09 Jul Staying Healthy After Cancer or Serious Illness
Surviving something like cancer is a life altering experience and usually inspires patients to a higher level of commitment to preserving their health and quality of life thereafter. It is always a great relief when your medical doctor says that the cancer is gone, but what do you do next? Naturopathic medicine has much to offer in regard to wellness testing and prevention programs to preserve and protect your health, far before you even feel the symptoms.
The first thing most people need is simply a well deserved break from all the medical appointments to just catch up on all the fun things in life. After that, it is wise to look for a team of health professionals who can help you with a customized prevention plan.
You don’t always “feel” when something’s wrong with your health!
In discussing health and wellness, it is very important to remember that we don’t always have symptoms. For example, we don’t “feel” our cholesterol levels, vitamin D status, toxicity, or how strong our bones are. In fact, many kinds of cancer are also silent for months or years before the patient gets diagnosed. You most often don’t have symptoms for years, and your annual blood work is usually normal too.
Our approach to cancer prevention is very similar to our programs for “cancer after-care”. We evaluate several aspects of your body’s chemistry, toxicity, stress levels, and nutrition, looking for any versions of “dysfunction”. This is what is happening in your body in that pre-disease time, or after a disease, when you are not necessarily having symptoms. Dysfunction and unwellness of your body, mind and spirit are what eventually lead to disease.
Different strokes for different folks.
Naturopathic doctors treat the cause(s) of reduced health, and each patient gets a highly individualized treatment plan. For instance, there can be several people with estrogen-positive breast cancer with very different treatment plans. One person may be acidic, stressed out, and lacking antioxidants, while the other person may have high levels of harmful kinds of estrogen, low body temperature and need probiotics.
How to test wellness:
Testing your level of health and wellness always starts with a thorough consultation, physical exam, and detailed review of your lifestyle. This information guides which further testing might be relevant to the patient. We may perform hair mineral analysis, stress testing, Bio-Impedance Analysis for body composition, saliva hormone testing, thermography, live cell microscopy, or IGG food sensitivity testing, etc.
We’re here for you ….
Bronte Natural Health Clinic is Oakville’s most experienced clinic of naturopathic medicine, and winner of the 2021 Top Choice Award for Alternative Medicine in Oakville.
Call 905-825-8787 or bnhc@rogers.com to schedule an appointment, or for more information.