The Universal Wisdom of Dreams: Making the Invisible Visible

 by Dr. Bernie Siegel  http://berniesiegelmd.com/

((I give Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos permission to use and post my blog on her sites. Dr. Bernie Siegel.) 

Dr. Bernie Siegel, Bernie by choice, is my guest blogger today for part 2 of October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.      Dreams can be an important part of our waking life. They can even save our lives through Inner-guidance. Bernie’s words take us on a personal journey through his life of dreams, pets, healing, respect and love.... 

 

Over the years, I have had many dreams and experiences which have served as personal guides for me and made me think about my life, actions and creation. I believe the reason we sleep is not just to allow our body to rest but to allow a universal inner wisdom to speak to us through symbols. The message can be about physical as well as psychological problems. I have found dreams and drawings very useful in diagnosing physical conditions. Doctors are not told, while being trained, that Jung correctly diagnosed a brain tumor from a dream. This inner universal wisdom which creates our dreams will sometimes manifest itself in images and words.

Bernie Siegels dogs For example, I wrote a book called Buddy’s Candle to help people deal with the loss of a loved one of any species. When I finished the book, I took our dog Furphy out for a walk. I heard the voice of my inner wisdom say to me, “Go to the animal shelter.” We got into the car and drove there. I walked in and saw a dog sitting near the door. The voice said, “What’s his name?” Of course the answer was, “His name is Buddy. He has been here less than fifteen minutes.” I said I was there to take him home and I did. I have to add that on the way home I stopped for gas and Buddy leaped out of the car and started running down the road. With help I caught him and when we got home I quieted my mind and asked him why he did that? His answer, which blew my mind was, “I belonged to a couple. The husband was an alcoholic. When his wife would ask him to take me for a walk he would go to a bar and drink while I was locked in the car and then he would abuse me.”

I told him I would never treat him like that. The test happened a few weeks later when going shopping. I accidentally hit the button on my car keys, while putting them in my pocket, which opened the minivan’s side door. When I returned to the car Buddy was sitting in the open car. I started yelling for Furphy and then heard Amelia Kinkade, my animal intuitive friend, say, “Bernie, quiet your mind.” As soon as I did, I knew Furphy was in Stop & Shop looking for me. And indeed when I went there the guard saw me and asked if I was looking for my dog which he had with him.

Sometimes the universal inner wisdom delivers its message in visual form. Many years ago I experienced hematuria and my associates wanted me to immediately see a urologist as cancer could be the cause of the bloody urine. I was very busy and did not want to interrupt my schedule and caring for patients. That night I went to bed and dreamed that I was sitting in the cancer support group I ran. Those attending were all introducing themselves and telling why they were attending. When it came my time to speak and introduce myself everyone said, “But you don’t have cancer!” before I could say a word. I awoke knowing I didn’t have cancer and that I could make an appointment that fit my schedule. The dream proved to be correct. I had an infection, not cancer.

These experiences and many others have led me to the belief that consciousness is non-local, not limited to the body and independent of it. I believe what leaves our bodies and sees when we have a near death experience is the same force which creates our dreams; the universal collective consciousness and the source of creation. So if you want to make the invisible visible pay attention to your dreams and drawings as God speaks in dreams and images.

Bernie’s stories about love and his relationship with patients, animals and dreams, shows how important our Inner-guidance is in all aspects of life. When we still our mind-chatter, handle our fear and stress, and focus on Inner-guidance we can find the answers to almost any of our challenging questions, often in our dreams.

Guest Bio: About Dr. Bernie Siegel: Bernie, as he prefers to be called, was born in Brooklyn, NY, and attended Colgate University and Cornell University Medical College. He graduated with honors and holds membership in two scholastic honor societies, Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha. He trained to become a surgeon at Yale New Haven Hospital, West Haven Veteran’s Hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. In 1989, Bernie retired from Yale as an Assistant Clinical Professor of General and Pediatric Surgery to speak to patients, their families and caregivers.

