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First I think I need to make it clear that I read this book because I find the subject matter interesting, not because I have been given a diagnosis of incurable breast cancer. I am post DIEP, have a new boob called Brenda constructed from my tummy fat (yes it is a long op and yes the recovery is tedious). I do not have to have radiotherapy am waiting for oncotype test results to find out about chemo and will be on aromatase inhibitors for five years. One touching moment, was Rita Smith (Robert’s Mum) reminding me of my own Mother, while telling neighbours to mind their own business when the band first began rehearsing in her home. It was also tough reading about Lol’s Mum dying, and how that further contributed to his alcoholism. It's difficult to give this a star rating because I really enjoyed it, yet I recognize that it's not a terribly well-written work overall. It does have its moments in that regard. I found that it really moved in the middle. Maybe the emotional aspects of the time period he was discussing in the middle (the band's early heyday from about 1981-1987) were a little easier to convey than some of the more complicated material concerning his home life. Early on the attempt to convey dialogue felt stilted at best. Later there was a lot of repetition and cliche. If I weren't as connected to the material, I'd probably give this 3 stars. Early cancer detection improves outcomes dramatically, with screening for the most common cancers that affect working ages: bowel, prostate, testicular, cervical and breast. Seasoned with the author’s penetrating insights about healing, clearly articulated science and illuminating case histories, Cured opens genuine vistas of transforming illness into health even in the face of diagnoses conventional medical thinking habitually dismisses as hopeless." — Gabor Maté, MD, Author of When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection
The book is in two parts, in the first of which he introduces the reader to a variety of case studies of those who have had such seemingly ‘miraculous’ remissions and astounded their physicians. Part Two looks at their post-prognosis life-styles in some detail to discern whether there are any commonalities that might provisionally be evidence that suggests what might be the reason for such uncommon outcomes. BUT I gobbled up this book. For all the clunkiness in the delivery, the story is there (and the stories!), the perspective is there, the personality is there, and all of that is great and well worth a read, especially (obviously) for hardcore Cure fans or once-upon-a-time hardcore fans like me. Really, this covers the perfect span for me. I never thought about it before, but it was really around Lol's departure that my mania for the band began to very slowly wane (not because he left, I don't think, though maybe the breakup of that early nucleus of the band did have an effect that contributed to it). I still love them, and Lol captures a lot of the community--the philosophy if you like--of The Cure. The book gets at what they were (are?) all about as an idea--a way of looking at things. He gets at why they have brought so many people together and how they and their music are cathartic for many people. The articulation is a little fuzzy in parts, but the message absolutely comes across. I appreciate that. Robert Smith (left) and Lol Tolhurst in the Cure’s video for The Lovecats, 1983. Photograph: Steve Rapport/Getty Images Cured is a rare glimpse into the mysteries of human health and disease. Why do some people with incurable disease suddenly heal? This phenomenon has been ignored by medicine rather than investigated. Dr. Rediger finally asks what we can learn from these cases of spontaneous remission and how can we activate the power of the human body using the mind to harness our body’s own healing systems.”
In the early nineties, Lol relocated to Southern California where he continues to write, record and tour with his own band, Levinhurst. A diligent and useful work that makes the case for ‘holistic’ medicine while warning against the snake-oil salesmen who have annexed that word for profit.” Sunday Times I love how Tolhurst went into detail about the so-called 'new towns' close by London (these popped up everywhere after WWII) and the way the stuffiness of the atmosphere in Crawley, along with its many aggressive inhabitants, practically drove this band out into the world of music and creativity.
The last case I read about before finally putting this book down in disgust was of a patient who "cured himself from kidney cancer" through meditation only. Seriously?I don't want to spoil the conclusions nor the stories he tells which he weaves in and out of each chapter so well - really, so well. This explains why only half of people are clinically obese when they are first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and why studies have shown that almost three-quarters of extremely obese people, with a BMI of over 45, do not suffer from type 2 diabetes. “Some people can put on glorious amounts of fat and store it all under the skin without any metabolic problems at all.” For patients, the most important factor might be their degree of involvement in treatment, taking charge of their own healing. Accepting their diagnosis, but not their prognosis and involving themselves in various healing modalities makes a difference. High self esteem correlates with high involvement. Taking responsibility for the healing, but not blame for the illness, spontaneous healers make physical, psychological, and lifestyle changes that lead to survival. Patients must become empowered by embracing their treatment and realizing that they are not their illness. Interestingly enough, studies can’t measure this involvement.
The message that I took from the book was that to survive a fatal diagnosis you should change your diet (what you change it to is not really explained as it seems that all the people did something different, however, the overriding message was to eat Vegan as that will save you), live as stress free as possible (one person took up daily yoga sessions and has completely and utterly built her entire life around this, while another cut off her family completely on the advice of spiritual guru at a retreat), do the things that make you happy, and for some individuals praying or visiting faith healers. In conclusion, the first half of the book was everything I wanted it to be, and the second half was not. This added to the fact that Tolhurst's writing is repetitive and at times irritating (calm down with the exclamation marks, buddy) made it quite a conundrum to finish the book. Another important point Rediger makes is that there are no silver bullets, neither any guarantee that making radical changes is going to improve a chronic health condition. In fact, there is nothing "spontaneous" about spontaneous healing, as in most cases the seeds for healing are planted long before any noticeable changes take place. However, scientific studies have proven that the amount of involvement and participation that an individual puts forth has an enormous impact on their treatment recovery.
Cured study guide contains a biography of Bethany Wiggins, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because I felt it was just a bit too long. The last few chapters each felt like a conclusion and it could have been a lot shorter. In looking at what created a common link in subjects experiencing spontaneous remissions of their terminal disease, Dr. Rediger uncovered that connection. He takes us on his multi year quest for an answer that continues to elude detection. Along the way, people changed their eating lifestyle or their stress level or their loving therapeutic community to facilitate a remission. Some changed their toxic family relationship. Others took up Yoga or meditation practice. But the aha moment that linked these cases was revealed at the end of the book.
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