Category Archives: Cancer Care Tips

Chemotherapy Patients Can Retain Dignity and Beauty

June 16, 2014 heavy

Faced with a cancer diagnosis, the biggest fear among many patients is losing their hair. There are however alternatives to losing your full head of hair. Cool Caps during chemotherapy and fashion and designer wigs are just two great choices. One respected wig source for chemotherapy patients provides an extensive collection of designer medical wigs specially designed to cradle the sensitive scalps of chemotherapy patients while giving them confidence in their appearance.

Heartbreaking Hair Loss

For many cancer patients, hair loss is the most emotionally devastating side effect of chemotherapy. Our hair is such an important part of our self-image that losing it can be heartbreaking, shattering our sense of attractiveness. In most cases, hair grows back within a year, but it may not look or feel the way it did before.

Chemo Can Change Hair Quality

After chemotherapy, many patients find that when their hair grows back it has changed in texture, fullness and sometimes even color. After waiting so long to look like your old self again, the changes to your hair can be another disappointing blow. A beautifully styled wig can not only restore your confidence in your appearance and give you a huge emotional boost during chemotherapy, it can also allow you to return to the look and hair style you loved before cancer. In other words, if nature doesn’t cooperate, a beautiful fashion wig can make you feel beautiful again!

Chemo Wig Tips

If you are a chemotherapy patient, use these tips from the experts to choose the right medical wig for you:

Choose a light-weight wig that won’t place too much pressure on your tender scalp.
Baby your tender scalp by choosing a wig that is soft to the touch.
Choose a monofilament wig for its superior breathability.

It could be that conventional cancer treatment is not the “right” path for you and you would like to consider alternative cancer treatment options. At Issels, patients undergoing immunotherapy treatment will typically not experience hair loss. Other options including cancer vaccines and our immunobiologic core program boost your immune system to fight your cancer without the side effects of toxic medication. If you would like to find out about treatment options that have no dreaded side effects such as hair loss, we invite you to visit the Issels website to find out more about our specialized advanced cancer treatments that are kinder to your body.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Care Tips

Melanoma Treatment Breakthrough with Immunotherapy

April 2, 2014 heavy

Immunotherapy continues to prove itself an effective weapon in the fight against cancer. Recent studies show that treatment can produce lasting remission in patients suffering with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Leading pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb conducted testing of nivolumab, a member of a new class of immunotherapies. Its purpose is to disable a protein called PD-1 which restricts the body’s own immune system from attacking cancer cells.

Phase 1 of the trial involved 107 advanced melanoma patients whose cancer had spread to other areas despite treatment with traditional drugs. These patients received nivolumab via intravenous infusions during alternating weeks for periods of up to 96 weeks.

Median life expectancy for people with advanced melanoma is one year. Follow-up studies after treatment with the nivolumab found that 62 percent of the patients were alive, with 43 percent surviving after two years. Researchers are encouraged by the fact that the immunotherapy continued to show positive results even after treatment concluded. The data also suggests that therapy during earlier stages can be even more effective.

Bristol-Myers is continuing Phase 3 trials with nivolumab that focus on other forms of cancer such as lung and kidney cancer. In some cases, testing is using a combination therapy including ipilimumab, another of the new immunotherapies that works on disabling a different cell receptor.

Issels natural cancer treatment is based on more than 60 years of successful experience using integrative immunotherapy. Patients receive personalized protocols created to address their unique needs. Please contact us to learn more about our treatment centers and programs.

Cancer Care Tips, Living with Cancer

Cancer Caregivers Must Take Care for Themselves Too

March 28, 2014 heavy

Two out of three Americans can expect to serve as a family caregiver at some point in their lifetime. With cancer predicted to outstrip heart disease as the leading cause of death in America, many family caregivers will be caring for cancer patients. But those cold, impersonal facts are far removed from the intensely personal and emotional experience of caring for a family member with cancer.

Highs and Lows of Being a Caregiver

Serving as a cancer caregiver for someone you love can be a tremendously rewarding experience. But trying to juggle your own life with your responsibilities as a caregiver can also take a huge toll on your physical and mental health. Many family caregivers place the needs of their loved one ahead of their own needs which is completely human and sometimes necessary. But failing to take care of yourself can leave you feeling stressed and overwhelmed which helps neither you nor the family member you are caring for.

Caring for the Caregiver

To be an effective caregiver for a family member with cancer, you must take care of yourself.

Use the following strategies to stay emotionally and physically healthy:

• Caregiving can be an isolating experience. Establish a good support network and enlist family and friends to help out. Accept help when it’s offered and call on your support team when you need a break.

• Know the warning signs of stress: exhaustion, irritability, trouble sleeping, forgetfulness, eating too much or too little and loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities. Chronic stress erodes your physical health and may lead to depression. Monitor your health and see your doctor regularly.

You know your loved one is receiving the best possible care at Issels alternative cancer treatment centers. Family caregivers must take equally good care of themselves.

