10 Important Tips for Someone with Cancer
And sometimes the emotional side of it is more challenging than the physical; which is why I made the post, Bible Verses to Encourage Someone Diagnosed with Cancer.
I write frequently about the damage chemotherapy causes, because it’s important you know what you’re putting in your body if you’ve chosen to use chemo.
But these tips are for anyone with cancer, whether using conventional treatments (like chemo, radiation, and surgery) or those who are using natural treatments to cure their cancer.
1) EAT HEALTHY!!!!
When my dad was in the hospital during his cancer treatment, I asked the oncologist if there was anything he should avoid eating or if there were things he should eat. The oncologist said it didn’t matter what he ate, just that he needed calories. But something just didn’t feel right about what he said, so I did my own research (which lead to me writing the post, The Worst Advice I’ve Ever Heard an Oncologist Give).
It drives me CRAZY now when I hear someone say their doctor told them the same thing. It MATTERS!!! The saying ‘you are what you eat’ is famous for a reason. What you eat, feeds your body all the way down to your cells.
When you have cancer, you need to starve the cancer cells and feed the healthy ones.
In other words: no sugar, limit red meat, but chow down on lots of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices that contain immense amounts of cancer fighting properties. Some being berries, garlic, ginger, turmeric, leeks, and coniferous vegetables.
And if you’re not sure where to begin with your diet, click here. By clicking on that link, you’ll find juicing recipes, smoothie recipes, cancer-fighting snacks, and information on what foods fight cancer.
I also recommend read this article from ChrisBeatCancer.com for more info on vegetables with anti-cancer properties.
2) Drink Smoothies and Juices to get tons of Important Nutrients and Vitamins
During conventional cancer treatment, mouth sores and trouble swallowing are common side effects.
Smoothies and juices can provide an easy way to still get the calories, vitamins, and nutrients you need without needing to eat a whole bunch of food (plus they taste good!)
In my post, 5 Healthy Smoothies for Someone with Cancer, I provide healthy recipes that contain cancer fighting foods (#4 is the best as far as fighting cancer – make it the most). For juicing recipes read, 10 Powerful Juicing Recipes that Fight Cancer.
And in Which is Better – Juicing or Blending, I outline the differences between blending and juicing as well as the pros and cons of the two.
3) Don’t Stress
Stress affects your body more than you probably know. Stress also decreases your immune system’s ability to fight the cancer cells (and if you’re getting chemotherapy, the chemo drugs are doing that already so you don’t need anything else suppressing your immune system).
Now, I know that telling someone not to stress is easier said than done; especially someone who is battling cancer every day.
That’s why I’ve provided this article for you: 5 Practical Ways to Kill Stress
And this one: How to Eliminate Negative Thinking (Plus examples)
4) Question your Doctor
I can’t stress the importance of this one enough. I want to provide a few points I wrote on this topic in my post, Should you Question your Oncologist?
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If you are diagnosed with cancer, you’re trusting the oncologists with your life – so it’s important to KNOW they have your best interest at heart and you feel the treatment is the best.
We don’t usually question oncologists (or doctors in general). However! You need to! No matter how experienced they are, or how much school they had, you know your body better than anyone.
And since they don’t take many ‘the importance of good nutrition when you have cancer’ classes – it’s important you get an experienced nutritionist who specializes in cancer.
No doctor is God; they don’t have all the answers – as a family friend reminded me, that’s why it’s called PRACTICING medicine, not PERFECTED medicine.
.……
Please, please question your oncologist; get a second (or third, or fourth, or fifth) opinion on your diagnosis.
And if you don’t know what questions to ask, read my article: 25 Questions you MUST ask your Doctor before Beginning Chemotherapy.
5) Get Educated
If I could pick only one of these tips is the most important (it would be a hard choice but) I’d probably choose this one. After you question your doctor it’s so so important to do your own research, or better yet, do your own research before questioning your doctor.
Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery are not the only ways to beat cancer, contrary to what Big Pharma says and what the doctors learn.
I HIGHLY recommend you watching The Truth about Cancer docu-series. It changed my life. And I know that if I had known all this information several years ago, I could have saved my parents. It is life changing.
Click on this picture to see the first 2 episodes completely FREE! After that, you can purchase the entire series (9 episodes total) and they have different packages to fit every budget which you can view by clicking the silver and gold package links below the picture.
Silver Package
Gold Package
Seriously DO THIS, you won’t be sorry.
Besides the docu-series, I also recommend these articles:
I’ve been Diagnosed with Cancer… What do I do now?
I’ve been Diagnosed with Cancer… What do I do now?
25 Questions you MUST ask your Doctor before Beginning Chemotherapy (includes a free printable)
6) Exercise to Help Build Muscle
When you have cancer, it can be hard to get the calories and protein your muscles need. But it’s so important to keep them strong.
In my article, The Best Ways for Cancer Patients to Build Muscle, I provide lots of ideas to help you.
One way to not only support your muscles but your mind too, is by doing yoga. You can see yoga poses specifically for cancer patients and the benefits of yoga while you have cancer in my post, 9 Perfect Yoga Poses for Someone with Cancer.
Resistance bands also provide an easy and convenient way to strengthen your body. Read all about the benefits and exercises you can do with resistance bands here: Exercising with Resistance Bands when you have Cancer.
7) Don’t Smoke or Drink Alcohol
It’s no secret that smoking can cause lung cancer. Cigarettes contain over 4,000 chemicals, 69 of them being known carcinogens. So when you smoke while you have cancer, you’re giving your body more things that cause cancer. Not the best idea…. It’s also important to avoid being around cigarette smoke as the smoke contains just as many harmful chemicals.
See my post, What’s REALLY in Your Cigarette? to learn more on what cigarettes contain, how those ingredients are widely used, plus helpful resources to help you quit smoking.
And alcohol isn’t much better than cigarettes as far as cancer is concerned.
From Cancer.gov, “Based on extensive reviews of research studies, there is a strong scientific consensus of an association between alcohol drinking and several types of cancer. In its Report on Carcinogens, the National Toxicology Program of the US Department of Health and Human Services lists consumption of alcoholic beverages as a known human carcinogen.” [1]
8) Support your Immune System
Take a few minutes to watch this clip from Ty Bollinger’s ‘The Truth about Cancer’ to understand how important the immune system is in your fight against cancer.
It’s so important for you to support your immune system and increase its effectiveness in finding the cancer cells.
To do this:
- Get good sleep
- Don’t stress – as stress weakens your immune system
- Eat healthy!
- Mostly (or ONLY) eat foods with strong anti-cancer properties as we discussed earlier.
- Detox
9) It’s Okay to Cry and Feel Scared
Cancer is scary, that’s just the honest truth. It may feel like you are alone and don’t have options.
But you do have options and if you watch The Truth about Cancer series, you will feel empowered; you’ll know you have options.
I truly can’t recommend it enough.
10) Don’t Give Up!
You can beat the cancer if you are serious about getting better. Your mind is powerful!
And I used to doubt how much power our minds really have until I saw my dad give up. Within 12 hours of deciding he didn’t want to live, he passed away. And he had been doing better up until that point. You can’t give up.
Fighting cancer is a difficult process, physically and emotionally. But you have better options than chemotherapy (which has a less than 5% true success rate). You aren’t alone.
I highly recommend you read some of the other posts I’ve done on cancer. It’s so important you are educated about what you are going through so you can make the choices you feel are best and with confidence.
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