We know that a diagnosis of cancer can feel extremely overwhelming. Like you, we've been there. Life before a cancer diagnosis becomes different in life after a diagnosis of cancer. Shock, surprise, and intense emotions often flow through cancer patients and caregivers.
Dealing with the cancer diagnosis involves a transition. Negotiating a new reality, time helps people adjust to their cancer diagnosis. Key supportive strategies and steps help cancer patients and also caregivers move through the initial phases of the cancer diagnosis.
Explore these tips and steps to navigate a diagnosis of cancer. Our guidance will also help you begin creating your integrative cancer care plan. This means that ultimately your health and healing approaches need to support you as a whole person. As you explore other information on our site, you will learn that integrative cancer care improves quality of life and even cancer related survival.
Each cancer journey contains challenges and opportunities. Educating and empowering yourself with quality, comprehensive strategies is incredibly important. As you begin to move beyond the diagnosis of cancer in your journey, you will feel better. One of the hardest time periods involves beginning to navigate the cancer journey and making cancer treatment decisions. Take it step by step. Know that we are with you, always wishing you optimal health and healing.
1. Calm
Cancer patients and caregivers need to start with orienting themselves to their new reality with self-care in the midst of cancer. Before diving into research and evaluating treatments, providers, and facilities, you will really benefit from finding some calm, fluidity, groundedness, and support in your world turned upside down.
Find ways to relax and resource yourself
In the shocking aftermath of a cancer diagnosis, crossroads, and transitions during the cancer journey, the first step is to find ways to relax and resource yourself. Take deep breaths and feel your feet on the ground.
What is nurturing for you? Reflect on this very important question. Explore content in our Body, Mind, and Spirit sections as well as other information throughout the EmbodiWorks website to learn about supportive integrative cancer care approaches. Acupuncture, aromatherapy, massage, healing touch, exercise, yoga, movement, breathing, meditation, other calming techniques, healing environments, ritual, additional spirituality tools, and many other therapies and practices can help you relax and resource yourself. Prioritize the ways you identify to your support and nourishment. Tune into how you are feeling moment-to-moment and day-to-day and week-to-week to assess what you need most.
Techniques supporting self-integration are essential. Research indicates that people temporarily lose everyday basic skills when diagnosed with cancer—communication skills, information seeking, decision-making, problem solving, negotiation, and speaking up for rights. Use integrative cancer care approaches for relaxation before proceeding in your process. Some measure of calm must be felt so that you can access and utilize the skills you possess for evaluation and navigation of your health challenge and journey.
Focus on what you enjoy
Think about what you enjoy most. Maybe your passions are integrated into your life already or perhaps you need to reclaim them. It is never too late to rediscover or discover what means the most to you. The people, activities, places, and anything else that brings you joy will help ground you in yourself and give you strength as you navigate your cancer related challenges. Focusing your attention on what you love will bring light to your spirit and life.
2. Social Support
People with cancer need support. Specific types of support are wide and varied. A loving hand, shared cup of tea, healthy meal, playful excursion, running errands, massage, research about the diagnosis and treatments, and a companion at appointments are only some possibilities. Identify what forms of support you need and ask for help. Some of your support can be coordinated through Internet programs in Online Circles of Cancer Support.
Consider your needs around psychological, psychosocial, and psychospiritual support through information in the Mind, Spirit, and Social sections of the EmbodiWorks website. Tune into how you are feeling and explore your mind-body-spirit needs. Explore if you want to talk to a trained oncology social worker or other type of therapist, check out an in-person, telephone, or online support group, and/or connect with a cancer survivor that can offer support such as sharing resources. Find what works for you.
Also think about how you want to participate in your research and health care decision-making.
Do you want research conducted and decisions made
- by your doctor?
- as a team with your doctor and loved ones?
- by yourself?
- by a loved one?
- by a professional Integrative Guide?
- through a combination of these approaches?
