-IBIS-1.5.0-
tx
digestive system
pancreatic cancer
psychospiritual approaches

metaphors and correlations

see also:
cancer patients: personality characteristics
cancer correlations: psychoneuroimmunology

• Pancreas represents the sweetness of life. (Hay, 1984, p. 178)

Chinese psychophysiology:
Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; stores and cleanses the Xue (Blood); maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); and expresses itself in the fingernails, toenails and nervous system; and reflects emotional harmony and movement.
» Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement.
» Liver Xu (Deficiency) signs include impotence; frigidity; pain in thighs, pelvic region, and throat; ready tendency to "the blahs" (Seem, p. 28); timidity; depression; irritability; vertigo; pruritus; dry eyes, skin, and/or tendons; asthma; aching at the waist; hernia; and difficulty raising head up and down. Liver Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency) predisposes to Xue Yu (Blood Stasis).
» Tumors and other masses are considered a form of Xue Yu (Blood Stasis) and thus ultimately are derived from Qi Stagnation. Liver Qi Stagnation reflects and accentuates emotional constraint as the Liver's function of facilitating smooth flow in the body is constricted. Stagnation is associated with frustration, irritability, tension, and feeling stuck. With time this pattern tends to produce a gloomy emotional state of constant resentment, repressed anger or depression, along with tightness in the chest, frequent sighing, abdominal tension or distension, and/or a feeling of a lump in the throat with difficulty in swallowing. (Maciocia, p. 216) Xue Yu (Blood Stasis) often begins with Qi Stagnation.

Spleen ~ Pi includes the functions ascribed to the pancreas; governs the Xue (Blood); governs digestion and manifests in the muscle tissues; transforms food into Qi and Xue (Blood); governs the Xue (Blood); and relates to the ability to assimilate, stabilize, and feel centered and balanced.
»
Healthy expressions are fairness, openness, deep thinking, and reminiscence.

Kidney ~ Shen stores Jing (Essence) and governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); provides the "Fire of Life" through its Yang functions; provides the nourishing and stabilizing qualities of Yin and Water; carries the constitutional endowment from the parents; and displays the effects of sexual dissipation, overwork, aging, chronic debilitation processes, and extreme stress.
» Healthy expressions are gentleness, groundedness, and endurance.
» Kidney Xu (Deficiency) signs include indecisiveness; confused speech; dreams of trees submerged under water; cold feet and legs; abundant sweating (Seem, p. 28); fearfulness; apathy; chronic fatigue; discouragement; scatteredness; lack of will; negativity; impatience; difficult inhalation; low sex drive; lumbago; sciatica; and musculoskeletal irritation and inflammation, especially when worse from touch.
» Intense or prolonged fear depletes the Kidney. Often chronic anxiety may induce Xu (Deficiency) and then Fire within the Kidney. (Maciocia, p. 250) Overwork, parenting, simple aging, and a sedentary or excessively indulgent lifestyle all contribute significantly to Kidney Xu (Deficiency).


therapies

imagery:
related materia medica listings: imagery for immune enhancement
• honey bear (Chavez)
• beaver dammed (Chavez)

psychotherapy:
• In cases of stomach disorders and digestive complaints, ask some related questions:
» What is it that I am unable or unwilling to process? Assimilate? Let go of?
» Is something eating me up inside? What am I feeling so sour about?
» How am I handling my feelings? How am I coping with my aggression?
» To what extent am I avoiding conflicts? Am I longing for the conflict-free time of childhood, when I was secure, loved, and cared for? (Dethlefsen, p. 134)

process paradigm: (experientially oriented)
• What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? (see process interview: immune system, process interview: digestive system)

related materia medica listings:
the shadow and physical symptoms
converting a symptom to a signal
cancer patients: personality characteristics
cancer correlations: psychoneuroimmunology
cancer treatments: immune enhancement
(includes behavioral, theotherapy, meditation, hypnotherapy)
imagery for immune enhancement
imagery: precautions
imagery: principles: receptive or programmed?
imagery: techniques
affirmations: guidelines and precautions
theotherapy
hypnotherapy
process paradigm


footnotes

Reprinted from The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, Maciocia, Giovanni, 1989, by permission of the publisher Churchill Livingstone, a division of Elsevier Limited.