I know that a diagnosis of cancer can feel extremely overwhelming. Life before a cancer diagnosis becomes different for each individual and aspects of life in general.

What helps people navigate through their cancer diagnosis?

Educate and empower yourself with cancer diagnosis navigation strategies that are essential. This information helps cancer patients and caregivers move through a range of aspects with the cancer diagnosis and other components. Explore these approaches for navigation to achieve optimal health and healing.

1. Find Ways to Relax and Resource Yourself

During a cancer diagnosis, crossroads, and transitions during the cancer journey, the first step is to find ways to relax and resource yourself. Explore resources to learn about supportive integrative cancer care approaches and self-care strategies.

Research indicates that people temporarily lose certain skills when diagnosed with cancer, including communication skills, information seeking, decision-making, problem-solving, negotiation, and speaking up for rights. Do your best to relax before proceeding with your process. Calm is also paramount to evaluate and navigate your journey.

2. Evaluate and Identify Support

People with cancer need support. Many types of support are described and referenced in Social. Get the help you need from family, friends, professional colleagues, support services, and spirituality, as well as resources. Ask for assistance to find what works for you and meets your needs. Explore Social Support Tips for Cancer Patients with guidance about some challenges and ways to improve self-awareness and strengthen meaningful connections. In addition, capture helpful insights at Self-Care Tips for Cancer Caregivers, Profound Emotional Support for Cancer Patients and Caregivers, and other information here.

3. Consider how to Participate in Research and Decision-Making

How do you want to participate in your research and 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/s?
• by an integrative cancer coach and navigator?
• through a combination of these approaches?

Evaluate and choose what makes sense to you, and be aware that approaches can evolve during your cancer journey,

4. Research Treatments

Cancer patients and caregivers are often not sure how to conduct cancer research and benefit from high-quality cancer information to find the best cancer treatments for their situation. Take these steps in your cancer research process toward the best possible care with practitioners and facilities. Cancer research can be gathered through the following information and resources, as well as more at the Center for Integrative Cancer Resources.

Top Related Cancer Information
Explore this top-notch cancer section with help to research cancer treatments. Quality cancer-related resources are organized by topics.

Locating Relevant Cancer Research
Learn about using a free online tool called PubMed to find published research, along with 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. Discover insights about the real deal with statistics.

Evidence-Based Medicine
Learning about evidence-based medicine helps clarify the value of studies to inform the cancer research process better. Definitions of evidence-based medicine also illuminate the role of patients’ values in making cancer treatment decisions.

Precision Medicine
Precision medicine is about finding the treatment to address the disease for each individual. Depending on the approach, biomarker testing, genomic testing, and genetic testing might be involved to help identify treatment with targeted agents. Additionally, precision medicine cancer treatments can also be related to immunotherapy and other approaches. Some have been approved by the FDA or in clinical trials.

5. Research Oncologists and Facilities

The process to find oncologists, facilities, and other providers take time. Educate yourself to understand the cancer arena and explore Top Related Cancer Information to help you research these components for your plan.

Oncologists with Expertise in your Cancer
Research oncologists with the goal to find experts related to your type of cancer. 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 consider clinical trials, among other comparisons.

Comprehensive cancer centers typically have more physicians who specialize in treating one particular kind of cancer compared to community hospitals. For surgical procedures on rare tumors, studies indicate hospitals that perform more of these operations have significantly better outcomes. Some studies also suggest that results for surgeries are generally best at high-volume hospitals that treat a large number of cancer patients.

Precision Medicine
Precision medicine is a newer realm with further advances offered by specific hospitals and oncologists. In the future, precision medicine will be everywhere. For now, opportunities are better provided by more innovative places.

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.

6. Research Providers for an Integrative Cancer Care Team

Quality cancer care is not only about appropriate treatments for the cancer diagnosis and needs to address the whole person. Integrative cancer care for the whole person, which focuses on the physical body, mind-body connection, spiritual vitality, social support, and a cleaner environment, can improve quality of life, cancer survival, and cancer prevention. Moreover, the full spectrum of comprehensive integrative cancer care will not come from one professional and instead through a team. Explore Top Related Cancer Information in the Center for Integrative Cancer Resources to help you track down some components of your integrative cancer plan, as well as other sections such as Cancer Coach.

