In this blog post, Season Johnson of the KICKcancER Movement talks about her family’s experience of thriving through pediatric cancer.
Getting the Cancer Diagnosis
My husband and I sat there shaking, unable to hold hands, and filled with a complete hollowness. If you had poked me, I would have just deflated. All I could do was stare at our oncologist and wait…wait for him to tell us if our baby was ok.
After what felt like hours, he finally told us that our son, Kicker, had Type B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia…and from that moment on, I heard nothing else.
Everything became distant, words were mumbled, and it felt like my body left the room. I searched for a trash can because I felt like I needed to vomit, and then, without warning, uncontrollable tears began spilling out of my eyes. I leaned into my husband, unable to hold myself up any longer. Within seconds, our lives were forever changed!
Can You Relate?
I can’t tell you the countless number of people who have crossed our paths and shared their stories, and each and every time I hear of another precious child receiving a cancer diagnosis, that same hollow feeling returns. It takes me back to that.
But here’s the amazing news…
We’re on the other side of the devastating diagnosis, AND I’m here to offer you hope and some specific steps we successfully used to help our son thrive.
Cancer Can Be Done Differently
My son thrived through his journey! He was a healthy, happy, and active boy who rarely experienced any side effects, maintained a healthy immune system with his ANC always being in the “normal” range of a healthy child, and never needed a blood transfusion or platelets. In fact, he was never hospitalized during his cancer journey outside of the scheduled visits for treatment.
For three and a half years, Kicker received daily chemotherapy by mouth, countless surgeries to put chemotherapy into his spine, and an unbelievable amount of traumatizing port access to put chemotherapy into his body. By the end of his treatment, he was even receiving a significantly higher dose of chemotherapy than the average child on the same protocol because the oncology team believed “he was doing well and could handle it.”
You see, conventional medicine doesn’t often see people thrive through conventional cancer treatment. It’s uncommon to see stable, healthy blood work, to not experience the typical side effects, and to have energy and an appetite. So, there’s the belief that if the patient is “healthy,” then the treatment must not be working effectively, and as a result, the doctors will increase the dose of medication until the blood counts drop because that’s their only indication that the treatment is working.
Yes, it’s that ARCHAIC and that UNBELIEVABLE!
So, Let’s Break Down What We Did to Keep Him Healthy
It was NOT just “luck”, as our oncology team often stated. We took very intentional actions to help support true healing in his body alongside the conventional approach.
First, you must understand that cancer is NOT a chemotherapy, radiation or surgery deficiency, and as a result, we can’t use this as the only approach. We must look further into addressing the underlying problems that allowed the cancer to take over in the first place.
Although I don’t know what caused my son’s cancer and I don’t believe we’ll ever know, I do know that cancer happens when our body has a weakened immune response due to environmental toxins, dietary toxins, and emotional toxins. Some genetic dispositions can also play a role.
The Five Pillars of Health
Therefore, we focused on the following five pillars of health and supported his body through each:
Nutrition
What you eat will either fight or feed disease. Therefore, you must be intentional about the nutrients you consume during a cancer battle.
Detoxification
It’s essential to push out the residual toxins from the chemotherapy, radiation, and dead tumor waste.
Cleaning Up the Environment
It’s important to not only clean up your diet and clean out your body, but it’s also critical to clean up the toxins in your surrounding environment.
Essential Oils
This complementary therapy is an incredibly powerful and non-toxic tool you can use to help mitigate side effects and improve patient outcomes.
Self-Care
Focusing on your soul care during a cancer fight is essential! It’s critical to participate in activities that help improve your mental wellness and your belief system.
If You Were Here Now
I wish you were sitting right beside me at this very moment. I would grab your hands, look you straight into the eyes, and tell you it’s going to be ok!
I would encourage you with the truth that there are SO MANY THINGS YOU CAN DO to help your baby thrive through cancer.
I would express my desire of how I desperately wish I could take this diagnosis away, but because I can’t, I would empower you with education.
I would lock arms with you in this healing journey.
Action Steps
And then I would give you these action steps…
- Start with breakfast. Yes, that’s it! Let’s start by cleaning up your first meal of the day.
- Download this Beginner’s Guide to Thriving Through Cancer, and for tomorrow’s breakfast, implement step #1 from the downloaded guide.
- Then, on the following day, continue with step #1 and also implement 2 other steps of your choice at breakfast.
- Continue implementing the rest of the list over the next week or as you’re able until this becomes a normal part of your routine. You’ll be amazed at how these simple steps will compound over time, and you’ll see your child begin to thrive!
Just remember, you’re not alone! I’m here with you and would love to hear about your experiences as you begin implementing any of the action steps. You can also always find me here:
Website: www.seasonjohnson.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/seasonmjohnson
Instagram: www.instagram.com/seasonjohnson
Non-Profit: https://kickcancermovement.org/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/seasonj/pins/
Youtube: http://bit.ly/seasonjohnsonyoutube
Email: info@seasonjohnson.com
XO,
Season
About Season Johnson
Season Johnson is a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Founder of The KICKcancER Movement, and a cancer momma who went from having one child with cancer to having thousands all over the world.
After her son was diagnosed with cancer at the age of two, she went through a 3.5 year cancer battle that included daily chemotherapy and hundreds of surgeries.
This propelled her with an unstoppable mission to help others thrive through a cancer diagnosis using real food, supplementation, detoxification, and cleaning up their environment.
She has received the coveted Weston A. Price Foundation Activist Award and the Children’s Health Advocate Award from the Nutritional Therapy Association for her work with pediatric cancer. And in 2019, she received the doTERRA Elevation Award for her dedication to helping families thrive through a cancer diagnosis through her non-profit.
She has had the privilege of being the Health and Wellness Expert for the Oscars and have partnered with the San Fransisco 49’ers, Atlanta Braves, and Washington Nationals in teaching them how to implement natural solutions into their healing protocol.
Through private nutrition coaching, online programs, speaking engagements, and a podcast, she continues to educate and empower others on how they can easily use real food and healthy living principals to achieve lifelong, vibrant health and thrive through a cancer diagnosis. You can find out more about her work at her websites, https://www.seasonjohnson.com/ and https://kickcancermovement.org/
Still Looking for Answers?
Visit the Documenting Hope Practitioner Directory to find a practitioner near you.
Join us inside our online membership community for parents, Healing Together, where you’ll find even more healing resources, expert guidance, and a community to support you every step of your child’s healing journey.
Sources & References
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Resources
Books
Beine, Dagmara. A Parent’s Guide to Childhood Cancer: Supporting Your Child with Integrative Therapies Based on a Metabolic Approach. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2024.
Bernstein, Richard K. Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. Little, Brown Spark, 2011.
Perro, Michelle MD, et al. What’s Making Our Children Sick?: How Industrial Food Is Causing an Epidemic of Chronic Illness, and What Parents (and Doctors) Can Do About It. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2017.
Seyfriend, Thomas. Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer. Wiley, 2012.
Winters, Nasha. The Metabolic Approach to Cancer: Integrating Deep Nutrition, the Ketogenic Diet, and Nontoxic Bio-Individualized Therapies. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2017.
Websites
Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution
Metabolic Terrain Institute of Health
