Cancer Care FAQ
At Walnut Creek Naturopathic, your health and wellbeing are extremely important to us. We appreciate how overwhelming being diagnosed with cancer can be. We understand that you and your families are contacting us in a vulnerable state and we are here to support you each step of the way.
At WCN we provide comprehensive, integrative support to adult patients with all types and stages of cancer. Dr. Heather Barrett has received extensive training in how to collaboratively work with the conventional standard of treatment utilized by medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, and radiation oncologists. She has also completed The Metabolic Approach to Cancer practitioner program offered by Dr. Nasha Winters and closely follows a Metabolic Approach to Cancer with her patients. As support, Dr. Melissa Gastellum has extensive experience in providing therapies such as IVs to our patients. Our doctors work alongside your conventional team to improve the efficacy of your conventional treatment, reduce side effects, and improve your quality of life.
Given the nature of your diagnosis, we know you likely have a lot of questions! We hope the frequently asked questions listed below will help guide you along:
I don’t want to do conventional therapy…
…What I saw on the internet tells me I don’t have to, so I called you. What can you do to treat my cancer?
At WCN we have your best interest at heart. Your life is very important to us and despite what you may see on the internet, please understand that naturopathic medicine is not a treatment or a cure for cancer. The doctors at WCN don’t treat cancer, we support the terrain of your body. You still need a tumor expert on your team, which is an oncologist. If you have cancer, the doctors at WCN recognize that your best chances for a positive outcome are to follow the advice of your oncologist and use conventional medicine if recommended (surgery, radiation, and/or drug therapy) with concurrent naturopathic medicine support.
Working with a conventional medical team is crucial to your chances of a positive outcome. Years of experience have demonstrated this to us over and over. We are so confident of this that if you choose to decline recommended conventional medical support, you will be asked to sign an acknowledgment form stating that your doctor at WCN has requested that you pursue conventional medicine, has explained to you that naturopathic medicine cannot treat or cure cancer, and that despite this understanding, you are refusing to pursue conventional medical management.
Our goal at WCN is to work together with your oncologist. As a team, we can provide you with the very best care! Click here for a discussion of our patient-centered Integrative Cancer Care.
What if I have no more conventional options?
We see a number of patients with late-stage cancers in which their oncologist has told them that conventional treatment would likely not benefit them. In these cases, depending on your current health, naturopathic medicine may improve your quality of life.
How do the doctors at WCN work with patients with cancer?
Dr. Barrett has seen the best results using a Metabolic Approach to Cancer approach. The doctors at WCN, together with your oncologist, can work with you step-by-step as you undergo your conventional treatment. We see, by far, the best outcomes when patients integrate naturopathic support with their conventional treatment. We excel at improving your quality of life and may also increase the efficacy of your conventional therapy.
If you have completed your conventional medical treatment, we can continue to utilize naturopathic medicine to enhance your quality of life and help to further reduce your risk of recurrence.
We hear time and time again from our patients that once they started a naturopathic protocol, they have never felt better!
Why do I need to do my blood work ahead of time? I have insurance, why can’t I use that?
Dr. Barrett began her focus in naturopathic oncology in 2010 while studying under Dr. Neil McKinney. She completed several rotations in cancer clinics while in naturopathic medical school and began her speciality in naturopathic oncology after graduating in 2011. Her years of focus in this area have shown her that in order to provide the best naturopathic medical care to her patients, she must have all of the basic terrain factor testing completed to review during the first appointment. Her certification through the Metabolic Approach to Cancer confirmed this, and since graduating from that course and studying under Dr. Nasha Winters, she will be requiring that terrain testing is completed for the first appointment.
If you have insurance, we recognize that you may have questions as to why you can’t use it. Because we haven’t yet seen you as a patient, we don’t have ICD 10 codes available to use for insurance coverage. In addition, naturopathic doctors are out of network PPO providers and insurance often doesn’t cover all of the terrain testing. We have found that in several cases, paying up front using our cash-pay option vs insurance actually saves patients money in the long run. Once you have established care with Dr. Barrett, you can have a discussion with her about whether using your insurance or continuing to pay cash for your labs will be the best option for you moving forward.
What can I expect from my first visit?
During our initial visit, Dr. Barrett will several minutes reviewing your medical history. It is essential that you provide us with all labs and imaging relevant to your diagnosis, several days prior to your visit so that Dr. Barrett can thoroughly review those before meeting with you. Your initial visit will also include a review of the “terrain testing” that we require you to do before your first visit. As explained above, this is essential for Dr. Barrett to provide you with a wellness plan to leave with.
By the end of the first visit, Dr. Barrett will have created a wellness plan outlining the next steps she would like you to take. This will include labs to be ordered as well as lifestyle, supplements and any other therapies or referrals that she thinks would be best for you. It will also include a recommended follow up date.
How do you determine what type of naturopathic care to give me?
In order to provide you with the most individualized naturopathic support, the doctors at WCN use a variety of methods to access your unique physiology and biochemistry. We collectively refer to this as your “terrain”. Research has shown that there are a number of identifiable factors that can set up a terrain for a cancer to develop and grow.
By supporting your terrain, we help you to get the best outcomes from your conventional medical treatment. In cases of early stage cancers that have been treated with conventional medicine and are currently “No Evidence of Disease (NED)”, terrain support and lifestyle modification may also help to reduce your risk of recurrence.
How long will it take to see results?
Once we have you started on a naturopathic support program, our goal is to improve your quality of life within a few days to a few weeks.
Terrain factor testing may take at least 8-12 weeks to show improvement.
If your oncologist is ordering imaging, we will use the results of these scans in conjunction with your symptoms to modify our naturopathic supportive protocol.
What is your success rate with (specific type of) cancer?
As explained above, naturopathic medicine and naturopathic doctors do not treat, or cure cancer, only conventional oncology and conventional oncologists do. Dr. Barrett is trained to treat your terrain to help you receive the best outcome possible.
In general, clinical outcomes appear to improve when naturopathic medicine is used in conjunction with conventional medicine.
What does the long-term plan look like?
Your first return visit will likely be scheduled for 45 minutes, giving your doctor adequate time to review all testing and provide you with a detailed outline of how to continue the process of improving your terrain. Follow up labs will likely be ordered to review at upcoming appointments.
Additional follow ups will be made at time intervals which are determined based on your terrain testing, conventional treatment plan, and overall needs and goals. The length of these follow ups could be anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on what you and your doctor determine is best for you. Terrain factor testing is typically repeated every 1-3 months, depending on what your doctor determines is best.
Follow ups and testing tend to be more frequent in the beginning of our work together, as we support you through conventional treatment and improve your terrain factor results. After that, we see some of our patients quarterly and others annually, depending on their individual needs and goals.
Thank you for taking the time to read through our website. We look forward to working with you!