Right now, if you are newly diagnosed or have been re-diagnosed with cancer, you may be feeling dispirited, frightened and confused. It is vital that you consider the following encouraging facts:

One	Cancer is a two-way process – it can grow but it can also shrink or go into remission.
Two	People have recovered from every kind of possible cancer and are still alive to tell the tale.
Three	A healthy body has detection and repair mechanisms specifically for cancer cells. The integrated medicine approach works to repair and boost these natural anti-cancer processes in the body.
Four	There are many factors in addition to orthodox medicine, over which you have primary control, and which can positively affect your health and well-being.
Five	Your personal response to your cancer can make a huge difference to both your quality of life and chances of survival.
Six	You are unique and the average medical statistics do not always apply to individuals.
Seven	Your conventional treatment is only one component of your approach to fighting cancer.
Eight	It is vital that you do not rely too much on the effectiveness of medical treatment alone to ‘cure’ you of cancer. Give up the passive patient role and join forces with your doctors, and become as pro-active as you can about recovering your health.
Nine	It is you and not your doctors who are in overall charge of your situation.
Ten	Astonishingly, many of those who have embarked upon the integrated-medicine approach to cancer have ended up admitting that they are actually glad they had cancer because they now feel so much happier, healthier and more alive than ever before.

Continue re-reading this list of facts until the message sinks in!

Go forward in the knowledge that you are a very powerful person in your anti-cancer team. There is a great deal of help available to strengthen, support and guide you in your treatment and self-help programme. It is possible to stabilize and live with cancer (rather than dying from it), and even to go into remission from cancer altogether.

A cancer diagnosis can start a profound and exciting journey of healing and self-development, giving you the push and permission to change what has been making you ill or unhappy for years. This book will help you to understand and discover every type of help that is available to empower you in both your fight against cancer and your personal healing journey.

What Is Integrated Cancer Medicine?

Integrated cancer medicine is the most powerful medicine available to those with cancer because it draws together every possible form of help that is available for you to fight cancer and heal yourself. Since the 1960s, there has been a revolution in medical thinking and science, and it is now clear that our health and chances of recovery from illness depend both on what the medical profession can do for us and what we can do for ourselves. Many of the factors that affect our health and well-being are within our own control, and involve us becoming stronger physically, mentally and spiritually to deal with and overcome illness. This means that, when serious illness strikes, we must seek to understand how the illness has developed, what our needs in going through the illness and its treatment are and, most crucially of all, how to use the help available at all levels of mind, body and spirit to get ourselves well again.

In practical terms for each person with cancer, this means opening up a treasure chest of possibilities to find the right type of help to crack the healing code. As mutually respectful partners on this detective mission, those with cancer, their doctors, therapists and supporters can draw from orthodox, complementary and alternative medicine the psychological, spiritual and self-help approaches necessary, as well as look longer term into the role of nutrition, lifestyle reorientation and environmental factors, all of which may play key roles in overcoming the disease and becoming a part of the winning statistics.

Historically, those who become ill have really only had the medical model to rely upon. In such a model, a person with cancer is completely dependent on the knowledge and skill of doctors and nurses, and the current level of scientific understanding of the disease. This puts the ill person in an entirely passive role – which is all very well if the doctors have the ability to fix the problem. But if the power of medicine is limited, as in most cases of cancer, this leaves the patient with nowhere to go, feeling as if he or she has gone over the edge of a precipice. Another weakness of the medical model is that it leaves you powerless, with nothing to contribute to your own recovery process and chances of survival.

In stark contrast, the integrated medicine model puts the person with cancer at the very centre of the recovery process, as the therapeutic team:

• seeks to understand your needs, values and insights in relation to the illness

• supports and empowers you to get the very best treatment options that best suit your values and needs

• helps prepare you psychologically and physically for your treatment

• helps you explore the meaning of the illness, the self-help path and how you can transform the crisis of illness into the opportunity for health creation.

In the integrated medicine model, illness is not seen as a random occurrence, but as a logical result of factors that have created a chink in your armour. Our job is to try to understand how the illness has developed, and use this message from the body to work creatively to get your health and life onto a stronger, happier footing than before.

Within the integrated approach, you will find loving care and recognition of the trauma and stress that diagnosis, illness and treatment may be causing you. You will find hope that a creative way can be found to overcome your illness. You will find empowerment and the vital help you need to become mighty in your own defence. You will find respect for your personal needs, values and insights, and you will find the opportunity to transform the total misery and threat of illness and its treatment into an opportunity for a profound re-engagement in living the life you love.

