Integrative Oncology

Since the beginning of the year I have been trying to move my diet more and more towards a plant-based diet.  A plant-based diet is essentially a vegan diet, but one where you make sure you eat mostly plant-based food versus just eating anything that falls under the "vegan" label. Vegan cookies and other processed foods are NOT a staple in a plant-based diet. Most of my motivation to eat a plant-based diet has come from my desire to do more for myself to help increase my chances of beating brain cancer. I've been reading more and more about how alternative therapies including supplements and significant changes in diet have helped some people beat cancer and its something I'm totally willing to try. It can't hurt right? I feel like I have little to lose. 

Vegan Lunch - Quinoa, Veggies, & Tempeh

One of my struggles so far with moving towards a plant-based diet is that I'm not sure what to eat. Eat vegetables - okay I get that, but how do I eat them to form a complete meal that is filling and nutritious? I've been eating a high-protein diet for so long with the primary focus of each meal being on meat and carbs and changing that has really been a challenge. My friend Devika pointed me towards the website Veg-Appeal recently though which listed vegan cooking classes that were offered not too far from my house. Score! While I was looking around on the Veg-Appeal website I also saw a posting about an event that was being held at UCSD called Integrative Oncology 2013 put on by the UCSD Center for Integrative Medicine. I had never heard of Integrated Medicine or Integrated Oncology, and had no idea that UCSD even offered something like that! 

In Lecture - Getting My Learn On

About the Center for Integrated Medicine:

The Center for Integrative Medicine operates virtually across UC San Diego’s departments and divisions, focusing on whole-person wellness by addressing your physical, as well as lifestyle, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs. We offer clinical and specialty care, group classes, education, research, and overall, an integrative, whole-person philosophy to medicine.

About the Integrative Oncology Conference

Join national experts, health professionals, cancer survivors, and community members in a landmark event hosted by the UC San Diego Center for Integrative Medicine:  Integrative Oncology 2013. This conference discusses the complex relationship between tumor, host, and dietary, lifestyle, and environmental factors, and what can be done to foster an “anti-cancer” diet and lifestyle to help rectify imbalances and reduce the drivers of cancer.  Integrative Oncology addresses all aspects of cancer care, using evidence from cancer epidemiology, basic science, and clinical research – together with the ancient wisdom of natural healing systems such as Chinese medicine and Ayurveda.

This was exactly what I had been looking for since I had started treatment! Sure I believe that radiation and chemo are my best bets for killing my tumor, but this whole time I've really felt that there must be something more that I could do to become an active participant in my treatment and to do the best I can for my body as it goes through this fight. Thanks to the generosity of the mAss Kickers foundation I was able to attend the two-day conference with two other cancer survivors, one who founded the organization. 

Kicking mAss - One Day at a Time

The conference kicked off with a session on "The Role of Diet in the Development of Cancer" by T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study which is featured in the movie Forks Over Knives. I've had several friends recommend his book to me and I was able to buy it and get it signed right at the conference! 

With Author and Scientist T. Colin Campbell

Some of the other sessions for the day were:

• Dietary Prevention of Cancers of the Breast, Prostate, and Colon
• Role of the Mind in Cancer Development
• Putting Prevention Into Practice (information from the Natural Healing & Cooking program)
• The Chinese Medical Approach to Cancer
• Dietary & Mind-Body Combined Intervention
• Naturopathic Therapeutics for Cancer

The sessions were really interesting to me and even empowering. It made me feel like there is more that I can do! I'm not helpless in this treatment process and there are natural interventions which have been proven to be effective in cancer care. Are any of these things going to be the magic potion that cures me of cancer? Who knows, maybe not. But they can't hurt and its worth me trying.

For the second day there were a variety of other interesting topics that were presented:

• Use of Integrative Medicine in Pediatric Oncology and in Bone Marrow Transplant Patients
• Biofield Therapies in Cancer Care
• Cannabis in Pain and Palliative Care
• Overview of Integrative Modalities in the Support of Cancer Patients
• Self-Expression to Promote Cancer Wellness
• The Essential Role of Community in Cancer Care

All of these sessions seemed to reinforce that there is so much more that you can do on top of just taking your chemo. There are things you can do to relax, reduce stress, address side effects, and improve your overall health which can hopefully improve your cancer outcome. I'm thrilled to find out that UCSD has an Integrative Medicine Center which focuses on the patient as a whole, and I'm looking forward to consulting with a doctor there.

"For any condition considered 'incurable' at this time, 

an answer may be around the corner"

Since the end of last year I've been under the care of a Naturopathic Oncologist and a Homeopathic Doctor in Arizona. (We talk by phone once a month.) I've been taking a round of supplements daily to help fight the side effects of radiation and chemo, and to hopefully work together with my chemo to kill as much of my brain tumor as possible. I've given my neurooncologist the first right of refusal on all of this treatment from the start, didn't take anything during radiation per his wishes, and have kept him informed of everything that has been recommended to me that I'm taking. Several of the supplements I'm taking are "normal" supplements I've taken before (multi-vitamin, fish oil, etc), and others are ones that are currently being studied on brain tumors with promising results. Curcumin (PubMed Article), boswellia (PubMed Article), and quercitin (PubMed Article) to name a few. 

I've received a good amount of criticism from a handful of people on the validity of this care which completely annoys me. I'm still following the direction of my neurooncologist and taking chemo as prescribed, I'm not taking any wacko supplements which aren't known to be safe, and by pursuing these alternative treatments I feel like an active participant in saving my life. I'm following the treatment which is proven to do the best for me pharmaceutically ... but that treatment isn't believed to ever cure me of cancer, it will just buy me some time. If this was your life, wouldn't you want to do more too? Sure I miss eating bacon for breakfast, but not as much as I miss being healthy and cancer free. And that's something I plan to be someday. People out there beat the odds everyday with cancer. I'm doing what I can to be one of those people.