As for my own health, I experienced no gynecological problems at all, not even a single vaginal or bladder infection, until I turned thirty-nine and tried to get pregnant. That led to five miscarriages in five years, despite my cultivating what I considered to be quite a healthful lifestyle. I tried to convince myself that good living, good karma, and sheer willpower could overcome my genetic predisposition (my mother had three miscarriages), but that didn't turn out to be the case. The toll on my body, the excruciating pain of miscarriage number five, and my being nearly forty-five years old caused me and my husband, Bob, to close the chapter on bearing children with a bittersweet mix of regret and relief at moving on to the next phase of our lives.

I was again free of gynecological problems until just before I celebrated my fiftieth birthday, when I was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS, a noninvasive, slow-growing form of breast cancer). That experience, which included a mastectomy and free-flap reconstruction, taught me a tremendous amount about love, friends, caring, healing, and what is most important in life.

Although this book is mainly about homeopathy for women, other factors inevitably make their way into the healing relationship. Who we are may be just as healing as whatever medicines we have to offer. A month ago I saw a patient, whom I will call Amanda (also recently diagnosed with DCIS), for her second appointment. We had not yet begun homeopathic treatment. Once Amanda discovered our common diagnosis, during her first appointment, she asked me every question she could about my experience in order to be well-informed about her own choices of treatment. This time, Amanda shared, "You know what was the most helpful of all? To know that it's not my fault. To know that even you, a naturopathic doctor with a natural, healthful lifestyle who had practiced yoga for thirty years, still got breast cancer. That makes me feel so much better. Now I can let go of blaming myself for whatever I might have done wrong to bring this on."