Saving My Neck

Book excerpt: "IN 1997, Timothy McCall, MD left a successful medical career to become a yoga therapist. Twenty years later, diagnosed with metastatic cancer, he returned his focus to the practice of medicine, this time as a patient. He would need all he had learned in both healing worlds.... Dr. McCall leads us on a surprise-filled journey from South India to the US and back, from banana, jackfruit and coconut groves: "Wearing only a muslin loincloth, I lie on a hardwood table. Its legs are still the original color, but the surface is stained dark from years of oil massages. A warm breeze stirs the sun-bleached crimson sari that separates the treatment room from the garden and the coconut palms outside." ... to sterile hospital wards: "Conventional medicine handles disease the way conventional agriculture handles crop pests: excise and poison the invaders until they’ve been killed off. Holistic medicine, on the other hand, resembles organic gardening: nurture the soil in which your plants grow, and your plants will be healthy. I’m using both of these approaches: the cancer is being dosed with toxic chemicals and radiation, while the soil of my body is cared for with healthy whole foods, deep relaxation, and herbs.""--Amazon.