My story final

My Story Cancer Story

My vegetarian lifestyle began in 1978, due to a serious life-threating medical emergency. An emergency surgery was performed which almost took my life. An ovarian cyst had ruptured, causing lots of internal bleeding and a lot of pain. The surgeon said he drained about 4 to 5 pints of blood before he could see what was going on. My life nearly slipped away. The pain and suffering endured can be compared to the pain and suffering of animals being slaughtered. As a result of that experience, the consumption of animals that suffered and died left my life entirely and I had a firm knowing that I would not participate in the taking of innocent lives. I could no longer justify it. I wanted my life and I knew the crying suffering animals were fighting for their lives too. It became something I could not do it. I understood!

This began an amazing journey into food and humanitarianism. These new feelings calmed my spirit. Many books on the subject were purchased and read. Attending lectures and classes on the subject became my new normal. Potlucks were the best, providing stories from practicing vegetarians that helped me to develop my own skills.

One of my lifelines was a magazine called Vegetarian Times. As a military family we moved often, however, that magazine always arrived in the mail every month without fail with new recipes for me to try, new stories and new research for me to consider. We were truly ready for this lifestyle change. My family made the transition to vegetarianism.

Several changes were noticed in my family as we progressed with the new lifestyle, that encouraged me. First, my son’s allergies and frequent trips to the hospital for 5-10 day stays each year became fewer and fewer. Then, finally no more trips to the hospital.

Next, our body odors changed. My daughter came home one day from school and proudly announced that her teacher had said she was the best smelling kid in her class. She was the only vegetarian. This had been my own observation, but she was proud! The whole family’s body odors changed! Additionally, my husband’s weight stabilized. His general disposition improved. Finally, my own energy vastly improved. The energy was much needed with two children, a husband and a household to manage in addition to a job.

These improvements in my family encouraged me to challenge myself with learning to prepare awesome dishes. We did not miss the meat consumption! The creole cooking style of seasonings was blended into my vegetarian cooking. This made for tantalizing meal experiences for everyone that ate at our house. One couple asked me to write a little book of recipes as a wedding gift for them. This honored me. Positively affecting the lives of others with my own experience made me happy.

This lifestyle continued without any health concerns, then divorce happened.

In 1991, I lost my precious son at age 19, in a car accident on the base. He was serving in the U.S. Army at Ft. Hood Texas. The diet had helped rid him of his asthma, as a result he was able to serve in the military, which was one of his dreams.

Around the year 2000, serious pains developed throughout my body. My sleep got crazy. My brain was foggy. Places on my body could not be touched at all! Fibromyalgia was diagnosed. Children who are abused are more likely to have the condition when they grow up is what I understood about it. This may happen because abuse changes the way the brain handles pain and stress. My childhood was an abusive one!

My own research on Fibromyalgia produced three books from the Health food store. All three books recommended a raw food diet because of its live enzymatic cleansing action. They suggested that the enzymes would reduce inflammation and that would put Fibromyalgia in remission. I didn’t observe anything in the books that would hurt me. The diet was simply raw uncooked fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grain. The dishes were simply beautiful. I gave it a try.

Four weeks after beginning the raw food diet, my weight went down by 20 lbs. and the Fibromyalgia was gone! My energy surged again to it normal state. The food was delicious and beautiful. It was more creative than my vegetarian dishes and I loved the challenge of a live, living foods diet.

This food style was clean and organic! Raw food potlucks and lectures popped up everywhere. This gave me the ability to take classes and to go on weekend retreats. The new people, in this lifestyle, displayed tenacity and I liked that.

Another lifestyle change became necessary in February 2009, when I was diagnosed with a very aggressive Stage 4, T-Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Shock exploded in my brain! My diet and daily exercise habits had been superior. I was confused sitting there on the gurney, in my oncologist office.

My oncologist said, while fighting back her own tears, “Your people come to me with these horrible cancerns and I can’t do anything to help. Honey, I am so sorry to give you this the bad news, but the most I can give you is 4 months with this nasty cancer you have. If I can put the cancer into remission you could have as much as 2 years, but it will not be pretty and you will suffer greatly. “It will not be pretty”. “I don’t want to get your expectations high because this does not look good”. My oncologist walked away from me. She continued to look through my file, while I sat there dazed! I sat there trying to make sense of what she had said. Suddenly, she interrupted my thoughts by happily saying, “Wait a minute, I am looking at a pathology of a 30 to 33-year-old, I was 61 years old at the time. I can help you because with this pathology I can get you into a bone marrow stem transplant program,” and she did.

This was the power of raw food. Make no mistake about that! The power to back my biological age up in half, that’s powerful! In that moment, when she said I had a pathology half my age, I clearly understood the power of Genisis 1:29, which I had put so much faith in. There it was, the fruit of the trees and herbs of the field to my rescue! I was 61 years old with the pathology of a 30-33-year-old. I felt so blessed to have found and practiced this diet which had so much hidden power. This caused me to advance to the top of the transplant list.


The literature indicates that chemotherapy destroy patients’ immune systems. Everything the transplant patient eats must be microwaved to death again! Without the support of your immune system, spores from an apples, an oranges and bananas could kill you. Patients cannot touch any live food.

I am always 100% vegan and I keep my diet at least 90% live living foods. I am 14 years post cancer with no pain in my body and I take no pharmaceuticals! My story illustrates the power of a plant only diet! It had my back when the chips were down and continues to nourish my body mind and spirit.