Anti Cancer

Sometimes the treatment kicks my butt. I think the chemo has accumulated and reached toxic levels in my system. I have been relatively free of side effects, until this last round. One side effect of chemo can be mind numbing constipation. If not dealt with immediately and correctly it can land you in the ER. That happened to me last time and was the worst pert of the whole experience. The constipation triples the nausea and eventually leads to vomiting. This was affecting me all week, but Friday and Saturday it was especially bad. Today I am weak from eating very little for a few days, and still nauseous. I am more grateful than ever for my week off, and that I only have one more round like this.

*****Next Morning*****

I feel much better today. I'm starting my day with green tea and the whole grain gluten free hot cereal Chris bought when she was here. (Thanks, Chris, it's delicious) I realize that I need to change my diet if I want to keep the cancer at bay for the rest of my life. Two films and one book have opened my eyes and finally given me the answers I need concerning my diet.

The films are King Corn and Food Inc and the book is Anti Cancer A New Way of Life. My advice to everyone reading this blog is to watch at least one of these films and definitely read the book. They all deal with more or less the same subject: the changes that have occurred in our food industry in the past 50 years. Cancer, obesity and diabetes have reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., and it's largely because of these changes. The gist of it is that instead of feeding the cattle grass as they are intended to eat, they are being fed corn, which is cheaper. The corn creates serious health problems - they develop e coli bacteria in their stomachs and they literally end up with holes in their stomachs that can be seen externally. These sick cows are slaughtered and fed to us anyway. Another problem is that the meat we get from these cows has omega 6 fatty acids, instead of the omega 3 our bodies need. Studies have shown that the imbalance of omega 6 fatty acids and omega 3 fatty acids cause inflammation and obesity. You don't have to stop eating meat, you just need to eat grass fed, preferably organic meat. Both films show the slaughter houses and it's even more appalling than you can imagine. The cows live packed in together, up to their knees in their own filth. By the time they are slaughtered they are covered in excrement, and that is getting into your meat. I have not been able to eat any meat since I saw that part of the film.

The treatment of chickens is equally cruel and has adverse effects on our health. You want to buy free range, organic chickens with no growth hormones. The way our meat is fed and processed, the processed sugar and processed food we eat has given us bodies that are ripe for cancer. People are starting to become aware of this and making their stand at the market. Just a few years ago, organic food was difficult to find. Today every market has an organic section, at least in my town. Even Walmart is on board and has an organic section. The more people who purchase organic, grass fed and free range food the quicker things will change. Stay away from fast food restaurants - have you seen Supersize me? The demand for ground beef in the fast food restaurants created this problem. Make sweets at home with a safe alternative to sugar like stevia or agave syrup. Limit your dairy consumption and buy organic milk and eggs enriched with omega 3. Eat whole foods and stay away from processed foods filled with preservatives and high fructose corn syrup.

There are places in the world where there is very little heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, and even acne. It is more expensive to eat this way, but believe me, you want to do everything in your power to keep yourself from getting cancer.

I don't know if my diet caused my cancer. Prior to my diagnosis I had been a vegetarian and I ate very little dairy. I was born into this type of food, however, and my childhood was filled with processed sugar. My favorite lunch was a sugar and butter sandwich on wonder bread washed down with a glass of chocolate milk. I think mine is probably environmental, judging by the amount of infertility and cancer in my childhood neighborhood. We grew up down the street from a water processing plant and across the bay from a pulp mill. I will never know for sure, but I am going to do everything I can to make sure it is gone forever this time.

I assume if you are reading this you care about me. Please do me the favor of watching one of these films or reading the book. It would make me happy if you watched a film and read the book. I don't want anyone I care about to ever have to go through what I have. I tend to spare you the gory details, but cancer and cancer treatment is hell. There have been times when I have wanted it to just end, at any cost. Cancer makes you face your own mortality, and it is not so scary when compared to the battle.

Namaste, Jill