Turner found that the most popular reason why Radical Remission survivors and alternative healers recommend taking vitamin and herbal supplements is to strengthen the body’s own immune system so it can better find and remove cancer cells from the body. “To get rid of cancer, you must change the conditions under which it thrives.”

In my case, I am engaged in treatment where the goal is to “take the brakes off the immune system.” I’ve been advised to be careful about introducing catalysts that may interact in ways as yet unknown. Nonetheless, I drink green tea now rather than coffee, I take a turmeric supplement and am finding ways to introduce through nutrition other cancer-fighting nutrients. At this point I am looking for a nutritionist who can advise about these matters but immunotherapy is such cutting edge that not all that much is known about what helps and what doesn’t.

Dr. Turner concluded that supplements are essentially Band-Aids for a nutrient-poor, toxin-rich environment. She advises that one consider three categories of supplements: those that help you digest your food, those that help to detoxify your body, and those that boost the immune system. Supplements can help in each of these three areas but the goal is to change your lifestyle such that taking the supplement becomes unnecessary.

“The Radical Remission survivors I study believe the body has an innate, intuitive knowledge about what it needs in order to heal. And it can often also let you know why it got sick in the first place.” One survivor who later became a healer encourages the cancer patients with whom he works to access their intuition: If the mind is allowed to quiet down, it will know what it needs to do in order to get well again.

Turner counsels her cancer patients to ask themselves two questions: “What has contributed to my illness?” and “What do my body, mind and soul need in order to get well again?”

These are the big questions and are uppermost in my mind as I seek ways to respond to this challenge. My use of regular meditation and spontaneous inquiry into the nature of things has been good preparation for cultivating an openness to intuitive discovery. The answers lie outside of the rational mind and finding ways to receive the answers is key.

A practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine quoted in Turner’s book stated “The inclusion of some type of insight practice into your own state is absolutely essential for people who are facing any type of illness. Because it’s only through this tangible feeling and understanding of what is the actual state that you are in—energetically and physically—that people can actually begin to say “Wow, I really have ignored my life for so long. I really have been trying to do too much. I really have been too controlling.”

Taking control often means encountering resistance from traditional medical practitioners particularly if there are other treatment modalities involved. Turner suggests that you become the lead decision maker. You gather as much information as you can on a subject and don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as you need. Learning to make use of the research databases and resources.

I’ve never been one to passively submit without first understanding how it will help. We have made use of the online support groups of fellow melanoma patients to sort out some questions about where to get a second opinion and how to negotiate the shift of care from Dana Farber to Duke. I expect to continue to be involved with these resources and as the choices I face become more complex, to educate myself as much as possible about the various alternatives.

Kelley Turner found that the majority of the people she studied all tend to make the same four dietary changes:

o Greatly reducing or eliminating sugar, meat, dairy and refined foods
o Greatly increasing vegetable and fruit intake
o Eating organic foods
o Drinking filtered water Continue reading 1. Radically Changing Your Diet →

Kelley Turner’s book Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds pulls together nine actions that Radical Remission survivors have utilized to beat the odds. Dr. Turner gives examples of people who have exemplified a particular action but she concludes that all survivors have made use of all the nine in some form or fashion.

I’ve set goals for each of these areas and have put them up as “David’s Radical Remission Goals.” As things change I will revise these goals to meet the different circumstances.

My blog will detail some of the strategies I’ve come up with and how they are working. Kelly Turner’s nine key factors are:

1. Radically changing your diet
2. Taking control of your health
3. Following your intuition
4. Using herbs and supplements
5. Releasing suppressed emotions
6. Increasing positive emotions
7. Embracing social support
8. Deepening your spiritual connection
9. Having strong reasons for living