Ryan Sternagel | Challenging the Childhood Cancer Playbook

Ryan is the cofounder along with his wife Teddy, of The Stern Method, a platform informing and inspiring families preventing or reversing cancer to succeed on all fronts. In May of 2014 their son Ryder was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer of the nervous system eleven days before his first birthday. Through an integrative approach leaving nothing on the table, and ridding their lives of all possible causes, which included building a non-toxic house in the middle of the woods, today Ryder is thriving.Along with The Stern Method website and social media presence, Ryan hosts The Anti-Cancer Revolution podcast and online conference series, and is the creator of Going Integrative Plus, a community providing cancer patients, parents and caregivers step by step instruction along with the opportunity to receive guidance directly from the top holistic cancer doctors in the world.In this episode, Ryan shares his family’s powerful and deeply personal cancer journey. After months of dismissed symptoms, Ryder’s imaging finally revealed a large spinal tumor with metastases. Faced with intense pressure to immediately begin chemotherapy, Ryan and his wife Teddy chose to pursue an integrative approach, advocating fiercely for Ryder while navigating fear, resistance from the medical system, and even threats of child protective services involvement.Ryder received limited chemotherapy due to medical necessity, but was supported simultaneously with extensive integrative care, including IV vitamin C, targeted nutritional therapy, supplements, detox support, and a healing-focused home environment. Ryder responded far better than expected—secondary tumors disappeared quickly, the primary tumor shrank dramatically, and conventional treatment was stopped far earlier than standard protocol. Over time, continued improvement confirmed the remaining mass as inactive scar tissue, and Ryder is now thriving.Ryan reflects on the importance of trusting parental intuition, addressing environmental and lifestyle factors, and combining foundational health practices with integrative oncology care. Their experience became the foundation for The Stern Method, Ryan’s podcast, and the Going Integrative Plus community, all created to empower families with education, support, and access to integrative cancer experts—offering hope and guidance to those facing similar diagnoses.For more guidance and information, go to thesternmethod.com and goingintegrativeplus.com. Put in LIBERATE for 50% off first month of membership of Going Integrative Plus.For information on Ryan’s supplement (OUR 7) combined specifically to support the pathways most responsible for cellular strength, repair, signaling, and overall long-term resilience, go to https://ourhealthnaturally.com/revivewellness and enter LIBERATE20 for 20% off until 1/22/26. The Cancer Liberation Project is sponsored by thekarlfeldtcenter.com