If you’ve been studying alternative or holistic cancer treatment for any length of time, you may have pondered how you would introduce it to a friend who hasn’t yet considered it or doesn’t know of it as an option for healing.

It can be a bit nerve-racking to think of offering such controversial “unsolicited advice.”

But when your friend or family member is diagnosed with cancer, you KNOW what they are going to be told by their oncologist, and you want them to know other options. I know for me- it feels like if I didn’t, I would be doing them a great injustice!

If you have been following my blog or simply have been researching on your own about the business-side of the pharmaceutical cancer industry for a while, then you would know that the conventional recommendations for cancer are pretty standard and (for the most part) really tough on the body. There is a time and a place for conventional care, but a dietary and lifestyle change as a first step is reasonable and important.

So how do you talk with them about dietary and lifestyle changes prior to beginning treatment? And how do you bring it up without getting push back or feeling like you’re overstepping boundaries?

How Do I Share With Others About Alternative Cancer Strategies?

There was a time when even I didn’t know how to approach this conversation, even after being on the receiving side of the information when I went through cancer 12 years ago.

Your loved one will be told that unless they agree to chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery, their cancer will get worse and they will most likely die. I was told that these were my only options as well. We now know that this is NOT TRUE. There are hundreds if not thousands of testimonials of people who have healed from cancer without pharmaceutical intervention. You can see even more here.

In most cases oncologists aren’t mean-spirited. They just AREN’T taught about the benefits of nutrition change, detoxification, herbal remedies, emotional healing, and other alternative therapies. It wasn’t part of their pharmaceutical industry-funded medical school curriculum. Non-toxic strategies are not in their tool belt.

My first oncologist told my husband and I this when we first asked about natural therapies. He simply said that natural treatments weren’t really studied, he didn’t know anything about them anyways, and didn’t feel comfortable recommending it to us. So we moved on.

How to Share:

• Approach Your Loved One Humbly and Lovingly. It’s very important to approach them in a loving and helpful way. They DESERVE to know this information and make their decision from there. Leave it in their court. You’re not trying to win them over to anything. It’s THEIR decision to pray about, research and make.

• Offer SPECIFIC help. Give them specific options and ideas to choose from. DO NOT SAY “Let me know if I can do anything to help.” They most likely will not ASK. Find some great, healthy ideas here —> 25 Healthy Ways to Help Someone With Cancer. You could also purchase the Square One Holistic Cancer Course for them or purchase it for yourself and loan it to them. There’s also the 20 Questions for Your Oncologist Guide, and the Survivor Stories E-book  by Chris Wark that speaks for itself.

• After that, if you pray…PRAY PRAY PRAY, because the pressure they will have on them to follow doctor’s orders is heavy. But have HOPE, because each day many are choosing natural therapies as a first line of defense in healing from cancer.

“It’s easy to get passionately excited and overzealous, but stay calm and LISTEN…”

Sample Email and Ideas for Conversation:

Here’s a great tool for you to help you formulate dialogue in an email or in your head before you talk to the person affected by cancer. Take note that the writing in italics and (parentheses) are my notes to YOU! Copy and paste as needed.

Remember, the warmer, more personable, and better listener you are, the better! Be yourself!

—————————————————-

Hey there friend, (insert name or whatever you’re comfortable with)

I heard recently about (your dad’s, your mom’s, etc.) cancer diagnosis and am so sorry to hear this.

I can imagine it comes with all kinds of emotions and also big decisions that will take some time to process and work through. Please know you are on my mind (heart) and I want to help how I can. (or you’re in my prayers, thoughts, etc…)

How can I help lighten your load? Would you be ok with me bringing dinner by one night this week? What night works best for you? (Be prepared to do this and bring something healthy. You can find plenty of recipes on my Pinterest page. You could also grab some To-Go meals from your local Whole Foods or healthier restaurant or just something that they love. Depending on how well you know their habits, you can even say “We would love to bring you some smoothies for breakfast one morning.” Also- if they are out of town, you may want to ask for their address and favorite grocery store and send a gift card for some healthy groceries or an Instacart order. Just offer some way to help!)

I also wanted to share with you something I’ve been learning about for a little while now. I’ve been reading the stories of quite a few people who were diagnosed with cancer and decided to choose dietary and lifestyle options to both support the body before their treatment began and during treatment. Some chose to continue their lifestyle changes as their treatment exclusively and did really well and healed completely. I included links to their stories in this email as I feel that this information is valuable to you.

It’s quite amazing what nutrition and other natural strategies can do to help our bodies. It’s definitely worth looking into, and no matter what you decide, I am here for you!

Here are the links:

www.anticancermom.com/how-i-beat-cancer

www.chrisbeatcancer.com/category/natural-survivor-stories/

www.cancercompassalternateroute.com/testimonials/

www.healingstrong.org (these are local support groups for people using integrative or holistic treatment.)

(I of course could include many more articles and links, but remember- you don’t want to overwhelm them! If they’re interested, they’ll ask for more.)

You are on my mind and I hope you find this so helpful! Again, let me know a day next week I can bring dinner by!

All My Best, (praying for you…love you, etc.)

<Sign YOUR NAME>

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What NOT to do:

Now that you know what to do, here are a few pointers on what NOT to do:

• DON’T overwhelm them with information and passionate stories of people healing cancer naturally. It’s easy to get excited and overzealous, but stay calm and LISTEN. Don’t ask too many questions, but a general “Where are you guys at right now in this?” should get you an idea of how much they know about their situation and what their timeline for diagnosis and treatment is.

• DON’T get angry or offended if they don’t listen to you. They will have a LOT of pressure on them to follow doctor’s order. They may even have pressure from a doctor in their family. They will be VERY afraid of dying in most cases and leaving behind their children and loved ones. Most won’t want to “take chances” with an “unproven therapy” and they will buckle under the pressure to take the “safe road” of following doctor’s orders, but it’s still worth giving them the information.

• DON’T scare them. Offer information about alternative therapies as an option for them to research. Don’t say anything negative about chemo, as it could be the best option for their circumstances. But if they ask about what you know about chemo and its toxicity and effectiveness, that is a great opportunity to send them to talk with them and send them additional studies or articles.

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment below or on my Instagram or Facebook pages. 

If you’re looking for more posts and recipes about healing cancer naturally, check out my Get Started Page.

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