Terry Thompson’s Blog

Today, just some closing thoughts on the experiences of Maria Claudia White that I have been chronicling over the past several posts.  Maria Claudia’s complementary therapies, as reported by Erin Quinn in Natural Solutions magazine, would not have happened without the personal involvement and guidance of her integrative oncologist. 

Maria Claudia is a physician.  Yet she knew little about integrative medicine and hardly anything about complementary therapies for cancer patients.  She was actually surprised by her oncologist’s recommendations for natural therapies by specialists in addition to her chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.  The oncologist would treat her with the traditional conventional therapies, but she would see at least five other medical professionals for complementary therapies.  As a doctor, she had never considered therapies such as mind-body interaction, special diet and nutrition protocols, hypnotherapy, acupuncture, and biofeedback.  Although skeptical at first, she now credits these complementary therapies as essential contributors to her present classification as a cancer survivor. 

The holistic approach to cancer treatment by her integrative oncologist is still rare in America today.  By and large, cancer patients receive treatments that attempt to kill the tumor or eradicate the cancer cells from the blood or skeletal system.  Oncologists don’t typically treat the patient; they treat the disease.  Yet, it is the patient that ultimately has to overcome the disease.  Chemotherapy and radiation helps, but so does attention to the whole body, psyche, and environment.

Maria Claudia testifies that she is living proof that cancer patients need conventional medicine and complementary therapies to beat the disease.  This is the new strategy for winning the war on cancer.     

Maria Claudia White is an enlightening case study of integrative oncology.  I continue to report on her experiences as a cancer patient as told by Erin Quinn in Natural Solutions magazine.

During her conventional treatments, Maria Claudia had several sessions with a biofeedback practitioner at the University of North Carolina Biofeedback Clinic.  Biofeedback monitors physiological activities through systematic measurements of muscle tension, heart rate, skin conductivity, body temperature, breathing rate, etc.  With the use of high-technology sensors, patients participate in certain exercises while viewing the results of their body’s reactions in real time.  They learn to recognize what the body is doing in response to various conditions and to control its functions to a great degree.  This is especially helpful to cancer patients as they learn how to modulate or reduce pain, anxiety, muscle tension, and gastrointestinal issues.  The goal is to make the body work as efficiently as possible with as little interference in the treatment process and as much support of the healing process as possible.  Both aggressive physical exercise and serious relaxation have very positive effects on the brain and its ability to manage the body.  Effective biofeedback is essential to balancing exercise and rest.

Maria Claudia believes that biofeedback was key to her stress management during treatment.  She even changed the way she breathed.  Her posture improved which allowed her body to perform with less restriction.  When fighting cancer, the body must have every advantage in the battle.  Chemotherapy and radiation only works as well as it is accepted and supported by the body.  Maria Claudia credits biofeedback training as the principal ingredient in her preparation and reception of the many challenges of cancer treatment.

Most oncologists prescribe no therapies to complement the conventional.  Few know enough about it to even discuss it.  The war on cancer will remain in a quagmire until integrative oncology becomes the norm rather than the exception.  Don’t accept an oncologist that won’t complement your treatment with customized natural therapies to enhance the conventional protocols.

The saga continues of Maria Claudia White as told by Erin Quinn in her article for Natural Solutions magazine.  Maria Claudia was receiving chemotherapy and radiation for her breast cancer along with several complementary therapies recommended by her integrative oncologist.  While meeting regularly with a mind-body therapist and a hypnotherapist, she began acupuncture treatments at the Integrative Health Center of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Acupuncture involves inserting tiny needles into specific areas of the body to boost blood flow and energize nerve centers to help relieve particular symptoms.  Two symptoms that acupuncture has proven especially successful in controlling are stress and anxiety, both of which are barriers to coping with cancer treatment.  Acupuncture improves overall well-being, relieves pain associated with cancer or surgery, and reduces the side effects of chemotherapy, such as hot flashes and nausea.

Maria Claudia took ten sessions of acupuncture treatments over the course of three months.  She credits the acupuncture preparation for her chemotherapy to be one of the main reasons that she was able to handle the treatment with little anxiety.  She believes her blessing of having almost no nausea associated with the chemotherapy was because her body was better prepared for it through the acupuncutre specifically designed to bolster physical resistance to the side effects. 

With less stress, less nausea, and more energy, the body is much more accepting of and prepared for the attacks of conventional cancer therapies.  The conventional therapies are made more effective, less damaging, and hopefully shorter in duration.  The result is a better, faster healing process.  Integrative oncology with a myriad of complementary therapies is by far the best option for cancer treatment.  Everyone should learn more about this new strategy for winning the war on cancer before the need arises.

I continue the series of posts on the integrative cancer therapy experiences of Maria Claudia White as reported by Erin Quinn in Natural Solutions magazine.  Maria Claudia’s oncologist recommended hypnotherapy from a PhD in hypnosis practicing at Duke University Medical Center’s Integrative Medicine clinic.  She had five appointments over a two month period which included two surgeries. 

