Giving Myself the Best Chance Possible

Since my last post I have made a couple of big decisions. A lot of thought went into them and I think it's time to give you an update. One decision seemed to be more difficult than the other, but in reality both were easy decisions after I looked at them in the context of "given my circumstances, what can I do to give myself the best possible chance of survival?"

Decision 1. To chemo or not to chemo

My first visit to the medical oncologist was very nerve-wracking. I went in with very high hopes that I would not need to do chemo. I had a double mastectomy, my sentinel node biopsy was negative, and I plan to have an oophorectomy which further reduces my risk, so my chances of recurrence seem like they would be pretty low, right? According to the doctor, though, 30 percent of node negative women come back with a recurrence so I should still consider the fact that chemo could help my chances of survival. To make a very long story short, the doctor loaded us up with information, percentages, pros, and cons, and sent us on our way for two weeks. After lots of thinking, discussing with my husband, and finally surrendering to the possibility of having to do it, I decided that to give myself the best possible chance of survival, and to have the peace of mind that I did everything I could to have the best possible chance of survival, I decided to do it. My first treatment is scheduled for September 6. I will have four treatments, each three weeks apart, and will be done on November 8.

Decision 2. Plant-based (vegan) diet

I have been seriously exploring switching to a plant-based diet. Since my diagnosis in June, I have been thinking about diet and how it affects cancer. Do I need to change my diet, and if I do, how can I change my diet to give myself the best possible chance of survival? My questions were slowly answered over the following weeks. First, I was sucked into a PBS special one Sunday morning while channel surfing. It was Dr. Joel Fuhrman talking about The Immunity Solution. This seemed like too much of a coincidence for me to ignore it. I ended up recording the entire program to be able to watch it again and I ordered his book, Super Immunity.

A week or so later, a friend sent me a video (link below) of a talk given by Dr. Michael Greger. He shows very clearly,  using one scientific study after another, that a plant-based diet can prevent 15 of the 16 leading causes of death in the U.S. and reverse the progression of several of those same diseases. I found the video very interesting, informative, and convincing and I encourage EVERYBODY (even you hardcore carnivores) to watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30gEiweaAVQ

Dr. Greger also has daily short videos on his website http://nutritionfacts.org/ that summarize scientific research on the subject of nutrition.

Listening to these two doctors prompted me to start researching veganism and I went to the library and used book stores in town to stock up on books and cookbooks to help me.

Time to get reading.

I broke out a vegetarian cookbook that I've had for years but have never opened. Here is my first attempt at vegan enchiladas with homemade tomatillo sauce. It was a lot of work (a lot of chopping for the filling), but it made a lot of leftovers. And it was worth it, I thought it was super tasty. The homemade tomatillo sauce was the easy part and it tasted amazing! I could pour it on anything!

Enchiladas with tomatillo sauce.

So I have a lot of reading to do, but I am committed to giving myself the best chance possible. If you have a favorite vegan recipe, website, source of information, or suggestion, please feel free to share it with me, I'm all ears.