After 51 years working exclusively with cancer patients, I have learned that there is a third pathway which consistently leads to successful outcomes.
Every recommendation begins with one question: What offers this individual patient the greatest opportunity?
A patient may be offered only one treatment pathway. Rather than assuming it is the only option, I help determine whether other diagnostic tests, specialists or treatments should also be considered before a decision is made.
Over more than fifty years I have developed a broad understanding of how different hospitals, specialists and countries approach cancer care.
One centre may have greater experience with a particular cancer, while another may offer a diagnostic or treatment not yet widely available elsewhere. Understanding those differences helps patients make more informed choices.
Following patients before, during and long after treatment reveals lessons that are rarely visible in a single consultation. Long-term patient experiences often highlight practical issues, quality of life and patterns of recovery that can help guide future patients through similar decisions.
Cancer care is often spread across many specialists and services. My role is to help connect the pieces. Rather than viewing each consultation in isolation, I help ensure that diagnostics, treatments and supportive care work together as one coordinated pathway.
No single hospital, country or medical philosophy holds all the answers. The most appropriate pathway may combine expertise from several centres, drawing on the particular strengths of each rather than relying on only one source of care.
It’s essential to have a clear navigation chart to reach your goals.
A well-defined plan helps you to break down your goals into smaller, more manageable tasks and provides a timeline for achieving them. This way, you can track your progress and make adjustments as needed. As a recognised world leader and pioneer of supportive care medicine, I invite you to seize the opportunity to be navigated through the cancer maze.
During more than five decades as an independent cancer navigator, I have built trusted relationships with many of the world’s leading cancer specialists, innovative treatment centres, and pioneering researchers.
These national and international networks enable me to help patients explore treatment opportunities, technologies, diagnostics, and clinical insights that may not otherwise come to their attention.
My role is not to replace your doctors, but to help ensure that potentially valuable options are not overlooked simply because they sit beyond the boundaries of a single medical system, speciality, or country. I call this approach the Third Pathway.
Many cancer patients believe they face a choice between two treatment pathways: conventional medicine or alternative medicine.
Be aware some alternative and naturopathic treatments and advice may be based on pseudoscience that looks to be accurate and evidence-based however – when fact checked; science and evidence is often lacking.
Survivorship Action Navigation Plans are designed to help you the patient avoid the pitfalls of taking a pathway that could compromise your health and life.
Choices in cancer are a serious matter and responsibility of practitioners for the advice provided to cancer patients needs to be considered. Practitioner experience and track record are vitally important.
The Team Approach
Patients and family’s often want to create a team approach for healing and health restoration. However; this approach is can create conflicts and contra indications, especially when working across different modalities and ideologies. Survivorship Action Plans are designed to avoid this problem. Keep it simple and keep the team small and effective.
The Third Pathway
The third pathway is not a particular treatment, hospital, doctor, or ideology. It is more a way of approaching cancer care that helps patients understand the full landscape of possibilities available to them.
Modern cancer care has become extraordinarily complex. Important information, expertise, technologies, treatment opportunities, quality-of-life considerations, and potential risks are often scattered across multiple specialists, disciplines, treatment centres, and even countries.
My role is to bring those pieces together. Drawing on five decades of experience, national and international networks, and a deep understanding of both the patient and their disease, I help people see the bigger picture and make better-informed decisions.
Sometimes this reveals opportunities that might otherwise have been overlooked. Sometimes it confirms that the current plan is the right one.
Either way, patients gain something invaluable: a clearer understanding of their choices and an experienced guide to help them navigate one of the most challenging journeys of their lives.
A Different Kind of Cancer Support
My independent cancer navigator and patient advocate role does not fit neatly into one category. I work alongside you to bring clarity, safety, and direction to what can feel like an overwhelming and fragmented cancer journey. I support you across medical, nutritional, emotional, and practical domains, helping everything work together rather than in isolation.
Making Sure Nothing You Take Works Against You
I carefully review your current and recent medical treatments, as well as diet, supplements, powders, herbs, and self-prescribed products. This may include asking for product labels and dosages. The purpose is safety. Some combinations can interfere with treatment or cause harm through herb-herb, herb-nutrient, herb-drug, or nutrient-drug interactions. Identifying these risks takes time, but it is essential to protect you and support the effectiveness of your care.
Anna – Diagnosed 2018. Metastatic Ovarian Cancer. Still in Remission 2026. I could not be more grateful for Grace having come into my life, she was able to bring it all together, was willing to look me holistically and see me as the unique individual that I am. This resulted in several significant outcomes. For decades I had an un-diagnosed lactose intolerance that created horrendous bowel and inflammatory issues. After Grace discovered this my entire health and well-being turned around.
