Statement One: “We’ve got good news—your cancer is in remission!”
It’s the news every actively treating cancer patient wants to hear. After undergoing (often multiple) surgeries, days or weeks of radiation, countless doses of chemotherapy and the handful of prescription medications that go with it, the patient finally, mercifully, emerges out the other end of the long, dark tunnel. While this is most certainly cause for celebration, it nonetheless begs the question of what happens next. Is it possible to simply resume one’s life where it left off when the diagnosis hit? Or will there always be that faint inkling in the back of the mind, whispering “What if it comes back?”.
Statement Two: “The tumor is small and appears slow-growing, so we recommend just keeping an eye on it.”
This statement, while also undoubtedly an encouraging sentiment, shares something else with the first statement. In both cases, the patient is being told that in lieu of treatment, they should simply watch and wait for a problem to arise. In the first statement, the hope is that the cancer was effectively and conclusively eradicated, negating the need for further therapy. In the second, and in some ways, more unsettling statement, the patient is resigned to the fact that a cancerous tumor remains in their body, left there due to the fact that it’s size or biopsy-proven characteristics do not exceed the threshold for intervention (i.e. not big or aggressive enough).
While subjecting a patient to unnecessary or excess cancer treatment can carry its own set of definite and often severe consequences, the thought of simply living passively with cancer can be an immense burden. One of the great strengths of naturopathic medicine is its ability to adapt to the needs of the patient. For those undergoing aggressive treatments such as chemotherapy and/or radiation, it may help alleviate side-effects, support immune function and potentially enhance the anti-cancer effects of the treatments themselves. Conversely, when “conventional” treatments are deemed inappropriate, natural medicine empowers the patient to keep up the fight, pro-actively and, in some cases, preventatively.
By Dr. Boudreau, N.D.
