The resources I have included on this website helped me on my own personal journey with cancer. I am not a medical professional or a doctor. I am simply a person who has lived with cancer for over a decade. Please do your own due diligence and make choices that make the most sense for you. My choices my not be the choices you would make or feel comfortable with. Each of us has our own path to wellness. Take the one that feels right for you. Feel good about the choices you make. It’s your life and your body.
As a woman who has been navigating cancer through 3 separate occurrences for over a decade, I have learned a few things! I would like to share some of my experience with you. I know how terrifying that initial diagnosis can be. I was there. My subsequent two diagnoses were less terrifying because I had learned so much about how I could empower myself. This power converted my terror into action.
When I was first diagnosed in 2009, I took to the internet. While the rabbit holes I navigated led me to places of both fear and hope, I learned a lot and found some great resources in the process.
I hope the resources provided here are helpful to you. They may lead you on a rabbit hole of your own! One resource, leads to another, leads to another and so on. There is so much information out there now. When I was beginning this journey, there was not a lot. Not every link is cancer specific but health related. I enjoyed learning about how nutrition can change the course of your life in so many ways. And how proper nutrition can heal you.
I am a strong believer in hope. Hope is what drives us forward. Hope is what brings us peace. Hope is power. Without hope, we really do not have anything. Always know that there is hope. Don’t let anyone tell you there isn’t. And, don’t let anyone ever take your hope away.
Remember, keep your hope close. It’s the most important thing we have as human beings.
Resources – Helpful Websites
IntegrativeOncology-Essentials.com
Great article on this site relating to Absolute vs. Relative Risk/Benefit of chemotherapy. This information is vital to understand if you are contemplating chemotherapy. It is imperative to have a good understanding of the differences between absolute and relative benefit. Knowledge is power! There are also some other good resources on this website.
https://integrativeoncology-essentials.com/2017/08/absolute-risk-important-statistic-need-know/
FoodMatters.com
This website offers a ton of resources
This website offers a ton of resources from articles about nutrition, personal experiences on navigating cancer, documentaries, recipes and the like. Back in 2009, they offered an entire program about cancer and ways to navigate it with a focus on nutrition and wellness. This program changed my life and empowered me to make drastic lifestyle changes. That specific program is no longer available, however, The Food Matters documentary contains most of the information that was available in that series. The kind folks over at Food Matters have provided this link to enable my readers to view the documentary on their site. You can access it at this link: FoodMatters Documentary.
EWG.org
Environmental Working Group is a wealth of information. There you can find the Dirty Dozen (the 12 foods that you should NOT but conventionally grown and buy organic) and the Clean 15 (15 foods that it is alright to consume when grown via conventional methods). They also have information for clean beauty products as we as a myriad of other information pertaining to health, the environment and well being.
KrisCarr.com
Kris Carr is an inspiration. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer in her 20s. She had tumors ravaging her organs and there was no cure or treatment that could help her. She has learned to live with her disease and halt it in its tracks. She will never be cured, she still has the tumors. But, after being told she would have 10 years to live, she is thriving over a dozen years later and her cancer has not progressed. Learn about her approach via her website.
BreastCancer.org
Great breast cancer resource. Lots of information relating to breast cancer. What helped me the most on this site are the forums. There are hundreds of forums to participate in to connect with others who share your diagnosis. You can post questions or join existing chats. Topics are varied and vast.
BreastCancerOptions.org
Another breast cancer resource with great information including a newsletter you can subscribe to providing new research and options for treatments.
ForksOverKnives.com
Forks Over Knives empowers people to live healthier lives by changing the way the world understands nutrition. We provide the tools and resources to make a plant-based lifestyle easy and enjoyable.
DavidWolfe.com
David “Avocado” Wolfe is an expert in nutrition and wellness. His website offers all kinds of goodies!
Drplantbased.ca
Nutrition information and myth busting. Also, healthy recipes and lifestyle choices.
YogaJournal.com
A great resource for everything yoga. Provides detailed explanations of hundreds of poses.
Great Reading
Here are some of the books that I have found particularly helpful. There are myriad of others out there
Radical Remission – Kelly Turner
Anti-Cancer, A New Way of Life – David Servan Schreiber
Your Life in Your Hands – Professor Jane Plant
Integrative Oncology – Donald Abrams and Andrew Weil
Beating Cancer with Nutrition – Patrick Quillin
How Not To Die – Michael Gregor, MD
Cancer-Free – Bill Henderson
You Can Heal Your Life – Louise Haye
The China Study – T. Colin Campbell
In Defense of Food – Michael Pollen
Conferences
AnnieAppleseedProject.org
Great website with great resources. The founder, Anne Fonfa, is a cancer survivor who organizes an annual Evidence Based and Alternate Cancer Therapies conference in West Palm Beach Florida. It is called CAM for Cancer. It is a fantastic conference where you can not only learn about the latest treatments out there, but you have the opportunity to meet others who are on various journeys of their own. Many of the people that you meet have exhausted all other avenues of treatment and are looking for hope. This conference is full of hope and inspiration! If you ever have the opportunity to attend, I would highly recommend this conference!
Documentaries
Crazy Sexy Cancer –
Kris Carr’s journey of discovery that led her to the lifestyle that changed her life
Code Blue
Dr. Saray Stancic was diagnosed with MS as a young adult. She was told she would be wheelchair bound within a couple of decades. She talks about the emerging field of Functional Medicine and how it can help you manage and in many cases resolve health issues.
Forks Over Knives
Examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the chronic diseases that afflict us can be controlled or even reversed by rejecting animal-based and processed foods.
Food Matters
The focus of the film is in helping us rethink the belief systems fed to us by our modern medical and health care establishments. The interviewees point out that not every problem requires costly, major medical attention and reveal many alternative therapies that can be more effective and economical, less harmful and invasive than conventional medical treatments.
Hungry for Change
You are what you eat. Hungry for Change exposes the hidden traps set by the diet, weight-loss and food industries that make keeping weight off impossible. Learn how to get rid of cellulite, detox effectively and eat foods for glowing skin, healthy hair and a more vibrant YOU.
Finding Joe
In the early 20th century, while studying world mythology, Joseph Campbell discovered a pattern hidden in every story ever told and he called it “the hero’s journey.” The documentary takes us on a magical journey through the human psyche and on to Joseph Campbell’s most important teaching of all: follow your bliss.
A truly inspirational film, Finding Joe takes us on the ultimate hero’s journey: the journey of self-discovery. As you slay dragons and uncover treasures, you just may find that the holy grail you seek is closer than you think.
Simply Raw
Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days is an independent documentary film that chronicles six Americans with ‘incurable’ diabetes switching their diet and getting off insulin.
The film follows each participant’s remarkable journey and captures the medical, physical, and emotional transformations brought on by this diet and lifestyle change. We witness moments of struggle, support, and hope as what is revealed, with startling clarity, is that diet can reverse Type II Diabetes and change lives.
Super Juice Me
One summer, Jason Vale took eight people who collectively suffered from 22 different chronic diseases and put them on his ‘Juice Only’ diet for 28 days. Could these different diseases with their many different prescribed drugs be improved and even cured by one thing? Maybe it’s time to get Super Juiced!
Warrior II on top of the world at Acadia National Park in Maine.
Yoga gives me strength, focus and balance.
Check out the vegan, gluten-free recipes on HealthTastesGood.com recipes page.