DESCRIPTION:  Since acupuncture is usually a secondary treatment strategy in the “cancer war”, here I will address situations where acupuncture has been incredibly effective. 

Chemotherapy and radiation have a myriad of side effects.   Common side effects include nausea, weakness, fatigue, thirst, dizziness, anxiety and insomnia. With acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine we treat what we see.  People often go into a remission-like state with the use of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.  Acupuncture seeks to balance and restore qi/energy/vital life force.  The yin fluids and substance are often withered from chemotherapy and radiation.  The inside of the body becomes scorched like the desert.  Simultaneously we work to revitalize the yang/ will to live.

I have successfully helped patients with breast, lung, stomach, colon and bone marrow cancers to get thru recovery from radiation, chemo, surgeries in my 10 years as a practitioner of this amazing medicine.  Each patient is given an individual workup and treatment strategy to help them be most whole.

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE VS OPTIMAL MEDICINE:

Often we go to the doctor and complain about something.  Test results show you are “normal” in the functional parameters, but your symptoms still exist.  In optimal medicine, we treat what we see.  Did your back pain improve?  Are there still headaches?  What is your energy like?  How do you feel mentally and emotionally?

The diagnosis of cancer may still present in an MRI or not, but patients often report a more revitalized and alive feeling and way of carrying themselves in the world.  No longer just a “cancer survivor” but a true being in themselves. Quality of life vs. Quantity of life.