Following My Intuition Saved My Life-The Day I Fired My Oncologist

by Chris Joseph, Certified Radical Remission Coach

A few months after I was diagnosed with stage 3 inoperable pancreatic cancer in October 2016, I did something most people would consider reckless: I fired my oncologist. I quit chemo. I had no Plan B—I didn't even know if there was one. I thought I'd rather die of the cancer than from the chemo.

I didn't quit because I had a miracle cure. I did it because something deep in my gut—something I can only describe as intuition—told me this wasn't my path.

This wasn't easy. I didn't grow up ignoring doctors. I wasn't anti-medicine. I was terrified, and everything around me—from family to friends to white coats in white rooms—was telling me to stay the course.

But the chemo was wrecking me. I couldn't eat. I couldn't think. I felt like I was slowly being erased. And my oncologist didn't seem to see me as a person, just a protocol. I realized: if I keep going like this, I might not die from cancer, but I might die from the treatment.

So I did what I wasn't supposed to do. I trusted myself. I stopped chemo, fired my oncologist, and began searching for a different path. One that included metabolic therapies, emotional healing, immune support, and root-cause investigation. That single choice changed everything. It didn't magically cure me, but it opened the door to healing that felt alive.

Later, when I discovered Kelly Turner's Radical Remission research, it was like someone had turned on a light. I wasn't crazy. Turner had studied thousands of people who survived life-threatening cancer diagnoses and found that one of the most consistent healing factors was following their intuition—making major medical decisions, often unpopular ones, based on deep internal knowing.

Science is catching up. Intuition isn't woo-woo—it's neurological. Our gut and heart both have neural networks. Our bodies constantly take in data through sensation, memory, emotion that doesn't always register consciously but informs our choices. This inner wisdom has been dismissed too long in a culture that prioritizes external authority over internal guidance.

And to be clear: intuition doesn't always mean don't do chemo. For some, it says lean into treatment. But for me, it said walk away—and trust that something else was possible.

It was terrifying. But it also felt like freedom. Once I made that decision, I was no longer passive, no longer waiting to be saved. I was an active participant in my recovery. That shift—from being treated to choosing how to heal—was the turning point.

Today, nearly nine years out from that diagnosis, I work as a Certified Radical Remission coach and Metabolic Terrain coach helping others navigate this same terrain. One of the first things I ask is: What does your gut say? What's your body trying to tell you? What would you do if you weren't afraid of disappointing your doctor, your partner, or the script you've been handed?

Because sometimes the most radical thing you can do is trust yourself.

Chris Joseph is a certified Radical Remission Coach, Certified Terrain Advocate with the Metabolic Terrain Institute of Health, and Thriving with 3rd Stage Pancreatic Cancer since 2016.

Connect with Chris at: chris@terrainnavigators.com

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or opinions of the Radical Remission Project. Any content provided herein is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice.