Julie K. Silver, MD is a renowned expert in the medical field of physiatry - physical medicine and rehabilitation. An assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Silver is also on the medical staff at Brigham and Women's, Massachusetts General, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospitals in Boston. Dr. Silver, herself a breast cancer survivor, also wrote After Cancer Treatment: Heal Faster, Better, Stronger - recognized as a top health book for 2006 by Library Journal. This month, Dr. Silver introduces her new book, Super Healing: The Clinically Proven Plan to Maximize Recovery From Illness or Injury. In it she explains our natural healing potential, how to use both the mind and body to master the recovery process, and how to plan a speedy return to optimal health.
Dr. Silver, you are a physiatrist. What kind of patients can you help?
I am a rehabilitation doctor. I treat people who are in need of healing; they make up a variety - sports injuries, car accidents, chronic pain, but I have a special interest in cancer survivors. This interest began after I went through cancer treatment and realized how physically devastating it can be. I became a physiatrist because I liked the idea of helping people to physically recover as well as possible. Much of my work focuses on the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. I find them fascinating. Physiatrists are all over the country, but we’re a small specialty, and are not easily accessible to everyone. Many don’t know about physiatrists.
In Super Healing you delve into the Healing Zone. Would you explain what the Healing Zone is?
The Healing Zone is a term I use to describe the period of time that people are capable of further physical recovery. It may be days, weeks, months, or even years. Practically everyone is able to reach a higher level of health status — especially if they’ve been ill or injured or are living with a chronic condition. In this book, I included a lot of stories of real people who have been through difficult health challenges and have had “remarkable recoveries.” Their stories, combined with a scientific plan to heal, can help others to have their own remarkable recovery.
You yourself spent more than two years in the Healing Zone recovering from breast cancer treatment.
My recovery from breast cancer, after the chemo, took about three years, though a lot of my healing occurred in the first year. It was very traumatic - I was just 38 years old and had been in terrific health. After cancer treatment, I was exhausted, weak, and in pain. This experience certainly gave me some personal insights that I now use along with professional expertise to help and understand patients in a new way.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!