Bio: Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos, Intuitive Life Coach, survived three breast cancers missed by the medical community, wrote SURVIVING CANCERLAND: Intuitive Aspects of Healing (Cypress House, Jan 2014) websites: Surviving Cancerland & Access Your Inner Guide, Hosts Living Well Talk Radio , Cancer Q&A columnist CapeWomenOnlineMagazine, Dream Queen columnist- Wellness Woman 40 & Beyond, Your Dream Interpretation http://www.yourdreaminterpretation.com/about-us/ ,WakeUpWomen; R.A. BLOCH Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor. Represented by Steve Allen Media

Dreams of Diagnosis: Let Magic Happen During Breast Cancer Awareness

Do you keep a dream journal beside your bed?

Here are some true life stories that share important health reasons why your nightly dreams can be an important part of your daily life. 

  

As a kick-off to October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I will be guest blogging and sharing reciprocal blogs with some very impressive and world renowned physicians, metaphysicians, fellow dreamers and cancer survivors. The theme of these bogs is Dreams of Diagnosis and will focus on the detection and healing power of your dreams.

Have you ever had a precognitive dream?

Precognition is referred to as future sight, and second sight. It is a type of extrasensory perception. Precognitive dreams give precognitive, or future information. Do you know someone who had a prophetic or precognitive dream that diagnosed illness? That is the focus of Dr. Larry Burk’s blog. 

My guest blogger today is Dr. Larry Burk who has had just such dreams and experiences….

Let Magic Happen: Cancer Dream Diagnosis

I’ve been keeping dreams diaries on a regular basis since 1987.  On two occasions I’ve had precognitive dreams that corresponded to the diagnosis of cancer in someone else. Until I met Pali Delevitt in 1999, I had never heard of anyone diagnosing their own cancer in a dream as described in the excerpt below from Chapter 9 of Let Magic Happen: Adventures in Healing with a Holistic Radiologist. Since then I’ve discovered two other friends who diagnosed their own breast cancers in dreams and have met clinicians who routinely use dreams for diagnostic guidance in their practices. I moderated a panel discussion on the topic at the 2012 Parapsychological Association meeting as described in the linked abstract, Medical Dream Diagnosis. To learn my favorite approach to dreams see the May 2013 Let Magic Happen blog, Interpreting Dreams in Multiple Dimensions.

Healing Dream Guidance excerpt:

In her book, Wyld Possibilities, she described how in 1987 she had a suspicious lesion on her tongue biopsied. It came back negative. Soon afterward, she had a dream of a spider crawling out of her mouth through a mass of cobwebs. Then two characters from the M*A*S*H television show, Charles Emerson Winchester and Hot Lips Houlihan, showed up in a dream. They told her (several times) she had a tumor in her tongue that needed to come out, despite the initial negative biopsy. A repeat biopsy by her skeptical surgeon eventually confirmed the cancer.

After surgery and radiation left her temporarily cancer-free, she had additional dreams in 1991 of a spider escaping from a cage. This was a warning of the first recurrence of her cancer. Shortly after we met, she had another recurrence. It was recommended that she have half her jaw removed for reconstructive surgery, but instead she chose to manage the condition through less radical laser surgery and holistic remedies. She was guided by her dreams until her death ten years later, outliving her prognosis by a couple decades. Pali used her voice during those years to teach many students. She also fulfilled her lifelong dream of writing and producing Esther, her biblical musical masterpiece featuring 20 of her original songs.

Naturally, it was Pali who recommended Marc Ian Barasch’s Healing Dreams to me when it first came out in 2000. He reported a similar experience in diagnosing his own occult thyroid cancer in the book. He was confronted by recurring ominous dreams filled with images of death. They always focused on his neck. Finally, after an initial negative workup, he had a terrifying dream that “torturers had hung an iron pot filled with red-hot coals beneath [his] chin,” that drove him to push his doctors to find the cancer. As documented in his book, such dream diagnoses are more common than you might think.

