Cancer News Information

Since this is Thanksgiving week, I'd like to share something personal that I'm feeling very grateful for. I'm thankful for my mother's example of being open to change and new ways of doing things during the most challenging time in her life.

When my mom was diagnosed with cancer in her mid-seventies, she was a 30-year breast cancer survivor. Her first response to the diagnosis was that she would simply let nature take it's course. Being a retired RN, she was well aware of the gravity of her situation, having been mis-diagnosed for a year before an accurate diagnosis was made. She had gone through horrendous side-effects during her previous cancer treatment and was not anxious to repeat that process. She also felt that, given the lost time with incorrect diagnoses, there was no point in fighting.

At the urging of her family, she finally acquiesced and proceeded with treatment. However, she did not simply follow all recommendations without question.

It takes a great deal of courage to advocate for your own health. It takes tremendous fortitude to look outside of convention and accepted methods of modern medicine and make personal decisions based on your own inner guidance.

My mom found a health coach to support her during her illness. One of the first orders of business was to rid her house of foods and cleaning products that would be unhealthy or toxic. I was able to help with this process and it is the memory of this task that inspired this writing.

Being a child of the Great Depression Era, wasting food or anything she had paid money for, was very distressing to my mom. As we went through her kitchen and disposed of white sugar, white flour, pasta, processed foods, corn syrup laden condiments, and much more, my mom was a trooper! She fought the urge to hang onto those items "just in case". She conceded that giving those nutrient-depleted foods to someone else wouldn't be doing them any favors, so we just just kept filling trash bags.

While my mom fought cancer, she continually educated herself about nutrition and acted on what she learned. Her quality of life was far better than it might have been had she simply followed medical protocol. She also maintained the dignity of being in control of her life.

Mom's way of dealing with her illness was not always easy for her or for our family. However, I can say that her example of being willing to learn, to make changes, to be her own advocate, is something I am eternally grateful for. I am truly thankful that she demonstrated the courage to live the last years of her life on her own terms and that I have her example to carry with me always.