Menopause/Breast Cancer and Integrative Medicine

I live in Portland, Oregon. Here, like many cities, we have lots of Doctors and Dentists because we have the schools and the graduates stay and set up shop. What makes Portland unique is we also have a college of naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, and one for chiropractors. This means there is lots of practicing alternative practitioners in the area. I met recently with a lovely young doctor. Kelly Jennings, (drjennings@urbanwellnesspdx.com) who is a naturopathic physician and licensed acupuncturist. She has a beautiful facility and is very interested in women’s health. She sees patients coping with menopause and breast cancer symptoms and is committed to helping them through a holistic approach. Lymphedema is a nasty side effect of lymph node dissection often used on breast cancer patients to detect the progression of the disease. Kelly uses acupuncture as a relief from this condition. Kelly is also working with another naturopathic physician, Barbara McDonal on a naturopathic breast cancer book.
Barbara works at ‘A Woman’s Time’ (womanstime@aol.com) with Dr. Tori Hudson. Tori is a pioneer in naturopathic women’s health. In fact she wrote the book, “Women’s Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine”.
What this all means is that I take for granted that everyone is aware of alternative medicine. Here in Portland, one of the big hospitals just opened a 10 floor cancer center with one floor devoted to integrative medicine. I went to a naturopath and an acupuncturist during chemotherapy from my oncologist’s recommendation. I still take the Chinese herbs to help with my night sweats and hot flashes. When I was shopping for Health care for my company, I made sure that alternative medicine would be covered as well as traditional medicine. Look to incorporate, to integrate alternative medicine into your own health care.
A note on Lymphedema: On my related links site is www.lymphedivas.com, The Company sells colorful, beautiful compression sleeves. Rachel, one of the founding partners passed away this winter from a breast cancer recurrence. Kristin her business partner is maintaining the medically correct fashion line. If you need to wear a sleeve, this is the one you want!