Next Steps to Take After Receiving a Cancer Diagnosis
1.Pause, and take a deep breath
With the exception of an emergency, decisions about your treatment do not have to be made immediately. Cancer doesn’t develop overnight. According to “The Cancer Revolution: A Groundbreaking Program to Reverse and Prevent Cancer” by Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy, MD, “it takes ten to twelve years on average for a single cancer cell to eventually multiply to where it becomes a full-grown tumor in the body.” (p. 14). This is not a push to avoid treatment, rather it’s permission to give yourself a little time to process, learn about ALL your options, ask questions, understand the benefits and side effects, and then move forward with confidence that the treatment options are the best ones for you.
2. Diet Change
According to Kelly A. Turner, Ph.D., and author of Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds, “After analyzing hundreds of Radical Remission cases, one of the nine key factors that consistently comes up over and over again is radically changing one’s diet in order to help heal cancer.” If you aren’t sure where to start, we recommend scheduling a telehealth consultation with Remission Nutrition, an online platform that provides virtual integrative, personalized and metabolically focused Oncology Nutrition Consulting for cancer prevention and management.
Brady and I personally went this route and we both recommend it. The process is simple. You schedule an online consultation with an Oncology Nutritionist, you track your food for several days so the nutritionist can have a better understanding of what your daily food habits are, you fill out additional questionnaire information related to your life and lifestyle and then you have a telehealth call from your phone or computer. In our experience, the nutritionist meets you where you are and delivers you with a manageable diet protocol based on your type of cancer, and what would be effective and attainable to change your diet.
Additionally, your nutritionist will make supplement recommendations, and this is a great option if you haven’t found a practitioner that can advise on supplements to support your diagnosis and nutritional deficiencies. Please also see our list of book recommendations on our Wellness Resources page, but specifically the Metabolic Approach to Cancer and Chris Beat Cancer for more information on the importance of diet change.
3. Eliminate Toxins from Home
The overburden of toxins on our body from heavy metals, plastics, pesticides, tap water, chemicals, fragrances, food ingredients, EMFs (electromagnetic frequencies) are a huge consideration when trying to understand the cause of your disease. We have found that the easiest and best place we can relieve some of the toxic burden is at home. Changing products is a process, but a great first step is to throw out your cleaning products and replace them with non-tox cleaning agents. A company we recommend, and use in our home, is Branch Basics.
4. Bloodwork
We recommend working with an integrative oncologist or even a functional practitioner to understand the overall health state of your body. Part of this evaluation will likely include in-depth bloodwork that goes beyond the comprehensive metabolic panel. This data can give information on whether you have vitamin or mineral deficiencies or methylation issues among numerous other data points which can help your practitioner provide supplement and lifestyle recommendations to support your body through treatment.
5. Book Recommendations
There are a handful of must-reads related to cancer that we recommend. To shift your perspective and see how others have healed. A full list of books related to cancer and stories of hope will be coming soon.
1. “Cancer Revolution: A Groundbreaking Approach to Reverse and Prevent Cancer” - Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy
2. “Metabolic Approach to Cancer” - Dr. Nasha Winters, ND, L.A.c., FABNO and Jess Higgins Kelley, MNT
3. “Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds” – Kelly A. Turner, Ph.D.
4. “Hope for Cancer: 7 Principles to Remove Fear and Empower your Healing Journey” - Antonio Jimenez M.D, N.D.
5. “How to Starve Cancer” – Jane McLelland
6. “Chris Beat Cancer: A Comprehensive Plan for Healing Naturally” – Chris Wark
6. Integrative Cancer Education
The world of oncology is changing and evolving quickly. We’re talking about cancer research in terms of new technology and natural healing modalities (e.g. diet, frequency, IV therapy, light therapy, among hundreds of others) as support for healing cancer and the body as a whole. A great place for Cancer Education is the Webinar Series by the Cancer Center for Healing called Cancer Conversations.
7. Facebook Groups
Facebook groups can be a great source of information and support for cancer patients and caregivers. A Facebook group that has been instrumental in our journey is the Integrative Brain Warriors group created by Taylor Dukes of Taylor Dukes Wellness. There are groups for specific types of cancers, philosophies of healing, repurposed drugs, and it may benefit you or a loved one. These groups are typically comprised of patients and caregivers and not medical professionals so it is always best to find a provider you have confidence in that can direct your care based on your individual plan.
8. Integrative Oncology Centers
We have met cancer warriors that are treated in both the traditional oncology and integrative oncology worlds. We have also met others that are only treated by an integrative oncologist. Regardless, we believe everyone who is impacted by cancer should know about integrative Cancer Centers. Below are the four that we have either used or have been recommended to us by other warriors we personally know.
Cancer Center for Healing – Irvine, CA
Hope4Cancer – Cancun, Mexico and Tijuana, Mexico
Riordan Clinic – Wichita, KS
Burzynski Clinic – Houston, TX
