How I Decided To Take Control Of My Health

It was 2003. I was having some abdominal pain on and off for a long time, and being the typical teenager, I put it off. I was thinking it might be some type of virus and that it would get better, but it didn’t. Every morning I would wake up feeling good, but several times a day I would get these brief flashes of pain in the afternoon and evening. Sometimes in the middle of the night. It wasn’t a constant pain and didn’t interfere with my life, but I was concerned. The next morning I would wake up feeling good again. Eventually the pain became so intense that I found myself balled up on the couch every night after dinner. Time to see a doctor.

After a series of inconclusive tests, I was sent to a gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy. Turns out there was a golf ball-sized tumour in my large intestine. They did a biopsy and told me I had colon cancer. It was two weeks before my birthday at that I was 26 years old. I was in shock. I couldn’t believe this was my life. How did I end up with an old person’s disease? I felt weak and pathetic. I was embarrassed and I shut down mentally and emotionally. Tow weeks later, on my Birthday, I had surgery. They removed the tumour and a third of my colon; However, the cancer had spread to my lymph nodes. It was stage 3. They brought an oncologist into my room and he informed me that I would need nine months of chemotherapy after I recovered from surgery. Before I got out of the hospital I asked the doctor, ‘Are there any foods that I need to avoid?’ He said, ‘No, just don’t lift anything heavy.’ When we got home, my family and I prayed and asked God that if there was another way besides chemotherapy that He would reveal it to us. Two days later, a book arrived on my doorstep, sent to me from a man who I’d never met. He was a business manager of my father’s. That book was called “A Way to Ultimate Health”, and it detailed how the author beat colon cancer nearly 30 years earlier using natural methods including the raw vegan diet and juicing, without surgery or chemotherapy.

I knew it was an answer to my prayer. I realized that my diet of processed food, fast food, junk food, and factory farmed animal products was killing me.I started to do more research on the harmful nature of cancer therapies. I discovered that chemotherapy destroyed the immune system and killed healthy cells; that it could make me infertile. And that it caused secondary cancers. That was when I decided against chemotherapy. This decision was not well received by my family members; however, I believed it was the right path for myself. After intense family pressure I agreed to meet with an oncologist to hear what he had to say. He told me I had a 60% chance of living five years with conventional therapies. I asked him about alternative therapies. He looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘There are none. If you don’t do chemo, you are insane. And I’m not saying this because I need your business.’ My family and I left the clinic terrified. We sat in the car, held hands, cried and prayed. I knew I wasn’t taking care of myself and that there were massive changes I could make to my diet and lifestyle. I decided to take control of my health, and if that didn’t work, chemo would be my last resort. I completely changed my diet to 100% raw vegan, eating only fruits and vegetables, and drank eight glasses of vegetable juice every day. I did every alternative holistic therapy I could find including: fasting, natural immune boosting and detox supplements, herbal teas, and more. I found a local naturopath who was a tremendous ally and guided me along my health journey, and I continued to research, reading all the information I could find about natural cancer therapies. Within one year of my diagnosis I was cancer free.

Now in 2011, eight years later, I am still cancer free. As I write this I am reminded of how good God is; how much He loves us and cares for us. I put my trust in Him, not in modern medicine. He led me in the path of healing and He will lead you too if you let Him.