Written by Jane Whitehead

Within two short months in 2023, I went from being a healthy fifty-year-old woman to having a grade 4 astrocytoma brain tumour surgically removed from my brain. 

My surgeon told me: “You will die from this”. 

She gave me a 24-month prognosis and told me to do my “bucket list”. 

Shortly after my craniotomy, I had to decide if I wanted to do chemotherapy and radiation (standard-of-care) treatment. 

In my mind, I was a dead woman walking. 

The brain surgery, combined with the dire warnings from my oncologists, exhausted and terrified me. 

My oncologists strongly encouraged me to do the treatment. They were convincing, and I was scared. So, I completed the eight months of chemo and radiation. It was horrific.

But I wasn’t going to just leave it up to radiation and chemotherapy to fight my cancer. 

Before my cancer diagnosis, I already knew about Professor Thomas Seyfried’s research into treating cancer as a metabolic disease, as opposed to the current mainstream view of treating cancer as a genetic disease.

The Metabolic Theory of Cancer (MTC) protocol has two components to it. 

The first is a low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) diet, consisting of 80% saturated fat, a moderate amount of protein, and the smallest amount of carbohydrates possible. 

This diet, combined with fasting, lowers blood sugar, while raising ketones – an alternative form of fuel that cancer cells cannot use. 

This is the most extreme form of ketogenic diet and goes completely against current nutritional advice. 

The second component of the MTC protocol involves reducing glutamine. Glutamine is the most abundant neurotransmitter in the body and is essential for life. 

Certain off-label drugs, like 2,5 Dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM), Ivermectin, Fenbendazole and Menbendazole are used in a “press-pulse” protocol, together with a LCHF diet and fasting, to shrink tumours and minimise regrowth.

I have not had to resort to using any of these drugs yet, but getting access to them in Australia is not easy.

Resistance training encourages muscle growth and is also recommended to help muscles soak up as much glutamine as possible from the blood.

During my initial standard-of-care treatment, (chemo and radiation), I ate a moderately low-carbohydrate, high-fat (LCHF) diet, combined with short fasts, and exercised when I wasn’t feeling too sick.

After that treatment ended, my husband and I went on my “bucket list” world trip to Europe, the US and Japan.

My next scan after the trip was in December 2024. It showed signs of what my oncologist thought could be new cancer growth.

Was it coincidental that I dropped the ball on my diet while we were overseas?

Could eating generous amounts of tiramisu in Italy, pastries in France, matcha ice-cream in Japan, and Cheesecake Factory cheesecake in the US, etc, have had anything to do with the new growths in my brain?

Not according to my oncologists, who told me that diet doesn’t matter.

My following scan, in February 2025, showed even more new growths.

My radiation oncologist recommended I do more radiation and chemo, or things would “not be looking good” for me by the end of 2025.

I chose not to do this.

If Professor Seyfried was right, my higher carbohydrate diet while I was overseas probably had something to do with the new growths in my brain.

With the support of my low-carbohydrate doctor in Sydney, I reduced my carbohydrates to the point where I was practically carnivore.

I also stepped up my resistance exercise, took long relaxing walks to destress, got plenty of sun, and did many sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, (HBOT).

HBOT is a treatment where people breathe pure oxygen inside a pressurised chamber to stimulate healthy cell regeneration. Oxygen stresses cancer cells. 

Fast-forward to my next scan result in July 2025 which showed an almost complete reversal of all the supposed new cancer growths in my brain.

No one was more surprised than my oncologist!

My latest scan result, in March this year, was even better. 

So, what caused these amazing results against all the standard-of-care oncologists’ dire predictions? 

Chemo and radiation? My LCHF diet? Fasting? Exercise? Hyperbaric oxygen therapy?

Prayer? A determination to never give up, no matter what anyone said? 

All of the above? Some of the above? None of the above?

All I know for sure is that nine months after my 24-month prognosis, I feel healthier than I can ever remember feeling. 

I don’t wear sunscreen anymore because my skin no longer burns in the harsh Queensland sun.

My hair and nails are stronger and grow faster.

My mind is calmer, I can think more clearly, and I sleep like a baby.

All these are signs of a healthy immune system.

I am only one person, but my hope is that more cancer patients use the Metabolic Theory of Cancer protocol, with or without standard-of-care treatment, and record their results, so that enough data can be built up to be statistically meaningful. 

If you want to watch my brain cancer journey as it happened, visit my YouTube channel @janeWhiteheadBrainStory.

Editor’s note: The article reflects Jane’s personal experiences and opinions and should not be considered medical advice. Please always refer to your preferred health professional for advice suited to your personal healthcare requirements.