by Dr. Larry Burk

Guest Blog BIO: Dr. Burk’s journey follows a path from his professional training in conventional medicine and radiology to his alternative path into the world of holistic medicine.  Larry grew up in Pittsburgh, finished his undergraduate chemistry degree at Duke University in 1977, returned to the University of Pittsburgh for medical school & radiology residency, pioneered MRI researcher at the Pittsburgh NMR Institute before going to the University of Pennsylvania for a musculoskeletal radiology fellowship in 1986. He was section head of musculoskeletal radiology at Duke University Medical Center from 1993-1996 & Associate Professor of Radiology. www.letmagichappen.com  www.orientalhealthsolutions.com

His involvement with the National MRI Safety Committee in the 1980’s led to his interest in alternative medicine along with his Dad’s seven- year journey with renal cell cancer. In 1990 he co-founded the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine & acted as Education Director. In 2004  to set up his consulting business, Healing Imager, Inc. He now does teleradiology for NationalRad & integrative medicine for Oriental Health Solutions, LLC.

Bio: Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos, Intuitive Life Coach, survived three breast cancers missed by the medical community, wrote SURVIVING CANCERLAND: Intuitive Aspects of Healing (Cypress House, Jan 2014http://tinyurl.com/p7cjfxa ) websites: http://www.survivingcancerland.com/ & Access Your Inner Guide, Hosts Living Well Talk Radio , Cancer Q&A columnist CapeWomenOnlineMagazine, Dream Queen columnist- Wellness Woman 40 & Beyond, Your Dream Interpretation http://www.yourdreaminterpretation.com/about-us/,WakeUpWomen; R.A. BLOCH Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor.  Represented by Steve Allen Media  Join her in San Diego  DREAM WORK SUMMIT http://newdreamwork.ontraport.net/t?orid=5795&opid=3  

Halfway to Heaven: The Healing Power of Pets & Who We Are

I had the most incredible nurse by my side when I went through all three of my breast cancer challenges.


This nurse not only brought me food and laid it gently  on my chest to coax me to eat after a particularly bad chemotherapy sessions, but also slept beside me and followed me into the bathroom during my many nightly trips to the toilet.  There, he would cover my cold feet with his warm furry stomach and patiently waited for me to finish.

This amazing feline nurse was my Siamese cat of 27 years. Baby Cakes was the cat who barked and healed.

 

The first time I saw Baby Cakes he was all alone in a pet shop window. “How much is that white kitty in the window?” I asked. “And may I please hold her?”

 

Baby buried his face in the bend of my arm and sneezed when the sales girl returned. “That kitten is a he, not a she. He’s some kind of white Siamese, and I’m sorry, but he’s not for sale. He’s sick. We’re returning him to the breeder tomorrow.”

 

I knew what that meant, and it was not good. Caring for a sick kitten was costly and most breeders were not into spending money. They were into making it.

 

As she reached for him Baby barked like a dog. “Darn it. He always makes me jump when he does that. Learned it from the dogs in here. Too bad he’s going back. He’s so smart.”

 

“He’s not going back. I’m taking him home. Help me make this happen.” She did.

 

That was 27 years, 3 breast cancers, 2 chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and 21 operations ago. We’ve been to hell and back together.

 

Hell, we’ve been through cancer together!

 

Baby’s unconditional love was expressed in tweets, purrs, and barks. When my health reports faxed to my home had ALERT typed on all four sides of the paper, Baby would sit in my lap, gaze into my eyes, read my emotions and then reach up and gently caress my face with his paw as if to say, “It’s going to be okay. Don’t worry. You’re not alone. I’m here. Let’s take a nap. We’ll feel better.” And we always did.

 

Dreams were our escape from cancer reality during treatment because truth be told, it was when I was awake that the nightmare always resumed, those many years ago.    

 

Last night’s dream was the beginning of today’s nightmare of a different sort because I am cured of cancer, now. I got my report of clean health for the seventh year in a row a few weeks ago. But this prophetic dream was a forewarning that prepared me for the end of my life with Baby Cakes. My nurse, having finished his work, was finally ready to leave me.

