Profiting from Cancer - don't eat kale if you break your leg!

Profiting and Cancer are two words that don't sit comfortably together yet that's exactly what Belle Gibson did.  For those of you that don't know the now infamous Ms Gibson, she is a young Mum who fraudulently claimed to have Brain Cancer and, even worse (yes, it can get worse!) she claimed to have cured this incurable cancer through alternative therapies.  Her initially tragic tale and then miraculous survival story generating an enormous interest, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers, an app and, of course, a book deal.

This young lady was interviewed last night on 60 Minutes and whilst I don't want to give her any more airplay I must say there were a couple of themes that came out of it that really worried me.

Firstly, this strange and misguided belief that there is strength to be gained from rejecting conventional medicine.  If you broke your leg would you start eating kale?  If you had a car accident would you start taking Vitamin B17? If you cut your finger off would you start meditating?  So why when faced with an equivalently traumatic disease like cancer would you reject the professionals that can re-set your leg, can cut you out of that car or can sew your finger back on?!

That's not to say that once the symptom is treated you shouldn't optimise your future health.  For example, the broken leg may increase your chances of osteoporosis and it may have damaged your muscles.  It would be wise to watch your calcium intake, ensure you're within an optimal weight range, exercise to strengthen those muscles.  The best method to empower yourself, in my mind at least, is to have all avenues on your side.  Eat well, exercise, reduce stress, discipline your mind, love your family and find connections.

The second theme that concerned me was that being a 'wellness warrior' is easy to achieve.  The cold hard facts are that it takes effort to eat organic, homemade meals.  It takes effort to get up before the kids to go for a run.  It takes effort (and a whole lot of support if you are a parent!) to close that computer at work and reach your meditation class/writing class/friends dinner (insert any type of hobby here!) on time.  We lead such an "and" life...I am a parent "and" I work "and" I exercise "and" I eat only organic food "and" I etc etc  Something, somehow has to give - don't let it be your health.

I almost felt sorry for Ms Gibson last night - she was torn to shreds by the interviewer and seemed so genuinely tangled up in all her lies that the truth was indecipherable to her.  I ALMOST felt sorry for her but then I remembered she appealed to an incredibly vulnerable group of people and potentially cost some their lives....all in the name of making a few dollars!

The brighter side of adversity - cancer can help someone...

The brighter side of adversity

When I found out I had cancer I just wanted the d@mn thing out of me!  It didn't occur to me to be worried about my hair (until of course I was bald, but that's for another post!).  Initially, I used the hair loss as a wonderful fund-raising distraction.  Many of you participated in my "Cut and Cullen" campaign which raised a staggering $23,000 for Youth Off The Streets.  Who'd have thought that cutting off a pony tail could be so rewarding!

I am really pleased to tell you that all the funds have finally reached the charity (after some administrative hiccups with matched giving).  Last week I had the most humbling and inspirational conversation with one of the representatives from Youth Off The Streets (YOTS) which I wanted to share with you all....

The rep explained to me that their services are devoted to children 12-25 who are forced into homelessness by drug addiction, social isolation, neglect or abuse.  Kids who receive no family support, who are ridiculed by peers, who are 'written off' as dumb, no hopers or worse still, fall into criminal circles.  It is YOTS goal that these young people will leave their care drug free, with a high school education, with living skills and a job.  The kind of money we raised will completely change someone's life!

Can you imagine your home-life being so bad that your best option is to live in a car or worse still live on the streets...these are the options being faced by 14,15,16 year old children.  When I found out I was sick I wanted my Mum&Dad.  I wanted my Mum to hug me and my Dad "to fix it"...cause he fixes everything :)  I took for granted that they would both be there to help me, to hold me, to guide me.  These kids, when faced with their own problems, receive abuse from their parents.  The very people who are meant to protect and repair them, shatter their self esteem and physically hurt them.  

I've noticed an increase in beggars in Melbourne recently - is that because I'm now more aware or because there is a genuine increase?  And have I stopped to talk to one?!  Money can of course go along way, and sure I did my part to cut my hair off and donate to YOTS but I think it would be more powerful to have a conversation....so that's this week's goal.  Look up from that i-phone/i-Pad/i-pod and see the people who need to be seen!

