Elephants and Tea - March 2022 - 18

Spiritual Practices FIRST DESCENTS
From Melanoma to
Mindfulness
BY LAUREN ALOISIO
M
18
alignant melanoma. The words glowed back at me from
my work computer screen as if they were highlighted in
neon yellow.
" That must be a mistake, " I thought, as I glazed
through the remainder of the virtual pathology report.
My head began to spin.
" Cancer? But I'm only 27 years old, this can't be right. "
Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin
cancer. It is the number one most diagnosed cancer
among 25 to 29 year olds in the US. In 2015, a diagnosis
of melanoma could vary immensely depending on if it was
metastatic, meaning it has spread to another area of the body.
As a registered nurse, I had a grim memory of discussing it
in nursing school. From the little I remembered, It wasn't a
" good " cancer to have.
The next few months were a whirlwind. A biopsy of my lymph
nodes indicated that my melanoma had spread. It was metastatic
(insert your choice word of profanity here). A myriad of phone
calls, office visits, consent forms, FMLA forms, scans, surgeries,
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MARCH 2022
infections, emergency room visits and more. There is no handy
DIY step by step guide to follow as you navigate a cancer diagnosis
as a young adult.
I leaned heavily on my family and close friends as I recovered from
my surgeries and prepared for medical treatment, immunotherapy.
I remember my nurse practitioner warning me not to Google or do
my own exploring on the drug I'd be taking.
" I know you're a nurse, but just try to be the patient. "
Easier said than done. The tables were turned. I was so often the
one comforting and advocating for my patients. My experience
gave me a whole new understanding of what my patients felt. Fear.
Uncertainty. Anxiety. And most of all, completely overwhelmed.
At this point in my life, I considered myself spiritual, but not
religious. I believed " everything happens for a reason " and that
there had to be " something " bigger than us out there. Although I
had no idea what the reason I had to get cancer was, I did my best
not to continuously ask " why me? " .
Prior to my diagnosis, I had completed training as a level two
Reiki practitioner. Reiki is a Japanese-derived healing technique
Photos by Steven Walter, @waltphoto
http://www.ELEPHANTSANDTEA.COM
Elephants and Tea - March 2022

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