ILLUSTRATION BY MATT CHINWORTH
Maja Flannery was recovering from a successful surgery when she got the news: Doctors found cancer cells in her bladder.
Already living with endometrial cancer and a cancerous lung disease, Flannery was facing down a grueling triple diagnosis, the treatment of which would involve chemotherapy and targeted radiation.
That’s when she met Mladen Golubic, M.D. “And he told me, We can do this,” Flannery says. Golubic, medical director of the Osher Center at UC Health, specializes in integrative health, a growing field that combines conventional treatments like chemotherapy with evidence-based therapies like Tai Chi, culinary medicine, and massage.
“People often think that integrative health [means] using alternative therapies instead of modern medicine,” Golubic says. “But in fact, integrative health combines the best from high-tech, modern medicine with low-tech, low-cost traditional therapies.”
With his team’s input and an eye toward Flannery’s medical treatment and history, Golubic developed a personalized plan for her that integrated yoga, acupuncture, and meditation classes. Golubic says research increasingly backs the power of holistic, supportive therapies and lifestyle changes like yoga, group support, and regular physical activity.
“Cancer is just one set of chronic illnesses that are heavily influenced by our lifestyle, the foods we eat, how much movement we get, our sleep, and how we relieve stress,” Golubic says. “Do we meditate and do yoga, as Maya is doing? Or are we smoking, drinking, and relieving stress with unhealthy foods? We know that these have profound effects on our health.”
Flannery, who finished conventional treatments in 2021, still begins each morning with meditation and hasn’t missed a single yoga session since she began, calling the classes a “lifeline” and practicing at home or via Zoom when she’s unable to make it to the studio. “During my first chemo treatment, I was petrified,” Flannery says. “The yoga instructor came in that day and that was a big deal for me. She led me through a meditative practice before they started the treatment. And I wasn’t afraid. I feel like I can handle just about any situation at this point.”
Golubic hopes more patients like Flannery will take advantage of holistic therapeutic interventions, many of which the Osher Center provides free of charge to patients with cancer and other chronic illnesses. UC Health patients and survivors enrolled in the program can connect with specialists for everything from counseling and emotional support to nutritional guidance and group fitness classes.
“All of these things that I’ve learned are integral to how I feel like I can impact my outcome,” Flannery says. “So I’m not just sitting back and being inactive. I’m actively participating in my wellness. I’m all-in on doing everything that I can on my end to stay alive—and not just alive, but living in a way that is helping others.”
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