 

Two spirit guides dressed in brown hooded robes with a rope belts stepped through the pop-up in my epic dream. This pop-up is much like a pop-up on your computer, except that it is the doorway to the room-between-realms that is neither of the living nor the dead, but a place where spirit guides can enter dreams with prophetic information.

In the dream, I’m told by my Spirit guides that Baby is dying. I run through my house looking for him. I recognize one of my Inner selves from a previous dream holding him in her arms. “Baby is dying,” she says and holds him out to me. Suddenly my house begins to fall apart and I have to run across the failing floors and jump over the abyss that extends down two floors to take him from her.

 

“This is Baby’s last day. Carry him with you in your dreams because this is the last night you will have with him,” a hooded guide says on my left.  I hugged him to me and walked though my dream house cradling and singing to my Baby.

 

The next morning I jumped out of bed, searched for Baby and found him beside the fireplace sleeping on his heated fur pad. He purrs when he sees me and then begins to groan from pain.  My nightmare flowed into my morning and became a reality as Baby, a big eater, refused his favorite jar of baby food.

 

The dream made sense. My Inner guides, knowing my love for Baby Cakes, had warned me that my home would be losing an important part of its foundation. My Inner self found him first and I was willing to hurl myself over the abyss of death and destruction to hold Baby’s spirit in the dream world one last night. We would always be able to find each other and meet in the dream world. 

                  

 On the way to the vet, I am still in denial of my dream and Baby’s fate. I decide that I will not leave Baby at the vet if they need to run tests.  I’ll bring him back tomorrow.  In 27 years Baby has never been away from home. No, I’ll not leave Baby alone at the vet overnight.

 

“All of Baby’s organs are failing. He is diabetic and in a ketonicc state. This is not unusual for a 27 year old cat that has tongue cancer.” 

 

The cancer had been discovered during a routine dental check-up seven years ago and at that time Baby had been given six months to live. The months came and went but Baby stayed. “Baby Cakes is a miracle cat to have survived this long with or without cancer. But now he is in pain and not going to get better. He is shutting down.”

The decision is made.  A shot to quiet him and stop the pain is followed by pink death. Pink nose, Pink month… Synchronicity can be a kick-in-the-pants.

 “He’s halfway to heaven,” the vet said after the first injection.  “You can leave if you want. We’ll take care of him.”

 

 But I didn’t. I wouldn’t leave my Baby. And my husband wouldn’t leave me. So we sat together and waited as a family. When I was in my darkest hour, Baby never left me. He purred to me. He stroked my face and warmed my feet.

 

 

As we held Baby’s paws beneath the security of his towel, I sang his favorite words to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb…. “Baby Cakes mouse treats, Outside play, momma daddy love toy….” The words to the song don’t fit or rhyme but they are perfect.  As I Reiki him, his body relaxes and his spirit slips out. He is free. The pain is gone. And so is my Baby. Where did he go? Who will take care of him? Will he be lonely? He’s never been away from home.

 

My Inner-guidance answers, “Stop torturing yourself. You know all those answers and if you don’t remember them, you’ll find them in your dreams. Believe.”

 

 When Baby was all the way to heaven, I closed his blue eyes, and kissed his precious white head. Only the pink tips of his ears distinguished him from the towel.

 

He was still warm as I tucked him in for his fist night ever away from home.

 

 Now, as I sit to type, I must stop crying to see the keys. My nose clears and his smell rises from my chest where I held him so close on the ride to the vet. I have to wash my clothes. I know I must. But, not yet. Let me sit with him just a little longer, with his smell and fur all over me—a reminder that there are things that survive cancer and death—LOVE.

 

 The washing machine will wash away the last physical remnants of my Baby Cakes but his memories are marked indelibly in my mind and life. I’ve read that some pets will take on the illness of their loved one. But I know Baby did not die of cancer. He died of old age. Cancer was a part of his life but did not rule his life. Love ruled his life.

   

And, love cannot be washed away by soap and water. If love is one of the things you can take with you to the other side, I hope Baby remembers me when I get there because I will be thinking of him as I climb the stairway to heaven on my way to find my little nurse.  If you can take love with you to the other side, is it already there waiting, too? I’ll bet it is.

