My Journey & The People Who Have Inspired Me During Their Journey

In this episode of PROSPER Natural Cancer CARE, Carla reflects on her journey from graduating as a Naturopath & Nutritionist to her special interest in Integrative Oncology. She shares how her personal experiences, including her mother's cancer journey, inspired her to focus on cancer support.

Carla discusses her decision to dive deep into the field of cancer support, drawn by the patient-centred model of care she encountered, which integrated various healthcare professionals including naturopaths, oncologists, nurses, dietitians/nutritionists, pastoral carers and psycho-oncology providers. She highlights the pivotal role McGrath Nurses, Oncologists, Haematologists, General Practitioners and collaborations with organisations like the Breast Cancer Network of Australia and the McGrath Foundation played in shaping her journey.

Throughout her career, Carla has been deeply influenced by the patients she has cared for, mentioning individuals like Judy, Sharon and Di, who continue to inspire her dedication to improving cancer care.

Carla emphasises the importance of tailoring care to each individual's needs and desires, advocating for a holistic approach that considers not only supplements but also lifestyle factors such as diet, movement, sleep and social connections. She encourages listeners to embrace the concept of prospering - flourishing physically, mentally and emotionally.

Key Points:

• Carla's journey from general practice to specialising in Integrative Oncology.
• The role of various healthcare professionals and organisations in shaping Carla's approach to cancer care.
• The inspirational patients who have motivated Carla's dedication to cancer support.
• The importance of personalised, holistic care focusing on lifestyle factors for optimal well-being.
• Embracing the concept of prospering and thriving physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Next Episode Preview: Join Carla in the next episode as she discusses side effects and explores evidence-based complementary medicine approaches to combat them, empowering listeners to optimise their cancer care journey.

Find PROSPER Natural Cancer CARE on Instagram @prosper.cancer.care or visit www.prospercancercare.co.

For more information or to get in touch, connect with Carla on Instagram @carlawrenn or visit www.carlawrenn.com.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended to be informational only and represents the opinion of the participants, but not necessarily their workplace. It is not intended to be used as medical advice and does not take the place of advice from a qualified health care practitioner in a clinical setting. Please check with your healthcare practitioner before embarking upon any of the treatments or lifestyle changes discussed.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome to Prosper Natural Cancer Care. I'm Carla Wren. We discuss naturopathic cancer care, integrative oncology and lifestyle medicine. Examining complimentary medicine tradition, science, evidence-based personalised health care for people with cancer. If you or a loved one has a cancer diagnosis, or you're a professional with an interest in complementary medicine or cancer care, you've come to the right place. Let's prosper. But before we start today, let's take a moment to define the word prosper and why it's an important word for me in the work I do. Prosper is defined as to flourish physically, grow strong and healthy, to become strong and flourishing, to cause to succeed or thrive. These words and words like choose hope are important to me as I aim to empower, educate, and encourage people in my practice and on this podcast. Please be sure to take a moment at the end of today's show to listen to the very important disclaimer. Today I'm Prosper Natural Cancer Care. I wanted to share a little bit about my journey and the people who have inspired me. I graduated as a naturopath and nutritionist in 2001 from the Melbourne College of Natural Medicine, known as Endeavour now. I had a Bachelor of Health Science among other qualifications. But it wasn't until 10 years later that I started to attend training on integrative oncology, and I was so inspired. I was actually returning from four years of being a stay-at-home mum. And through this sleep-addled time, I felt like I'd forgotten everything I'd learned over the last 10 years of general practice. I decided to deep dive into one area of naturopathic complementary medicine practice, and I chose cancer support. I saw a diagram you might have seen before by Cancer Centers of America. It showed a model of patient-centered care, and I just loved this. The patient was literally in the middle with a surgical oncologist, radiation oncologist, medical oncologist, and nurses surrounding the patient. But alongside them were naturepaths, exercise physiologists, massage therapists, nutritionists, and dietitians, psychooncology providers, and pastors. I wanted to be a part of this type of care team. As a young adult, I saw my mom have her own cancer journey, and I knew this kind of care would have really supported her and our family at that time. So my journey to study everything I could about integrative oncology started here. Meetings with McGrath nurses like Joe, medical oncologists who supported my idea of a care team like Michelle and Emma, presenting at the Breast Cancer Network of Australia and MGG Foundation events, seeing collaborative care with integrative and complementary medicine practitioners work to improve the quality of life of patients, and learning from integrative oncology providers and naturopaths around the world has inspired me so much and strengthened my knowledge and practice. I am a lifelong learner and enjoy continuing to attend events all around the world. There's then been a group of patients that have also really inspired me and seen me grow and develop under their care. Some I still care for after nearly 15 years. So while a patient is the person who I care for, the knowledge that I glean from caring for patients over this period of time helps me serve even more patients. Patients like Judy, Sharon, Di, Monica, Alana, Paul, Christine, Donna, Steph. Literally hundreds of them have inspired me to do better every day. Every person with cancer needs and wants something different. But my aim with each interaction with a patient is to listen, listen to what they want, to learn what they need, to educate them about what I know, to prescribe appropriately, to monitor them, to adjust as needed, to keep going, to inspire hope. I consider not just the supplements, but the importance of lifestyle medicine. Its weighty research base is something we can really lean back on. Tips like diet, movement, sleep, rest and relaxation, personal development, social connection, spiritual connection, purpose and legacy have also all been researched as important things to address as a patient experiences cancer. How can you or your loved one make changes to some of your modifiable lifestyle factors to help yourself prosper? Prospering is defined as to flourish physically, grow strong and healthy, to become strong and flourishing, to cause, to succeed, or thrive. And I'm sure you can see ways that improving diet, movement, sleep, rest and relaxation, social connection can all have a positive impact on your ability to prosper, whether or not you're the patient or a carer of a patient. Join me for our next episode to talk side effects and how we can use evidence-based complementary medicine to combat so many of them. For more information on Prosper Natural Cancer Care, visit prospercancercare.co. For more information and to get in touch, please visit Carlarren.com. Disclaimer. This podcast is intended to be informational only and represents the opinion of the participants, but not necessarily their workplace. It is not intended to be used as medical advice and does not take the place of advice from a qualified health practitioner in a clinical setting. Please check with your healthcare practitioner before embarking upon any of the treatments or lifestyle changes discussed.