Integrative Cancer Support

Integrative Cancer Support through all Phases of Treatment and Beyond

If you have been diagnosed with cancer, are experiencing a relapse or are a survivor looking for comprehensive, personalized and individualized care, I can help. The integrative cancer support program at Restore Your Health Nutrition is dedicated to providing supportive care to the whole person who has cancer at whatever phase of treatment they are in.

Just Diagnosed: You may have just been diagnosed with cancer and are recovering from the shock. You would like to take time to think about your options and would like to know if there is something that you could be doing to prepare for treatment and the challenges ahead. Perhaps you are looking into complementary treatments and are feeling overwhelmed and confused by the amount of information that is out there and how to determine what is effective.

In Treatment: You are in treatment and are trying to cope with this challenging time. You would like to manage side effects and maintain your stamina so that you can continue to work while going through treatment. You have questions about the best diet and what supplements you can safely use to improve your treatment tolerance and response.

Treatment No Longer Working: You are wondering if there is something else that you can do.

Completing Treatment: You have successfully made it through treatment and are now cancer-free. You want to help your body recover from the effects of toxic treatments and get your health back. You want to know what actions you can take to prevent a recurrence and remain cancer-free.

Supporting the health of the whole person with cancer

Conventional cancer care involves surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and/or targeted therapy and focuses on the cancer while integrative cancer care supports the health of the whole person and has been called the best of both worlds. While your oncologist focuses on the tumor, we focus on your health–beginning with diagnosis–supporting you through your treatment and helping to restore your health after cancer care and beyond.

You will Learn how to Actively Take Part in your Fight Against Cancer

Did you know that foods and natural agents have the ability to alter the terrain of the body (the environment in which the cancer cells live) and disrupt the cancer process? I will teach you how you can actively take part in your healing journey, what to eat, which supplements to take and what lifestyle changes to make so that you can alter the terrain of the body so that it is conducive to health and more resistant to cancer.

Together We Can

I will guide you each step of the way. You will learn how to use strategies and natural treatments to help you:

Prioritize your goals
Stimulate your body’s natural healing abilities
Improve your response to conventional cancer therapies
Manage treatment-related side-effects
Maintain strength and muscle mass
Incorporate foods and other natural agents that have the ability to turn off cancer promotor genes and turn on those which suppress cancer

Reduce toxic burden and enhance detoxification
Improve your energy levels
Decrease cancer-promoting inflammation
Protect healthy organs from the effects of toxic treatments
Enhance your immune function
Repair your digestion and restore your microbiome
Maintain quality of life

Developing a Comprehensive Cancer Support Plan that is Specific to you

I gather information about you, your health history and cancer story through an in-depth consultation. We look at your diet, nutritional status, lifestyle, physical activity, stressors, sleep, emotional and spiritual health. We utilize this information to formulate what we call your “foundational protocol”. You will receive guidance on what to eat, safe and effective supplements to take to support your wellbeing and self-healing, repair the tumor environment, target cancer cells and restore your health.

We will update your protocol (based on new information from laboratory and other tests) to correct specific deficiencies, imbalances and/or drivers of cancer—thus tailoring your program to your body’s own unique biochemistry. Your progress is monitored through follow-up laboratory testing.

We Support, Repair and Target Three Areas

Your individualized cancer care plan is developed to target three areas:

Your Wellbeing and Self-Healing

We strengthen and support you so that your body is as healthy as possible to deal with cancer. We do this through the following:

Improving your energy levels
Promoting strength and resilience
Optimizing nutrition
Balancing and nourishing you
Reducing treatment-related side effects such as fatigue, anemia, weight loss and neuropathy
Protecting your healthy organs from toxic treatments
Calming your nervous system and reducing your stress
Maintaining your quality of life

The Tumor Environment

Guided by lab testing, factors that promote cancer are uncovered and addressed. We repair the tumor environment (the “soil” in which the cancer cells are growing) to create an internal environment that is conducive to health and more resistant to cancer. We do this through the following:

