Hey there I’m Nicole Roche and this is my first post on Waymaker Wellness, where we embrace the Integrative Approach to healing chronic disease.
If you are here, you most likely have an interest in Health and Wellness. In a nut shell, I am a Health and Wellness coach, a Hypnotherapist, a wife, a mama, and just recently I gave an eviction notice to stage 4 cancer and am currently NED, which means No evidence of disease. Stay tuned for more on my personal story in a future post.
My biggest intention with this blog is to bring as much value to you, the audience, as possible. If you are here because you have had the unpleasant experience of being given a cancer diagnosis, I want you to know, I see you. I see your struggle. Your confusion, your pain, your fear, and the sense of complete overwhelm with what comes next. I 100% was exactly where you are. I’m hoping the hundreds of hours of research I’ve put in will help save you a whole heck of a lot of time. With that in mind, let’s jump in.
First of all, allow me to clarify the terms. I am an Integrative Health Coach, which means that I embrace multiple modalities of healing which include BOTH conventional and holistic schools of thought. I have seen dogmatic attitudes from both perspectives and strongly feel that this is one of the biggest barriers to increasing the rate of recovery from cancer today. That’s why Im here. I have benefitted greatly from many modalities and I know you will, too. Integration also refers to the whole person, so that means we address not just the physical, but the emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects to health. So that’s where I’m coming from. Does that jive with you?
Great!
So here we go… Just got a diagnosis? Here are the first 5 things I would do.
1. Take a Time Out
Pause. Just stop. Take a minute. As a matter of fact, take like, 3 days. You just had an atom bomb drop onto the landscape of your life. And as urgent as everything might seem right now, just know that this disease didn’t appear yesterday. And it’s not going anywhere (YET) and you do have some time before you need to take action. Maybe not a whole lot, but definitely at least a few days. This is the kind of information you really need to absorb and take in. A lot of things in your life are about to change. Don’t rush into anything. Take some time to integrate this new reality. This is not the time to be hopping right on to Dr Google, although I will say that research is absolutely on your horizon. But for now, this is a time to connect with loved ones, allow people to emotionally support you, to begin sharing this news in the ways that the most sense for you. That may be a trickle to very select people. Or you can be a nut like me and just announce it on Facebook. Would I do that again? Eh probably. But thats because it felt right to me at the time. What feels right to you? Take some time to feel all the emotions that are going through you, don’t suppress them. Get them out, all of them. Even the really scary dark ones. Those are the worst, by the way. And I have 100% felt them as well, so you aren’t alone. And it’s important to give space for that, because we want to process all of those thoughts in order to release them. Because at the end of the day, you are allowed to hit rock bottom. But you have to promise yourself you won’t stay there. Your healing needs your mind. It needs your heart. It needs your hope. So let’s pause right now at the beginning, and process all of what is coming up.
2. Create a Positive Mindset
Ok so after you have felt all your feelings, it’s time to put your game face on. One of the biggest steps you will ever take towards healing is making the decision within yourself that you want to and you will heal. Of course recovery isn’t as simple as desiring it, but I know for a fact that your mindset and your own personal outlook are critical in the healing process. I fought stage 4 cervical cancer for two years. I had two recurrences despite working really hard to overcome it. Finally, there was a huge shift one day after my 2nd recurrence where I decided deep down that I truly, sincerely, genuinely wanted to survive. I put my focus on recovery, and would not allow anything else to come into my mind. I was not only optimistic, I was laser focused. After this mental shift, my other integrative approaches became wildly effective, and I received my first clear scan not long after. Don’t take it from me though, I love to lean heavily on the evidence on this channel. And sure enough, a positive outlook is associated with a lower risk of poor health outcomes, stress reduction, immune system support, and improved coping mechanisms, to name a few. The bottom line? Your mindset absolutely matters. And if you’re going to heal, it’s partially because you’ve made the choice that it’s worth it to you, and that you’re willing to fight for it.
3. Research & Learn
We have our heart and our head in the right place, now it’s time to do the work. The 3rd step is to learn everything you can about your specific diagnosis. Cancer is not a singular diagnosis, it is a universe of quirks, mutations, and metabolic issues. One of the most disturbing things I see now after being in this world for a few years is people dishing out advice as if its universal. It’s not. What works for someone else will not necessarily work for you, and in some cases, it could make your situation worse. So it’s super important to get information that is sound. If I could go back to day one, I would first and foremost get this book: Naturopathic Oncology by Neil McKinney, it is a must have. The information in this book is specific to different kinds of cancer, advises on supplementation that will work on its own but even better will boost the efficacy of certain conventional treatments. It will also tell you how to mitigate side effects and what to steer clear from, and sometimes that info can be surprising. This is a resource you can trust. Other resources you can trust are academic research papers that are widely available on sites like Google Scholar. One misconception is that there is no research available on holistic protocols. This just isn't the case. There is a TON of scientific research you can look at online. If there is a supplement or strategy that you are interested in, I would recommend going on Google scholar and typing in the supplement, the type of cancer, and then the term “In vivo.” This will give you results where the supplement showed some efficacy in actual physical bodies and not just a petri dish. Oftentimes this might be mice that we’re talking about, but it is the closest we can get in many circumstances with holistic measures. Nevertheless, you might be surprised at what you find. I recommend checking every supplement on your radar in the scientific research, and discarding the rest. This does not come from a place of skepticism in naturopathic medication. On the contrary, it comes from a place of being pleasantly surprised by how much the conventional world has actually published on holistic methods. Give it a shot, you’ll be surprised. I promise. And actually, right now, I am offering a free Integrative Oncology Reference Index. I realized that research takes a lot of time and energy and that it’s extremely difficult to find a wide variety of research compiled into one place. I knew that putting a lot of these pieces together would be helpful to you. The index lists over 100 scientifically backed supplements, medications, and actions you can take to support an anti cancer lifestyle. Every entry in the index includes a definition of what it is, what anti cancer potential it offers, and a link to academic research that you can review to see for yourself what the science says. That was kind of a tongue twister. Finally, I recommend joining Facebook groups that are specific to your cancer, but then also a few key alternative cancer groups.
