Introducing Survivors’ Table!

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of breast cancer survivors who call themselves Tennis for Life. They meet regularly to play tennis at clubs near my home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where they provide support for those actively undergoing treatment as well as celebrate those who are in remission. I showed up early one Sunday afternoon to watch them play, and we then headed into the clubhouse where I was to give my talk. At first I was a little intimidated—I had never been asked to speak in a room without a projector or access to PowerPoint slides. But before I could get ten minutes into my material, a flood of questions broke forth.

It had been a long time since I spoke with a group of cancer survivors all together, and I had forgotten how intense the questions could be. A cancer diagnosis changes your life instantly. It brings new focus to questions you never before had to consider. On top of all the information you get from your doctor or dietitian, there is even more material about cancer and diet online or at the bookstore—some of it good, and some of it not. Many cancer survivors do not even get a chance to talk with a dietitian when they start treatment. For the women of Tennis for Life, this was their chance to ask all of the questions that had built up about cancer and nutrition.

One thing that surprised me when I worked full-time at a cancer hospital was the number of questions about new diets or supplements that could benefit cancer patients. It seemed like I learned about a new diet or supplement from my patients every week. Does sugar feed cancer? Is soy okay for breast cancer patients? What about this supplement? Or an alkaline diet? Or eating all organic?

When I first started working with cancer patients I was equally overwhelmed by these questions. I was new in my career, and I had not been able to sort through the research, especially because new diets seemed to emerge every month. I spent nights after work combing through research and talking with colleagues to see what was known about a new diet and what the consensus was within the scientific community. Even now, there are new diets I hear about that send me to Pubmed or Google Scholar to read about emerging studies. I decided to create Survivors’ Table to give myself an opportunity to compile this research and, hopefully, provide information that is useful for cancer survivors. I hope you enjoy this journey as much as I do. Welcome to Survivors’ Table!

For more updates, you can follow Survivors’ Table on Facebook. Thanks for joining me on this journey! – Danielle