5 Complementary Therapies to THRIVE with Cancer on The Nalie Show!

Soooo, I had an interview with the one and only Nalie Austin!… as a guest on The Nalie Show, covering the top 5 complementary therapies that have helped me combat cancer. Nalie is the only other young woman (or any woman for that matter) who I have ever (virtually) met that has the EXACT cancer and mets as me (ER+, PR+, HER2- with lung mets). I found her on Insta and reached out to share my story with her and we instantly had a connection, even beyond cancer. We have kept in touch via text and Instagram so when she asked me to be on The Nalie Show, I was so excited to finally meet her face to face. I see a lot of myself in her as we both have very positive attitudes and outlooks and I look forward to the day we get to meet in person.  Below is our interview covering my top 5 complementary therapies that have helped me fight cancer…

The timing of what we talked about during our interview ties in perfectly with my last post (Fighting Stage 4 Cancer is a Full Time Job).  I had planned on following up to provide more in depth info pertaining to the most important complementary therapies I have used over the years to combat cancer.  I get a lot of inquiries through my site and social media from others wanting to know what I have done.  It’s a difficult question to answer as I have done soooo many different therapies over the years… ALL equally important, and I know they have all played a vital role in keeping me alive and healthy.  I have however, narrowed down the 5 most important therapies that I wanted to share:

Cannabis:  I had been researching the use of cannabis for the treatment of cancer for a while before I actually resorted to using it. I was skeptical at first but I kept hearing numerous stories about how people actually cured themselves using it. When you have stage 4 “incurable” cancer, there is nothing that you won’t try in order to save your life.  When the cancer metastasized to my lungs, I finally tried cannabis and within a couple of months my lungs were totally clear. I wrote a whole post about my experience with cannabis which you can read more about here.

I was under the care of Dr Allan Frankel at GreenBridge Medical in Santa Monica. Dr Frankel was an MD at UCLA for years prior to leaving conventional medicine to treat patients strictly with cannabis.  He was pretty confident that the oil would clear my lungs of cancer although I have to admit that I had my doubts. Thankfully his presumptions were correct and my lungs cleared very quickly and I have not had cancer in them since I took the oil.  I recommend reaching out to him if you have any questions or reservations as he is extremely knowledgeable.  If you don’t live in the LA area he also does Skype or over the phone consultations. I can honestly say with total confidence that I believe cannabis helped save my life.  True story.

Chinese Herbs:  I read a book that forever changed my outlook on stage 4 cancer called Radical Remission by Dr Kelly A Turner. She compiled research/findings and the results of her interviews with 1000 people, all who had stage 4 cancer… who are now all cancer free. She outlines the 9 key factors that were a common thread among all of the people she studied.  I was intrigued particularly by the use of Chinese herbs which led me on a quest to find a Chinese Herbal doctor.  My friend referred me to Dr George W.C. Wong in NY who once led the research department at Sloan Kettering for nearly 20 years.  He too left conventional medicine and started treating patients with Chinese herbs.

I reached out to him and although he explained to me that he was retired, he agreed to take me on as a new patient…total blessing! This man is an angel, not to mention he is probably one of the smartest people I have encountered on this journey. I have been on his herbs for over three years and I know that they have played a vital role in keeping me alive and well, especially when I was on the wrong treatment (if you aren’t familiar with my story, I was initially misdiagnosed and was essentially on all of the wrong treatments for years).  I honestly believe the herbs were my saving grace.

Alkaline Diet/Juicing:  Diet is so crucial and unfortunately a lot of doctors don’t discuss diet when you are diagnosed with cancer. I believe that what we put into our bodies either serves us or it doesn’t.  Food could be our greatest ally or enemy.  When I was first diagnosed, I changed my diet drastically.  I cut out refined sugars, processed foods, I stopped eating meat and I started juicing like crazy. When we get PET scans, we are injected with radioactive glucose (which is sugar) because the sugar will go right to the cancer, as cancer feeds off of sugar. And, when I would sit in chemo, the nursing staff would come around offering sodas and cookies and I thought something was so very wrong with this picture.  This inspired me to research the proper diet for fighting cancer.

You can read my post here that covers the benefits of an alkaline diet. I was pretty extreme when I was first diagnosed and have over the years realized that cheating here and there is perfectly fine. But changing the way you eat and giving your body the nutrients and supplements it needs to fight cancer and boost immunity is crucial.  And juicing is a sure way to flood your body with these immunity boosting nutrients.

Ozone Therapy:  This is a complimentary therapy that increases the amount of oxygen in the body through the introduction of ozone, which is oxygen.  Cancer hates oxygen and cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment. During the treatment, the body is essentially blasted with oxygen through an IV.  My IV was always put in my neck which may seem super erie but it sounds much worse that it actually is.  The treatments last about an hour and almost immediately I would feel a total shift and increase in energy.  When pertaining to cancer, ozone therapy does the following:

• It treats the cause of cancer.
• It maximizes the patient’s vitality and immunity.
• It controls cancer cell growth.

There are numerous other health benefits and a ton more info about ozone which you can read about on the The Truth About Cancer site.   I started getting ozone treatments years ago and believed it has helped me combat cancer while assisting in maintaining my overall health. It is not a super common practice in the US but there are professionals who do it.  Research the area in which you live to see who is trained and certified near you.

Mind/Body connection:  While last, this is certainly not least.  In fact, I believe it is the most powerful and most important treatment of ALL.  The mind is incredible.  The mind is what sends messages to our body, so essentially, our thoughts manifest physically…I strongly believe this.  Using this power to our advantage can be so extremely healing. Positive and healthy thoughts can lead to positive and healthy physical outcomes.   In order to use this mind/body connection to our advantage however, we must silence the constant noise and clutter that goes on in our heads (the ego) in order to really tap into this power.

Different practices and exercises can help achieve this. Whether it be prayer or meditation, yoga, reiki, sound therapy, EFT tapping and the list goes on and on, you must choose a therapy that resonates with you.  I believe all of these practices share the common goal of silencing the mind so that we can access, hear and receive the messages from the God/intuition within each and every one of us. Our body knows what to do to heal, but we need to be totally in alignment and connected to listen and receive.  This may sound weird and its really difficult to put into words.  I hope this makes sense but all I can really tell you for certain is that accessing and listening to my intuition has been life altering. When I was getting the wrong cancer treatments, my body kept telling me that something was really wrong and I took the hugest leap of faith by leaving the “top cancer center in the world” to seek a second option which ultimately revealed that my intuition was right all along… I had been misdiagnosed.  This mind/body connection and following my intuition saved my life.

The complimentary therapies for cancer seem endless and it can be totally overwhelming trying to figure out what to incorporate.  But narrowing it down to what resonates and works with you on your personal healing journey is the key to giving your body the tools it needs to beat this disease.  I have tried so many things..it’s absolutely nuts!…and it was super frustrating. But through all of the trail and error, I have finally found a regime that works for me and I wish you all the same.  I hope this info was helpful in some way and be sure to check with your physician or onco before incorporating any complementary therapy into your routine.

 

XO,