The sessions were an hour each, and each were recorded for Maria Claudia to use later including during the surgeries.  Listening to repetitive suggestions about pain relief or heart rate stability during the surgeries resulted in much less anxiety and stress and a greater feeling of being in control.  After the surgeries, she took fewer pain medications than normal and had less bruising around the incision.  Her energy remained high, and she never lost her appetite.  The results surprised her surgeons.

One of the surgeries was considered very serious and involved going through the ribs, collapsing a lung, and removing a tumor behind the lung.  A cardiac team was in the room just in case.  A long, painful healing process was expected.  Maria Claudia took no pain medication after being released from the hospital and completely recovered in record time.  Her breast lumpectomy later required no pain medication at all.  Previous surgeries without hypnotherapy had been accompanied by extreme pain, long recoveries, nausea, and extended loss of energy.

Hypnotherapy is a relatively new concept in cancer surgery.  Integrative oncologists who stay abreast of the latest complementary therapies for their patients often recommend it and other therapies that reduce pain, shorten healing time, require less medication, and cut the overall expense of the surgery.  Without these added stresses and artificialities, the patient’s own natural cancer fighting system is at maximum effectiveness and conventional therapies are enhanced. 

My current series of posts has been about cancer patient Maria Claudia White and her experiences with integrative therapies.  The information is taken from an article in Natural Solutions magazine by Erin Quinn.

Maria was already holding to a disciplined, low-glycemic diet when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  High sugar and processed foods invite inflammation and promote growth of cancer cells.  A low-glycemic diet of fresh, natural foods including lots of vegetables provide powerful antioxidants and immune enhancers which do not make for a good environment for cancer cells.  Although she was eating healthy, Maria’s dietitian tweaked her menus to add specific cancer-fighting foods including brown rice, quinoa, and sweet potatoes.  Green tea was also assigned as a daily routine.

Supplements were added to the nutrition plan including Co-Q10 for the heart; milk thistle to detox the liver; Melatonin to promote rest, inhibit cancer cell growth, and reduce toxicity from radiation therapy; L-carintine to protect the body from chemotherapy; Vitamin D and mushrooms to boost immunity; Vitamins E and C to protect healthy cells; and Flax-seeds to decrease inflammation.

Maria was able to keep a good appetite through the chemotherapy and radiation and ate good balanced meals, something essential to beating cancer.  This nutritional program with the continuous coaching of a registered dietitian was an important part of her overall therapy along with the mind-body therapy discussed in the previous post.  Both complementary therapies were very instrumental in the success of Maria Claudia’s whole treatment program.  Integrative oncologists are insistent that their patients receive all of the complementary therapies that they need to fight the disease.

Yesterday, I began a series of blog posts about Maria Claudia White, a breast cancer patient, as reported by Erin Quinn in Natural Solutions magazine.  Prompted by her integrative oncologist, she began several selective complementary therapies in parallel with her conventional treatments.  Her first appointment was with a mind-body therapist at Duke Integrative Medicine.  Dealing with cancer treatment demands emotional efficiency.  Decision-making, discipline, and determination must be at their peak during the treatment.  In many ways the body responds to the mind and heart.  Being in the most positive and responsive psychological state can enhance the body’s healing processes as well as the toleration of the treatment.  This can reduce the duration of treatment significantly.

Maria Claudia received art therapy exercises.  She practiced meditation techniques.  At one point, she listed everything that could go wrong with the cancer, put the list in a box, and gave it to someone for safe keeping.  She said that the therapy helped her quiet all the noise that constantly bombarded her mind and kept her worried. 

Recently, increased interest in mind-body therapy has led to more testing that has confirmed its efficacy.  It has proven to bolster the immune system, enhance chemotherapy, and extend life.  It lessens the level of pain and eases the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.  Much more research and testing need to be done.  It is a key aspect of integrative oncology and deserves more attention.

The best way to become familiar with exactly what integrative oncology is all about is to learn it first hand from someone who has done it.  A recent article in Natural Solutions magazine by Erin Quinn chronicled the experiences of Dr. Maria Claudia White.  Dr. White, at the age of 52, was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Her cancer was about the worst type she could have.  She had the BRACAI gene mutation, and her mother died form the disease at the age of 45.  This increased her odds of breast cancer by 60% to 80%.  The lump in her breast was also a triple-negative tumor which is much more difficult to treat than most.  Her prognosis for survival is not good at all.

Maria’s oncologist at Duke University Medical Center recommended an aggressive treatment that included surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.  To her surprise, the oncologist also recommended that she check out complementary therapies at Duke integrative Medicine.  Her oncologist counseled her about how much support the body needs to fight this disease.  She said the body is actually working harder than the chemotherapy or radiation.  She related that the oncologists don’t know everything, especially concerning complementary therapies.  A good doctor will be willing to explore treatments additional to traditional ones.

Maria researched numerous integrative treatments and practitioners.  Between her research and her oncologist’s counsel, she decided to begin sessions of mind-body therapy, integrative nutrition, hypnotherapy, acupuncture, and biofeedback treatments.  She believed she needed to do everything she could to make her body as hostile an environment as possible for cancer.

