“Cure” versus “healing”

by Oana

In the English language there are 2 words: cure and healing. “Cure” indicates physical healing, set on the affected organ, usually with the help of drugs, that is, as we know healing and as it is taught in medical schools. “Healing” involves a more laborious, complex process of healing the whole, because the “whole” is out of balance and that’s where illness starts and feeds, and relies on proper nutrition, stress management, emotional healing and many other holistic approaches, which may seem strange and time-consuming if you want a quick ”cure” of the affected organ. There is “cure” without “healing” and there is “healing” without “cure”. You can understand this if you are involved in the “healing” process, but if you are set on a “cure” it is harder to understand that an autoimmune illness will be with you all your life and you cannot cure it.

In the Romanian language, we do not have such a refinement of that word. We do not understand, many of us, how we can heal if the markers of the illness are still present and we still have some symptoms of the illness. Well, that’s not a cure, is it? Then what’s the point?

Why should we want “healing”?

Because we will feel better with ourselves, with others, with their actions, we can better understand life and people. If we have an autoimmune illness we will understand that there is no “cure”, but we will learn to live with it, we will have the power over it and not vice versa and we will slow down the spiral of the illness, in which we lose skills, have pain, lose our ability to work and doing normal things that we could do before. We will slow down the progress of the illness and enjoy life by learning to live with the illness, we will adapt to the new situation, accepting it. We will learn new skills (eating, stress relief, connecting with others, loving and forgiving).

And yet, some say there is cure

Remission – Amelioration or temporary disappearance of the manifestations of a disease (according to dex-online). Remission is specific to chronic illnesses, which include autoimmune illnesses. We, those with autoimmune illnesses, should aim for remission when we think of “cure”. It is part of the “healing” process.

I too thought I was cured when I went into remission. In retrospect, I actually dreaded the day the illness would return, I wanted to hang on to every good, pain-free day I had. And the illness returned. But in the meantime I had begun to slowly scratch the surface of my stubbornness and ignorance, I had begun to learn about “healing”. Ultimately, what had put me in remission was not the drugs, but the gluten-free diet, a holistic approach, which I had not been directed to by the doctors. The return of the illness did not mean that I returned to the excruciating pain before remission, but that the symptoms reappeared. I had a strong flare, then I regained my balance through the “healing” approach. This meant that I restarted the medication, but in parallel I maintained the gluten-free diet, to which I added a period of the Autoimmune Protocol and worked on a healthy mindset and lifestyle.

No doctor will tell us that an autoimmune illness has a cure, and they would be right. But we can have a beautiful and rich life with an autoimmune illness. Let’s listen to what the doctors have to say, but let’s not give them the power. We have the power in our lives, we can learn new things, we can read the leaflets of prescribed drugs before agreeing to take them, we can look for alternatives, we can try things that doctors have not prescribed, like a healthy diet, supplements, sports and others. Modern medicine saves many lives, but in the case of autoimmune illnesses, for now, it can only treat the symptoms, they have not found “cure”.

You will find books and articles on the Internet with resounding titles, such as “How I cured my autoimmune illness!”, “Autoimmune illnesses have a cure!”, and reading them you will understand that it is actually about remission, not cure. They are false advertising, clickbait, that take advantage of people’s suffering and despair.

What are the first steps to “healing”?

  • To begin with, allow yourself a period of mourning, in which to grieve the loss. Loss of life as you knew it until the onset of illness, of health, of physical freedom (if you have a debilitating illness where you depend on the help of other people). Allow yourself to lose faith for a while (in yourself, in God, in the future, in people who don’t understand you). Allow yourself to be angry, to cry.
  • If you already have a diagnosis, pick yourself up, shake off the dust and start your new life. If you still don’t have a diagnosis, now would be a good time to start looking for one, to find out about doctors and medical speciality that could help you. Understand your illness, what it consists of, manifestations, prognosis, the allopathic approach, medication.
  • And now… Let the healing begin! Find out what could help you heal, along with medication. Movement (test your tolerance level for different sports, walks, stretching at home, etc.), nutrition (test yourself the different existing anti-inflammatory diets), rest, proper and sufficient sleep, emotional health (learn how to love and how to love yourself, trauma awareness and healing, how to understand and control your negative emotions, and more).
  • Over time your way of thinking and feeling will change. You will no longer feel sorry for yourself, you will no longer blame others, you will learn to listen to your body and love it. You will be able to help yourself and help others to reach the same level of understanding and compassion.

The “healing” process is a personal mission for life, in which you develop continuously. It’s like a staircase to infinity, on which you climb step by step, and sometimes you enjoy the progress, sometimes you go down a step, and in some cases you stay on a step too long and remember the frustration, anger and pain from which you started. “Healing” is a continuous process of evolution that transcends physical cure and transforms you entirely.

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