Thanks to the Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at NIH, the pace at which we receive documentation of CAM's effectiveness will increase as researchers are supported in investigating these vital questions. At the Center for Integrative Medicine, we are as anxious as anyone for those results. But we are beginning to suspect that surrender may be self-defeating. We would suggest that successful medical outcomes are diminished when the patient lacks control, information and support. Conversely, if these inputs are maximized, the patient may recover more quickly and completely, and have a higher quality of life, whatever the ultimate outcome.
Most cancer patients say that from the moment of their diagnosis, everything in life is changed.
The Quality of Life Program of the Center for Integrative Medicine can assist the patient throughout the course of her illness. At whatever stage of illness the relationship with the Center is initiated, we help determine and meet the patient's needs and goals in a comprehensive way. Overall, the Center for Integrative Medicine aims to restore a sense of control and well being and offer the patient the freedom to heal physically, emotionally and spiritually. The first is a patient with recurrent endometrial cancer. Immediately following surgery she was referred to our medical center for radiation.