They say doctors make the worst patients. And while not every surgeon has time for a dance party before things get serious, in one case, they were willing to make an exception for their colleague (who made one of the best patients).

When Deborah Cohan, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, found out that she would need to undergo a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer, she refused to face her surgery with only fear.

“I wanted to be my soulful self. I didn’t want fear to win. I didn’t want to walk into the operating room afraid,” Cohan told the website Cancer Health.

So instead of a normal prep, the 44-year-old asked to dance.

The video of her boogying her way into the operating room with her surgery team of doctors and nurses went viral in 2013 and sparked a conversation about the mindset with which patients approach these types of traumatic procedures.

Now, Dr. Cohan can really get down – that’s part of the reason the original video has been viewed over 8 million times. In fact, she’s been a dancer all her life.

But it was also the celebration of life and spirit of joy in the face of something so life-altering that got people’s attention as the group jubilantly danced to Beyoncé’s “Get Me Bodied.”

We can’t help but wonder if it put those medical professionals in a better frame of mind as well.

Her dance even set off a wave of copycat pre-surgery dances!

The cancer diagnosis came as a complete surprise to the overworked but otherwise fit and healthy mother of 2. But the first thing she did was take a leave of absence and head off to her weekly Soul Motion dance class after informing her family.

“Somehow, I think addressing my fears directly and doing it in a place that was really safe emotionally for me, surrounded by friends and community, allowed me to pop through it. Near the end of the class, I actually felt joy in my body,” she recalled to Cancer Health.

When it came time for the actual surgery, however, her trajectory was no different than that of others with the disease. She had a bilateral mastectomy, then underwent four rounds of chemotherapy, had breast reconstruction, and now takes an aromatase inhibitor to halt the production of estrogen. The cancer could come back.

In the meantime, she’s back at work and advocating for the power of dance when dealing with traumatic diagnoses. She even writes “prescriptions” for it.

Of the stacks of dance pamphlets that now sit on her desk she said:

“I give them out when a patient is stuck, when they have been trying something over and over again and it’s not working for them…It’s a way of disrupting the script a little bit and allowing people to at least explore an invitation to do things differently.”

Cohan has also found time to start the Foundation for Embodied Medicine, a nonprofit that hosts dance, meditation, and mindfulness workshops for patients, caregivers, AND medical providers.

In the end, it’s all about being conscious and aware of one’s body, even when it’s under attack. There’s no right or wrong way to experience the movement – and you certainly don’t have the be a good dancer to participate.

More and more research is being done on dance and music therapy. Scientists have tried to measure the physiological reactions of patients listening to music during and after surgery and have collected evidence that it can help lower blood pressure, stress levels, decrease the need for sedation, and even help patients recover faster.

It appears Dr. Cohan is on to something – and while it doesn’t always require Beyoncé, that sure doesn’t hurt.

Be sure to scroll down below to see her joyous pre-surgery dance video.

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Source: Cancer Health, karenrme via YouTube