Retreat to focus on
cancer education
A Cancer Education and Wellness Retreat is being held this weekend at the Makaha Resort Golf Club to give cancer patients and caregivers information and hope in a peaceful setting.
"Most patients bring an attitude of frenzy and despair," said Dr. Richard Weeder, a Straub Hospital physician and cancer survivor who heads the Aloha Cancer Education Institute. "They're frozen with fear."
He and Laura Crites, founder and owner of Aloha Wellness Travel, planned the retreat to help people approach cancer "with calmness, strength and visualization (of being well)."
They will provide education on the traditional medical approach to cancer, as well as nutrition, spirituality, emotional healing and mind/body medicine.
Weeder said cancer treatment should include removing the tumor, lifestyle changes to reduce toxic factors, maximizing the immune system, preserving energy stores and fostering the will to live.
"If one cylinder is out, you're in trouble," he said, comparing it to operating a car. "What if we give them all the cylinders at one time? That's what Laura and I are trying to do."
Speakers include:
» Dr. Ira Zunin, founder and medical director of Manakai O Malama Integrative Clinic & Rehabilitation Center and president of the Hawaii State Consortium for Integrative Healthcare.Weeder is interested in "a panoramic view of cancer treatment," including complementary and alternative care. He is the author of "Surgeon: The View from Behind the Mask" and the forthcoming "The Anatomy of Healing."» Anna Hollingsworth, registered nurse and health-care professional, licensed massage therapist and faculty member at the Hawaii Healing Arts College.
» Gregory Pai, a student and teacher of meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist and Vipassana, or Insight Meditation, traditions.
» Charlotte Hanna Nuessle, a yoga teacher with an undergraduate degree in gerontology.
» JoAnn Tall, licensed acupuncturist and doctor of Oriental medicine who founded and headed the Santa Barbara College of Oriental Medicine.
» Patricia Ellis, Center for Attitudinal Healing, Castle Medical Center. Attitudinal healing involves letting the past go and removing inner obstacles to achieve peace of mind.
» Dr. Ian Okazaki, Straub medical and radiation oncologist and surgeon.
» Ann Frost, Queen's Medical Center physical therapist.
» Crites, group and individual crisis counselor, co-author of "The Call to Hawaii: A Wellness Vacation Guidebook," and a Hawaii Pacific University professor of sociology and psychology.
Crites said the retreat will provide information in "a whole package, instead of piecing it together in a stressful situation."
Weeder said: "We're not telling them they have to have hope, which is another burden. We're giving them things to be hopeful about."