 

How did my Spirit guides know? Why did they warn me in the dream of impending death?

 

Perhaps because even they know the importance of our animals—our furry children—in our lives—and the importance of their unconditional love, loyalty and profound healing powers. Animals are gifts from God with healing powers that we are only just beginning to understand. 

 

Two days later a tiny wooden box and card arrived from the vet. The card contained a poem that touched my heart and explained it all.

 

 

Just this side of heaven lies the Rainbow Bridge.

When a pet dies, it goes to the Rainbow Bridge.

It makes friends with other animals and frolics over rolling

hills and peaceful lush meadows of green.

They are as healthy and playful as we remember them in days gone by.

 

Together, the animals chase and play, but the day comes

when a pet will suddenly stop and look into the distance …

Bright eyes intent, eager body quivering.

Suddenly recognizing you, your pet bounds quickly across the green

fields and into your embrace. You celebrate in joyous reunion.

You will never again be separated.

 

Happy tears and kisses are warm and plentiful,

Your hands caress the face you missed. You look into the loving eyes of your pet and know that you never really parted. You realize that though out of sight, your love had been remembered.

You cross the rainbow bridge together.

 

 

Animals help bring back the innocence and wonder of life and reconnect to inner joy that is “Who We Are.”

 

As I place the tiny wooden box of ashes above the fireplace, I hear a muffled bark followed by the sound of a belled toy in the hallway, and my sadness lifts as the room fills with love.

 

Like a typical cat, Baby Cakes must have used the Rainbow Bridge to find his way back home.

 

This blog is taken from the soon to be released book Baby Cakes: The Cat who Barked and Healed, by Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos

 

 

 

Bio: Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos, Intuitive Life Coach, survived three breast cancers, wrote SURVIVING CANCERLAND: Intuitive Aspects of Healing (Cypress House, Jan 2014) websites: Surviving Cancerland & Access Your Inner Guide, Hosts Living Well Talk Radio , Cancer Q&A columnist CapeWomenOnlineMagazine, Dream Queen columnist- Wellness Woman 40 & Beyond, Your Dream Intrepretation http://www.yourdreaminterpretation.com/about-us/ ,WakeUpWomen; R.A. BLOCH Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor. Represented by Steve Allen Media

5 Things You Must Know About Your Nighttime Dreams to Live an Awakened Life

My guest blogger today is fellow Patheos Blogger and best selling author Kelly Sullivan Walden. Her book It is All in Your Dreams has just hit the book shelves and I’m so honored to be one of the contributing authors! My dream in her book is about my Spirit Guide handing me an angel feather to help me Stand in My Power & Speak My Truth during my fight with cancer….and I lived to share the story.

We spend one-third of our lives sleeping and during that time we dream…every night. Yet, for most people, the territory of nighttime dreams is shrouded in mystery.

Our dreams remain an “X” file because in our culture they are looked upon my most people as frivolous, nonsensical, random firings of an over-worked brain. Because of this erroneous perspective, most people don’t take the time to shine a light on these nocturnal escapades that, if understood, would completely change their lives.

In fact, what most people don’t realize is that some of the greatest contributions to science, medicine, art, technology, and industry have been brought to light via dreams (and the dreaming mind). For example, unless you live in a nudist colony, I bet you are wearing some form of clothing right now. Did you know that the sewing needle was dreamed into being through an inventor named Elias Howe in 1846? In fact, his invention of the sewing needle that led to the sewing machine is one of the catalysts for the entire Industrial Revolution. If it weren’t for Elias Howe’s remembered dream and others like it, we would be shivering, naked, in the dark, without (gasp) Internet access. Frightening thought, isn’t it? (Not the naked part, but the lack of Internet!)

What if your breakthrough, idea, solution, invention, or insight was scheduled to arrive via Dream UPS (Universal Providence Supplier) tonight in your dreams? If you knew this, would you take the time upon awakening (a measly 5 minutes) to record your dreams?

I thought so.

Ok. Now that I’ve got you revved up and inspired to remember your dreams…what are you going to do with them???

