What To Do While Waiting for Your Cancer Treatment Plan
Hearing the words “you have cancer” can be overwhelming. It often feels like it comes out of nowhere, leaving you with a whirlwind of emotions…shock, fear, confusion, or even an urgent need to act. While you’re waiting for more information about your diagnosis and treatment plan, there are proactive steps you can take to support your body and mind right now.
Here are four steps you can take during this in-between time. In fact, these are some of the exact steps I took when I found out about the cancer I had. And the good thing is, you can begin doing these things immediately to help support your body while it works to heal you.
1. Focus on Your Mindset
First of all… take a deep breath!
It’s natural for your thoughts to spiral, but staying calm can help you make empowered decisions. Begin working on your mindset immediately. Remember, your body is designed to heal, and there’s so much you can do to support it. Read The First Step In Your Cancer Journey that I wrote that includes practical tips about how to fortify your mind.
2. Fuel Your Body with Cancer Fighting Nutrition
Nourish your body with nutrient-dense, cancer fighting foods that boost your body’s defense systems and help detoxify your body. Basically, the goal is to overdose on as much cancer fighting nutrition as possible. Chris Wark, a 20-year cancer survivor, wrote a great book, Chris Beat Cancer: A Comprehensive Plan for Healing Naturally, that goes over the nutrition aspect really well. I enjoy food and nutrition and I could write pages and pages about this topic alone (and I probably will at some point, so keep checking back), but for now, here is a short and simple list to focus on.
Top Cancer Fighting Foods and How They Help
These powerhouse foods work in unique ways to support your body and fight cancer:
- Carrots: Carrots are pretty powerful and contain anti-cancer nutrients that turn off cancer genes, interfere with cancer cell reproduction, block metastasis and cause cancer cell death.
- Beets: Beets are another powerhouse that contain the same anti-cancer nutrients like carrots, that turn off cancer genes, interferes with cancer cell reproduction, blocks metastasis and causes cancer cell death.
- Turmeric: Turmeric contains curcumin, which targets at least 80 cancer-linked cell signaling pathways. Curcumin has the ability to block every stage of cancer development from cancer formation to tumor growth to metastasis. It can also kill many different types of cancer cells by triggering apoptosis (programmed cell death) without harming normal cells.
- Ginger: Many studies show that ginger can inhibit tumor cell growth, slow down metastasis, induce cancer cell death, protect healthy cells from radiotherapy damage and enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
- Garlic: In a 2009 study, researchers found garlic juice stopped cancer growth completely against the following tumor cell lines: breast cancer, brain cancer and childhood brain cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, and stomach cancer. Isn’t that amazing!
- Broccoli Sprouts: Broccoli is a great cruciferous veggie, but did you know that the broccoli sprout contains 25 times more sulforaphane and 100 times more indole-3-carbinol (both powerful cancer fighting agents!) than mature broccoli! Definitely load up on these! They can be found in the refrigerated section of your produce department.
- Cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage etc): The cruciferous vegetable family is fairly well known for its cancer fighting powers but just because broccoli sprouts are more potent, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still load up these known cancer fighters!
- Leafy Greens (like kale, spinach, and arugula): High in chlorophyll, which helps block carcinogens, and rich in folate, which supports healthy cell division.
- Berries (blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries): Full of antioxidants like anthocyanins and ellagic acid, which protect and repair cells from DNA damage and may slow cancer growth.
- Flaxseeds: Studies on flaxseeds show that the α-linolenic acids have been able to suppress growth, size, and proliferation of cancer cells and also to promote breast cancer cell death.
Ways To Get These Into Your Body
Juicing: Juicing a combination of carrots, beets, turmeric, and ginger is a fantastic way to flood your body with these cancer fighting nutrients quickly and effectively. Juicing makes these nutrients immediately available for your body to use so your body won’t have to expend valuable energy digesting the food while it is trying to fight cancer at the same time. Plus, it is an easy way to get A LOT of nutrients in at a time.
Salads: Make yourself giant salads filled with rich, leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables. Be sure to add some broccoli sprouts to your salad. Make a homemade salad dressing with flaxseed oil with crushed garlic and fresh squeezed lemon juice.
Green Smoothies: Stuff the greens (including your broccoli sprouts!) and berries into a smoothie with ground flaxseeds.
What Not To Eat
Now that you know what things to load up on, let’s talk about some of the things to avoid!
Meat: I know! It’s tasty and tends to be the centerpiece of so many people’s meals. But in 2015, the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer classified processed meats like bacon, sausage, ham and jerky as Group 1 carcinogens that may cause cancer.
Meats are also high in methionine which cancer cells like to thrive on, but without it, the cancer cells die. So one way to deprive the fuel for cancer cell growth is to deprive it of the source of methionine. This is why so many cancer healing diets exclude meat.
Dairy: Meat and dairy can contain antibiotics, hormones, viruses, bacteria, and pesticides—things your body doesn’t need, especially when it’s working hard to heal from cancer. Dairy can also raise levels of a hormone called IGF-1, which may help cancer cells grow. By cutting out these foods, you can give your body less to fight against and more support for healing.
Processed Foods: Processed foods, packed with artificial additives, refined sugars, and unhealthy fats, can weaken your immune system and create an environment where cancer cells thrive. This means we are taking out refined flour and sugar as well as all the packaged stuff. By focusing on whole, plant-based foods instead, you’re giving your body the tools it needs to heal and protect itself.
