]]>

Synchronicity. It all started with a radio program. Two years ago, I heard Donna Karan (DKNY) speaking to Dr. Oz about the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program she had started to address key patient symptoms of PANIC–PAIN, ANXIETY, NAUSEA, INSOMNIA, CONSTIPATION AND EXHAUSTION. She said, “When my husband Stephan was sick with lung cancer, it became clear to me that our current healthcare model treats the disease, but fails to treat the person.” She caught my attention! This is the work I have been doing for the last 18 years. I had to get connected with her groundbreaking program!

The more I found out about Donna Karan and the Urban Zen Programs (www.urbanzen.org) the more I KNEW that I had to be a part of this! Last spring I applied to the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy Program and was accepted! I committed to the year long training not having any idea of how I would possibly travel to NYC once a month for the coming year. I showed up in April of 2011 filled with excitement and gratitude for this unbelievable opportunity. The past year has been a whirlwind of hard work, new challenges and pure delight. I am in love with NYC! Truly the perfect life, one week a month in NYC and the rest of the time living at the base of the foothills in colorful Colorado. I am so blessed and grateful for all of the amazing people I have met at Urban Zen and most of all, I am so pleased to be able to bring all of these powerfully effective skills back to my work here in Colorado. I am in the home stretch. I graduate as an Urban Zen Integrative Therapist on March 18, 2012! This program has deepened my commitment to my work treating each person as a unique individual and to bringing them the best in Integrative/Holistic Medicine. Pretty soon you can call me a UZIT (use it) and I am proud of it!

On April 27, 2009, my best friend, Kathy Bennett, died of ovarian cancer. As a tribute to her and to create a legacy which would truly have an impact on ovarian cancer deaths, her husband, Stu Bennett created The Kathleen Bennett Foundation of Hope for Early Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer. Saturday February 27–10 [...]]]>

On April 27, 2009, my best friend, Kathy Bennett, died of ovarian cancer. As a tribute to her and to create a legacy which would truly have an impact on ovarian cancer deaths, her husband, Stu Bennett created The Kathleen Bennett Foundation of Hope for Early Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer. Saturday February 27–10 months after her death–we had the first Board Meeting of the Foundation. The “foundation of the Foundation” is now in place. We have a 501(c)3 and have an extremely talented group of volunteers and Board members who are ready to change the deadly paradigm of ovarian cancer. There is valid research that ovarian cancer is CURABLE if it is detected in its earliest stages. We plan to get the word out…to start the conversation about early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.There is research and clinical evidence that will provide new doorways to healing. Creating and working with The Kathleen Bennett Foundation of Hope is a doorway to a path of healing for Stu and for all of us who loved her, and even more importantly, it will provide a doorway to hope for changing ovarian cancer from a deadly to a curable disease.

This month of full circles. New Orleans, early October. Returning to the start of my life in nursing and medicine. At 18 years old, my first huge step into the world of disease, suffering and healing. Back to my training, my roots at Charity Hospital. My first experiences of being [...]]]>

Sunrise

This month of full circles. New Orleans, early October. Returning to the start of my life in nursing and medicine. At 18 years old, my first huge step into the world of disease, suffering and healing. Back to my training, my roots at Charity Hospital. My first experiences of being of service…to the indigent. It fit me. I had a sense of belonging there that I had never experienced before. When I was in a relationship with my patients, I was alive in a way that I had not known even existed.

Two weeks ago, light years away from New Orleans, on the water in Mill Valley California, I sat in a room filled with seasoned doctors and nurses. Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, the magnificent visionary healer and author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings, was leading our discussion. We were talking about finding meaning in Medicine and Nursing. We were sharing about being “called” to our work. We were remembering and voicing why we do this work, knowing at the deepest level we are exactly where we need to be–in the heart of healing. And with tears streaming down our faces we knew without a doubt that we were home.