Complementary Medicines & Therapies can enhance a patient’s oncology treatments by reducing side effects, speeding recovery & increasing quality of life.
HOWEVER – the field is extremely complex as the cartoon suggests.
Extremely complex!
To be honest 99% of the most enthusiastic patients presenting at my clinic, despite their valiant efforts, have not been getting the results they deserve.
As a result of failing to grasp the complexity in complementary approaches, large numbers of patients are unintentionally ‘self-harming.’
This sad situtation is the opposite to their intended outcome – assisting their cancer recovery,
With such good intentions – what’s going Wrong?
The answer is – Fragmented Cancer Medicine:
It’s common for many patients to consult several naturopaths, an integrative doctor & be trialling suppplements or diets found on Dr Google.
This happened to Renate
I am grateful for your expertise. After abandoning conventional chemotherapy; a decision I have paid for dearly, I followed the advice of 3 well known naturopaths/one an integrative GP who advertise that they treat cancer naturally. Over a period of 6 months of expensive natural treatments ( $20,000)- my tumours grew & spread prolifically breaking through my skin. Now back with conventional medicine ? my tumours are regressing.Thanks for your experience and kindness ? I wish I had found you earlier. Renate..
Sadly, although committed to their profession, few naturopaths know much about the nature of cancer and many are ideologically against conventional cancer medicine.
I know this well from my time training naturopaths & from noting the ‘bizarre’ supplements & dietary regimes given to patients who present at my clinic.
When it comes to cancer medicine it’s often a case of the blind leading the blind.
This is fragmented cancer medicine – it is ineffective, falls far short of the Collaborative (Team Model). It can be dangerous; even life threatening. Currently you may not think this but with a deeper scienctific understanding you’ll see the complexityy of mixing herbs, supplements, extreme diets with medical drugs, radiation or surgery designed to beat your cancer.
Here’s the Problem: Everything (I mean everything) you put in your mouth (or up your backside) has the potential to undermine or even stop your oncology treatments from working. E.G. grapefruit.
Some foods; or juices made from those foods; can also exacerbate side effects of any conventional treatment you are having. If your oncologist does not know this he may view the extra side effects as a signal to change treatment. (this can cause many complications, harm or even death.
Our Consultations: This is just some of the valuable information we work through in a consultation with you. We will also collaborate with your oncologist or if they are not satisfactory, refer you to a high performing oncologist suitable to your condition.
So when there is a clash, (and there almost always is) your well meaning efforts may actually make your oncology treatments worthless or even harm you.
You’d be safer & better off doing nothing – Unless – you have someone (like Grace Gawler) to bridge the gap between oncology & naturopathy so it all works together.
The answer is collaborative cancer medicine:

What’s needed to bridge the Gap:
Three things must be in place for this to be successful..
- In depth knowledge of oncology drugs, medicine, the biology & nature of cancer, anatomy & physiology – you cannot do this work unless you know the above.
- Collaboration with the oncology team (extremely rare. I don’t know any other naturopaths or integrative doctors that do this)
So in this situation you have different people putting different substances down a patient’s mouth but not talking to each other, not using a coordinated approach. It is bound to fail!
- Sound knowledge & experience with botanical medicines & complementary therapies – there are many interactions to consider such as drug/herb interactions, diet/drug interactions & more
What can you take away from this page?
If you wish to complement your oncology treatments but your naturopath or integrative doctor will not collaborate with your oncology team you’d be safer just eating sensibly and avoiding extremes such as excessive juicing, excessive supplements, coffee enemas and so on.
The nature of our practice is such that we attract many stage 4 patients many of whom have trialled every regimen known to mankind. We are in the privledged position to view patients bloods, reports & scans as we re-assess and re-diagnose.
Many of these patients have tried all the fads, been to all the naturopaths and integrative doctors of ‘note’ and yet … never have we seen anything that has slowed the progress of their tumour – similar to doing nothing.
Some patients have spent amounts ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 in Australia and over $1,000,000 for some who have gone overseas in these cases we have not seen anything that worked well. If it worked we’d be recommending it.
However: If you wish to work with a naturopath who meets the 3 criteria above please click the button below to contact Grace Gawler…
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