Whole Body Health Care
Even if you find an oncologist with some knowledge about integrative cancer care, you will need additional integrative providers with expertise in cancer to address your entire physical body. Explore some ways regarding the physical body and ways to address cancer.

Mind
Caring for your mental and emotional inner life will support your optimal health and healing. Incorporate ways to optimize your mind-body vitality, such as self-care and appointments with providers. Meditation, breathing techniques, imagery, movement, creative expression, massage, biofeedback, psychological support, and other approaches that assist the journey.

Spirit
The spiritual dimensions of life often become more prominent when dealing with cancer. Explore insights about spirit and spirituality, including support and other meaningful ways to reflect on an individual, relationships, meaning, and life in general.

7. Hire a Cancer Coach

A quality cancer coach assists people through their cancer diagnosis and cancer journey. As a cancer survivor since 1998 and with extensive professional experience, Jeannine Walston’s individualized person-centered one-on-one support services as a Cancer Coach give these topics and much more.

1. Research results about potential hospitals, practitioners, treatment, and perhaps some testing.
2. Recommendations for some specific integrative practitioners and providers.
3. Lifestyle, self-care, and integrative approaches to improve quality of life and survival.
4. Cancer survivorship care to address challenges and support cancer prevention
5. Creation of a more detailed, proactive, integrative cancer care plan and team.
6. Further treating the body, mind, spirit, social and environmental health and healing.
7. A thorough investigation of patient trial opportunities, advanced testing, lifestyle enhancement program availability, and individualized, innovative, integrative anticancer treatments.
8. Expansive support for optimal brain functionality from cognitive skills to mental constructs.
9. Specifics of leading-edge treatments, including those from worldwide clinics.
10. Complete accountability with an emphasis on tasks and timelines.
11. Behavior transformation tools to help each individual create confidence, self-awareness, and motivation with consistency.
12. Profound wisdom is only acquired by some long-term cancer survivors.

Explore more information here, and read testimonials and praise about Jeannine’s help as a Cancer Coach, including from New York Times best-sellers, well-known doctors, advocates, experts in the film industry, people affected by cancer, caregivers, and other individuals.

8. Consume Healthy Foods & Learn about Nutrition

People diagnosed with cancer are often not well-informed about the relationship between diet and cancer. Food has a potent effect on 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 are critical in an integrative cancer care plan and self-care strategies. 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. Learn Cancer Diet for more information, and then Cancer Fighting Foods, Foods to Avoid, and Why Organic Foods?.

9. Help for Consultations & Opinions

Meet with providers and collect multiple opinions about your individualized situation. Take these steps in your process with consultations and opinions.

1. Choose Oncologists and Providers for Consultations and Schedule Appointments

2. Ask for Support Before, During, and After the Appointments

3. Identify Questions for Appointments, including to Evaluate Cancer Treatments and Providers

4. Consult with Oncologists

5. Collect Information about the Type of Diagnosis and Recommended Treatments

6. Acquire Multiple Opinions

7. Evaluate Opinions and Recommendations

8. Choose an Oncologist

9. Find Providers for an Integrative Cancer Care Team

      10. Create and Continue Self-Care Strategies

For more detailed information with guidance to move through these steps for consultations and opinions, support is essential in this crucial phase of the cancer journey. To help you achieve your goals, including quality of life and cancer survival, visit Cancer Coach, as well as other articles, resources, and details at jeanninewalston.com.

10. Explore Cancer Financial Assistance

No doubt, cancer is expensive, with many factors involved in the journey. Fortunately, there are helpful strategies to provide financial aid. Learn about financial assistance for cancer patients and caregivers. Some financial directories, lists, and specific places can offer health insurance, copays, treatments, medications, screening, lodging, travel, transportation, counseling, support groups, rent, funds, home care, child care, education, and many other types of support. Explore cancer financial assistance that provides essential help during the cancer journey for cancer patients and caregivers.

Challenges in the cancer journey can be transformed into opportunities and adversity into positive actions. We each hold the key to being our own best advocate and asking for help.

If you would like to expand your knowledge toward improving your quality of life and survival, contact me and learn more about my coaching here.