About Me

My name is Kathleen Cavanaugh and I have over 20 years of medical experience caring for people with cancer. My nursing career began at the in-patient oncology unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, followed by graduate study at the UCSF school of nursing. I was a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood, in an out-patient infusion center, and an in-patient bone marrow transplant unit before spending a decade in Gyn/Oncology caring for women with cancers of the reproductive region and their long-term effects from treatment. Throughout my career, I’ve administered chemotherapy infusions, assisted with radiation procedures and clinical trials, assisted palliative care teams, and have received multiple awards for excellence in patient care.

In 2016, in the midst of my Fellowship, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Over the course of a year, I was treated with chemo, surgery, radiation, hormonal therapies, and continued maintenance medications. Facing many of the same uncertainties and fears as my patients, I used my knowledge of conventional and western medicine in conjunction with other modalities to optimize my own treatment outcomes, limit their side effects, manage stress and its symptoms, and ultimately move into a life beyond cancer. The experience changed me forever, giving me a unique understanding of what people with cancer need to become the best possible participants in their care.

I live to bring meaning and healing energy into people’s lives and have made complementary and alternative modalities a part of my professional training throughout my career, beginning with graduate studies in integrative medicine. In 2017, I completed a two-year fellowship at the University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine focusing on deeper and more contemplative relationships between patient and provider. In my consultations, I seek to nurture the holistic aspects of health often ignored by the medical system through physical activity, herbs and supplements, nervous system support, massage, nutritional advice, and more.