My favorite alternative cancer groups are:
Fenbendazole - Support Group for Cancer. This is my favorite by far for the Integrative Approach. Make sure to find the one that has 100k members. There are a lot of copy cats out there.
SQ1 Square One by Chris Wark. This is the most holistic group, where conventional treatment is discouraged. It is a great resource for looking into holistic methods.
Love Your Cancer Free Life by Carl Mason
They are really valuable. You will get to see survivor stories and testimonials, and you will learn a ton. I learned so much from being in these groups. But I also learned to do my own research alongside of them on the way. You can do the same.
4. Form Your Team
Number 4. Alright we got our learn on. We feel empowered and equipped with knowledge. Fabulous. Now what? Now it’s time to form your team. You probably have a conventional oncology team, but perhaps not so much on the naturopathic side of things. I recommend at the very least to hire a naturopathic doctor or a nutritionist who has experience in oncology. And im not talking about the nutritionist in the chemo room handing out cookies and soda. We need someone who deeply understands ways of eating that heal. We will explore that pandora’s box at length later, but for now, just know that while there are options in how you will approach diet, most likely, the way you eat now is going to have to change. An ND or nutritionist is going to be the professional voice in your life to greenlight the research you’ve been doing and help you piece it together like a puzzle. You can try to form your own protocols, and it can be done, but you will probably feel unsure whether you’re doing it right, and it will feel really awesome to hear a professional say, “Hey kid, You did a great job putting this together. Im all for it!” Fantastic. Unfortunately, most conventional doctors are not in agreement that lifestyle has much impact on health outcomes, so if you’re going for an integrative approach, you will need to bring on professionals out of pocket. It’s worth every penny, do it. That leads me to the next aspect of your team, and that is your community. I want to encourage you to allow people to help you right now. I’m sure you are a fiercely independent individual, but now is the time to let others help. Help might have some different looks. Meal trains, Go fund mes, and help with housework and childcare are common ways that community comes together in support. Please don’t fight this. Accept help whenever it is offered with gratitude, because community is one of the things that will carry you through this season. I am so grateful I had this in my journey because it allowed me to focus on healing. If a Go Fund Me or community based financial support doesnt seem realistic in your scenario, there are still a lot of ways to seek help through non profit organizations and foundations. As an oncology patient you may have already discovered all the people working on your case. Doctors, surgeons, nurse navigators, and social workers. Find out who your social worker is, and talk to them about the resources available near you. Use them. They may include integrative therapies such as massage, reiki, or acupuncture. There are a lot of ways to accept support, and I encourage tapping into all of them.
5. Begin Establishing New Routines
The 5th thing I would recommend to anyone who just received a diagnosis, is to begin establishing some new routines. You are going to develop these over time as you learn about your treatment plan, as you onboard naturopathic practitioners, and get some appointments set up with integrative methods such as massage or acupuncture, but I want to leave you with a few things you can do today. Im like that too, I want to do something now and if you learn about a cancer diagnosis, ya kinda wanna do something yesterday. So i get it. And this is one of my heavy hitters I’ll leave you with. May I introduce, the at home cancer clinic. Now I am 100% planning on making an entire video about this topic because it has been such a big part of my healing. But in a nutshell, I have holistic remedies throughout my house that I do every day. And unlike supplements or medications, these things ARE universally good for health. In most cases. Theres always one. Cant speak for everyone. But most of the time, these things are going to be just fine. Thats because they focus on wellness. Stress reduction. Feeling good. So every day I take out up to 2 hours. I know that might seem long right now, but creating healing time is going to be one of your goals too, so Im hoping you will see in time that 2 hours is actually not a big ask. In those 2 hours, I focus on stress reduction and wellness. And feeling good. When you feel good, you send very strong signals to your body that all is well. Some of the things I do include epsom salt baths, going for a run, cold plunging, using my hilarious portable sauna, doing breathwork or meditation outside, grounding (which is basically getting your bare feet connected to the Earth), healthy food prep, juicing, and laying on my acupressure mat. This list is not exhaustive. It is absolutely incredible how much you can do right at home, affordably. Thats the key word, affordably. Cancer gets really expensive, so knowing some of these at home hacks are going to be super helpful. Stay tuned for my integrative healing on a budget series. I am very excited about that. So to sum up the at home cancer clinic, just take a look around your environment. What do you already have access to? In most cases, I’m willing to bet you have some things that lend themselves to an experience of wellness, but even if you came back and said “Nicole, i have none of that stuff.” I would say you have access to fresh air and hopefully a comfortable bed? Start with breath work. Start with prayer and meditation. Start with reading for pleasure. I promise you, you have the resources to start a wellness routine. And you have to do that because it is going to help you immensely, and you deserve it.
And that’s it! Those are the 1st 5 steps I would take if I received a diagnosis today. I hope these ideas are helpful for you. I know right now feels full of uncertainty but I want you to know that I believe in you and I believe in your victory. I’ll be here cheering you on, and I hope you tune in again for more topics on Integrative health.
And until next time, keep on thriving!
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