What is Integrative Oncology? What is Dr. Kim's approach in supporting patients with cancer?

—I want to share something. I’m so grateful to the teachers who got me here. Who taught me I should be on Facebook Live and YouTube Live. Who showed me that sometimes showing up and speaking truthfully is enough. So here I am.

Let’s talk about care. Real care. My job is to provide optimal care, not cookie-cutter care. “Optimal” means the best outcome possible for that individual—not the average patient, not a demographic. That means sometimes I refer people to one of the top two cancer institutions in the U.S. for a second—or third—opinion. That means I help my patients do the research and find clinical trials. Sure, clinical trials are on the web, but that doesn’t mean people should have to navigate them alone. Sometimes, people need a guide. A navigator. A human.

Most of the patients who seek me out for integrative oncology are highly proactive. They want to live. Sometimes beyond a professional knowledge over time. And I’m not exaggerating. Because for them, this isn’t just a job. This is their life. Their body. Their future. So, sometimes, they know more than the professionals treating them. I know that because they tell me. Over and over again.

Everyone wants a “positive” outcome. But what I offer is “optimal.” “Positive” might mean cure. But “optimal” means, “What’s the best we can possibly do with what we know today?” That’s already better than the default mass-produced treatments that often don’t consider the full human in front of us. Personalized, individualized cancer care is just beginning to take hold—and we need to keep pushing it forward.

I’ve had patients told things like, “If you want a bilateral mastectomy, that’s okay with us,” even when they had stage 0 breast cancer. And no one brought up genetic testing. That’s not how we should do this. Unless you know someone has a genetic mutation like BRCA, you don’t just offer that kind of surgery casually. But that’s where I come in. I help patients pause. Ask questions. Get data. I’m not an oncologist, but I can read a medical journal. I arm my patients with evidence, and I make sure every step they take makes sense—logically, clinically, and emotionally.

One woman I’d worked with for years reached out when she was diagnosed. I had a gut feeling from the beginning, but I couldn’t say it outright. Instead, I made sure every specialist appointment aligned with the science. Eventually, she got into one of the top two institutions in the country. They did genetic testing and—turns out—it wasn’t BRCA, but something else. Rare, but actionable.

When people ask me if I can cure cancer, I’m honest. That’s not up to me. That’s up to God. But what I can do is optimize everything we can control—support, referrals, research, logic, compassion. That’s the difference. That’s what I’m here for.

Just yesterday was emotional. I reconnected with a former patient who had advanced-stage cancer years ago. He’s still surviving. Still living. He made a webpage to credit the physicians who helped him, and I was on it. He checks in every now and then—"Still no evidence of disease." That means something. Other patients reach out too. Just to say thank you, or to say they referred someone. I don’t ask questions—I can’t, legally—but they still find a way to let me know. That matters.

Another new patient reached out recently—referred by someone I’d helped before. That’s how this grows. Word-of-mouth. People helping people. It reminds me why I do what I do.

Let me be clear: integrative oncology isn’t about “alternative” medicine. It’s about evidence-based, patient-centered care. For example, acupuncture has strong data behind it—for treating fatigue, neuropathy, pain, dry mouth, and emotional distress. I’ve been trained in many of those protocols. I helped build a program in Florida, and I saw the results. It works. It matters.

A lot of people forget that modern medicine came from nature. Aspirin came from willow bark. Digitalis, from foxglove. Taxol, used in breast cancer, came from the Pacific yew tree. We’ve just gotten so good at chemistry that we think we don’t need nature anymore. But we do. We always have.

Memorial Sloan Kettering has a great online tool called “About Herbs.” It summarizes the evidence for many botanicals. The evidence isn’t always strong—but that doesn’t mean the plant has no power. It means we haven’t invested enough in researching it properly. Let’s not forget: many chemo drugs are plant-derived. That’s not fringe. That’s fact.

Now, integrative oncology is being accepted as standard of care. ASCO—the American Society of Clinical Oncology—now accepts guidelines from the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO). That’s huge. It means we’re moving forward. Memorial Sloan Kettering and MD Anderson, two of the top institutions in the country, helped make that happen.

And it’s especially important in breast cancer, because of the emotional, generational, and familial weight it carries. We are mammals. We are wired to love our mothers, to be nurtured by them. Cancer treatment touches more than the body. It touches relationships, identity, lineage.

So here we are. Moving forward with better science, deeper compassion, and more personalized care. It’s not about curing cancer. It’s about caring for the person who has it. And giving them the best chance they’ve got.