The Cure Cancer regime - Check in Number #1

Being told I have Cancer is the most confronting experience I have ever been through.  In the minutes after I finished with the doctor all I wanted was quietness.  The sound of people on their typewriters, phones demanding answering, of the coffee machine hissing out steam - it was all so acute...it felt like everything and everyone was screaming at me.

In a hospital quietness is actually very hard to find!  I wandered aimlessly through hallways until I accidentally (subliminally?) found the chapel. I've never been a particularly religious person so it seemed rather odd to me when I finally registered where I was sitting.  I collected myself enough to ring my husband and my sister and then I just waited.  I waited for them to tell me it was all going to be OK.

In those waiting minutes (and it was only about 20 minutes) I resolved that I would do everything possible to get better.  Little did I know that 'doing everything' would be nearly as overwhelming as the initial diagnosis. The amount of information that is out there and, worse still, that contradicts each other is mind blowing. Supposedly I can cure cancer via chemotherapy & surgery, by starving cancer through nutritional strategies, by using a corrosive topical paste called black salve (which burns and destroys tissue leaving behind a black scar), by surrounding myself with love or, my personal favourite, by jumping on the trampoline!

Overwhelmed with choices I fear I have very little 'Cure Cancer' regime established (other than the western medicine requirements) so my check in #1 is embarrassingly weak.  Dr IM (the Integrated Medicine doctor I told you about a while back, 1st June) wants me to:
(1) Introduce Meditation: Meditate twice a day for 10-15 minutes
(2) Change my Diet: NO Refined Sugar, Dairy, Grains, Soy or Fried foods plus 10 glasses of water
(3) Prioritise Sleep: Aim for 8 hours sleep a night
(4) Take Supplements: 8 in total

The oncologist, genetic councelor and surgeon added to the list:
(5) Chemo: 4 rounds
(6) Regular Exercise: 30mins a day
(7) More Surgeries

According to additional research I also need to ensure I have 'fuel for the soul', so let's throw in:
(8) Soul Food

So I now have an 8-step program - you've gotta have a stepped program right?

Meditation	No	I have tried once with very little success (refer my post 10th May)
Diet	1/2	I’ve made friends with salad, eat lots of fresh produce but sugar is my nemesis and I now spend too much time cooking (my son told his kindergarten teacher that mummy’s job is “to grow food”!)
Sleep	No	The drugs running through me (and I have two kids) have affected my sleep
Supplements	No	Not sold on these plus I've failed to do anymore research
Chemo	Yes	4 rounds done, awaiting confirmation this is it :)
Exercise	1/2	I have introduced some brisk walks but it seems amazing to my lethargic body that I ran a half marathon a year ago!
Surgeries	WIP	Awaiting doctor’s instructions
Soul Food	No	Apparently I have a soul I just choose not to feed it…

Lycra, phones and boob jobs - the beating cancer combination?!

Lycra and the overheard conversation.

May I first start with an apology - I have succumbed to the lycra.  I'm not talking the 2XU or Skins type fluorescent striped leggings with coordinated bright orange Nikes....but, alas, it's still lyrca.  And what's worse (confession time)...they are magnificent -  comfortable, flexible and even helpful in reducing some movement.  

As I hang my head in shame at this first 'yuppification' I find myself drawn to my phone.   You see part of beating chemo fatigue is to get yourself out and about for 1/2 an hour a day to do some light exercise.  But my over-active, poorly disciplined mind sees that as 1/2 an hour I could be returning calls, helping a friend plan her engagement party, organising a babysitter, checking in on Mum etc. So that awful female habit of multi-tasking creeps in and I find myself the perpetrator of the annoyingly loud phone call as I trot around the park in my black leggings.  

