Improve Your Chances of Surviving Cancer: 9 Key Factors
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is such a challenging time, both for the person receiving the diagnosis and also for all their loved ones. I remember the fear that overwhelmed me when I received mine, the feeling that my life and my health was completely out of my control and not only that, the future of my family was at risk. Would my (soon to be born) son even remember his mum, would I be leaving my husband alone to look after our children? What was going to happen to us? So many scary questions and no real answers from anyone.
I lived with this fear for quite some time, but little by little, I learned that there was so much that I could do personally, to improve my chances of surviving my cancer diagnosis. Not only this, I could potentially be thriving long after my diagnosis, but in order for this to happen, I needed to drastically change my ways, I needed to address the likely causes of my cancer and turn my body into a body in which cancer cannot thrive. That knowledge was so empowering. Gradually, the fear of my cancer diminished, as I understood more about how I could influence whether it could develop and grow. I knew that I and only I had that power and I want to share that knowledge with you in the hope that you too can make the necessary changes to your life to ensure that cancer cannot thrive in your body.
A good starting point is to read Kelly A. Turner, PhD’s Radical Remission - Surviving Cancer Against All Odds, a book that I would highly recommend to anyone living with a cancer diagnosis or to anyone close to someone living with a cancer diagnosis.
People do recover from cancer, tumours can just disappear or stop growing. This can even happen to people who have received every treatment modern medicine can throw at them to no avail, and are then sent home to ‘put their affairs in order’. So how does this happen and why don’t we hear more about these happy ending stories?
Turner’s studies looks to address these questions and much more too. Radical Remission - Surviving Cancer Against All Odds shares the results of her PhD and ongoing research into instances of ‘radical remission’ from cancer, where she defines radical remission as occurring whenever:
a person’s cancer goes away without using any conventional medicine; or
a cancer patient tries conventional medicine, but the cancer does not go into remission, so he or she switches to alternative methods of healing, which do lead to a remission; or
a cancer patient uses conventional medicine and alternative healing methods at the same time in order to outlive a statistically dire prognosis (i.e. any cancer with a less than 25% chance of a 5-year survival).
A total of 75 different factors were recorded however, there were 9 key factors which almost all of the survivors interviewed by Turner mentioned doing to differing degrees, in order to heal their cancer. These 9 factors are summarised below and each factor will be explored in more detail in upcoming blog posts.
Turner’s book is well researched, with all supporting studies referenced and documented in the Appendix. It’s engaging, easy to read, uplifting and empowering. No matter where you are on your journey back to health, this book can help you.
If you would like to understand more about which diet, lifestyle and environmental modifications can significantly reduce your risk of cancer recurrence, support you through your cancer journey, and reduce your risk of recurrence, then register for our 90 Day Cancer Support Programme. Through this programme we help empower you through increased knowledge to implement the necessary changes in a sustainable manner. Life long changes that will make a huge difference to your overall health and disease risk profile. We aim to:
Improve your knowledge of what to eat & why: Giving you greater confidence and control over your potential outcome.
Support your immune system: To keep you feeling well, improve your potential outcome, and to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence.
Improve your energy levels and mood: Thereby improving your overall sense of wellbeing, and enabling you to put your energy into improving your health.
Optimise your nutritional status: To keep you feeling well, improve your potential outcome, and to reduce your risk of cancer recurrence.
Improve your healing after surgery: Through better nutritional choices.
Support your gut health: To reduce any adverse digestive symptoms and side effects, and to improve nutrient absorption.
Maintain your muscle mass: To keep you physically strong, better able to cope with any treatments offered, and improve your potential outcome.
Minimise treatment side effects: Aiming to mitigate the negative impact of any standard treatment received.
Reduce your risk of cancer recurrence: Through better nutrition and lifestyle choices.
Improve your quality of life: Through holistic support, helping you to thrive long after your cancer diagnosis.
If you don’t have an active or recent cancer diagnosis and are interested in ensuring that you stay this way, then we can also help support you . Check out our 90 Day Health and Wellbeing programme for more information, or alternatively, if you have any questions then please send us a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
9 key factors: to improve your chances of surviving cancer
1) Radically Change Your Diet
With these 4 dietary modifications:
Significantly reduce or eliminate refined sugar, meat, dairy and processed/refined foods, including all refined grains (i.e. white flour, white pasta, white rice).
Significantly increase your fruit and vegetable intake. Fruits and vegetables contain an array of health promoting properties, for example, cruciferous vegetables (e.g. broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and radishes), allium vegetables (e.g. garlic, onions, leeks and chives) and dark berries all contain potent cancer-fighting compounds. Other fruits and vegetables contain many other anti-cancer properties so aim to eat a rainbow of colours every single day.
Eat organic foods wherever possible and as much as your budget allows.
Drink filtered water, switching out fizzy drinks, shop bought juices, milk and alcohol for around 8 glasses of filtered water and herbal tea per day.
