• How ketamine became an unexpected part of our cancer story

• Debunking myths! 3 myths about ketamine you’ve probably heard and why they’re wrong

• Where to find safe & trusted sources for ketamine treatment

When I was going through chemo, the tools I used to use to keep myself grounded and to find hope in dark times suddenly quit working. The chemotherapy drugs threw me into an immediate depression—it felt like I was constantly living under a dark cloud. I remember waking up in the middle of the night, terrified that Raleigh and the kids were going to leave me in the middle of the night and a less-depressed, less-cancer-ridden replacement.

But I didn’t realize until much later that I wasn’t the only one struggling. Raleigh was also carrying the emotional weight of having a wife who could potentially die and the fear of raising our kids by himself.

The more we both tried to ignore it, the worse it became. When I mentioned my struggles to my oncologist, he said mental health was out of his wheelhouse, and he sent me to see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist was much more understanding and mentioned that ketamine could be something worth trying.

The way he explained it was that ketamine could help me still enjoy my life while going through cancer treatment.

And for me, that sounded amazing. It was an instant lifeline. While other medications can take weeks to work, this was immediate. It was like a reset button that pulled me out of the anxiety loop.

Raleigh ended up trying it a few months later and it was a way to finally process the overwhelming fear he’d been holding in. He described it as pulling the plug on a computer and letting it reboot. It helped him make different connections and release all the emotion that he is very good at bottling up.

Ketamine was an unexpected gift from a terrible experience.

Debunking Ketamine

Let's clear up a few things about ketamine, because it's important to separate the facts from the headlines.

Fact: In a medical setting, it's a completely different tool. When used therapeutically, it's administered in low, controlled doses by professionals.

In fact, multiple clinical trials have found it to be tolerable for cancer patients, with side effects like fatigue that are typically mild and temporary.

Fact: The biggest difference is speed. While traditional antidepressants can take weeks to kick in, ketamine can provide relief within hours or days.

One trial saw a significant drop in depression and suicidal thoughts in cancer patients just one day after treatment.

It works on a different system in the brain, helping to "reboot" stuck thought patterns by allowing for the growth of new neural connections.

Fact: The powerful effects of a single dose are often temporary, lasting for a few days to a week. That's why the most promising approach is using it to make therapy more effective.

This is often called Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). The ketamine creates a window of mental flexibility, making it easier to work through the tough stuff, like fear and existential dread, and build lasting change with the help of a therapist.

Exploring Your Options

If you're curious about what this looks like in practice, the world of at-home ketamine therapy has grown a lot. To give you an idea, here are a few of the most well-known national providers and a simple look at their pricing.

• Mindbloom: This provider focuses on guided, higher-dose psychedelic experiences. Their starting program for new clients includes 6 ketamine sessions and costs about $1,254, which breaks down to around $209 per session.

• Innerwell: They put a strong emphasis on working with licensed therapists. Their foundational plan comes with 8 ketamine sessions and costs around $1,098 (about $125 per session).

• Joyous: This company uses a different approach with very low-dose daily ketamine, designed to avoid an intense psychedelic experience. It’s a monthly subscription and is the most affordable option at $129 per month, which works out to just over $4 per dose.

Uncensored Conversations in CancerCrew+

Our experience with ketamine is a great example of the type of conversations we have in CancerCrew+. Social media can be a cesspool, and even well-intentioned family members don’t fully understand what it’s like to be in the trenches of cancer. When you join our Cancer Crew Plus community, you gain access to:

• Exclusive Content: Deep dives into research, survivor stories, and expert interviews we can’t share anywhere else without getting banned.

• A Private Community: A safe, moderated space to ask questions, share your wins, and get real answers from fellow fighters and caregivers who understand.

• Direct Support: The ability to connect with our team and help shape the topics we discuss.

With heart,
Carli “Captain of the Crew” Williams
Founder of The Cancer Crew

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