Don’t despair. I’ve got you covered! It just so happens that my friend and fellow dream expert Kelly Sullivan Walden, bestselling author, just launched her latest and greatest book, “It’s All In Your Dreams: How to Interpret Your Sleeping Dreams to Make Your Waking Dreams Come True.”

When you buy the book TODAY on Amazon.com (for only $11.32 on Amazon.com) you’ll receive access to $1,000 worth of dreamy bonus gifts (including one from Yours Truly)…and you’ll be invited to join Kelly’s 30-Day Dream Challenge (for fre*e).

In Kelly’s book you’ll learn about her secret DREAM Code: a 5-step process to help you remember, connect, and use your night dreams be a springboard for your greatest waking dreams to come true.

Here’s a sneak peak into the Dream code…where DREAM stands for:

D is for declaration: State what you want, clearly and precisely.

R is for remembrance: Learn easy ways to remember exactly what you dream.

E is for embodiment: Feel the energy in your body; bring the change into your life.

A is for activation: Do something. Take an action to bring your dream into the waking world.

M is for mastermind: Tell the tale of your dream and discover the details. Learn to create a dream mastermind group, share and transfer, and group dream.

Here’s how you can get your copy of It’s All In Your Dreams along with $1,000 worth of dreamy bonus gifts:

1. Go to Amazon.com and purchase a copy of It’s All In Your Dreams .

2. Scroll over your Amazon.com Order number and copy it (for the next step).

3. Go to Kelly’s launch website: www.30DayDreamChallenge.com and input your name, e-mail address and Amazon.com order number

4. Over the next thirty days, you’ll receive a “Daily Dream Assignment” to inspire you toward dream mastery.

5. Each day that you post a dream (or dream snippet) you’ll be given a link to your free gift for the day (an e-book or mp3 from a healthy living/dreaming expert) that matches that day’s dream assignment.

6. If you’re feeling particularly excited about the 30-Day Dream Challenge and the bonus gifts and want to share this opportunity with your friends, purchase 5-10 copies of It’s All In Your Dreams on Amazon.com, you will be given access to a private dream Tele-class which gives you an opportunity to get your personal dream question(s) answered.

Wanna play?

Great! Now get your dream on!

Kelly Sullivan Walden

Dream Expert, Founder of Dream-Life Coach Training Author of It’s All In Your Dreams – www.30DayDreamChallenge.com

About the author- Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos is a Green Beret Army-Brat born and raised in Germany, three- time breast cancer survivor who penned SURVIVING CANCERLAND. www.survivingcancerland.com , BTRadio Host of Living Well Talk Radio’s Your Life Revealed, Doctor’s Inn: TLC Wellness; Patheos & Om Times Blogger, CapeWomenOnlineMagazine Cancer Columnist, Contributing author to WakeUpWomen.com and Kelly Sullivan Walden’s book It’s All in Your Dreams. She is represented by & Steve Allen PR Media. Download her free workbook 7 Steps to Access Awaken and Activate Your Inner Guide @ AccessYourInnerGuide.com

New Danish Research: The Graveyard Shift & Cancer

Although humans living in dark harmony with vampires is a popular entertainment theme, it is far from reality. New scientific evidence proves that working the “graveyard shift” may put women in an early grave.

We are wired to rise with the sun and sleep beneath the moon. Following natural sleep patterns help us stay healthy. The invention of electricity gave us artificial day at night. We extended our work hours. Has progress negatively impacted our health by turning our internal clock upside down? Questions surrounding the consequences of disrupted sleep patterns may have finally been answered.

A newly published Danish study set up a case-control group from more than 15,500 women who had been in the Danish military. Of those, 141 with breast cancer and 551 without filled in a 28-page questionnaire on work and lifestyle. But the analysis was only based on 132 cases and 505 controls.

The study also stated that women working three nights a week were at a 40% higher risk of getting breast cancer than women who did not. That number doubled to 80% if they worked 6 nights a week.

Rachel Crowson of American Radio News Network called me at home to comment on air about this breaking news.

