How My Journey w Healing from Cancer Began
When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I remembered walking into the oncologist office thinking I had a plan. I would have a bilateral mastectomy and that’s it. Life would be back to almost normal, just sans my breasts. However my oncologist told me at that time that she had a different plan that required me to go through chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. After working with many women who had to go through those procedures, I was definitely not prepared to walk in their shoes. It was a Thursday afternoon and I went home after my appointment feeling dejected that my options were bleak.
That weekend I started my research into how to live after a cancer diagnosis. What kind of lifestyle changes were helpful. What drove others success stories in healing from cancer. That’s how I cope with my own difficult situations I guess - finding solutions, finding that glimmer of hope.
Little did I know that weekend turned into what we know now as Texassnowpocalypse. That weekend most of the state of Texas lost power because of a state wide freeze and lost water. Most of Houston residents had to stay at home because of unsafe road conditions and power outage.
So I stayed at home and read, and researched, and read some more.
I found that in many of the stories I’ve scoured, early stage breast cancer was successfully treated with traditional routes, but then it comes back as a stage 3 or 4.
That broke my heart a little. I saw some of these cases at work, but I never wanted to draw that conclusion - that the prognosis of early stage cancer is not as good as I thought.
That week I discovered a book called radical remission. The author went on a journey and interview people who have been in cancer remission for years (even after terminal cancer diagnosis). She went and concluded that there were 9 things that these people were all doing. And no, these things don’t include the help from big pharma. Some of these stories find their healings after the traditional medicine couldn’t help them anymore.
These are the 9 factors she found:
Radically changing their diet
Taking control of their health
Following their intuition
Using herbs and supplements
Releasing suppressed emotions
Increasing positive emotions
Deepening your spiritual connection
Embracing your social support
Having strong reasons for living
Yup. Like I said, nothing to do with allophatic medicine.
Not saying that only doing these will work. Doing all these will definitely help, no matter which route you end up choosing!!
Dr Turner interviewed different patients in her book - some only did holistic approach, some did a combined approach of allopathic and naturopathic ways.
When I was reading this book, one thing struck me quite hard - many of these patients found their healing holistically or spontaneously after they had no other option left from the medical world. I am very familiar with the side effects of chemo, radiation, and surgery as an OT who has served many patients with cancer - so my takeaway was if these patients, who’ve been given months to live, found their health again and live way past their “expiration date” because of holistic lifestyle changes, I should start my journey there rather than exhaust all my other options before ending up there anyway.
Many patients in fact stated that they wish they didn’t do their surgery or chemo or radiation if they knew what they know now...
Not saying that the current traditional standard approach to cancer doesn’t work - it’s a different mindset for sure - and it has its place.
What I’m also learning too is that we have to follow what we believe in. If you think your body needs surgery or chemo, then go for it. If you think you need the alternative path, go for it too. I have seen enough evidence that they both work for different people. If I were to need surgery or chemo someday, what I’ve been doing to my body with all the healthy lifestyle changes will only prepare my body better for the aftermath of those treatments.
Medical decision is highly personal and individualized. I don’t claim to know it all or that I’m an expert in this topic. I’m still learning, but as I don’t want to be the “judge” of others path and journeys, please appreciate and honor different people’s decisions and paths. It’s a scary journey - cancer recovery that is - no matter which route you take. We all need all the love and support and prayers, not negative energy and criticism.
I guess I went on a slight tangent :) But this is my imperfect path to healing. I’m following my intuition and prayers from people around me, and appreciate all the love, support, and positive energy you’ve shared with me.