Cancer Care Tips

Resources for Family Caregivers

March 26, 2014 heavy

Cancer has been called a family disease because it affects not only the cancer patient but the entire family. Spouses, parents, adult children and other relatives find themselves suddenly thrust into the role of caregiver.

While being the caregiver of someone you love can be a very rewarding experience and is a role many family members willingly accept, it can also be emotionally draining and physically exhausting.

Local Cancer Support Resources

Taking care of another person on top of your own responsibilities can leave caregivers feeling overwhelmed. It is important to develop a strong support network early. There are many excellent organizations, publications and support groups, both online and in your local community, available to cancer caregivers.

Good places to find local resources include the family resource center of your local hospital, your county or city’s senior services department, churches and local branches of national cancer organizations.

Online Cancer Support Resources

The following online resources may also be helpful:

• National Cancer Institute offers an online cancer information service and live chat.

• American Cancer Society offers helpful articles for caregivers and links to cancer support networks.

• Cancer Care provides a list of online and telephone support groups for cancer caregivers and sponsors educational online and telephone workshops and podcasts on cancer-related topics. Monthly Q&As with cancer experts offer answers to common caregiver questions.

• Family Caregiver Alliance is devoted to supporting caregiver family members and friends. The site offers education, practical tips and resources to help caregivers manage every stage of care.

• Caregiver Action Network (formerly National Family Caregivers Association) provides information, education and support for family caregivers and offers online support forums and peer networks.

• AARP Caregiving Resource Center provides a comprehensive collection of online tools for caregivers, including connections to experts and other caregivers through online forums.

Cancer Care Tips, Stress Management

Cancer Takes Toll on Patients’ Mental Health

March 24, 2014 heavy

Receiving a cancer diagnosis is a traumatic event. Many patients experience extreme stress and anxiety and may succumb to depression as they struggle to deal with their diagnosis and subsequent treatment. While the effect cancer can have on the mental health of cancer patients is known, such issues seem to be considered peripheral and may be paid scant attention by many traditional practitioners.

Western medicine’s cancer treatment model has been criticized for having too narrow a focus that concentrates medical attention and resources almost entirely on the cancer treatment protocol while ignoring as secondary other important aspects of the patient’s health. Cancer patients pay a greater price than previously believed for this attitude.

Mental Health Can Play a Role in Recovery

A patient’s mental health can play an important role in cancer treatment outcomes and recovery. At Issels Integrative Oncology, we believe in the body, mind and spirit connection. Our holistic approach to immune therapy includes addressing our patients’ mental and physical health. At our alternative cancer treatment centers in Tijuana, Mexico and Santa Barbara, California, we provide psychological guidance and relief of emotional stress as part of our comprehensive cancer treatment program.

The Real Value of Holistic Care

The value of taking such a holistic approach to patient care by addressing the patient’s mental health during cancer treatment is the subject of a broad new study being funded by the National Cancer Institute.

“We can give people the best chemotherapy (and other treatments) in the world; but if we’re not checking in to see how they’re doing as people, we may not get the best results,” Georgia Anderson of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute, one of 18 facilities participating in the study, told USA Today.

For more than 60 years, Issels has taken such a holistic approach to cancer treatment. You are more than your cancer at Issels.

Cancer Care Tips

How to Protect Yourself Against Skin Cancer

March 19, 2014 heavy

Skin cancer is easily treated when detected early and rarely spreads to other parts of the body. However, a new study has found that nonmelanoma skin cancer can increase your future risk of developing dangerous melanoma skin cancer and 30 other forms of cancer (see our previous post). The risk is greatest for young people under age 25.

To guard against skin cancer, everyone should check their body regularly for new or changing moles and see their doctor if they notice any changes. Study researchers also recommended that people who develop nonmelanoma skin cancer during their teen or young adult years consider cancer screenings for internal malignancies.

Detecting and beginning cancer treatment early improves outcomes, although Issels integrative immunotherapy has achieved an enviable record of complete long-term remissions even when cancer is advanced or resistant to standard therapies.

Of course, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Taking the following measures to protect your skin from exposure to the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation can significantly reduce your risk of skin cancer:

• Avoid tanning salons. Some sunlamps emit highly concentrated doses of UV light that can be as much as 12 times more potent than sunlight, increasing cancer risk.

• Before spending time outdoors, apply a broad-spectrum (UVA/UVB), water-resistant sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher. Reapply frequently while outdoors.

• Wear a broad-brimmed hat to shade your face.

• Wear sunglasses with 99% to 100% UV absorption.

• Wear clothing that protects your skin from sun exposure.

If you develop cancer, Issels offers non-toxic alternative cancer treatments and full spectrum healthcare at our Santa Barbara, California outpatient medical center. Inpatient treatment is also available at the largest, most modern private hospital in Tijuana, Mexico.

The Issels News Blog