Salon.com writer/blogger Mary Elizabeth Williams has cancer. Breast cancer. She's chronicled the horrific trials and tribulations cancer patients suffer in order to heal. On Dec. 18, she wrote of the "post-surgery secret your doctors won't share."

The trauma? This time, it's mental. The Center for Integrative Medicine says surgery's potential for trauma equals that of assault, accidents and combat. 

Sometimes just praying to make it through isn't enough. That bargain with G-d, "please, just let me live!" doesn't account for the aftermath of surgery, which frequently leaves patients feeling violated and vulnerable. Loss of faith is not uncommon after severe medical trauma.

MD Anderson Cancer Center, where Rabbi Greene is treated for Stage IV inflammatory breast cancer, routinely refers its patients to staff psychiatrists. Surviving an illness physically is demanding enough. Trying to win the war against cancer while overlooking the psychological ramifications of devastating illness is a losing strategy.

Many of us (myself included) bless the much-maligned pharmaceutical companies which manufacture anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, and anti-psychotic medications. A little boost for that "seriously positive attitude" most try to maintain in the weeks following any trauma.

Drugs help, but the talking cure works. If you're in Houston and need someone who really understands what you're going through, we also recommend Dr. David S. Wachtel (psychologist). Like Dr. Penny Hooks (see blog item below!) he specializes in medically induced trauma. 

In Judaism, rabbis sometimes suggest that instead of praying "to live" we not overlook a prayer for surgeon's healing hands.

Don't overlook the helping hands of doctors who cure by talk.