2) Take Control of Your Health
By taking an active, as opposed to a passive role in your health. Ask questions, challenge where appropriate and do your own research. Be prepared to deal with any resistance that you may face.
Be willing to make changes in your life. This is critical, your current way of living has allowed cancer to develop, be open to making the necessary changes.
“The time for action is now. It’s never too late to do something.”
3) Follow your Intuition
You must do what feels right for you and don’t be afraid to follow your gut instinct, however that may manifest, perhaps through a recurring dream, a feeling deep within or by a sequence of coincidences that you experience. If your intuition is leading you in a different direction to that planned, allow yourself to investigate it a little further.
4) Use Herbs and Supplements
Such as those to aid digestion, to improve the bodies detoxification processes, to naturally remove underlying infections (i.e. bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic) and to help boost and/or modulate your immune system.
Whilst I believe that the use of herbs and supplements has a place in the healing process, and I myself used many different supplements throughout my journey back to health, they should not be used in isolation but in combination with the necessary lifestyle changes.
Additionally, be aware that the supplement industry is a multi-billion pound unregulated industry and care must be taken to ensure that only high quality, additive and toxin free supplements and herbs are taken, and therefore, I would always recommend seeking professional advice from a qualified registered nutritional therapist or herbalist before embarking on any regimen.
5) Release Suppressed Emotions
Clearing out the emotional baggage from our past has been shown to help boost the immune system and increase happiness, two positive changes that will increase your chances of recovering from cancer.
Releasing suppressed emotion can be extremely challenging as many modalities, such as talking therapy, require you to sit with each repressed emotion, face the emotion and through this process the suppressed emotion can be released. In addition, many people are simply not conscious that they are living with suppressed emotions or indeed how they could be negatively impacting them both emotionally and physically.
This is a vital part of the recovery process for many and was a crucial part of my own journey back to health and happiness. I urge you to put in the necessary work, be that with or without an appropriate therapist or healer, depending on your needs, to release any emotions that you are holding onto that no longer serve you.
6) Increase Positive Emotions
Feeling positive emotions, such as joy, happiness and love, increases the number of cancer-fighting immune cells in our bodies. When we feel these emotions we will likely have less stress, worry and fear in our lives, and our relationships tend to improve.
By consciously working towards building a daily habit whereby you try to feel these positive emotions, for at least some part of the day, then you can help shift your body out of fight or flight mode and into the body’s healing mode.
7) Embrace Social Support
Similarly, when we receive love from others, be that a partner, a friend, a support group or even a pet, our bodies natural ability to heal increases. When we receive such love and support, potent healing hormones such as, oxytocin, serotonin, dopamine and endorphins are released. These, in turn send various immune boosting signals throughout the body which help to seek out and eliminate any rogue cancer cells.
"Hugs are the universal medicine."
- Unknown
8) Deepen Your Spiritual Connection
This is an area for you to explore, as each person has their own views on what spirituality and having a spiritual connection means for them. Many people equate it to religion but I do not believe that it has to have a religious component. For me it is one’s connection to a power greater than myself, a connection to the universe, and a connection to a life force deep within all living beings.
Aim to keep an open mind and consider practices such as yoga, meditation, chanting or prayer, practices specifically designed to bring about a spiritual experience. If none of these resonate with you, look into what might, perhaps a meditative walk in nature, a gentle swim, deep breathing exercises, singing or gardening even, would help you to feel a deeper spiritual connection. Whatever approach you decide upon, aim to make it a new positive habit and practice it regularly.
Be conscious that when the mind becomes calm, a multitude of positive health-promoting changes take place in your body, including the strengthening of your immune system and the ability to switch off unhealthy genes, both essential components in improving your chances of surviving cancer.
9) Have a Strong Reason for Living
To have a strong reason for living is not the same as simply not wanting to die. Aim to keep your attention on what drives you to want to keep on living rather than dwelling on the chances of an earlier death than you had hoped for. Ask yourself these three simple questions:
What do you do (or would like to do more of) that brings you joy?
Is there something new that you would like to start doing with your life?
Are there any short, medium or long-term goals that can you set for yourself?
Aim to cultivate new positive habits that will keep you focussed on your reasons for living and practice them regularly.
I found it truly empowering to learn that my cancer was related to my environment and the way that I had been living, in fact studies have shown that this is true in 90-95% of all cases of cancer. Therefore, I had the power to change the direction of my health by addressing the many potential causes that had contributed to my cancer. I found this incredibly enpowering.
I want to help you to do this too, it is possible.
You too can create a body in which cancer finds it difficult to thrive.
Sarah Eglin: Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (mBANT) and cancer ‘thriver’
If you would like to read more about my personal experience with breast cancer and my journey back to great health then please click on the following links for more in depth information.
You can also join my Facebook group - Become a Cancer ‘Thriver’ and follow us on Facebook or Instagram.