Nancy Sturdevant | A Mother’s Determination, A Son’s Strength

About this episode

Nancy Sturdevant shares her journey as a mother navigating her son's Ewing sarcoma diagnosis and treatment.

In this episode of The Cancer Liberation Project, I sit down with Nancy Studervant, a mother whose life shifted dramatically when her 18-year-old son was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma shortly after climbing Mount Rainier. What began as knee pain was initially misdiagnosed, leading to a delayed cancer diagnosis and the start of a long, complex journey. Nancy shares the emotional weight of that moment and the critical decisions that followed, including aggressive chemotherapy, surgery, and navigating the pressure to act quickly within the conventional medical system. As her son experienced relapse, Nancy began expanding beyond standard treatment, building a diverse team of specialists and exploring integrative and metabolic approaches. Guided by intuition and faith, she embraced a multi-layered strategy—combining targeted therapies, off-label medications, nutrition, and lifestyle practices like exercise and time in nature. She emphasizes the importance of staying proactive, always having a “plan B and C,” and being willing to question recommendations in pursuit of the best outcome. Despite numerous setbacks, including multiple relapses and complications from surgery, Nancy’s son…

People in this episode

Host: Hayley Dubin

Guest: Nancy Sturdevant

Topics covered

• cancer journey
• mother's determination
• integrative medicine
• resilience
• nutrition
• mental health

Keywords

• Ewing sarcoma
• cancer treatment
• integrative approaches
• nutrition
• resilience
• mindset
• chemotherapy

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Mount Rainier

More episodes of The Cancer Liberation Project

• Josh Vintner-Jackson | Choosing Life Every Day · June 4, 2026 · 52 min
• Teresa Ferreiro | Finding Yourself Through Cancer · May 21, 2026 · 39 min
• Bron Watson | Two Diagnoses, One Powerful Shift · May 7, 2026 · 47 min
• Nancy Sturdevant | A Mother’s Determination, A Son’s Strength · April 16, 2026 · 54 min
• Dr. Jason Miller | Integrating Chinese Medicine in Cancer Care · April 2, 2026 · 1h 8m
• Dr. Nathan Goodyear | A New Approach to Cancer · March 19, 2026 · 1h 6m