Realizing what you are most comfortable with is very helpful. Approaches may evolve during your cancer journey.
Also read Social Tips for People with Cancer for insightful guidance. Understanding common relationship challenges and solutions offers helpful information to enhance self-awareness and strengthen meaningful connections.
3. Diet & Nutrition
People diagnosed with cancer are often not well-informed about the relationship between diet and cancer. Food has a very powerful effect in your body. Diet and nutrition alter your internal terrain and influences your genes. The nutrition in foods affects cancer both directly and indirectly. Some foods kill cancer cells and others promote cancer cell growth. Learn about cancer fighting foods to eat and what cancer causing foods to avoid.
Nutrition and cancer is one of the most important areas in an integrative cancer care plan. Educate yourself about foods and cancer as a priority. Eating cancer fighting foods can strongly influence your health and healing. Create a cancer diet to support your optimal wellness.
Explore our Diet and Cancer section for more information. You can start with our Nutrition and Cancer Top Tips, cancer fighting foods in Top Foods to Eat, and cancer causing foods in Top Foods and Ingredients to Avoid. Also learn about Types of Diets, Why Organic, Juicing, and Clean Water.
You are what you eat! Give your body, mind, and spirit support through what you put in your mouth each and every day. You are worth it and proper nutritional support will make you feel better too.
4. More Self-Care: Sleep & Movement
Self-care is always a bedrock on how you feel waking up in the morning and moving through each day. Strategies of self-care can be incorporated over time moving with, through, and beyond cancer.
In dealing with a cancer diagnosis, many components of self-care are important in an integrative cancer care plan. Along with the initial steps we have outlined here already about creating calm, support, and a healthy cancer diet, strive to also give yourself two other self-care strategies for cancer patients and caregivers.
Sleep is the body's natural resting state. People need sleep to rejuvenate and function with their optimal body, mind, and spirit health. Everyone needs to get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Cancer patients and also caregivers dealing with stress sometimes need even more sleep. Visit our Sleep and Cancer section with more information about the major health benefits of sleep in the midst of cancer.
Exercise and other forms of Movement offer dramatic health benefits. Visit those sections for more information about why and how moving your body will provide self-care as well as support to your body, mind, and spirit.
5. Feel your Emotions
Navigating a cancer diagnosis involves many emotions. Feel what you are feeling. The only way out is through. Honoring your emotions by expressing them outward is better than storing them inside your body. Consider sharing your emotions with family members, close friends, and even professionals such as those listed at Psychological Support and Cancer. If you cannot tell others what you are feeling, give yourself the space for journaling, creative expression, moving your body, dancing, art, and other forms of expression.
Also explore our Feelings, Thoughts, and Beliefs section with important topics about mental and emotional components as well as strategies to support you through your cancer journey.
6. Research
Newly diagnosed cancer patients are often not sure how to conduct cancer research. They want to navigate their situation with high quality cancer resources to find the best cancer treatments.
Take these steps in your cancer research process. For very detailed information about how to go through this cancer research process, visit our Research section.
1. Collect and Review Cancer and Health Related Materials
2. Use Practical Tools
3. Identify Questions and use our list in Questions for Evaluating Cancer Treatments and Providers
4. Consult with an Integrative Guide
5. Research Treatments
High quality research focused on cancer treatments is essential. Research your diagnosis and treatment options toward the best possible care. Potential cancer treatments can be identified through researching providers and facilities. Research focused on cancer treatments should also be gathered through the following cancer information resources as well as in other topics throughout the EmbodiWorks website.
Top Cancer Resources
Explore information in the Top Cancer Resources section when researching cancer treatments. Quality cancer related, health and healing resources are organized by topic. For example, if you are researching conventional cancer treatments, our cancer information guides you through your investigation with many helpful resources.
Locating Relevant Cancer Research
We educate you about using a free online tool called PubMed to find published research. Our guidance also refers to other research strategies through specific journals and additional resources.
