HEALTH
67
Treasure Coast Medical Report
With little time to process her living nightmare, Titus surrendered
her body to multiple chemo cocktails. The cancer
marched on. As a scared 42-year-old mother who was desperately
searching for answers, she turned to her faith to plant
herself on solid ground. She also began writing letters to her
oncologist, Dr. Alan Collin, to grapple with her new, unwanted
disease. She found comfort and a sense of empowerment
in expressing her feelings with the written word.
“It was part of this searching for why is this happening?
Why do I have this? Why don’t I know more about it? How
do I go about it?” Collin recalled.
After reading her third letter, her doctor was stopped in
his tracks.
“I thought, ‘Whoa! She can write!’ ” Collin said. “This
would be a wonderful way to channel her energy towards
healing. I promoted it as a form of therapy.”
From January 1997 to March 1998, Titus’ cancer recurred
three times in spite of two chemo drugs and multiple radiation
treatments. Her prognosis looked dire. So she traveled
back home to Ohio to buy burial plots and to say goodbye to
loved ones.
MIND OVER MATTER
In her darkest days, Titus learned about mind-body-spirit
connections and how it impacts your health. In one of her
doctor visits, Collin pointed to a painting of a beach scene
and suggested that she go to some serene place to wake up
her immune system.
“Connie, you come to me for advice. I want you to show
the debilitating disease and treatment you are boss,” Titus
wrote in her book called Dancing at Daybreak. “Seek some >>
Titus of Fort
Pierce has
successfully
fought breast
cancer for
more than
20 years.
ANN BECK
/www.irsc.edu