Naturopathic Oncology can make your conventional cancer treatment more effective,
as well as help prevent recurrence of cancer once you’ve completed treatment.
We are committed to an integrative approach, drawing on the distinct benefits offered by both conventional, naturopathic, and adjunctive therapies. We work closely with medical oncologists as well as our network of highly talented providers
to maximize the benefits you can receive from true collaborative care.
Pre-Treatment Phase
The first category is patients who have recently been diagnosed with cancer and are faced with the challenge of going through treatment. The main question these patients ask is, “How can I survive both the cancer and the treatment?”
In this phase, time is of the essence. It is all about getting the tumor out of the body…right now. The tumor can be removed using one or more of the most common conventional methods: surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation.
Because of the need to remove the tumor from the body, treatment during this phase is highly conventional-focused, with Naturopathic Oncology playing a supporting role. But that supporting role is crucial because it can make the conventional treatment more effective. How it accomplishes this depends on the type of conventional treatment you’re going through.
Surgery
When undergoing surgery to treat cancer, Naturopathic Oncology can result in:
- Less pain
- Less constipation
- Decreased infection or other complications
- Quicker recovery times
Chemo
When undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer, Naturopathic Oncology can result in:
- Fewer rounds of treatment
- Lower doses of medication
- Fewer and less severe side-effects
- Quicker recovery times
Radiation
When undergoing radiation to treat cancer, Naturopathic Oncology can result in:
- Less inflammation
- Optimized energy levels
- Less skin and soft tissue changes
- Fewer and less severe side-effects
- Quicker recovery times
Note: Some patients have already begun treatment when they learn about the benefits of Naturopathic Oncology. We can start working with patients even when they are in the middle of treatment, and there are still significant benefits to be gained by adding naturopathic support at that time.
Post-Treatment Phase
The second category is patients who have completed treatment and are wondering what’s next. The biggest question on the minds of patients in this phase is, “How can I make sure I don’t ever have to go through that again?”
During this phase, the goal is to implement a treatment plan that addresses the underlying cause of the cancer in order to minimize the chance of recurrence. Care now becomes highly focused on naturopathic treatment, with conventional medicine playing a smaller role. Many patients report feeling comforted that they are doing all they can to prevent recurrence as well as confident that if the cancer does come back, they know they have naturopathic support to help them through it.
Early Detection
Another advantage of working with Naturopathic Oncology in the Post-Treatment phase is the ability to find out as soon as possible if the cancer does in fact recur. Conventional oncology primarily relies on imaging to detect cancer recurrence. But the naturopathic approach utilizes a wide array of laboratory blood tests that have the ability to detect the beginnings of cancer significantly earlier. In fact, cancer cells can be detected in the blood before symptoms appear – and even before cancer cells start to aggregate into a tumor. If we can detect it early enough, it gives us the edge, and that edge may even result in you not having to go through treatment again.
Note: For those patients who have not yet been diagnosed with cancer but are concerned about the possible presence of genetic markers that may increase their likelihood of developing cancer, a new and growing service we offer is genetic testing and counseling.
One of our most effective weapons in supporting your fight against cancer is the highly individualized treatment plan we develop and refine specifically for you. While the conventional model excels at treating the tumor, Naturopathic Oncology is about treating the patient, not just the disease.
We often think about treatment in terms of cancer being a “splinter” in the body that needs to be removed. Medical oncology is absolutely invaluable for providing the tools to remove the splinter. But once the splinter is gone, the cycle that led to the splinter has still not been addressed. That’s where Naturopathic Oncology comes in. We work to identify which of the following categories of underlying cellular change have occurred in your life and may have contributed to the formation of cancer cells.
5 Categories of Underlying Cellular Change
- Nutritional Deficiency
- Infection
- Inflammation
- Genetics
- Toxins
Once we’ve identified the most likely categories, we develop your individualized treatment plan with the goals of supporting the foundations of health and optimizing the immune system. As we implement your treatment plan, we start to get traction in certain areas, and this traction can help us further confirm the categories where underlying causes may exist, which in turn can help us hone in more accurately on even more effective therapies.
The Naturopathic Oncology approach to nutrition is focused on creating and refining a highly personalized diet designed specifically to accomplish three things:
- Minimize inflammation
- Maximize the absorption of nutrients
- Optimize nutrient levels
These supplements fall into five categories:
- Cellular – optimize mitochondrial function
- Immune – maximize surveillance of cancer cells
- Anti-Oxidant – reduce free-radical damage
- Anti-Inflammatory – increase oxygenation and alkalinity
- Anti-Cancer – decrease activity of cancer cells
During and after cancer treatment, cranio-sacral therapy and visceral manipulation can provide you with higher levels of:
- Higher levels of energy
- Decreased anxiety
- Less pain
- Better sleep
Dr. Noelle Butler, ND
Dr. Butler’s passion for oncology bridges her appreciation of both conventional and naturopathic modalities and brings cancer care to an elevated level.
Dr. Butler is credentialed by Bozeman Health Deaconess and continues to provide care for patients in their facility. She works closely with medical oncologists and other practitioners to create a team approach that is beneficial for all.
She is also a registered provider with Research Genetic Cancer Clinic, allowing her to bring the knowledge of oncologists all over the world to Bozeman, MT.