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Cancer & Spirituality

Body Image /

Sexuality

I first met Ann at a career development retreat for life scientists, during which she – among other things – expressed a good dollop of resistance to a few things, one of which being the idea that her cancer wasn’t going to recur. She was absolutely convinced it was. You have to understand that this is what any person in an advanced life scientist career would realistically conclude about anyone’s cancer of that type. Given what I knew about it at the time, I silently agreed, even as I admired her self-awareness and honesty over the situation.

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I remember one other point of resistance that came on a later development retreat, during a lunch break. Ann had been confronted with a mentor’s conclusion that she was destined to be a “healer” – that she was in fact just that, but was resisting expressing herself in that particular way. Ann transparently disagreed with that assessment. I thought this was ironic to say the least – a few of us did I think – and said something to that effect. That was all Ann needed to cast off decades of entrenched ideas about what we as individuals can and can’t do to heal; just a few words of encouragement (sort of) from someone she trusted. What I’ve witnessed – both up close and from a distance – from Ann has been nothing short of inspiring, bordering on miraculous.

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She made personal progress in the workshops and retreats that came after that in leaps and bounds, quickly advancing to mentor status, while many of the rest of us languished in cycles incremental growth and/or stagnation, and greatly benefitted from Ann’s genuine gift for guidance and healing. Ann has an uncanny ability to pinpoint deep-level issues that hold us back, and communicate them firmly but compassionately: I’ve had conversations in airports with her that were more valuable than months of soul-searching on my own or with other mentors. 

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Ann’s cancer did eventually recur – unfortunately – but it’s how she responded to that that was most inspirational of all. I’m fully aware that it’s simply not within the realm of possibility for everyone to fight off a serious disease like that, but I’m equally convinced mindset can make a bigger difference than many of us realize. Ann’s mindset was to live life to the fullest, which for her entailed eschewing her full-time faculty job, moving to a beautiful place (or places), and delve fully into her personal coaching/healing practice…and her cancer has regressed! As a researcher who has seen amazing (if unpredictable) things with cancer immunotherapy, I’m convinced Ann has intuitively tapped into the vast potentiality of her own immune system to successfully combat her malady. The best coaches, mentors, and friends inspire us to meet and overcome our fears - and occasionally take huge risks in the process – to reap big personal rewards. In this respect, Ann not only talks the talk, but she walks the walk – and walks it very, very well.

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There’s not much else I can say, except that Ann offers unique insight and inspiration to all she touches. She’s helped me navigate some of my biggest transitions to date, which included a major career change, house sale and cross-state move the same year my son was in and out of the hospital. I know I couldn’t have come through all that as well – or as sane – as I did without her guidance. She’s a true gem.