One of the first books I read after my breast cancer diagnosis was issued in hardback in 1986 -- 20 years ago -- and then was published again and reissued and reprinted in 1990, 1998, and 2002.While the cover has changed and perhaps some wording too, the message in this book -- Love, Medicine, & Miracles by Bernie S. Siegel, M.D. -- remains unchanged.  And it is inside the covers of this book that I keep learning that I have the capacity and power to become an exceptional patient -- despite the fact that I've been faced with a life-shattering diagnosis of cancer.

Siegel, a surgeon who stopped operating to instead educate others on the lessons he learned as a surgeon, teaches about the exceptional patients he has encountered and how the mind can drastically affect the body. Some patients will do almost anything rather than alter their lives to increase their chances for survival, he says -- and eight out of 10 patients who are offered the choice between surgery or a change in lifestyle to cure them of illness will choose the surgery. It hurts less, it's quicker, it's easier than changing a whole way of being, they say. But then there are exceptional patients who will do anything to improve their lives, who achieve a peace of mind that sends the brain a "live" message instead of a depressed, conflicted, fearful state of mind that sends the brain a "die" message. Science may not be able to explain it -- but miracles do occur for exceptional patients.

Exceptional patients make illness matter -- they allow cancer to direct them in positive life directions while other patients may believe cancer is nothing but a death sentence. Everyone can be an exceptional patient, according to Siegel. And the best time to start is before becoming sick. Most people don't make full use of their lives until a near-fatal wake-up call alarms them into action. It doesn't have to be a last-minute awakening, though -- the mind's capacity to triumph is available all the time, and it can be called to action before something disastrous happens.

I always come back to one specific story in Siegel's book that reminds me of the power of the mind. Siegel tells of a group of patients in a study -- part of the group was given chemotherapy and the others were given a placebo. All believed they were receiving chemotherapy, though, and all were told hair loss would result from the therapy. Of the patients who received the placebo, many suffered from hair loss. They were told it would happen, believed it would happen, and it did happen -- even though they did not actually receive chemotherapy. Wow.

I don't know if I am an exceptional patient yet -- although I have been able to maintain a mostly positive attitude throughout my cancer crusade. But I would like to do better -- and that keeps me coming back to this book for more direction and inspiration.