Let's talk lifestyle and cancer remission

Posted by Denise @denisestlouie, Oct 9 11:34am

I have an issue. The cancer I have is rare, aggressive and resistant to traditional chemotherapies. The tough part is that its rare and there is very little known about treating this cell lime and research is difficult because researchers can't get enough subjects to come up with statistically solid information. Sometimes people with my cancer are excluded from trials. So I'm worried.

I am doing all the therapies my oncologist is recommending, because its the best that we have. But I don't think its going to be enough. So where does that leave me? It leaves me to be my own best cure. Yes I have the power and ability to help these drugs fight this disease. How may you ask? With lifestyle practices.

First and far most is physical exercise. Most of the research on physical exercise comes from breast and colorectal cancer research and it is assumed it will help with other cancers as well. Did you know that 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise can reduce your risk of recurrence by 50 to 58%! Our muscles are important to keep the immune system in top notch order, helps to keep glucose in check and keeps us feeling better.

I'm also working with a functional/holistic Doctor who is also a MD. He is working with me to get my body into the best condition that its been in years! He teaching me how to follow a metabolic syndrome diet so that I will be able to eat this way for the rest of my life.

My prayer and hope is that the surgery, chemotherapy and lifestyle practices will keep me disease free. I hope that in 20 years I be writing on the forum telling people my success story.

What do you do to help stay disease free?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Gynecologic Cancers Support Group.

gisellef | @gisellef | Oct 13 5:58pm

In reply to @j0318 "Thank you for the book recommendation. I previewed some of it online and it is now..." + (show)

Wishing you the very best of health, too (as well as all to all who participate on this site.

lilacs777 | @lilacs777 | Oct 15 1:31pm

Legit books on healing from cancer I'd recommend:
Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber MD PhD
Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds by Kelly A. Turner PhD (Author)
Cured: Strengthen Your Immune System and Heal Your Life by Jeffrey Rediger M.D.
All of these books claim to be backed by solid research, especially the first one which was written by a MD who himself was diagnosed at a young age with brain cancer and way outlived his diagnosis. Supposedly MD Anderson's integrative onco practice was based on / started by David Servan-Schreiber's approach.
I've just started to read up more on exercise - there's actually a field of oncology dedicated to scientifically measuring the effect on cancer so that 'prescriptions' can be given for types of exercise most effective for certain cancers. I'm trying to find a place that does this - I think UCLA or one of the CA institutions may focus on it.
hth

Denise | @denisestlouie | Oct 15 2:00pm

In reply to @lilacs777 "Legit books on healing from cancer I'd recommend: Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David..." + (show)

Did you know Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber MD PhD died of his cancer in 2008

lilacs777 | @lilacs777 | Oct 15 2:34pm

Yes but he did outlive his prognosis by about 20years and his research was the basis of the current day integrative onco practices

gisellef | @gisellef | Oct 16 7:57am

In reply to @lilacs777 "Legit books on healing from cancer I'd recommend: Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David..." + (show)

Thank you for the promising new reading recommendations. Dr Peter Attia’s book Outlive promotes exercise as perhaps the most important factor in modulating or preventing disease, even more important than diet, which also ranks high in supporting immune function. Please continue posting any new information that you may find in this area of cancer research, especially any information on clinics that have adopted these approaches in treatment.

Denise | @denisestlouie | Oct 16 11:46am

In reply to @gisellef "Thank you for the promising new reading recommendations. Dr Peter Attia’s book Outlive promotes exercise as..." + (show)

The info on exercise is very compelling. The research was done with breast cancer and colon cancer patients. They found as little as 150 minutes of moderate exercise can reduce the probability of recurrence as much as 58%!

The diet is important but they have done much on research on diet so we have to look at what is known about diet a disease in general.

j0318 | @j0318 | Oct 16 11:48am

I too look forward to any other reading recommendations or research for healthy mind body approaches to cancer treatment shared here. Thanks @gisellef and @lilacs777 for the reading recommendations and @denisestlouie for starting this discussion. Sending wishes for good health to you all.

lilacs777 | @lilacs777 | Oct 16 11:57am

Thank you for the recommendation for Dr Peter Attia’s book Outlive - I have not read that one yet and was just starting to learn about Dr Attia. That's great news @denisestlouie about the % reduction in recurrence - that is nearly as much as many of the cancer meds promise! I know some of the exercise research for cancer is based on how many "METs" of exercise you need per week. I forgot how they calculate 1 MET but there are online charts that tell you how many METs you get out of 1 hour of a given exercise or activity. I think they said some cancers require more METs per week to prevent recurrence than other cancers.

shivey | @shivey | Oct 18 11:04am

Sounds like you are really working on staying well, I have a rare (ish) cancer also and I’m in remission so I exercise and walk a couple of times a week, also good diet plus acupuncture, reiki and counselling… best wishes

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