May is home to Naturopathic Medicine Week in North America from May 12-18, 2024. I thought this would be a perfect time to share a little more with you about why I became an Naturopathic Doctor (ND), why I do Naturopathic Cancer Care and, most importantly, what Naturopathic Medicine can do for you in your cancer journey.
Why Am I a Naturopathic Doctor?
I love and am fascinated by the human body and knew I needed to work in healthcare, but all of the traditional routes didn’t appeal to me.
I actually applied to chiropractic school, medical school (wrote my MCATs), a masters degree and naturopathic school.
I was accepted into medical school and naturopathic school and I listened to my intuition that Naturopathic Medicine was the better fit for me and my vision of healthcare.
I love spending time getting to know my patients, understanding more about how they work and what’s unique about them.
I love the challenge of Naturopathic Medicine and the abundance of information and knowledge we have to help by partnering with and empowering our clients to obtain their optimal wellness and health.
Why Do I Do Naturopathic Cancer Care?
Maybe you’ve read my story about how cancer affected my personal life and how I realized it was something I had to run towards.
What you might be interested to learn is that as an ND I love understanding biochemistry, the physiology of how our bodies adapt and how to support them in their healing journeys.
Cancer is definitely one of those processes that can feel overwhelming and it can be a very big challenge. But, as an ND I work to connect with my patients by sitting in their overwhelm and uncertainty with them and helping them break down their options into more accomplishable goals.
That’s not only what I love about being your ally in the cancer recovery journey, but why I get up each day.
They say the most important thing in life is knowing your “why”. Why you keep forging ahead, why you get up each day, why you love…
What is your why?
What Can Naturopathic Medicine Do for You in Your Cancer Recovery Journey?
Naturopathic doctors strive to support you and your care strategies – all of them!
Whether it’s chemo, radiation, IV therapy, counselling, osteopathy, chiropractic or something else. We are here to help you navigate what works for you!
Here are my top 5 way Naturopathic Medicine and Naturopathic Doctors can help you in your cancer journey:
1) Tests & Labs: NDs can help you understand what tests mean and how they relate to your health at any stage of Cancer.
2) Nutrition: NDs can help with understanding more about nutrition and how to find what to eat at what phases of your cancer journey.
3) Manage Side Effects: NDs can help provide options to deal with side effects of treatment, or the cancer itself.
4) Support Recovery: NDs can help with the recovery phase post-treatment to gain health, confidence and mental and emotional support.
5) Consistent Care: NDs with a clinical cancer focus understand what happens at all phases of cancer and can provide consistency in your care as you go through your life while living with cancer.
Naturopathic Medicine is powerful. Naturopathic Medicine is integrative. Naturopathic Medicine is wholistic.
This is why Naturopathic Medicine can be such a great adjunctive tool during cancer and cancer recovery.
To learn more about how Naturopathic Medicine and the Cancer Remission Mission can support you, check out my book, The Opportunity In Cancer here.