Walking in Survivors' Footsteps
Survivors with both the conviction to make lifestyle changes that saved their lives and the courage to go beyond standard medical care recommended by their oncologists, serve as models worth studying. All cancer patients can benefit from understanding the methods employed by these groundbreaking individuals.
Radical Remission by Dr. Kelly Turner
Kelly Turner is a psychotherapist who specializes in integrative oncology. She has a master’s degree in social work in the field of counseling for cancer patients. During her Ph.D. work, she studied spontaneous healing, which she calls “radical remission”.
Her book, Radical Remission, The Nine Key Factors That Can Make a Real Difference, is a summary of the findings from her Ph.D. work (and beyond). It outlines the nine key factors that all of the radical remission patients had in common. She defines “radical remission” as any cancer remission that is statistically unexpected. This can occur when;
- cancer goes away without any conventional treatment;
- a patient begins with conventional treatment, then abandons this for alternative treatment;
- or a patient uses both conventional and alternative at the same time
One thing I would like to note is that I take issue with Turner’s use of the term alternative. In my mind, an alternative treatment is one that is used in place of (or as an alternative to) conventional medicine. When it is used alongside conventional treatment, I believe it should be called complementary or integrative.
During the course of her dissertation research, she focused her attention on two groups. The first group was radical remission survivors. She asked the radical remission survivors this question: “why do you think you healed?” The second group she interviewed was alternative healers who treat cancer.
From her research, she found 75 factors could account for the healing. Nine of these factors occurred with the greatest frequency.
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Her book outlines these nine factors, which are:
- Changing your diet.
- Taking control of your health.
- Following your intuition.
- Using herbs and supplements.
- Releasing suppressed emotions.
- Increasing positive emotions.
- Embracing social support.
- Deepening your spiritual connection.
Our Hero Maggie McGee
The tale of our friend Maggie McGee, id told in her book, "How I beat Stage 4 Cancer". Maggie's triumph over stage four colon cancer, metastasized to the lung, liver and both breasts provides great optimism, while her involvement with clinical trials serves as a cautionary note to all cancer patients. Together with 8 other patients, Maggie got into a clinical trial for chemotherapy. The eight others were all dead in six months, but not from cancer. It was the chemotherapy that killed them all.
Maggie was in touch with her own body enough to realize that the chemo was killing her too so she dropped out of the trial after three months, swore to never again take chemo, and began a journey of self-education and healing, which is documented in her book.
Maggie became our hero by committing to do whatever it took to heal herself naturally. She went on an amazing journey to educate herself and completely changed her diet and lifestyle. Her path to finding healing, as well as many of the formulas and recipes she uses, are all found in her book, "How I beat Stage 4 Cancer".
