Imagine a world where someone went from stage IV cancer to cancer-free. It sounds unbelievable; some might use that “miracle” word. Yet Kelly A. Turner, PhD, covers a number of cases (at least nine) in her book Radical Remission Surviving Cancer Against All Odds.

Turner spent 10 years researching cases of Radical Remission, which “is a cancer remission that occurs either without conventional medical treatment, after conventional treatment has failed to work, or when conventional and complementary methods are used in conjunction to overcome a dire prognosis.”

Medical journals, according to Turner, have basically ignored more than 1,000 cases of Radical Remission, which is why she felt compelled to dedicate a book to Radical Remission.

Turner devotes a chapter to each of the nine keys, which she calls the most “common healing factors” among Radical Remission survivors. While all nine of the key ideas seem to be common sense, somehow when all nine are practiced together, the outcomes are incredible. As in “unbelievable,” but they happen as evidenced chapter after chapter of Radical Remission.

What are the nine keys? It would be easy to run them down a list, but without the context of each case story, it would be a complete disservice to provide such a hollow list.

While the nine topics are not listed in a particular order of importance, Turner noticed that almost every person she spoke with told her they did these things, which ultimately healed their individual cancers.

Turner also makes it clear that she is not opposed to traditional cancer treatments, but she was fascinated by people who have been declared cancer-free by following non-traditional paths. 

She says in her book, “I am simply saying that, based on my research, these are the nine most common hypotheses for why Radical Remission may occur.” (p.11)

The cases Turner provides are all “hopeless,” and yet each of the nine cases ended happily and cancer-free.

If you or someone you loved had a different outcome than those described in this book, this book would be a very difficult read. With a husband currently cancer-free, this book provided inspiration to keep on, keepin’ on. It also provided hope to keep moving forward.

For more books full of hope, inspiration, and life beyond colorectal cancer diagnoses--living, not just surviving life beyond cancer--check out Blush: How I Barely Survived 17 by Danielle Ripley-Burgess and Powered by Hope: The Teri Griege Story by Teri Griege.