Understanding Cancer Statistics
Cancer statistics are complex and can sometimes feel harsh. Statistics never predict the fate of a single individual. We explain the scoop about the real deal with statistics.
Evidence Based Medicine
Learning about evidence based medicine helps clarify the value of studies to better inform the cancer research process. Definitions of evidence based medicine also illuminate the role of patient's values in making cancer treatment decisions.
7. Research Oncologists and Facilities
Oncologists with Expertise in your Cancer
Research oncologists with the goal of finding experts in your diagnosis. Track down this information in Top Cancer Resources. Know that treatment recommendations may vary among oncologists. Identifying several oncologists will allow you to collect multiple opinions. Oncologists monitor disease status and provide information about conventional cancer treatments. Only a limited number of oncologists practice varying degrees of integrative cancer care.
Treatment Facilities
Research facilities to learn about oncologists and cancer treatment approaches. Know that there is variability between cancer treatments that are offered and recommended by different treatment centers. Some facilities have larger or smaller departments devoted to certain types of cancer, take more or less aggressive cancer treatment approaches, use different types of equipment and cancer-related tests, and conduct different clinical trials.
Comprehensive cancer centers typically have more physicians who specialize in treating one particular kind of cancer compared to community hospitals. For certain surgical procedures on rare tumors, studies indicate hospitals that perform more of these operations have significantly better outcomes. Some studies also suggest that outcomes for surgeries are generally best at high-volume hospitals that treat a large number of cancer patients.
Integrative Departments
Treatment facilities may offer some form of integrative cancer care. Hospitals increasingly have an integrative department that may or may not be truly integrated at the medical center. Research integrative services available at treatment facilities.
Integrative Providers
Research integrative cancer care providers. Learn about the different cancer treatments offered by providers and their facilities. Identify some potential integrative cancer care providers for your health care team. These providers may be doctors including oncologists or highly trained in another discipline. People with cancer sometimes have several integrative providers with expertise in different areas. Explore Integrative Providers and Clinics.
Visit our Research section for more information.
8. Integrative Providers
Quality cancer care is not only about treatments for the cancer diagnosis and instead with cancer care for the whole person. Identifying a group of quality integrative providers is essential to optimally support health and healing in people dealing with cancer. The full spectrum of comprehensive integrative cancer care will not come from one professional and instead through a team. Remember that integrative cancer care optimally tends to you as a whole person through body, mind, and spirit, including social and environmental health. Think about what that means to you and where you need more support.
Whole Body Health Care
Even if you find an oncologist working within integrative cancer care, you will most likely need additional integrative providers with expertise in cancer to address your entire physical body. Consider integrative medicine systems such as naturopathy, functional medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and ayurveda.
Mind
Caring for your mental and emotional inner life will support your health and healing. Incorporate ways to optimize your mind-body balance and vitality. You can do this through self-care as well as working with providers. Meditation, breathing techniques, imagery, movement, creative expression, massage, biofeedback, psychological support, and other approaches can be done alone, in groups, and/or with providers.
Spirit
The spiritual dimensions of life often become more prominent when dealing with cancer. As spiritual questions surface, opportunities for new knowledge about religion and spirituality emerge. Find spiritual support within yourself and from others.
Explore the many areas of our website for more information about integrative cancer care.
9. Consultations & Opinions
Meet with providers and collect multiple opinions about cancer treatments. While this phase can involve chaos with fear, trust that forward movement will occur. Also trust that any vulnerability that you feel contains your power.
Take these steps in your process with consultations and opinions.
1. Choose Oncologists and Providers for Consultations and Schedule Appointments
2. Ask for Support
3. Identify Questions for Appointments
4. Confirm your Diagnosis
5. Consult with Oncologists
6. Collect Multiple Opinions
7. Evaluate Opinions and Recommendations
8. Choose an Oncologist
9. Choose Other Providers for your Integrative Cancer Care Team
For more detailed information with guidance about moving through these steps with consultations and opinions, visit our Seek and Search section. We share lots of helpful info to support you through this very important phase of your cancer journey.
