Positive Affirmations and Guided Imagery

Hi Sweetbean, I made it out of surgery with flying colors. I am thinking that this CD really helped me get through surgery and recovery. I am 9 days from surgery and so far everything is hunky Dory. I love the guided imagry stuff... it really works. Thank for starting this post.

Julie

Sanbar- that is awesome

Ruthbru, I love the SEAL idea. The visualization I use is very similar. I live in a military town - home of the SEALs. Every day I walk the beach. When the military helicopters fly over I stop and imagine the sound to be that of an air raid shooting the cancer. To me, sound helps me to believe it is actually happening. As the sound of the helocoptor pulls away I imagine it pulling the destroyed cancer with it. Fighter planes also worked well...but I love the helicopters. Then - after the military helicopter/Fighter plane would drag off the shot up cancer - I would listen to the water of the ocean - imagining it filling up my body - right before the imagined water would reach my head I would take a long deep breath and hold it - letting the water fill my head up...cleaning/flushing my body out. 

 For my surgery (6/2011), I used things I learned from the book - Peace, Love & Healing by Bernie S. Siegel, M.D. I had my doctors agree to have fun - and create lots of positive energy (laughing...) during my surgery. I wanted it to be like a slumber party -and told them I was just the girl who fell asleep first. I told my breast surgeon not to stick my hand in warm water.  She said she wouldn't - but she might write "jackass" on my forehead. lol Both my surgeons thought it was a fun idea - and were 100% game. I also told them to talk to me during surgery (this concept was mentioned in Siegael's book)...tell me what you want my body to do - ask me to stop bleeding if I'm bleeding too much... The plastic surgeon told me when I was recovering that there was this one point during the operation where I kept bleeding - it was starting to frustrate her - and she said that's when she remembered what I had told her - to talk to me. She said she felt a little self conscious but she asked - she asked me to stop bleeding and I did. she thought it was so funny.

My breast surgeon called me at home to tell me how fun my surgery was - and that it was the slumber party I wanted. She said they laughed a lot, talked about boys...had great music...

I had 15 family members and friends having a party in the cafeteria while I was under. The point of positive energy at the hospital is in "theory" connected with the idea of a successful operation and speedy recovery. My operation was a success. My recovery was speedy - I was feeling great the next day -off the drip - walking around... off all pain medications (vicodin) within 5 days. My full mastectomy with the latissumis dorsi flap looks beautiful. I go in for my first fill today. I love my doctors and feel blessed that I was given such a wonderfully open minded team.       

Lol. Thanks AnneWisc. You are funny. Now to visualize my hair growing back.

love this thread.  My affirmation is in my sig line

I also have Louise Hay affirmation cards....one by my bathroom mirror that says "my healing process has already begun" 

I also try to visualize myself 10years from now, older, healthy and happy......

I think vision boards are another great way to help with this process, esp for those of us who are visual people....