What I would do if I was diagnosed today
Calm down and breathe.
I would remind myself I have time to make better researched, more informed decisions.
I would have my doctor write a prescription for me for antidepressant(s) - this is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge.
I would work to remind myself every minute of every day to not let my emotions break my will to live.
I would give my spirit all the mental support it needs to will my body to heal and/or live until it really is time to go to the higher dimensions.
My treatment strategy would be formed around and comprised of an integrated medicine approach - standard of care therapies supported by nutrition, acupuncture, fasting, guided meditation, supplements, on and off label medications to target mutated cell energy consumption and mutated cell weakening applications, etc, etc. I would remember - werewolves aren’t brought down with a single silver bullet.
I would buy and read cover to cover How to Starve Cancer…I would build my strategy to support my standard of care treatment based on the suggestions in this book and its “McLelland Metro Map”.
I would research supplements and look for clinical research trial data, peer reviewed studies, data from meta analysis, etc…I’m not a big fan of purely anecdotal evidence, but I’ll take anecdotal evidence when it has some basis in medical or scientific review.
I would interview my GP physician and oncologist to make sure they understand my treatment strategy and they are not just onboard, but actively engaged and supportive.
I would tell my GP physician to give me every medication I need to overcome the side effects of my treatment; I have low energy - give me a stimulant, I can’t eat - give me something to increase my appetite, I’m nauseous and/or vomiting - give me anti nausea medication…give me whatever it takes so I can do whatever it takes.
I would get a germline genetic test for all known cancer related genetic defects…I would get this long before I was diagnosed if I had any history at all of cancer in my family lineage. If I hadn’t gotten this test before I was diagnosed it would be the first test I did immediately after the doctor tells me the initial scans indicate cancer.
I would get my oncologist, GI and the Know your Tumor program (for pancreatic cancer) in alignment and working together BEFORE the GI doc does my biopsy. The molecular test may require specific biopsy site extraction, minimum sample volume/amount, samples delivered on particular slides in a particular fashion…it’s possible, but possibly much more difficult to get this done after the initial biopsy…as I found out originally.
I would watch Protem Code and take notes.
I would research fasting…especially fasting before chemo treatments. If my chemologist says he doesn’t give fasting patients chemo I would remind him/her that they give chemo to fasting patients every day, they just call them throat cancer patients or esophageal cancer patients or etc, etc. They do it all the time just not very often for cancer below the shoulders…I would stick to my guns on this and if he/she refused I would find another oncologist.
I would fast (water-only and black coffee) every day for 13 hours.
I would fast (water-only and black coffee) for 3-5 days before every chemo treatment.
I would wear cold gear on my head, hands and feet during every platinum chemo treatment.
I would read the books on the resource page on this site.
I would mediate daily using the tools and techniques mentioned and noted through the books on the resource page of this site.
I would get a red light and use red light and near infrared light therapy regularly (depending on the type of cancer I have).
I would make myself say positive things about my outcome even if I did not believe it at first because I believe what one’s ears hear goes deep into the neurological functioning of the subconscious mind.
I would believe in the “placebo effect” and I would use it to my advantage every day in spite of what some incurious doctor or chemologist thought.
I would think of this as my journey and no one else to tell me how to walk it. No one except me decides how I walk my cancer journey. Which physicians, doctors, oncologists, chemologists, etc come along the journey with me is up to them, but I am not taking their ego journey nor their self serving research journey. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in a clinical trial right now, so I’m a big fan of research. However, how the oncologist/researcher engages, interacts and cares for the patient matters to me. Have I mentioned how thankful I am for Drs. Travis Wilkes and Kim Riess Binder? :-)
I would do standard of care with a plan for what happens when I have a positive response. I intend to have a positive response, therefore in spite of what my doctor or chemologist says, I need a plan for when that happens - if they can’t be an actively engaged and supportive part of my “what happens next when I have better than expected results” plan, then I will find a physician and an oncologist who can be a part of my “what happens next…” plan.
This is what I can think of at this moment that I would do if I was diagnosed today. I’m sure there is more and when I think of it I’ll post it.