And then it happens...I pass someone walking their dog whilst mid-sentence on the phone to a friend: "And then the surgeon said to me I'll have the best rack in the nursing home".  I start laughing but quickly stop when I realise this stranger is staring at me.  The yuppification process is complete, well at least in that stranger's eyes - they see lycra and hands-free cables and hear me laughing about my boob job.  

I feel a sudden urge to hang up the phone and tell this complete stranger that it's not exactly elective breast surgery!  But then, this is a stranger - how odd it would it be to engage in any conversation with them at all.   

Lessons learnt: 

(1) don't judge, there may be more to a person's story,

(2) lower my voice and pull the beanie down a little further

Saucy Salmon Salad - a good way to lose the dressing...

Saucy Salmon Salad

Ingredients
* 1 cup baby spinach - fresh and washed
* A small avocado
* Two eggs
* 50-100g smoked salmon

Method
* Wash the spinach and put it in a salad bowl
* Cut up the avocado and salmon into bite size pieces and add to the salad bowl
* Pan fry two eggs with a little coconut oil but make sure the yokes remain runny (the key here is to not let the oil get too hot as the eggs will go crispy so have your frying pan on a medium to low heat)
* When the eggs are cooked (sunny side up) add them to the salad bowl as well

The runny egg yolks give this salad all the moisture it needs. If you're not a salmon fan, substitute it for poached chicken.

Do I need to be a doctor, a hippy or a cancer-patient to be a wellness guru?

What is a wellness guru? Surf the net and you'll find a plethora of candidates - predominantly young females with surprisingly little credentials and either a celebrity status (think Gwyneth Paltrow's blog Goop) or a serious illness (think Belle Gibson, oops, except she didn't actually have cancer!). Parking the fact that it is unfathomable to me that someone can lie about having cancer to generate blog followers, the fact remains most people want "an answer" to wellness that is not dripping with difficult-to-understand medical lingo nor does it require us all to move to the nearest commune to burn incense, participate in ear candling and only eat green things!

Where is the balance? Do I believe the Pharmaceutical and Supermarket Giants who manipulate me, incorrectly label products to sell higher-margin items and want to poison the world so we're dependent on their medicines? Or do I believe the inexperienced hippies who wouldn't know their @rse from their mouth when it comes to cleansing rituals? The internet, blogs and the media are saturated with options and with information but they're not really clear on "an answer". Given this, people like me start exploring, researching and inevitably reaching out so they can find a digestible solution...and when you're sick you need 'an avenue' - you need a strong belief that there's a pathway to wellness.

The one 'answer' I have been able to glean thus far from my cancer travels is that, contrary to some conspiracy claims, the medical fraternity indeed supports the value of a healthy diet, regular exercise and the reduction of stress (of course in addition to their surgical or pharmaceutical medical management programs):
* "Each year, about 589,430 Americans die of cancer; around one-third of these deaths are linked to poor diet, physical inactivity, and carrying too much weight."
* "Physical inactivity is the second greatest contributor, behind tobacco smoking, to the cancer burden in Australia".

I'm excited by this - it's accessible (I don't need to crush the horn of some nearly extinct Rhino afterall!). Now the exploration becomes - what are 'healthy food choices' and what constitutes 'regular exercise'? Here are my starting points:

1. Healthy diet = HEALTHY EATING PYRAMID (refer http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/national/resource/healthy-living-pyramid)
2. Regular exercise = ABOUT 30 MINS PER DAY of moderate to vigorous activity (refer http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubhlth-strateg-phys-act-guidelines/$File/FS-Adults-18-64-Years.PDF)
3. Reduce stress/be more mindful = well now here is a can of worms....back to the meditation classes for me?

So do I qualify now as a 'wellness guru' - I'm 38, I'm female, I have Breast Cancer and I have an 'answer'...oh, and I have a blog!! I'm not a wellness guru...I actually don't think there is any such thing! It all comes down to your definition of "well". Am I well if I am happy and loved but riddled with cancer or do I need to be 80 and rich? I think I'll set about defining what "well" looks like for me before I go striving for "guru-dom".

Body Image - what we tell ourselves VS what we tell our children

A really interesting piece from Oz about Body Image...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAzPz94b4mc