To make the integrated medicine revolution work for you, you will need to find your way to exactly the right resources nationally and locally. This means that you will have a map or overview of what is available, and what forms of help might be useful and when. So, in the pages that follow, you will find help to:

• understand the different types of help available

• understand when to use what type of help

• understand your reactions to illness

• understand the best state of mind to promote recovery

• set up your own support network

• get the information you need to make the very best treatment decisions, whether orthodox or alternative

• make informed treatment decisions that are right for you

• be well prepared for your treatment psychologically, physically and practically

• get the best treatment outcomes with support from complementary medicine

• convalesce properly after treatment

• get yourself on the road to recovery with positive health creation.

What Types of Integrated Medicine Are Available?

There are seven kinds of help available in integrated cancer medicine:

1. Orthodox cancer medicine

2. Alternative cancer medicine

3. Complementary supportive care

4. Psychological approaches

5. Spiritual help

6. Self-help approaches

7. Healthy lifestyle reorientation

1. Orthodox cancer medicine

This is the medicine provided by mainstream cancer doctors and nurses, and is written about in detail in Chapter 4. Within orthodox medicine, you will find help to obtain:

• an accurate diagnosis of your condition

• if desired, a prognosis for your condition (knowing the average outcome statistically for those with your condition)

• the conventional cancer treatments of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and possibly adjuvant treatments such as hormone therapies

• where available, the opportunity to be entered into a research trial in which the most up-to-date treatment is being tested

• where available, treatment with newly emerging technologies such as laser, cryotherapy and highly specialized radiotherapeutic techniques

• if appropriate, palliative care (treatment to control cancer symptoms) and residential respite care in a hospice

• where available, supportive care within orthodox settings from counsellors, psychologists, specialist nurses, chaplains, social workers and health visitors. Some enlightened units also offer complementary supportive care such as aromatherapy, massage, relaxation, visualization and group-therapy sessions.

2. Alternative cancer medicine

Alternative cancer medicines are those that may be used as an alternative to orthodox cancer treatment. These are written about in detail in Chapter 5 (The alternative frontier: getting the best alternative treatment), and fall into the areas of:

• anti-cancer nutrients that are taken by mouth to help combat cancer directly or to stimulate the body’s immune and tissue-healing systems

• herbal medicines that are believed to have direct anti-cancer properties or indirectly inhibit cancer growth

• intravenous metabolic cancer therapies that provide high-dose nutrients or herbal extracts for the body designed to exert a cytotoxic (cancer cell-killing) anti-cancer effect

• immunotherapy aimed at repairing or boosting immune function to get the body fighting cancer naturally

• neuroendocrine therapies aimed at rebalancing the body’s hormones and neurotransmitters to inhibit cancer growth

• physical therapies in which heat, light or oxygen is used to treat cancer

• nutritional therapies where strict diets are used to combat cancer

• mind – body medicine, where mind – body approaches are used to restore immune function and direct tissue-healing.

3. Complementary supportive care

Complementary cancer medicine involves the use of natural medicines or therapies that can be used in a supportive context alongside orthodox treatment for physical, emotional and energy support. These are written about in detail in Chapter 7; their role in symptom control is covered in Chapter 8. These are usually accessed in the community from complementary therapists practising in complementary therapy centres or from their homes, but are becoming increasingly available in hospitals and hospices (from nurses or complementary therapists). These include:

• touch therapies such as massage, aromatherapy, osteopathy, craniosacral therapy, shiatsu, acupressure and reflexology

• energy therapies such as acupuncture, reiki healing, spiritual healing and Johrei

• natural remedies such as herbal medicines, including European, Chinese and Indian Ayurvedic herbs, and homoeopathic remedies

• mind – body symptom control through hypnotherapy, visualization, relaxation, guided imagery and affirmation

• nutritional and immune support.

4. Psychological approaches

The psychological approach to cancer is covered in Chapter 2 and includes:

• providing sympathetic counselling to help in the recovery from the shock and trauma of diagnosis and re-diagnosis, and in facing the pain and loss

• ongoing support to rise to the challenge of the illness and its treatment

• using psychological approaches to increase the chances of recovery through:

a positive coping style

getting out of depression

finding the meaning or message of the illness

using illness to change to a far more fulfilling lifestyle

using positive mind – body approaches such as visualization, affirmation and hypnotherapy suggestion (where mind – body medicine is used as a form of alternative medicine).