10. Mind-Body Support
The state of your mind and emotions impacts your health due to the mind-body connection. "Mind does not dominate body, it becomes bodybody and mind are one," according to research by scientist Candace Pert, PhD. No separation exists between the mind and body. The body feeds the mind; the mind feeds the body. Thoughts and feelings, as well as beliefs and attitudes, impact and literally shape aspects of biological functioning. As a result, mind-body approaches strengthen the mental and emotional inner life supporting health and healing.
Our Mind section contains a lot of super helpful information about many components of the mind-body connection when dealing with cancer for patients and caregivers. Explore our topics for education and empowerment. Our strategies will boost your vitality, self-knowledge, and joy.
Visit our Mind section for lots of mind-body information.
11. Spiritual Support
The spiritual dimensions of life often become more prominent in the midst of cancer for both cancer patients and their loved ones. Cancer offers an opportunity to open conversations toward new understandings about spirit, spiritual needs, and deeper spiritual embodiment. For some, cancer shatters reality and invites a deep dive into profound aspects of self and existence. For others, this process occurs more gradually as they move through their journey.
Most people understand that we are connected to something larger than ourselves and engage some form of contact with spirit. Healing is about wholeness. We are whole when our spirit is united with our body. Spirituality is therefore an essential component of an integrative cancer care plan addressing the whole person.
Visit our Spirit section for more information.
12. Clean Environment
Learning about the link between cancer and the environment helps motivate people to make a cleaner, greener environment. When you have time, educate yourself about how to clean your enviornmental products inside and outside of your body, home, and other surroundings. You can also have a loved one do some research for you and share what they found out. Perhaps a family member or friend could even buy you some new clean, green products.
Visit our Environmental section for more information.
13. Rest & Resources
Rest cultivates a gateway toward finding peace as well as answers inside of yourself. In any confusion and chaos during your cancer journey, remember the power of giving yourself space to relax and resource yourself to restore and recover inner clarity. Countless vehicles such as sleep, yoga, meditation, breath work, creative expression, 5Rhythms, journaling, and other healing modalities are wonderful forms of support. Also explore ways to create a healing environment.
As an ongoing form of resourcing, we recommend that you explore the many integrative cancer care resources throughout our site. Our reliable cancer information offers person centered cancer resources to reduce cancer risk, improve quality of life, and even cancer-related survival.
Know that we are always wishing you optimal health and healing.
You are never alone.
We truly hope that you experience EmbodiWorks integrative cancer care resources as supportive and empowering.
We love you.
Videos
Also watch these informative videos with great tips and perspectives to navigate key aspects of a diagnosis of cancer with skills, self-advocacy, self-care, and other forms of support that we've addressed through steps discussed in this section.
Greg Plotnikoff, MD provides insightful tips to help people with cancer optimize their medical appointments, be supported, and find calm with "skills before pills" in the midst of stress.
Misha R. Cohen, OMD, LAc, shares insights about how cancer patients benefit from making their own cancer treatment choices and invigorate their paths to wholeness.
Our most popular Resources
 Questions for Evaluating Cancer Treatments and Providers
High quality, thorough questions are essential and we provide them to empower patients and caregivers in evaluating treatments and providers.
 Maps to Integrative Cancer Care
Explore this must-read map helping cancer patients find their way. We offer guidance through a process to feel grounded, supported, educated, empowered, confident, and inspired.
 Evaluating Cancer Research and Treatments
Learning about cancer research and treatments can feel really confusing. We educate about core cancer research and treatment topics around the cancer evaluation process to help you become more informed and confident.
 Intuition and Instinct
For anyone seeking guidance, explore ways to find direction inside of yourself. Our information about intuition and instinct helps people find clarity and develop more confidence in their decision-making and journey.
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