~atient empowerment， educating and motivating people to<br >LII they possibly can to contribute actively to their health，<br >)een the very cornerstone of my work for well over t<br >lecades. This book is a tribute to the spirit of pati，<br >~ mpowerment.<br > I have seen hundreds of cases in which self-help has m~<br >he critical difference between life and almost certain de~<br >)etween debilitating illness and robust health. The patient<br >)roactively participates in his or her health care has a deck<br >Avantage. ~li uly we are fearfully and wonderfully made， wit<br >:apacity to help in our own healing.<br > This does not mean I advocate any approach to serious<br >less that excludes the best treatments conventional medic<br >ms to offer. I am simply encouraging you to use all asset:<br >，our medical team， yourself， your mind， even your spirit. I<br >his combined approach that results in the best opportunity<br >~our greater well-being.<br > The basic theme of 50 Essential "lhings to Do When the ~<br >or Says It s Cancer is that cvery person must accept some of<br >esponsibility for his or her own recovery. That idea is not n，<br >~ut seldom has the call to help oneself been presented w<br >nore authority and conviction. Greg Anderson writes with i~<br >nate personal knowledge. In 1984， after being told he wo，<br >lie in thirty days， he set out to find patients who had lived<br >