This Orlando program is helping cancer survivors navigate life after treatments

ORLANDO, Fla. - Life after beating cancer is often a guessing game. For many patients, they don’t know how they got cancer in the first place, and they spend agonizing hours researching how not to get it again.

AdventHealth Dr. Amber Orman of Orlando is a double-board certified Radiation Oncologist and Lifestyle Medicine Specialist. She founded an 8-week program for breast cancer survivors called HEAL, which stands for Healthy Eating Active Lifestyle. 

HEAL patient Dee Harmer swears by the program. She was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer at age 63. 

"It was a shock. I had no connection to the disease, no family history, there was just no connection, it just wasn't in my thought process that I would ever have breast cancer," Harmar said. 

A busy mom and grandma, Harmar loves to be active and exercise, so when she found out she had cancer, she wanted to move forward with her surgery and treatments as quickly as possible. It was after her surgery, however, that she found herself asking ‘what’s next’.

She signed up for the HEAL program. Dr. Orman said the program helps optimize the way you eat, your movement patterns, sleep, stress, relationships and more. 

"Why would you even want to change your lifestyle? What's the bang for the buck? And you can reduce your risk of recurrence by about 505 by the way," Dr. Orman said.

Dr. Orman recommends a mostly plant-based diet, physical activities like yoga, and mindfulness.

 Harmer said if you have negative people in your life, they need to go. After graduating from the program, the women graduate to an alumni program where they support one another and hold each other accountable. The camaraderie and connection with the other women is unbelievable, Harmar said, and the science-based information from Dr. Orman is invaluable.

Dr. Orman said the community aspect of the program is the foundation of its success. "These women love each other."