Siegel, MD (Part I)

by Pat Wetzel | Jul 13, 2020 | Bump In The Road, Podcast, Road Trip, The Story

Click here for the new location!

Bernie Siegel, MD

Bernie Siegel needs no introduction. For decades, his leadership in integrating mind/body medicine with patient care have been trailblazing.

I first became aware of Bernie many years ago at Yale. I was in an audience in a large lecture hall. Bernie was at the front of the room at the podium.

The audience consisted of surgeons. Within the medical community, surgeons are often seen as having less than stellar bedside manners. And Bernie was the antithesis of this model. He talked to his patients and most importantly he listened.

“People have taught me what most doctors don’t learn, in other words, when somebody does better than expected, the doctor will tell them they’re doing very well and to keep it up. I learned to say, “You didn’t die when you were supposed to so what’s going on?”, and they always had a story to tell me.”

–Bernie Siegel, MD

Bernie believed in his patients, in the power of thought and prayer and in the importance of a patient’s attitude. Their story mattered, in their lives and in their healing.

His audience on this day did not see things this way.

“Cold steel for a quick heal”, “Don’t let skin stand between you and the diagnosis”, and other surgical quips round their way through the audience, accompanied by laughter. Laughter at Bernie, and laughter at anyone who would dare to challenge their medical model of the surgeon as the supreme healer.

Well Bernie has had the last laugh as science has caught up to his vision of health. Using expressive methodologies such as art and drawing to help patients understand their world view and to heal it, Bernie and his exceptional patients continue to beat the odds. The impact of our thoughts and perceptions on our bodies is real. Bernie was just ahead of the curve.

“Thoughts are chemical. They can either kill us or cure us.”

–Bernie Siegel, MD

That day always stuck in my mind, and years later as I dealt with cancer, Bernie’s book and words accompanied me. And then one day, we had a conversation. It was about my other website, Anti-Cancer Club.

“You have the wrong name, you know,” Bernie told me.

“How so?” I asked.

And he told me a story.

Mother Teresa, he explained once said:

“I will never attend an anti-war rally; if you have a peace rally, invite me.”― Mother Teresa

And he left it at that.

It took me some years to fully absorb and understand his story. When it hit me, it was powerful. Life is about a positive flow of energy, not about being against something. What are you FOR? Where do you put your energy? For what or whom do you advocate?

Bernie is a wise soul and I’m honored to have him on Bump in the Road. Here is the first of my two part podcast with this iconoclastic surgeon:

Bump In The Road

iTunes | GooglePlay | iHeartRadio | Libsyn | Spotify

Enjoy Bump In The Road? Click here to help us grow by leaving a review on Apple!

Then Click on “Listen” On Apple Podcasts To Get To The Review Page

Books By Bernie Siegel

And you can learn more about Bernie on his website, www.BernieSiegelMD.com

Bernie Siegel Quotes (Part I)

I’ve assembled some of my favorite quotes from Bernie. Here is the first half. The others will be shared when the second half of this interview is published next week.

Thoughts are chemical. They can either kill us or cure us.

I am convinced that unconditional love is the most powerful stimulant of the immune system. If I told patients to raise their blood levels of immune globulins or killer T cells, no one would know how. But if I can teach them to love themselves and there fully, the same changes happen automatically. The truth is: love heals.

Diseases can be our spiritual flat tires–disruptions in our lives that seem to be disasters at the time but end by redirecting our lives in a meaningful way

Be grateful simply for being alive. When you are grateful for life, pure and simple, your life becomes one you can be grateful for. That may strike you as circular or even backward logic, but your attitude really does have an effect on how tings work out. When you can’t change your life any other way, you can still change your attitude. When you do, your life changes.

One’s attitude towards oneself is the single most important factor in healing.

You cannot fail at being yourself. A cat doesn’t try to be a tiger, and you shouldn’t try to be something you aren’t. You are a process, not a product. Your job is to discover what you are and create that creature. You still won’t be perfect, but success isn’t about perfection–it about authenticity.

You are a success if you are being your real, authentic self.

God wants us to know that life is a series of beginnings not endings. Just as graduations are not terminations but commencements. Creation is an ongoing process and when we create a perfect world where love and compassion are shared by all suffering will cease. Embrace each challenge in your life as an opportunity for self-transformation.

You can’t control the world, but when you control your thoughts, you bring order.

Refusal to hope is nothing more than a decision to die.

Being a survivor doesn’t mean being strong – it’s telling people when you need a meal or a ride, company, whatever. It’s paying attention to heart wisdom, feelings, not living a role, but having a unique, authentic life, having something to contribute, finding time to love and laugh. All these things are qualities of survivors.

Past Posts on Bump In The Road

Traumatic Brain Injury and Re-Learning How To Learn

If you’re interested in learning more about photography (or cooking or film or any number of topics) check out MasterClass All-Access Pass for on-line excellence:

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links.

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What is #CancerRoadTrip and how did it come to be? Read this post to get the backstory!

Follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and at Anti-Cancer Club. Connect with me! I may need a place or two to stay along the way!

Traumatic Brain Injury and Re-learning How To Learn

by Pat Wetzel | Jul 6, 2020 | Bump In The Road, Podcast, Road Trip, The Story

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Traumatic Brain Injury: Learning to Learn Again

Vanessa Schmitt was a typical teenager. Full of energy and enthusiasm, she studied, held a lead in the school play, sang in choir, and generally enjoyed life.

Then one afternoon, a head on crash with a large truck changed the course of Vanessa’s life. With a traumatic brain injury, she had to re-learn how to learn. With insights from her own journey, Vanessa brought unique insights into the process of learning. And that experience eventually sent her on a mission to help learning challenged children.

A head on collision changed everything for Vanessa Schmitt

Having to re-learn how to learn opens the door to many questions about our educational system. How do we learn? Do some of us learn differently? Does our current system offer the testing modalities we really need to demonstrate mastery of material and competence? Or are there other ways to consider and measure the learning process? How do we best adapt our educational systems to help those that learn differently?

This story will warm your heart and your soul and make you reconsider the real impact of a bump in the road.

Vanessa Schmitt

Bump In The Road

iTunes | GooglePlay | iHeartRadio | Libsyn | Spotify

Enjoy Bump In The Road? Click here to help us grow by leaving a review on Apple!

Then Click on “Listen” On Apple Podcasts To Get To The Review Page

Past Posts on Bump In The Road