110 degrees magazine - Index

110 degrees magazine - wlinks_may08 - Index

BLOOM I PERSONA
and seven of them tested positive for the presence
of cancer cells. The Kaiser surgeon
performed what they call a modified mastectomy,
which is removing the breast leaving the
muscle mass in place.
I spent a couple weeks in recovery and then
again went back to work. I started chemotherapy
with an AC (Adriamycin and Cytoxan) treatment.
For a while things seemed to be progressing
well, but during a follow-up exam with my
doctor I requested a CAT scan, which they reluctantly
agreed to. I wanted to reassure myself that
they had gotten all the cancer, but the scan
picked up cancer spots on my back, pelvic bone,
and chest cavity. A subsequent PET scan found
even more lesions that were sprinkled like
pepper throughout my body.
They extended the AC treatment, but you
can’t do that forever because the chemicals
finally exert a toxic effect on your heart damaging
the cardio muscles.
There seemed to be a cascading effect as one
piece of bad news followed another. Conditions were
going from bad to worse and I began to lose hope
and to imagine that I might not beat the disease.
I entered a sunless valley — a nighttime of the
soul. I was going to leave my husband; my babies
would grow up without me. I wouldn’t see them
graduate from school. I wouldn’t be there when they
got married. I would never see my grandchildren.
AN UPWARD PATH
Things changed when a family member sent me
a book by a cancer survivor. The woman’s situation
was similar to my own; she was my age, had
82 www.110mag.com May/June 2008
“THEY EXTENDED THE AC TREATMENT, BUT YOU
CAN’T DO THAT FOREVER BECAUSE THE CHEMI-
CALS FINALLY EXERT A TOXIC EFFECT ON YOUR
HEART DAMAGING THE CARDIO MUSCLES.”
three kids, and had been sent home to die
because there was nothing else the medical
community could do. The woman found healing
through faith and holistic therapy.
The story gave me hope. In the back of the
book a reference section listed Health Quarters
in Colorado Springs. A friend sent out a letter
and raised money for us to go there, so in August
of that year my husband and I spent nine days
in Colorado.
It was like a nutrition boot camp. We learned
about our miraculous bodies with built-in
powers to heal themselves that they called
“God’s medicine.” We learned how we’re blocking
our bodies’ healing powers because of the
things we subject ourselves to. The cure, therefore,
comes through a major reorienting of
philosophies and practices involving body, mind,
and spirit.
I began exercising and started eating right. I
started doing things like juice fasts, eating 80
percent of my food raw, and none of it processed.
I also began working on issues of forgiveness
and removing toxins from my spirit as well as
from my body.
I began reexamining everything in my life and
working on things that might hinder the healthy
functioning of my body.
The processes of cleansing and restoration
progressed and I became a new woman. I lost
weight and developed new attitudes and philosophies
about my place in the world. And I began to
heal. The cancer shrank down to about two spots.
After a year I fasted and prayed for 21 days and
finally made the decision to quit chemo. I had
been on Taxotere, but came to believe that I’m a
marvelous creature; a chemical was not the way
I was going to prolong my life.
Through eating right and exercising, I
remained stable for almost two years. But in
December 2006 — because of Halloween,
Thanksgiving, and Christmas — I wasn’t as diligent
as I had been, and I paid the price; the
cancer began to spread. So in January 2007 I
started on Taxotere again and after a year the
cancer was back down to a couple spots.
My body cooperates when I’m diligent and I
went off chemo again in January this year.
THE BLESSINGS OF MY CANCER
Cancer is a humbling experience and, I’ve had to
admit, an ultimately good thing. Someone said
that you can only see the stars when the world
gets dark. Being diagnosed with cancer has
opened a door of light that has let in a flood of
blessings and renewal.
The awful times that I’ve been through have
been evenly matched, it seems, by a re-energized
appreciation for the world around me. Since the
diagnosis everything seems sweeter. Skies are
bluer. Grass is greener. Even the rains come with
a sweet blessing.
The laughter of my children and the embraces
of my husband hold worlds of recovered significance.
I’m so thankful!
For another thing, I learned how blessed I am
with people who love me and who were willing to
walk with me during the dark passages I’ve gone
through. So many people supported me! Family
members, people at church, and friends have