Judith – Diagnosed 2021. Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer. Still in Remission 2026. An extremely important part of my recovery has been the weekly video Survivorship Action Plan sessions I have with Grace.
These weekly video sessions with Grace have been invaluable to my recovery.
Deb – Diagnosed 2014. ER Positive Breast Cancer. Still in Remission. Grace has taught me to be conservative and discerning with complementary medicine. Grace’s no one-size-fits-all approach has helped me to dispense with the load of unnecessary and possibly harmful complementary medicine I had been taking in desperation.
Ngareta – Diagnosed December 2017. Rectal Adenocarcinoma. Still in Remission 2026. I cannot recommend Grace highly enough. Because of her, I’m now cancer-free. When diagnosed I didn’t know what to do. Luckily I found Grace, and I signed up for a cancer action plan. More survivorship stories – click here.
Jan: Diagnosed in March 2024, with Triple Negative Breast Cancer, I had the good fortune to work with cancer navigator Grace Gawler.
Together we mapped out a plan that would see me having a unilateral mastectomy in Australia followed by Cell Based Immune Therapy overseas.
Jan continues her story – The treatment plan was successful and I am currently cancer free.
The idea of being on my own post-cancer was extremely daunting so I was thrilled to be able continue my consultations with Grace in her continuity of care program.
Alex, NSW, Brain Tumour (GBM). Once learning about my diagnosis the questions started to come, and the more I looked into it the more questions came up. Conventional Doctors are great at certain things but I needed to find someone who could help me with these questions and what I needed was someone who understood why I was asking those questions in the first place. Thinking outside the box and putting everything on the table is certainly the approach I needed.
Based upon decades of experience as a Cancer Navigator, one of the key concepts I considered when first developing my Survivorship Action Plans was patient’s need for a One-Stop-Shop with the aim of managing, monitoring, and offering a range of possibilities for treatments, including referrals for minimally invasive treatments. The idea was born out of 10 and 5-day residential programs that I pioneered in the 1980’s where various Survivorship topics were shared and discussed with patients.
These programs focussed upon stress reduction methods, lifestyle-diet and nutrition, complementary medicine options, resilience building and patient empowerment, counselling and strategies to address trauma, lymphedema management-exercise and a variety of complementary therapies.
However, after the 5 or 10-day program, when patients returned home, follow up was challenging as was sustaining momentum to build upon the changes and achievements they made.
Offering a Survivorship Action Plan for cancer patients means improved continuity and opportunity to create extended support and cancer recovery strategies over a period of months and in some cases years. The Plan allows for fluidity and to accommodate change. As a patient’s situation changes, so does the Plan.
As well, the support offered during a Plan and when illness is acute, joining an Action Plan involves no travel and can be achieved in the comfort and privacy of your own home. This is ideal for those undergoing conventional treatments as there is no disruption to timetables. Plans are also ideal for clients who live in a rural environments where cancer services are limited, and travel involves large financial outlays and family disruption.
In Summary; a Survivorship Action Plan offers a Hub of Supportive Care Medicine options available in one place navigated by your healing companion and guide, me-Grace Gawler.
Wow Grace – what a great BBC interview. Loved how your endorsement of joining traditional and complementary medicine came across loud and clear. I always feel like cheering when I hear you speak like this – there are many, MANY podcasts where people share good information (for example on diet, supplements, visualisation), but then demonise western medicine in their next breath.
You are almost a “lone voice” in your astute approach and I admire you so much. Your personal story, particularly with the world-first surgery, is incredible! Kristie, UK
Be inspired by Grace’s BBC Interview
Step 1. Organise a Preliminary Video Consultation with me to discuss how a Survivorship Action Plan can benefit you.
Prior to your video call please read Survivorship Action Plan options:
Option 1. Platinum Action Plan, for Australia and NZ patients. Plan provides you with 15 hours of personalised and dedicated services.
Option 2. Platinum PLUS Action Plan – For international referrals only. This plan provides you with 20 hours of personalised and dedicated services.
Option 3. Cancer Turning Point Plan – will introduce you to a wide range of personalised treatment options. Recommended for those who are early in diagnosis and treatment. Plan provides you with 10 hours of services.
Terms of Service:
Each patient has the nature and services offered by a Survivorship Action Plan carefully explained to them during a video consultation. Patients are referred to read the website once again before making a payment. Each plan is processed on an individual basis, therefore a few days may elapse before you receive your welcome letter. Please be sure You have adhered to the criteria, read the website and the terms of service and understand what your plan involves before you make your payment.