RC: “Kathleen, you are a two-time breast cancer survivor who wrote the book, Surviving Cancerland: The Intuitive Aspects of Healing. Would you please comment on this new finding?”

 K: “It brings to light the health challenges of daytime vs nighttime workers when the obvious difference is natural light. Sunlight and darkness at the appropriate time is important to humans. The hormone melatonin is produced in the body during sleep cycles and regulates wake cycles. It is also a calming agent. Night shift workers may lack adequate amounts of it because the synthesis and release of melatonin are stimulated by darkness. Night workers are exposed to long hours of florescent light which inhibits melatonin production, and the room they sleep in during the day may not be dark enough to stimulate it either. Another consideration is the lack of cancer fighting vitamin D due to daytime sleep patterns. Scientific study has linked vitamin D deficiency to cancer.”

RC: “Kathleen, your story is pretty profound. Would you please share it with us?”

K: “I’m a two-time stage-four breast cancer survivor. What makes my story unique is that I used my female intuitive abilities through dreams to diagnose myself after doctors at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute told me I was healthy. I actually forced them into two operations they originally refused to perform where my true condition was revealed.”

RC: “How did you get doctors to listen to your dreams?”

K:  "I didn’t. My healing journey was a double blind study between conventional medical tests and Intuitive dreams. It is a story of faith, intuitive ability, and contact with a Higher Order that gave me the strength to ignore the weight of incorrect medical opinion and the statistical survival chances to survive. I always worked with my conventional doctors, but never forgot to make the final decisions. I think it is important to point out that my dreams told me to go back to my doctors rather than looking for Swami-wami Ramalama-ding-dong. My dreams had faith in my doctors.

RC: How does your story fit into this new study?”

K: “Listen to your body. Deficiencies that lead to illness will make themselves known with signs, signals and symptoms. Our bodies have been speaking to us since the beginning of time. Believe in your inner guidance.”

RC: “What do you see as a solution to this study? Is there an answer?”

K: “As long as two paychecks are required in homes to make ends meet, and there is a need for round-the-clock health care, there will be night shift workers and increased stress levels. Until more research is done on this information, I suggest taking vitamin D and melatonin supplements before bed.”

According to WebMD and the Mayo Clinic, the hormone melatonin is produced in the brain by the pineal gland.

Lisa Wilde, director of research at Breast Cancer Campaign, said: "Night shift working and breast cancer risk is a hugely complex area and two of the biggest risk factors – diet and physical activity outside of working hours – weren't considered in this study.”

It would be paradise to work substantial week-day nine-to-five jobs. The reality is our economic challenges have put many families in financial crisis. Unable to afford child care, one parent works day shifts while the other stays home with the children. At night those roles are reversed. Many mothers work the graveyard-shifts in caregiver facilities like hospitals. It pays time and a half. Coupled with financial problems, this can cause profound stress. Stress is a proven killer and is cited as one of the reasons for an increase in cancer.

Until we can all have the ideal life, job opportunities and work environment, do your body a favor; don’t put it in an early grave. Fortify it with supplements and exercise, empower it with love, and listen to it. You chose it for this lifetime. Don’t wear it out before its time. Meditate, count your blessings, and thank your Higher Power for guidance.

About the author: Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos is an author, Radio co-host Beyond the 5 Senses, Q&A cancer columnist for Cape Women Online Magazine, & RA BLOCH Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor. Her website @ www.survivingcancerland.com Follow her @ FBhttp://t.co/aD3Zo3q;Thttps://twitter.com/#!/PsychicHealing;LIhttp://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=hb_tab_pro_top

Resources: http://www.philly.com/philly/health/HealthDay665152_20120529_Night_Shift_Might_Boost_Women_s_Breast_Cancer_Risk__Study.html?cmpid=138896554


http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/may/28/night-shift-raises-cancer-risk-study http://www.americasradionewsnetwork.com/


http://www.americasradionewsnetwork.com/rachel-crowson-joins-americas-radio-news-network http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/melatonin/NS_patient-melatonin