In the next few blog posts, I will cover Maria White’s experiences with her complementary treatments.  It will be a special opportunity for you to gain first-hand knowledge of what is involved in and the advantages of integrative oncology.  Come back to this site often.

I have been away from my blog for a few days due to my schedule, for which I apologize.  After learning of Patrick Swayze’s death, I knew I had to get back in the groove.  The Dirty Dancing and Ghost icon certainly put up a fight with the disease, but as is the fate of practically all Stage IV cancer victims, he ultimately lost the battle.  His pancreatic cancer that metastasized to his liver is one of the most serious of cancers with few symptoms and rapid spread.  From initial diagnosis, he lived about 20 months with chemotherapy.  He was treated at one point with an experimental drug, Vatalanib.  Vatalanib inhibits enzymes needed for cell growth, thereby stunting the growth of the tumor.  The drug is still in clinical trials and was obviously not effective in Swayze’s case.   

He made public statements of his confidence in conventional treatment and his dismissal of anything other than mainstream medicine.  It is interesting that he was a heavy smoker and continued smoking throughout his treatment.  Among the complements to chemotherapy that Mr. Swayze might have explored are oleander, black cumin seed oil (Nigella Sativa) and pancreatic enzymes - all of which have had success against pancreatic cancer, especially when combined with a healthy and nutritional diet and lifestyle that replenishes the body instead of diminishes it.  Prescription of such complements is the practice of integrative oncologists.  No one can say that a more integrative approach would have led to Patrick Swayze’s survival of the disease or even extended his life.  However, the proven benefits of integrative therapies and the death of another celebrity cancer victim who refused anything not mainstream at least reminds us again of the poor track record of exclusively conventional cancer therapy.  What is wrong with having both?  Conventional therapy enhanced by integrative therapies will, plain and simply, be the best choice.  It is a choice.  

I am a pro-lifer, and that’s not limited to abortion.  To me, respect for life is one of the most basic of spiritual, ethical, and social values.  I do not believe an 80-year-old has any less right to live than an unborn, a child, or a 30-something parent.  Having said that, I must say that, as we grow older, cancer treatment decisions do take on a different set of factors to consider.  By 2030, Americans 65 and older will comprise 20% of the population, up from about 12% now.  Since the chances of getting cancer increase with age, there will be many more cancer cases involving seniors in the next few years.  How might cancer treatment decisions be different for the over 65 crowd?

I will only speak for myself.  I will be in that proud group of over-65-ers in less than three years.  As I consider what I would do if diagnosed with cancer, I become more and more opposed to opting for aggressive conventional therapies with every year that passes.  I hope to live to be a hundred, but if cancer hits me at 70, I truly believe that I would only accept conventional treatment that is essentially guaranteed to eradicate it with very little intrusion and physical harm.  Failing that assurance, I would not be interested in conventional treatment.  I am absolutely convinced that, if diagnosed with Stage IV incurable cancer, I would request the best immune system enhancing protocol and would focus on a mega-healthy lifestyle.  I would bring every spiritual, social, and emotional force available to bear on the experience.  I would then leave the rest up to God.  This might not have been my response 20 or 30 years ago.  Oh, I still have many significant goals to pursue, and I want to be with my family and friends for many more years.  But, essentially and realistically, I have lived a fulfilling life, and the last thing I would desire now is to spend it’s last months in the misery of conventional cancer treatment.

Everyone has the right to choose his or her health care at any point in life.  An 80-year-old has every right to pull out all the stops and aggressively fight cancer.  Nevertheless, there are good reasons not to take that approach in the waning years of our lives.  This is another example of how cancer treatment should be an integrative process involving the oncologist, the spiritual counselor, the family, and numerous other advisers.  That is an essential part of integrative oncology.

I know this is very presumptuous, but I want to share a health care proposal as an alternative to a single payer, public option.  Yes, there are many details to my proposal that I don’t understand enough about, but then, the plan that we are being asked to accept is missing a ton of details.

My plan would include the following:

* Place every health insurance company into the national competitive pool and establish a national policy board with representatives from each state.  States would no longer have separate insurance oversight, and all insurance companies would compete nationally.

* Require insurance companies to extend their group rates to affinity groups (social and professional organizations), government agencies, church groups, and small businesses.

* Implement health savings accounts available to all citizens to be managed by financial institutions as an alternative to health insurance

* Government assist in premiums for low income, unemployed, and disabled Americans. 

* Require proof of low-cost, catastrophic care insurance (cancer, major accident, chronic disease, etc.) as a part of the driver’s licensing process.

* Keep Medicare and Medicaid as is for the time being.

* Place reasonable caps on malpractice lawsuits through Medical tort reform. 

* Relax unreasonable restrictions on what doctors can prescribe and practice

* Relax unreasonable restrictions on the testing of drugs and treatments and shorten clinical trials.

* Open the market to the importation of drugs and medical equipment.

This plan would lower medical costs, thereby lowering premiums charged by an expanded, free-market health insurance industry.  Everyone would be insured except those who absolutely refuse which they have the right to do.  Quality would be increased through greater competition.  I welcome your comments as to why this would or wouldn’t work.