I know, I know! These foods are delicious! But if you stick around, I hope to bring you lots of recipes that are filled with cancer fighting goodness so you hopefully won’t miss the bad stuff!
3. Take Care Of Your Liver
Your liver amazingly performs over 500 functions in the body and is closely associated with the functions of many other organs. Your body works hard to process toxins and eliminate waste, in fact, your liver processes nearly every toxin that your body encounters.
Why is this important when you have cancer? When you have cancer, your body is likely dealing with a toxic overload due to environmental factors like processed foods, everyday products, and air pollution, to name a few. On top of that, your liver must process not only these external toxins but also the cellular debris generated as your body fights the cancer. Supporting your liver, the body’s primary detox organ, helps lighten its burden, allowing it to function more efficiently and better assist your body in its healing process.
Ways To Support Your Liver
Things That Support Your Liver:
- Coffee enemas: I know it sounds scary, but it’s really not as bad as it sounds. In fact, it is one of the main therapies in the Gerson protocol, which is a natural cancer therapy that has been around since the 1930’s. Even if you choose not to use the Gerson therapy protocol as part of your cancer treatment, learning how to do a coffee enema to help your liver detox and process toxins will still be beneficial. If coffee enemas interest you, I highly recommend reading Have You Had a Coffee Break Today? (But Not the Way You Think!): The Definitive Guide to Coffee Enemas, and joining the Coffee Enema Support Group on Facebook. That is where I learned how to do coffee enemas…both are a huge treasure trove of information!
- Castor oil packs: Castor oil packs are a gentle yet powerful way to support your liver and overall detoxification.
To do one, soak a piece of flannel or cotton in castor oil, place it over your liver area (just below the right rib cage), and cover it with plastic wrap. Add a heating pad or hot water bottle on top, and relax for 30–60 minutes.
The heat helps the castor oil penetrate your skin, stimulating circulation, reducing inflammation, and promoting lymphatic drainage. This process supports your liver’s ability to process and eliminate toxins, making it a wonderful addition to your healing routine.
- Dry Brushing: Dry brushing is known to help the lymphatic system, but did you know it is integrally related to your liver also? The lymphatic system essentially “preps” toxins for removal, while the liver acts as the final processing center for detoxification. If the lymphatic system becomes sluggish or congested, the liver can become overwhelmed, reducing its efficiency in detoxifying the body. On the flip side, if the liver is overburdened, it can impact the overall detoxification process and strain the lymphatic system. Think of it as a 1-2 punch! If both systems are working together properly, they help increase your body’s ability to fight cancer, clear out toxins, cellular debris and abnormal cells. Kapow!
Unlike your circulatory system, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump and relies on movement to flow properly. Dry brushing is an easy technique you can do right before you hop in the shower that stimulates and helps move the lymph throughout the body.
How to Dry Brush: Using a natural bristle brush, gently brush your skin in long strokes toward your heart, starting at your feet and working your way up. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube if you would like a visual on how it’s done.
- Epsom salt baths: Epsom salts contain magnesium sulfate, a compound that plays a crucial role in helping the liver detoxify harmful substances. Magnesium supports hundreds of biochemical processes in the body, including the production of glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that helps neutralize toxins and combat oxidative stress, a known contributor to cancer development. Sulfate further aids the liver by enhancing its ability to process and eliminate waste and harmful substances from the body.
Soaking in an Epsom salt bath is relaxing and allows magnesium to be absorbed through your skin, reducing inflammation, and improving circulation. Better circulation helps the lymphatic system transport toxins and cellular waste to the liver for processing. By supporting both the liver and lymphatic system, Epsom salt baths enhance your body’s ability to remove toxins, including those from cancer cell die-off, while reducing the toxic burden that can inhibit healing.
- Liver-supportive herbs: Consider taking herbs that support your liver. Milk thistle, dandelion root, and burdock root are all powerful herbs that support liver health and detoxification.
Milk thistle, containing silymarin, protects liver cells from damage and boosts detoxification. It can be taken as a capsule or liquid extract.
Dandelion root promotes bile production and helps flush out toxins. It can be consumed as a tea or in capsule form.
Burdock root helps purify the blood and supports digestion by enhancing liver function. You can take it as a tea, capsule, or in tincture form. These herbs work together to support liver health, enhance detox processes, and improve overall well-being in simple, easy-to-use forms.
Think of all these practices as helping your body “take out the trash,” allowing it to focus more on healing.
4. Educate Yourself
Take time to learn about how your specific cancer behaves. One of my favorite resources to start with is Jane McClelland’s book How to Starve Cancer. In this book she explains how cancer cells work (and they’re pretty sneaky little buggers!) and offers tips and strategies to disrupt their growth pathways.
Another book I highly recommend is Naturopathic Oncology by Dr. Neil McKinney. This book bridges the gaps in cancer care by addressing areas that many oncologists may not cover, such as nutrition, exercise, mindset, supplements, and other supportive or alternative therapies. It offers a comprehensive approach to treating the whole body and supporting your healing journey. That’s why I believe it’s an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to tackle cancer from every possible angle.
Knowledge is so empowering and can help you make informed decisions about your journey that can give you confidence in whatever pathway you choose.
Books Mentioned In This Post
Remember, You’re Not Powerless
This waiting period can feel uncertain, but it’s also a time to take action. By focusing on your mindset, nutrition, detox, and education, you’re setting a strong foundation to support your body as you move forward.
To your health and healing!
