GUEST POST by Vivian Roe of TherapEaseCuisine.com
Something that nearly every cancer patient will experience at some point after getting diagnosed is a feeling of being absolutely out of control.
With those three words “You Have Cancer” ~ the future becomes even more unknown. Doctors for a while will become the ruling authority over your day to day schedule. Treatment appointments, medications, side effects: suddenly overshadow all of the normal things your life was made up of. And you may feel like the quality of your life will be on a steady decline with little or nothing you can do about it.
But there is A LOT you can do about it. And it starts with the simple, daily acts of eating and drinking.
When I was diagnosed 6 years ago, the very first fears I experienced…more than fears of losing a breast or possibly not surviving…were that the treatment would make me so sick that I wouldn’t be able to function. I feared I wouldn’t be able to eat or drink; that I’d constantly be throwing up. I’d be weak, unable to care for my two young sons, and even worse – that being so sick would jeopardize the 9- week old baby growing inside of me. I feared that food would become my enemy.
If I had continued down that mental and emotional path I probably would not have been motivated to make some significant changes to my eating habits. But all it took was hearing the baby’s heartbeat and looking at my boys to realize I couldn’t afford to allow food to become my enemy. CANCER was the enemy…I needed to make food a weapon.
So I asked “What should I be eating?” of my doctors, nurses, and others in my healthcare team. I scoured health stores, bookstores, magazines and the Internet to find any and all information on the medicinal effects of certain foods for specific ailments.
Some of the information was long-known; like eat more fiber if you are constipated and saltine crackers if you feel nauseous. Some of the information was a revelation; like Brazil nuts contain selenium which helps fight cancer, and lemon juice and lemon zest contain limonene which helps boost the immune system.
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| Vivian co-created TherapEaseCuisine.com to assist other survivors |
When I embraced using food to complement my treatment, not only did I empower my physical body – but I empowered my whole self. I took back control. I went on the offense to cancer ~ and my quality of life during treatment was better than anyone ever imagined. My pregnancy was not affected at all by treatment; and I had a perfectly healthy little girl full-term. My husband, sons, friends, and extended family were amazed at my energy level, optimism and condition of overall health (that is condition other than the bald-head and cancer-thing).
When you think about the average American’s diet (full of fried, cheesy, greasy high-cal/low-nutrient foods) the truth is that even modest changes, like adding green vegetables and fruit to every meal, are a big improvement.
I always considered myself to have better-than-average diet habits; but it wasn’t until I started really paying attention to everything that I consumed that I realized how very big the impact of eating the right stuff is.
Changing your diet to best fit with a cancer diagnosis and treatment may seem like a big hassle and a lot of work at a time that you’re already overwhelmed….but you don’t have to bite off more than you can chew.
Just take it one bite at a time ~ and your quality of life just may surprise you too.
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