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Beyond Biofeedback – Drs Elmer and Alyce Green

Some years ago Dr. H., a physician with whom we were acquainted, who wishes to remain anonymous, and another doctor had an opportunity to use hypnosis in the control of pain and bleeding in a terminal cancer patient.

Because the cancer was on the bladder, it was possible to get information about what was happening without the use of instruments.

The cancer was thought to be operable, but a preliminary operation showed that metastasis had occurred. Cancer cells had escaped from the bladder and were distributed throughout the whole body. Small cancerous areas were growing in the lungs, and possibly in almost all of the body organs. The case was considered hopeless, and no operation was performed for the removal of the bladder cancer. The man was sent to the cancer ward to await death.

This patient proved to be an unusually good hypnotic subject and could easily go into deep amnesic trance. Whatever the doctors suggested with respect to reduction of pain immediately happened.

One day it occurred to Dr. H. that this particular patient would be a good one with whom to try blood-flow control through hypnosis. Because of urinary complications, a catheter had been installed to relieve pressure in the bladder, and the blood-and-urine mixture in the transparent catheter tube gave an immediate indication of the amount of hemorrhaging in the cancerous area.

While in deep trance, the patient was told that a control center in the middle of the brain regulated all the blood vessels of the body. Could he find it?

After a short time he said yes. When asked what it looked like, he described something like a boiler room full of pipes, or perhaps the inside of a submarine. There were valves, switches, and control levers for regulating pipes of all sizes.

Dr. H. told the patient that one of the pipes controlled blood flow in the cancer on the bladder and that if he could locate that pipe and its control valve, it would be beneficial to turn it off. Soon the man reported that he had found the valve and pipe - it was labeled-and after a few seconds he said that he had turned it off.

The two doctors were very much impressed when in a short time there was a sharp line of demarcation between clear urine and the previous mixture of urine and blood coming down the catheter tube. They decided not to discuss this event with their colleagues at that moment, and especially not the ward doctor, who seemed to be uncomfortable about the idea of using hypnosis for any purpose. Their ostensible purpose in visiting the patient each day was for the control of pain, but each day they hypnotized the patient and repeated the suggestions for blood-flow control as well as pain control.

The bleeding was almost entirely stopped within a week, and the patient's appetite returned. After another week the patient said that he wanted to go home, and because he seemed so much better he was allowed to go home for two days. When he returned to the hospital the doctors continued working with him, and now they asked for his report on the internal condition of his body. He said that the growth on the bladder, which he had described as being about the size of a grapefruit, was shrinking and now was only about the size of an orange. Since his health continuously improved, his stays at home became longer. Eventually he reported to the hospital only once a week. Then a time came when he was away for a month.

Because of an unfortunate ending, this case did not reach the medical literature. When the patient returned after his month away, the ward doctor made a cystoscopic examination of the patient.

During the examination he accidentally ruptured the wall of cancerous tissue remaining in the bladder. Urine escaped into the visceral cavity, and the man died of peritonitis within a few hours. Autopsy showed that the cancer on the bladder had shrunk to the size of a golf ball and the metastasized cancers had all disappeared.