Our guest, Julie Silver is a doctor at Harvard, mom, cancer survivor and author of You Can Heal Yourself: A Guide to Physical and Emotional Recovery After Injury or Illness. Dr. Silver shares her own experience of “knowing something was wrong,” despite 2 physicians reassuring her that “everything was fine.” Eventually she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Based on her own and her patients’ experiences, she discusses the pros and cons of accepting a ‘new normal’ before a person’s post-treatment quality of life is actually experienced. Dr. Silver shares her observations regarding the effect of stress and the impact of positive and negative emotions.Then, she discusses some of her own self-care practices including movement and exercise. Exercise can speed up the healing process. It improves memory and concentration and is the most powerful medicine we can take, affecting every cell in our body in a positive way.

Regarding pain,mood and sleeplessness, these often are cluster symptoms that worsen when all are present together. Specific strategies can help reduce stress, sleeplessness and pain, after we first check to see what the cause of these symptoms might be. For example, one suggestion for sleeplessness is to first reflect up why it’s so hard to fall or stay asleep. Then develop a ‘sleep hygiene” strategy, including avoiding heavy meals, caffeine, and exercising before bedtime. Tune in for more great suggestions from Dr. Silver. For more information, please visit www.juliesilvermd.com