I was completely blind-sided by a diagnosis of cancer in September 2020. I had surgery and was immediately set up with an appointment for chemotherapy. It never made any sense to me, that to kill off the cancer, one must poison the entire body and destroy the immune system, but the oncology doctors I saw never offered that there might be alternatives and they were VERY insistent that chemotherapy be started right away. I was so shell-shocked by the diagnosis, that I just went along with their recommendations. I underwent two rounds of chemo (out of six scheduled) that left me practically crippled with severe neuropathy and fatigue, difficulty forming words and sentences, as well as trouble sequencing various day to day tasks. When I raised concerns about all the severe negative effects of the chemo drugs they were dismissed with rote platitudes like, "that's just what we call 'chemo brain'."
I started looking for natural alternatives around Thanksgiving and found Dr. Huber and Nature Works Best in the first part of December. (By the way, none of the naturopathic clinics in my area will treat cancer solely with natural substances. All of the clinics I looked into around here (from Bellingham to Vancouver, Washington) required a patient to also undergo chemo and/or radiation.) We read through her research and were struck by the survival rate for patients with my type of cancer, which was over 90%.
We (my husband and I) flew to Phoenix the last week of December 2020, and met with Dr. Huber for an initial consultation. I was very impressed that she took the time needed to get a complete medical history and that she was actually writing on a notepad instead of staring at a computer screen. (Studies have shown that actually writing things down helps a person remember the subject matter better than typing into some sort of electronic device. (The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking, Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014, for one). She was very thorough and asked for clarification on various points, and then went back over everything at the end to make sure she had everything correct.
At the end of our consult, she asked me if I would like to come back to the clinic on the next treatment day, try a "small bottle" of the IV solution and meet a patient with the same type of cancer with which I had been diagnosed. We thought that to be an excellent idea, so we did. I wasn't sure what to expect, but figured it couldn't be any worse than chemo.
I met a woman named G*** with the same type of cancer and we ended up talking for 2 hours! She was very kind and helpful, answering all of our questions and encouraging us during a very scary, difficult time.
I moved to Phoenix two weeks later and started treatment, which consisted of the high nutrient IVs 3x a week and the HBOT (hyperbaric) treatment once a week. I had already changed my diet before going to Phoenix, but I added in scheduled exercise every day. The chemo had left me so fatigued and in so much pain, that I had pretty much stopped exercising at all, but I made myself walk every day, even if it was just for 5 or 10 minutes. I eventually saw all four doctors in the clinic: Dr. Huber, Dr. Lopez, Dr. Mowery, and Dr. Nordin. One of them would meet with me each treatment day to assess how I was doing and to ask if I had any concerns, questions, any physical issues that had come up. For instance, they added additional nutrients to the IV to address the neuropathy and sore muscles with which I was dealing. They each have their own approach within the framework of how the clinic operates, and I found their styles to be complementary.
I am so grateful for the nurses and office staff. Amanda, Jessica, and Val - always willing to answer questions and work out scheduling issues, and ready with a box of tissues when needed. Sherry and Ashley are the two nurses with whom I had the most interactions. There are no finer nurses out there. Sherry and Ashley are simply the best of the best! They go above and beyond the mechanics of nursing, they get at the heart of it: kind, compassionate, a bit of mama bear when it comes to protecting their patients, laughing with us at goofy, silly stuff, and encouraging us through the really tough stuff.
I found the atmosphere in the treatment rooms to be very therapeutic: encouraging, uplifting, healing. Patients shared their stories and encouraged one another through tests and scans, the ups and downs of treating cancer. I am blessed to call many of them friends.
I had clean scans at the end of 12 weeks and am now on the maintenance program.
I am grateful to Dr. Huber and her staff for helping me through this time in my life, for all the encouragement and compassion they showed me.
I thank God every day for leading me to Nature Works Best! read more
