Brenda Hunter - Staying Alive: Life-Changing Strategies for Surviving Cancer

Dr. Brenda Hunter has created a roadmap that can assist those dealing with cancer along the path of healing.

D R . M ITCHELL G AYNOR , founder and president, Gaynor Integrative Oncology

Finally, a book that goes beyond coping skills for cancer patients! As a breast cancer survivor, I feel empowered to take charge of my own health. Staying Alive brings hope to every person who has walked through the dark valley of cancer.

B ECKY H ARLING , speaker and author of A Safe Shelter

There is perhaps no more frightening word than cancer. For Dr. Brenda Hunter, it was more than a word; it was a diagnosis. In Staying Alive, Dr. Hunter walks us through her personal experience in the valley of the shadow of death. She doesnt leave us there, however. By sharing sound strategies that impact body, mind, and spirit, Brenda takes us from hopelessness into healing; from fear into faith.

J ANET P ARSHALL , nationally syndicated talk-show host

Whether you have endured cancer or not, Staying Alive gives a game plan for preventative maintenance of your body, emotions, and spirit.

L INDA D ILLOW , author of Calm My Anxious Heart and coauthor of Intimate Issues

A well-written journal on improving your health and staying alive in spite of the complex diagnosis of cancer. [Hunter] has managed to collate the many complex modalities used to treat cancer and has condensed them into pearls of wisdom that would benefit anyone. Plus she gives valuable resources of proven experts for restoring the body, mending the mind, and strengthening our spirits for the battles ahead.

R EX D. R USSELL , M.D., author of What the Bible Says About Healthy Living

This fabulous book is a must-read not only for those confronting a cancer diagnosis but also for anyone who wants a healthier, more fulfilled life. Dr. Brenda Hunter has beautifully sifted, sorted, and compiled research and survivors stories to help us make life-enhancing choicesfor mind, body, and spirit.

L INDA L E S OURD L ADER , cofounder, Renaissance Weekends

I have read Brenda Hunters Staying Alive with intense personal interest since I, too, am a cancer survivor. (I was operated on for a metastasized malignancy at age thirty-six and am now eighty.) Through trial and error I arrived at a few basic lifestyle changes that help keep me healthy. But now Dr. Hunter has found many additional approaches to winning the cancer battleresearch that she has laid out in easily accessible and eminently readable formwhich I will add to my regimen. What a boon Dr. Hunters book is to all of us intent on staying alive.

J OHN S HERRILL , author of They Speak with Other Tongues

Where was this book when we needed it, facing cancer in our family? I suggest that families and spouses read this together, discuss it, argue about all the suggestions on all frontsphysical, emotional and spiritualput it to work, and see what miracles happen in their own lives.

L AURAINE S NELLING , author of The Healing Quilt and The Way of Women

Dr. Hunters book is a powerful and practical guide for developing an intentional approach to a healthy lifestyle. Her ideas are as understandable as they are manageable. This book will be an invaluable resource for churches who desire to come alongside those with cancer and to help people live a balanced life, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

S UE L ANGLIE , Frontline, a ministry of McLean Bible Church, McLean, Virginia

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What Every Mother Needs to Know About Babies

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In the Company of Friends

The Power of Mother Love

S TAYING A LIVE
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
A division of Random House, Inc.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NlV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. Scripture quotations marked ( KJV ) are taken from the King James Version.

This book is based on the authors research and personal and professional experience and has been written to provide insight and encouragement to those with, or concerned about, cancer. None of the information presented in this book is meant to be a prescription for any kind of treatment, medical or otherwise, and reference to organizations and materials is for the readers convenience only and is not intended as an endorsement. No treatment should be initiated unless recommended and supervised by a qualified professional. In all matters involving health, it is suggested that the reader consult a physician.

Details in some anecdotes and stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to all contributors, in particular for use of material from the following:

The Gerson Therapy. Copyright 2001 by Dr. Morton Walker and The Gerson Institute. Published by arrangement with Kensington Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Citadel Press / Kensington Publishing Corp. www.kensingtonbooks.com.

Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer: A Comprehensive Program for Prevention and Treatment by D. Yance and A. Valentine, 1999 Keats Publishing, reprinted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Copyright 2004 by Brenda Hunter, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer design logo are registered trademarks of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hunter, Brenda.
Staying alive : life-changing strategies for surviving cancer / Brenda Hunter. 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
eISBN: 978-0-307-55224-2
1. CancerPatientsRehabilitation. 2. CancerDiet therapy. 3. CancerPsychological aspects. 4. CancerReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Title.
RC261.H85 2004
616.99406dc22

2003020823

v3.1

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO D R . A HMAD S HAMIM .

He not only strengthened my belief that I could get well, but he graciously taught me how.

For me, he is and will always be Dr. Hope.

A cancer diagnosis is a sudden and unexpected event that unleashes a torrent of fear and confusion. It evokes a degree of shock for which patients and their loved ones are wholly unprepared. Those patients who have successfully navigated the many challenges posed by the diagnosis are doing a tremendous service to others by documenting their personal battlestheir difficulties as well as their triumphs. Self-reports that lead to recovery provide much needed hope for those who have been recently diagnosed. These reports often encourage new ways of thinking about overcoming a disease that continues to thwart even the most powerful tools of conventional oncology.