Decreasing cancer- promoting inflammation
Addressing hypercoagulation (the tendency for blood to clot too easily)
Enhancing your immune function
Correcting imbalances and deficiencies
Reducing toxic burden and enhancing detoxification
Supporting a healthy microbiome

Cancer Cells

Many plants, foods and herbs, have anti-tumor activity. A comprehensive protocol supports your conventional treatment and targets the characteristics of the cancer by:

Turning off cancer promoting oncogenes and turning on tumor suppressor genes
Prompting cancer cells to mature into healthy cells (a process known as differentiation) or to undergo a natural cell “suicide” (apoptosis)
Improving your response to conventional cancer therapies and inhibiting multidrug resistance
Targeting cancer stem cells

In conjunction with your physician, when appropriate, tools such as tumor molecular profiling are used from samples taken from pathology slides or a “liquid biopsy” taken from a blood sample. The information obtained can be used to guide treatment by identifying medications, botanicals, nutrients and diet therapies that are most likely to be effective.

Tools That We Use

You will be supported with natural therapies from the following areas:

Food As Medicine

Foods are medicinal as well as nourishing and have tremendous power to affect cancer, they even have the power to change the way our genes are expressed and disrupt the cancer process. I will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your diet and teach you how to eat to in a way that will help you to:

Reduce tumor growth and fight cancer
Improve your tolerance to and effectiveness of conventional treatments
Target specific imbalances and tumor markers found on your laboratory tests
Help restore your body’s natural healing abilities

I recommend a diet that is rich in phytonutrients which may include specific healing foods and juices. I recommend a medicinal smoothie for cancer patients which provides a foundation for good nutrition and support for healthy cells and immunity.

Nutritional Medicine

Individuals with cancer have increased needs for nutrients and often need to supplements to meet these needs. They may be nourishing (used to balance or support overall health) or therapeutic and may also reduce side effects from cancer treatments such as fatigue, “chemo brain” and low blood cell counts. Nutrients are used to correct specific deficiencies found on your laboratory tests.

Nutrients used in our foundational protocols might include:

Vitamin D3
Zinc
Vitamin C
Magnesium

Botanical Medicine

Botanicals have the power to alter the terrain of the body and reduce cancer growth. They may be nourishing (used to balance or support overall health) or therapeutic.

Many botanical agents work through their ability to multitask; they suppress cancer through multiple mechanisms or pathways and some even have the ability to target cancer stem cells. These botanical “multitaskers” are used as core components of what we call “the foundational protocol”. Botanicals can reduce side effects from cancer treatments such as fatigue, “chemo brain” and low blood cell counts.

Our protocols are thoughtfully devised and individualized to your needs. Nutritional and botanical supplements used in our foundational protocols might include:

Curcumin
Resveratrol
Quercetin
Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) from green tea extract
Boswellia
Mushroom extracts

In addition to the foundational protocol, recommendations are provided to address your unique needs which may include enhancing immunity, correcting specific imbalances and/or deficiencies found through laboratory testing, maintaining weight or muscle mass or reducing treatment side effects.

Lifestyle Medicine

We look at lifestyle factors such as activity level, sleep patterns, stressors and spirituality; we encourage exercise, spending time outdoors in the fresh air and sunlight. Maintaining a healthy balance in these areas has been shown to improve quality of life during treatment, reduce treatment side effects and improve treatment outcomes.

My Approach

I have been fortunate to receive training and ongoing support from clinical herbalist, Donnie Yance and integrative oncologist, Dwight McKee through the Mederi Foundation, in the ETMS model which is the integrative cancer care model with which I work.

Work With Me

If you are committed to investing time and effort to modify your nutritional and lifestyle habits, I am confident that you will see results. I work with cancer patients in one of two ways:

A comprehensive (2 or 3 part) assessment
Long-term packages

Susan Carroll

Susan Carroll is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with over 25 years experience as a functional nutritionist.

Susan offers virtual nutrition appointments which allows her to see clients from almost anywhere. Her practice focuses on gut health, chronic health concerns and cancer. She believes that the body has a tremendous capacity to heal when given the right support.