Chemo and holistic treatment

Anonymous

Chemo and holistic treatment

janelmchugh

Hi everyone,

I have put off dabbling in holistic treatment, but I am running out of chemo options. I am stage 4 breast cancer. The chemo that I am on is holding my cancer at bay. I have no side effects and I am able to live a normal life. I want to mix this with holistic treatment, but I have researched this online. The research is very overwhelming. I don't know where to start, who to trust or what to do. I know that I don't want to spend my life sick.

The cancer has not spread to any of my inner organs. It is on my skin and lymph nodes. How do I research this? I am going to University of Michigan right now that is ranked 24th in the country. I have considered going to Cancer Center of America, which is not ranked at all, but they do mix chemo treatment with holistic. Please give me you thoughts. Thank you for your time.

Janel

Moderators

Hi janelmchugh! It looks as though the University of Michigan has an integrative medicine department, which is probably a great place to start!

http://www.med.umich.edu/umim/

From their website:

University of Michigan Integrative Medicine, an interdisciplinary program, is committed to the thoughtful and compassionate integration of complementary therapies and conventional medicine through the activities of research, education, clinical services and community partnerships. As a healing-oriented approach to medical care, integrative medicine takes into account the whole person (body, mind, spirit and emotion), including all aspects of lifestyle.

Integrative Medicine Clinic or Integrative Family Medicine Clinic appointments

Please call: 734-615-1900 or visit the Integrative Family Medicine Clinic home page.

Memorial Sloan Kettering offers a lot of information online as well: https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatm...

Thinking of you!

ShetlandPony

Hi, Janel. If you are interested in books on the subject, here is a short reading list of books that in my opinion go beyond the usual of conventional medicine while still respecting reason and evidence. You can mine these for more resources, too.

Life Over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Treatment by Keith I. Block, MD

Integrative Oncology by Donald I. Abrams and Andrew T. Weil

Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber, MD PhD

The Blue Zones: Nine Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest by Dan Buettner

DivineMrsM

Shetland, whoa, I hadn't heard of The Blue Zones. I immediately went to my library page and placed a hold on it. I see it is a new book and look forward to reading it.

Janel, as holistic refers to treating the whole body, meaning physical, mental, emotional amd spiritual, I am all for it. Myself, I consider additional methods of addressing bc besides the traditional medicine which I wholeheartedly support, as being complimentary and working along with chemo, rads, surgery, oral meds.

I would say start out by gravitating towards the types of holistic methods you are drawn to. Certainly, I take a few supplements and have tried accupuncture (would do more of it but too expensive to continue), Reiki, and a few dietary chages. Personally, I don't think you can go wrong trying different approaches. I am careful not to break the bank, and am not one to throw finances out the window.

I have found eliminating stress to be extremely beneficial, and it is an ongong process. Sometimes old habits creep back in, but I do my best to make life easier on me. I do not believe stress caused bc, but I do believe getting rid of it helps the mind and body heal. I simplify life when and where I can

One more book recommendation (Shetland gave great ones) is Radical Remission by Kelly Turner.

Wishing you the best.

ShetlandPony

Yeah, the Blue Zones book is not specifically a "cancer book" but it has so much information, insight, and inspiration that I feel applies to us. It's an enjoyable read. Get the 2nd edition if you can.

Bestbird

It sounds as though you feel that it's important to optimize one's health through complementary as well as conventional therapies.

Since there's a large volume of supplements and a sometimes-bewildering amount of information to sort through, you may want a professional's guidance to assist in obtaining the best supplemental therapies for your situation.

To that end, you might want to consider adding a Naturopathic Oncologist (NO) to your medical team. NOs typically customize a patient's protocol based upon lab tests they order that the patient's Medical Oncologist normally doesn't request (such as VEGF, IL-8, etc.).Before consulting with an NO, patients need to forward all medical records and test results, which will be reviewed during the initial consultation (I did mine by phone since my Naturopathic Oncologist is in a different state). .After the first one or two consultations, the patient will receive an individualized protocol.Periodically thereafter, the NO will order lab tests in order to track how things are going and engage the patient in another consultation that sometimes results in an updated protocol.Whenever the patient has a medical test done through their Medical Oncologist, they should forward the results to their NO.

Prior to working with my NO, I had set up a supplement regimen, and when I started liaising with my NO, he took me off one supplement because he said it might interfere with my conventional therapy. A good NO will know what works with standard of care and what may interfere with it. A considerable drawback is that an NO's services are generally not covered by medical insurance.

For books on the subject, Shetland Pony has offered some excellent recommendations which will give you an excellent overview!

I've compiled a 136-page booklet on mbc therapies, cutting edge research, and helpful supplements. For a complimentary copy, you (and others) are welcome to visit: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topics/831507?page=3#idx_73