How to Prepare for Chemotherapy Naturally: What We Did for Kicker

Shortly after Kicker was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at three years old, I had a conversation that I will never forget.

Another cancer dad, a kind and gentle man who was genuinely trying to help me, sat down and told me what to expect. He walked me through what his own young son had experienced. The relentless vomiting from chemotherapy. The complete hair loss. The major mood swings. The difficulty walking. The hospitalizations, at least ten of them in the first year alone, for secondary infections.

He was trying to prepare me. And I sat there listening and felt something shift inside me that I can only describe as mama bear mode activating at a cellular level.

I did not want those things to happen to my son. I was not willing to simply accept them as inevitable. So within the next two weeks I reached out to our Osteopathic Physician, our Nutritionist, and our Naturopath, and together we built a natural preparation protocol designed to support Kicker’s body before, during, and after every chemotherapy treatment and surgery.

We overhauled his diet completely. Detoxification became a daily practice. Our family began implementing essential oil and supplement protocols. We supported him with intentional natural medicine every single step of the way alongside his conventional treatment.

And Kicker never experienced those side effects that cancer dad described.

He vomited exactly one time during 3.5 years of chemotherapy. When started to lose his hair so we shaved it and it grew back immediately. Kicker was never hospitalized for a secondary infection. Thankfully he stayed healthy, vibrant, and active throughout the entire treatment. His oncology team called it extraordinary. We called it intentional.

Learning how to prepare for chemotherapy naturally is one of the most empowering things a cancer parent can do. This is exactly what we did and exactly how we did it.

Why Preparation Matters So Much

Most families receive no guidance on how to support their child’s body before a chemotherapy infusion. The conventional model focuses almost exclusively on delivering the treatment and managing acute side effects after the fact.

However, the state your child’s body is in before chemotherapy directly affects how well they tolerate it. A body with open detox pathways, adequate hydration, a nourished gut lining, and a supported immune system handles the cytotoxic burden of chemotherapy significantly better than a depleted, toxic-burdened body receiving the same drugs.

Preparation is not about interfering with the treatment. It is about giving your child’s body every possible resource to process what is coming and recover from it as effectively as possible.

Here is our complete 10-step protocol.

Step 1: Daily Detox Baths for One Week Before and One Week After

Begin taking detox baths every single day for the full week leading up to chemotherapy or surgery and continue for at least one week after. On the day of the procedure itself, take a detox bath as long as the surgery site does not come into contact with the water.

Add two cups of Epsom salt and one cup of baking soda to a warm bath. Soak for a minimum of 30 minutes. The Epsom salt delivers magnesium transdermally while supporting the body’s ability to draw out toxins through the skin. The baking soda alkalizes the bath water and supports radiation detox. Add a few drops of your favorite doTERRA essential oil for additional therapeutic benefit.

Find our full detox bath recipe on the blog.

Step 2: Daily Castor Oil Packs for One Week Before and One Week After

Castor oil packs applied over the liver are one of the most powerful and accessible detox tools available for a cancer family. They stimulate lymphatic circulation, support liver detoxification, reduce inflammation, and promote the movement of toxins out of the body through the body’s natural elimination pathways.

Apply a castor oil pack every day for the week before chemotherapy or surgery and continue for at least one week after. You can purchase the supplies for a castor oil pack here in my amazon shop!

Step 3: Nebulize Hypochlorous Acid Daily

One of the most significant risks during chemotherapy is opportunistic infection, particularly in the lungs. Chemotherapy suppresses the immune system’s ability to defend the respiratory tract, creating an environment where bacteria and pathogens can take hold quickly and escalate into serious complications.

Nebulizing hypochlorous acid in the days before and after chemotherapy delivers targeted respiratory support directly into the airways where your child needs it most. Hypochlorous acid is a compound the immune system naturally produces to defend against pathogens. Because the body already recognizes and produces it, it is extraordinarily gentle, completely non-toxic, and safe for children including those in active cancer treatment.

We nebulize 4cc of hypochlorous acid for 30 minutes once to twice daily during the preparation week and the recovery week following treatment. For ongoing preventative respiratory support throughout treatment, use it one to five times per week as a standard part of your protocol.

Find our recommended hypochlorous acid and nebulizer supplies in our Amazon detox shop. And read our complete guide on how to use a nebulizer for immune support during cancer treatment for full instructions, additional substances to nebulize, and cleaning protocols.

Step 4: Distilled Water with Fresh Lemon Daily

Drink half your body weight in ounces of distilled water daily with freshly squeezed lemon throughout the preparation week. Always drink from glass or stainless steel containers. Never plastic, which leaches hormone-disrupting compounds into the liquid.

We use and recommend the My Pure Water distiller for the cleanest possible drinking water. Use code SEASON for 5% off. After distilling always add minerals back in using Quinton minerals from our Fullscript dispensary. 

The lemon adds Vitamin C, supports liver detox pathways, and alkalizes the body. Water is the most fundamental detox tool available and most children in cancer treatment are chronically dehydrated. Prioritize this every single day.

Step 5: Red Light Therapy Before and After Every Treatment

Red light therapy is one of the most underutilized and most powerful tools available to cancer families, and it is one I wish more parents knew about from the very beginning of their child’s treatment journey.

Red light therapy uses specific wavelengths of near-infrared and red light to penetrate the skin and tissues and directly stimulate cellular energy production at the mitochondrial level. For a child receiving chemotherapy, whose cells are under extraordinary oxidative stress and whose mitochondrial function is being directly compromised by cytotoxic drugs, red light therapy provides targeted cellular support that nothing else can replicate in quite the same way.

