Essential Oils to Support during Cancer Treatment

I’ve been listening to a few talks by other Doterra members and one that particularly caught my attention I thought I would share with you. 

This is Rachel’s story, she’s a lady who began by talking about the days after her son was born, when he barely slept at night, this went on for the three years! Rachel was desperate and struggling then a friend introduced her to Doterra.

Rachel son slept through the night for the first time, what did she do differently? Serenity blend in a diffuser, as simple as that. Rachel described how she wept over her son that night, feeling the relief and disbelief he was finally sleeping.

Life just got better afterwards and Rachel found other Mum’s asking her what had happened, what did she do to improve things so much? It was at this point Rachel accidentally became involved with DoTerra, she found herself supporting other Mums and sharing the oils with them, whilst building her knowledge and beginning to use the oils and supplements daily; she soon realised how supportive and beneficial the oils and supplements were to her family.

Some months later Rachel was diagnosed with breast cancer, what she soon realised after the initial shock was that her understanding of the oils and their power to heal and support her wellbeing, were the tools she would need and use during her treatment and recovery.

Rachel also realised she had so much support and help in the form of the people she had brought together with the oils, they were good friends and also had great knowledge and experience of the oils too.

It was this point that really struck me, the fact that the oils were naturally part of Rachel’s life meant when life threw her this massive challenge she was more confident and prepared to deal with it. It meant Rachel could support herself to feel well whilst she underwent the powerful chemo treatment and took the necessary medications. Rachel’s oncologist even commented how well she was managing on a physical and emotional level.

Most people going through this kind of treatment become unwell and suffer a number of symptoms, for Rachel she was well throughout, she carried on doing her workshops and even did a trip abroad for work because her immunity remained strong.

At one point Rachel was required to go into hospital due to a raised temperature, when she got there the nurses couldn’t find her notes, Rachel pointed out there weren’t any because she had not needed to come into hospital before now, the nurses were flabbergasted, they wanted to know why and how?

The oils soon came out and the nurses could not get enough of them, they were desperate to know more, this had not happened before in their experience so they were convinced that whatever they were and whatever Rachel was doing with them, it was making a huge difference.

Rachel went on to say that the whole point of her talk was really to share that she firmly believes having the oils as a part of everyday life means we can always be equipped, prepared and supported when challenges come our way. Basically no matter how big or how small the challenge, the oils and supplements work on so many levels both physically and emotionally, and by using them internally as well as externally.

The oils might seem like just an ‘essential oil’ but the endless uses and benefits of them mean there’s pretty much an oil for anything.

Here’s a fact... did you know that we share an almost identical component within us to plants, iron Fe which is in our haemoglobin that runs through our blood is almost identical to magnesium Mg which is the chlorophyll that runs through plants, they are so alike the main difference is colour!

Plants put a lot of energy, time and effort into producing essential oils, they don't just do that for fun, there are very good reasons why... ?

For some plants it’s to repel pests (think lavender, terra-shield), for others its to heal wounds, some plants are antibacterial (tea tree, thyme, oregano), plants suffer like we do from threats like viruses and damaging bacteria so the oils give them that protection. For some plants the essential oil is to communicate with other plants or to deter other species from growing in certain areas, some oils are to help retain water and there are oils to help with temperature fluctuations (peppermint, clary sage).

As plants are stationary they can’t run away so often the oils are there to protect them.

So this is why essential oils work amazingly well for us; on a chemistry and biological level we’re essentially the same thing!! What this means is when we put something that is created by nature into or onto our body to support us or heal us, as we’re made made up of some of the same components there’s an innate synergy that takes place.

I think it’s no coincidence that Mother Nature created a perfectly balanced collection of plants, trees, flowers and herbs that have the power to support and heal us when administered safely with consideration and care.

Rachel followed what she calls the 7 columns during her treatment and recovery, these are;

Essential oils and supplements

Emotional support

Fasting and Keto

Chemo

Juicing

Oxygen therapy and alternatives (putting extra oxygen into the bloodstream to help the healing process)

Education and research resources

So what did Rachel use, she said mostly DoTerra’s top ten oils: lemon, tea-tree (melaleuca), frankincense, oregano, on guard, wild orange, peppermint, air, deep blue, lavender, and zengest were more or less her go to oils.

On top of those Copaiba, vetiver, serenity blend and basil (great for making homemade pesto btw using lovely fresh spinach with a few drops of the basil oil plus salt, lemon, nuts of your choice if you wish and Parmesan again if you wish. I make a huge batch and freeze it into ice-cube trays).

Cancer patients undergoing chemo suffer terribly with a dry and sore mouth, they often end up only being able to take food and drink through a straw. Rachel created a mouth wash to gargle with using melaleuca (tea-tree), on guard, apple cider vinegar, water and Himalayan salt, she used this several times a day and the only thing she suffered was a tiny ulcer on the end of her tongue! I tried this when I had a bit of a sore throat, it was really effective and I’ve used it once a day until I felt better , I think I’ll make some more.

Rachel also used the on-guard toothpaste daily which meant at least twice a day she was giving her mouth a cleanse and coating from the powers of the on-guard oils within the paste: rosemary, wild orange, clove, cinnamon and eucalyptus.

Sleep too is another struggle for anyone with an illness and particularly so when going through chemo, to make matters worse hot flushes during the night are another side effect. Once again Rachel found support for this with the oils, using serenity with vetiver and basil helped with sleep and if patchouli is added that helps with the hot flushes too. Rachel mentioned she also had a spray bottle with peppermint mixed with water and a bit of witch hazel by her bed and a spritz of that would bring immediate relief from hot flushes.

Another very important factor in the recovery from cancer treatment is the necessity of sleep to allow the body to heal and repair properly, consistently interrupted and poor sleep means the body does not get the time to rest and repair as it is meant to. Rachel is convinced another reason she remained quite well and recovered as she did was her consistent quality of sleep.

It’s good to be mindful of the importance of sleep for all of us and it’s the little things that can help to support that like trying not to have any food for at least three hours before sleep, this way your body won’t be working on digesting when it should be resting and repairing. Avoiding screens for an hour before bed, Epsom salt baths or foot soaks with bicarbonate of soda and lavender, no caffeinated drinks, no electrics in the bedroom and some oils rubbed into the soles of the feet and back of the neck to soothe and calm the nervous system prior to sleep.

Juicing is a wonderful way of detoxing the system and giving the body a blast of nutrients that are almost immediately absorbed as there’s no need for any digestive process. Rachel found the juicing to be so helpful during the actual chemo treatments, she made sure to have juices throughout as it’s at this time most people feel really nauseous and they can’t eat, they become weak and the body is deprived of energy and nutrition, however Rachel said she never once vomited or felt nauseous, remarkable really!

Lastly hair loss, this was never a concern for Rachel she knew she’d lose all of her hair and she did but she also knew she had the oils to help it grow back as healthy and lustrous as it was before treatment, it looks amazing now and to celebrate she’s dyed it pink! Btw to help with hair regrowth Rachel made up what is called the mermaid protocol, lavender, ylang ylang and rosemary mixed with water in a spray bottle, used daily and massaged into the scalp.

I was so in awe of Rachel that I’ve actually been in touch with her a few times to get a little more information to include here. I also found out because of Rachel sharing her journey she’s had so much interest from people wanting to learn more. As a result Rachel is now running courses once a week for 7 weeks where she teaches the 7 columns, one a week in detail.

If you or anyone you know might be interested in Rachel’s 7 Columns course just let me know and I can send you the details.

Andrea 🌱