I just attended an amazing three day conference about integrative cancer strategies, put on by Healthy Medicine Academy. It was for doctors, and most of the speakers were doctors. They were mostly MDs who have discovered that medical school didn’t give them tools that are useful in dealing with chronic diseases. They have learned that every patient with the same disease doesn’t necessarily need the same treatment. It is more important to know which patient has the disease than to know which disease the patient has. They all believe that integrative treatment is essential — integrating western medicine with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Each speaker talked about evidence-based strategies that have helped improve the quality and quantity of life for cancer patients. They talked about improving circulation, balancing energy, measuring mitochondria, purpose in life, nutrition, homeopathy, oxygen utilization, herbs, supplements, and much more.

I was impressed with the depth of their knowledge of how the body works, and how cancer works. I know much of what they said went over my head because I don’t have a scientific background, but I still learned a lot.

I was overwhelmed by the end of the three days with all the options of strategies I could use for dealing with my own cancer. Just to get the testing done in each system to see what my body needs would be time-consuming and expensive. Do I start with Chinese medicine, herbs, homeopathy, ozone therapy, etc.? I have to choose what resonates with me.

Every strategy works for someone, and none of them work for everyone. I think there is a relationship between what caused our cancer, and what strategies will effectively address it. The mixture of causes is different for each person, and there is never just one cause. Not everyone who smokes gets cancer. Not everyone who eats an unhealthy diet gets cancer. Not everyone who didn’t express feelings when experiencing a trauma in childhood gets cancer. Yet the evidence is there that each of these factors (and many others) were influential in creating someone’s cancer. Some of the causes mentioned were:

Stress Environmental toxins Pesticides
Obesity Excessive alcohol use Not expressing emotions
Sugar Poor nutrition Lack of social connections
Smoking Genetics Lack of purpose/meaning in life
Beliefs Blood stagnation Inflammation in the body

The way I am finding the most effective strategies for myself is to expose myself to information with an open mind and heart, and learn to trust my intuition about my needs. It would be ideal if cancer patients could each work with a practitioner who could guide us through the maze of decisions and options, but most of us either don’t know of such a person, or can’t afford it.

One of the speakers, Dr. Nalini Chilkov, has created a user-friendly website that offers guidance to cancer patients about how we can participate in our own wellness before, during, and after treatment: www.integrativecanceranswers.com. It’s a useful place to start.

As always, I welcome your comments; to reply please click here.

In the Spirit of Healing,
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Jan Adrian, MSW
Founder and Executive Director