Here is what the research documents red light therapy doing for a body going through cancer treatment. It reduces inflammation systemically by modulating inflammatory cytokine production. Red light accelerates tissue repair and wound healing, which matters significantly for children undergoing surgical procedures alongside chemotherapy. This therapy also supports the immune system by stimulating the production and activity of immune cells. It reduces oxidative stress, one of the primary drivers of chemotherapy side effects. It improves mitochondrial function, which translates directly into better energy levels, faster recovery, and improved cellular resilience. And it supports lymphatic circulation, helping the body move chemotherapy metabolites and cellular waste out more efficiently.

Use red light therapy daily during the week before chemotherapy and daily during the recovery week after. A ten to twenty minute session over the torso, liver area, and any areas of particular concern is an excellent starting protocol. Many families also find that regular red light therapy throughout the entire treatment period, not just around infusion days, produces cumulative benefits in energy, mood, and immune resilience.

The device we use and recommend without reservation is the Lumebox. Use code seasonjohnson for $260 off. It is a clinical-grade portable red light therapy device that delivers both red and near-infrared wavelengths, making it one of the most complete and effective options available for home use. The portability also means you can bring it to clinic visits and use it during infusion days when appropriate.

Red light therapy is one of the investments I encourage every cancer family to prioritize. The long-term benefits across energy production, immune function, cellular repair, and inflammation reduction make it one of the highest-return tools in a comprehensive integrative cancer protocol.

Step 6: Rebound Daily OR use a Vibration Plate for the Week Before Chemotherapy

The lymphatic system has no pump of its own. It depends entirely on physical movement to circulate. A clogged or sluggish lymphatic system cannot effectively move chemotherapy metabolites, dead tumor waste, and cellular debris out of the body. Supporting lymphatic flow before and after treatment makes the body’s natural detox processes significantly more effective.

Rebounding on a mini trampoline for ten minutes every day OR using a vibration plate for the same amount of time during the preparation week is one of the most efficient lymphatic drainage tools available. Even gentle bouncing with the feet staying on the trampoline works for children who have limited energy. The up-and-down motion activates the lymphatic valves and gets the whole system moving. You can find our favorite options for rebounding or vibration plates here!

Step 7: Daily Meditation, Prayer, and Positive Affirmations

This step is not optional and it is not soft. The mind-body connection in cancer treatment is documented and real. Chronic stress and fear suppress immune function, impair detoxification, and create a physiological environment that works against healing. Daily intentional practices that activate the parasympathetic nervous system and reinforce a healing mindset are therapeutic in the most literal sense.

Every morning before beginning the day, spend ten minutes in meditation and prayer. Then write down ten positive affirmations. The practice of writing rather than just reading these statements has documented effects on belief formation and neurological patterning.

Examples to start with:

I am healthy, I am strong and I am capable of healing. My body knows how to heal. I am loved and supported. I am not alone in this fight. My body is fighting for me every single day. I choose healing. I am more than this diagnosis. God is with me in this.

The Headspace app is a helpful guided meditation resource for both parents and older children.

Step 8: Nux Vomica Before and After Chemotherapy

Take Nux Vomica, a homeopathic remedy with a long history of use for nausea, vomiting, and the toxic aftermath of pharmaceutical drug exposure, before chemotherapy and again upon waking from chemotherapy or surgery.

Follow the dosing directions on the bottle carefully. To order, create a free account in our Fullscript dispensary and receive 15% off your first order

This is one of the remedies that I credit most directly with Kicker vomiting only one time throughout his entire 3.5 years of chemotherapy.

Step 9: 12 Ounces of Bone Broth Daily for the Week Before

Bone broth delivers glycine and proline that support the gut lining, arginine that supports immune and liver function, and minerals that chemotherapy aggressively depletes. Drinking twelve ounces every day during the preparation week shores up the gut, nourishes the immune system, and gives the liver the raw materials it needs to process the upcoming toxic load.

Make a large batch at the start of the preparation week using bones from Wild Pastures grass-fed beef or pasture-raised chicken. Store in glass jars in the refrigerator and warm a cup each morning. Find our complete bone broth recipe and guide on the blog.

Step 10: Remove All Sugar and Grains for One Week Before and One Week After

This is non-negotiable. For the full week before chemotherapy and the full week after, remove all refined sugar and all grains from your child’s diet completely.

Sugar feeds cancer cells directly through the Warburg Effect, suppresses immune function for up to 24 hours after consumption, and creates an inflammatory environment that makes chemotherapy side effects significantly worse. Grains in their conventional refined form spike blood sugar rapidly and add digestive burden to a gut that needs every available resource directed toward detoxification and recovery.

For this two-week window around each treatment, focus exclusively on quality animal protein from clean sources, organic vegetables, healthy fats, and bone broth. Remove everything else. The results in terms of reduced side effects and faster recovery are consistently remarkable in the families I work with who implement this step faithfully.

You Have More Power Here Than You Know

I want to say this clearly to every parent reading this post who is standing at the beginning of this journey or in the middle of it feeling overwhelmed and afraid.

You are not powerless in this. The protocol I just shared with you is accessible, affordable, and actionable starting today. None of these steps require a prescription or a referral. Every one of them is something you can begin implementing before the next appointment.

Kicker’s outcomes were not luck. They were the result of daily, intentional preparation and support that gave his body every possible resource to handle what treatment demanded of it.

Your child deserves that same intentional support. And you are clearly the parent who is going to give it to them.

This is not easy, and I know that. But you are here, you are learning, and you are choosing differently for your child every single day. That is everything.

For personalized support building a complete pre and post chemotherapy protocol for your child, visit us at Biodynamic Wellness. And tune into the Thrive Through and Beyond Cancer podcast for in-depth conversations about integrative cancer support, detox, nutrition, and everything else that goes into helping a cancer child truly thrive.

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