Elva - Wellspring Member
I married the love of my life on September 11, 2004. We both agreed it was the happiest day of our lives. At 67 years young, Bruce was a very active man…worked out daily, mountain skied, windsurfed, rollerbladed, sailed, golfed, ate well (had a carrot with his bran flakes every morning) and lived his life quietly, kindly and with respect for everyone.
In July, 2005 Bruce developed lower back pain that worsened. He went to the doctor and x-rays showed that he had multiple tumors on his lungs. Further investigation revealed that he had metastasized pancreatic cancer, confirmed the day before our first wedding anniversary.
I knew nothing about pancreatic cancer. I researched everything I could about the disease and was none the wiser. Bruce refused to accept a death sentence from his doctors and simply got on with all the treatment offered and with living his life. We enrolled in an amazing program called The Healing Journey and were able to take Levels 1 and 2. The skills we learned through this program allowed both of us to improve our communication with each other, lessen anxiety and depression, provide some sense of control and most important….live every day we had together to the fullest.
My darling “jock” readily embraced meditation, healing imagery and journaling. He used these new tools several hours a day to as he said “clear his head of all the junk that kept pouring in”…..he wanted peace of mind. During his chemo treatment, he would practice the art of imagery. Bruce lived for about a year after his diagnoses and for the most part it was a wonderful year of loving each other and getting on with our job of fighting this hellish cancer. In retrospect, I realize now that he lived much longer than we could ever have hoped and I credit the Healing Journey with letting us embrace those days that we did have.