Join the Great Walk to Beijing
Thursday, April 3, 2008
By DINAH ENG
Gannett News Service

Five years ago, Olivia Newton-John was asked to lend her name to a cancer center in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia. The singer, diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, underwent a partial mastectomy and breast reconstruction, and has been cancer-free for more than 15 years.

She agreed to lend her name, but only if the hospital included a wellness center where patients could receive complementary therapies like aromatherapy, meditation and acupuncture, along with their conventional treatments. The hospital agreed.

From April 7-29, Newton-John, along with a host of celebrities and individuals from around the world, will be participating in a sponsored walk of the Great Wall of China, traveling past the Tombs of the Qing Dynasty Emperors and villages along the Yellow River to the capitol city of Beijing.

"It's going to be an incredible test of strength, probably more mind than body," says Newton-John, in a phone interview. "I liken the walk to the cancer journey. It's the unknown -- scary, but exhilarating at the end. When you have cancer, I think you need to treat the body, but the mind and spirit are very important parts of the healing process. We can't just treat the body with slash and burn."

Newton-John says receiving Eastern treatments like acupuncture and massage therapy, in addition to chemotherapy and surgery, was an important part of her battle against cancer.

"I would have liked to have a place of beauty where you can meditate or pray, talk to others, and have these adjunctive therapies while undergoing treatment," she says, which is why she is raising funds for the wellness center, and to support research done by Australia's Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

"At the hospital in Australia where we're building the center, 30 or 40 Chinese oncologists came to visit recently," she adds. "Cancer is a worldwide problem, and we need to share information. I've been to Hong Kong, but never to these other areas in China, so there's a lot I'm eager to learn about and see on the walk."

Her journey along the Great Wall reminded me of a trip I took with my mother to China about 20 years ago. We spent a month, traveling around the country, going back to the village where she was born. In Beijing, she walked farther than I did on the rocky path of the Great Wall.

The trip was an opportunity to get to know each other as adult women, not just as mother and daughter. It was my first trip to China, and my mom's first trip to many Chinese cities that she'd read about, but had never seen. When we returned to the States, she told me that she had thyroid cancer.

She had been diagnosed shortly before we went to China, but decided to postpone the surgery so that we could have our trip together. She didn't want to worry me, so didn't say a word until we got home, and immediately went into the hospital.
I was shocked and angry that she had postponed her treatment, and also humbled by the strength and love inside of her. Thankfully, the surgery went well, and she has been cancer-free ever since.

We never know where life will take us. All we can do is take responsibility for our lives, share the journey with gratitude, and do our best to help others along the way.

To sponsor Newton-John or others on the Great Walk to Beijing, check out www.greatwalktobeijing.com on the Internet.
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Dinah Eng is a freelance writer, and can be reached at betweenustwo(AT)earthlink.net.