When it comes to chemotherapy, if your first thought is “I’m going to lose my hair and get really sick from these treatments”, you’re definitely not alone. The vast majority of patients I see in my office all feel the exact same way. And although the odd person manages to maneuver their chemotherapy treatment with little to no side effects, if you’re like most, chemotherapy is not a pleasant experience. This is where integrative cancer care comes in.

It is incredibly tough enough to forge ahead amidst the many side effects you’ll encounter. But as we know, nothing can be guaranteed. And this is where integrative cancer care has the potential to shine. Integrative cancer care is not only able to help address these side effects, it’s often able to do so before they arise. What’s more, integrative cancer care has the potential to actually improve the effects of how the chemotherapy itself works. 

So here’s the standing question: how exactly can integrative cancer care make your chemotherapy work better? The answer lies within the distinct knowledge of how these drugs actually function. Once there’s a clear understanding of how these chemotherapies operate, as well as how how the body handles and metabolizes them, it becomes safe and effective to adjunctly administer care. By integrating these complimentary medicines into your treatment routine, we end up with a win-win situation. We reduce (and often completely mitigate) short and long term side effects, and also help target cancer cells to become more susceptible to the chemotherapy itself.

The science to how this medical integration works is very interesting, so when we combine integrative cancer care treatments alongside chemotherapy, we’re able to help patients manage the harsh therapies with far more success and ease. So what exactly are the endpoints we look to achieve when it comes to integrative cancer care making your chemotherapy work better? The intent and outcome are many; help you maintain your scheduled chemotherapy schedule without interruption (due to illness, low blood counts or otherwise), help support healthy cells that chemotherapy also destroys, support the immune system (which is hugely involved in the pre, active and post chemo picture), and provide overall health for patients throughout the entirety of the chemo process.

Once chemotherapy treatment is complete, integrative cancer care also thrives in helping patients support residual impacts from the chemo itself (such as eliminating toxic metabolites and restoring essential nutrients lost during the process). As importantly, it also provides the body optimal and long term support to drastically reduce the risk that the cancer will be back.