5. Spiritual help

Spiritual help is needed by those facing a life-threatening illness as, almost immediately, the really big questions of the meaning of life and death are raised. The role of spiritual advisors as part of the support network is written about towards the end of this chapter. Another type of spiritual help is spiritual healing, included in Chapters 7 and 8. The broader aspects of the role of our spiritual health in long-term recovery are discussed in Chapter 9. Spiritual help is available from:

• spiritual advisors or religious guides, who help you to examine your beliefs and give spiritual support

• spiritual healers, who can help to provide energy support, spiritual uplift, relief of pain and symptoms and, sometimes, physical healing of disease

• transpersonal counsellors, psychosynthesis counsellors and Health Creation Mentors who can all help you to focus on creating spiritual health and fulfilment.

6. Self-help approaches

Self-help approaches, described in Chapters 7 and 8, can help you achieve the best outcomes from treatment and symptom control. They can also contribute to long-term health creation, as discussed in Chapter 9.

Self-help techniques to prepare for treatment and reduce symptoms include:

• relaxation, visualization, breathing techniques, affirmations and self-hypnosis.

Self-help techniques for long-term health creation include:

• healthy eating

• regular exercise, including aerobic exercise such as swimming, walking, running, a gym workout, dancing or tennis, as well as the more holistic types of exercise such as yoga, tai chi or chi gong

• spiritual practices such as meditation.

7. Healthy lifestyle reorientation

Healthy lifestyle reorientation, covered in Chapter 9, includes the key areas for creating long-term sustainable health, such as:

• stress reduction – both external stress and self-stressing tendencies

• establishing the correct work/play balance

• establishing healthy, loving relationships

• experiencing a sense of belonging

• becoming fulfilled and able to express oneself creatively

• feeling well nourished at all levels of the body, mind and spirit

• ensuring that your environment is healthy and free from negative influences.

Timing Is All: The Four Phases of Recovery

The healing journey from here, diagnosis, to there, recovery and a healthy, fresh new lifestyle, is, in the words of Penny Brohn, co-founder of the Bristol Cancer Help Centre, ‘a process and not an event!’

How dearly we all wish that there were a quick way to get rid of the uncomfortable feelings and symptoms of illness, get through our treatments, and back into a secure ‘normal’ life. But, unfortunately, the treatment and healing process does take time, and there are challenges associated with each step of the treatment and healing process. It is therefore important that you get the big picture, understand what you will have to go through, pace yourself appropriately and map out which aspects of the integrated approach will be right for which stage of the healing journey.

The main tendency is for everyone affected by cancer to get into a terrible panicky rush. The medical profession often sets the hurried pace, making it appear imperative that you receive treatment within hours or days of diagnosis. This is very unhelpful as it leaves you with no time to recover from the initial shock, to prepare for treatment and, most important of all, to take the necessary time to consider the treatment options on offer (while getting your head around the short-and possible long-term side-effects).

As for integrated approaches, people with cancer often confuse the more short-term use of supportive complementary help and symptom control with the longer-term health creation measures necessary for a sustainable improvement in health and, hopefully, prognosis. The worst pitfall would be to rush into making major life changes while in the middle of treatment!

Sometimes, having got the message that illness can follow long periods of stress or unhappiness, people become very motivated to change, but run into problems when they try to make big changes when they are weak and vulnerable. If illness has made you realize that you need to change your job, confront difficulties in your relationships or move house, do wait until you are well and physically strong enough, through your treatment and convalescence, before making such big life changes.

To help you identify the process of recovery, it is wise to see it in four distinct phases:

Phase 1 Getting through diagnosis and treatment positively

Phase 2 Dealing creatively with the problems of illness

Phase 3 Health revival: the state shift to get the body and mind strong again

Phase 4 Life revival: getting into a healthy, happy and fulfilling lifestyle.

Phase 1 Getting through diagnosis and treatment positively

• Take the time to go through your reactions to the diagnosis

• Set up your support network

• Make appropriate adjustments to your working and social commitments

• Obtain full and clear information on all of your treatment options

• Make a truly informed decision regarding treatment

• Prepare well for treatment psychologically, physically and practically

• Convalesce properly from treatment.

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