When Healing Becomes More Than Medicine: My Journey to Holistic Health

Modern medicine saved my arm, but holistic health taught me how to live again.

Intro

We often think of healing as something that happens in hospitals and clinics, surrounded by doctors, machines, and sterile walls. But true healing begins long after the surgery is over, when we start listening to our bodies, tending to our spirits, and reclaiming responsibility for our well-being. This is the story of how I learned that lesson the hard way, and why I’ve come to believe that holistic health is not just an option; it’s essential.

Why I’m Passionate About Holistic Health and Why You Should Be, Too

Fall leaves. Rain. A tiny dorm room. I was twenty years old, living in a small college town. My family was overseas but coming back for Christmas. Around November, I noticed a strange lump in my right shoulder, about the size of an egg.

The school nurse referred me to a local doctor. After an X-ray, he smiled reassuringly and said, “No problem. It’s just a cyst. We’ll remove it in a quick, twenty-minute outpatient surgery.”

I called my parents. Since they were coming anyway, we just planned for surgery followed by breakfast together. It all sounded simple enough.

But life changed that day.

The Moment Everything Shifted

When I woke up, my mom was standing over me, crying. She whispered, “We’ll get through this. We’ll fight.”

The “cyst” was not a cyst at all. It appeared highly suspicious for cancer. What was supposed to be a short procedure turned into a two plus hour surgery. The doctor, realizing he was in over his head, finally removed a small piece of the tumor and stitched me back up.

The following weeks were a blur of tests and specialists: blood work, MRIs, CT scans, bone scans, oncologists, orthopedic surgeons. The pathology confirmed it. The tumor was a rare, slow-growing sarcoma.

I remember feeling guilty for not having gone to a specialist sooner. Because of that first surgery, I now had to heal and then be scheduled for another one to remove what was left of the tumor. Cutting into it with the first surgery had just increased my risk of recurrence.

Before the second surgery, my new orthopedic oncology surgeon was honest with me. She said there was a chance they might need to take my entire arm. I went under anesthesia not knowing how I would wake up.

Thankfully, I opened my eyes and my arm was still there. I could move my fingers and hand. There was some nerve damage and I would lose the muscle in my shoulder, but I had use of my dominate arm. I felt grateful (deeply grateful) for modern medicine and for the skill of the surgeon who had saved my arm and possibly my life.

When the Healing Should Have Begun

When my mom asked the surgeon if there was anything I could do nutritionally or holistically to support recovery, she said, “No. It doesn’t really matter.” She told me I could just heal and go on with my life.

Her job was finished. I would follow up with MRIs every six months and that was it.

But when the medical part ended, my true healing had not yet begun. I was handed the keys back to my life, but I had no map. I had to figure out how to rebuild strength, calm fear, and restore trust in my body. I no longer had someone telling me every step to take.

That was when I began to understand something important: medicine and healing are not the same thing.

Seeing the Whole Picture

Let’s take a step back and think of this in terms of a tree.

A tree has bark, branches, leaves, roots, and soil. If you brought in a bark specialist, a leaf specialist, and a root specialist, each could offer valuable insight.

But who is looking at the whole tree? At the ecosystem? Who is checking the sunlight, the soil, the spacing between trees?

Someone has to step back and see the whole picture.

Or think about your life as a book. Each time you visit a doctor, you hand them a few pages. They read, make notes, and perhaps write a new paragraph. But eventually, someone needs to read the entire book and plan for future chapters. That person is you.

Or imagine a meal. In the hospital, professionals collaborate to create a recipe for recovery. But when you go home, you are the one who must prepare and eat the food. You are the one who lives with the results.

Why Holistic Health Matters

I am not opposed to modern medicine. It saved my arm and possibly my life. But somewhere along the way, we began dividing our bodies into parts and assigning each one to a specialist.

We have forgotten that we are whole beings (body, mind, and spirit) interconnected and inseparable.

Holistic health is not strange or “alternative.” It is simply about ownership.

It is about taking responsibility for how we move, eat, rest, think, and connect with others. It is about tending to the soil, not just inspecting the leaves. It is about reading the whole story, not just a few pages. It is about tasting the meal and adjusting the recipe ourselves.

It can feel comforting to let someone else say, “Everything looks perfect.” But no one else can live inside your body or know your soul. Only you can see the whole picture of your health.

The Heart of Holistic Healing

That is why I am passionate about holistic health.

Healing is not only what happens in the operating room. It is what happens afterward, in the quiet choices we make each day. It is found in how we eat, rest, think, pray, and love. It grows in how we connect with others and with something larger than ourselves.

Holistic health is not a trend. It is a return to wisdom and wholeness. It is remembering that your story, and your healing, belong to you.

Closing

Today, as a Holistic Life Coach, I carry that experience with me into every conversation. I have seen what happens when people feel powerless in their own healing, and I have also seen the peace that comes when they begin to care for the whole of who they are... body, soul, and spirit. My passion for holistic health was born out of my own challenges, but it continues to grow through purpose: helping others rediscover the wisdom within and live with renewed strength and clarity.