He showed them what he thought of that diagnosis

Diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 1976, Stamaitis Moraitis left the U.S. and moved back to Ikaria, a Mediterranean island, to be close to his family and enjoy his last 9 months on earth. He rested, planted a garden and vineyard, got lots of fresh air and sunshine, ate fresh local food, slept late, took naps, ate and drank with friends at night, and started going to church.
He radically changed his diet and lifestyle.
He slowed down, simplified his life and guess what happened…his body healed!  30 years later he’s 96, still alive and cancer-free. No surgery, no drugs, no chemo. Not even any alternative therapies.   It just so happens that the island of Ikaria is classified as a “Blue Zone”.
Blue Zones are areas around the world with the longest living people. Ikarians live on average 8-10 years longer than Americans. Here’s what they do:

They eat fresh local food that they produce themselves. They get exercise working in their gardens and walking up and down the hilly terrain. They eat lots of olive oil, vegetables, potatoes, wild greens, and six times more beans per day than Americans, like garbanzo beans, black-eyed peas and lentils.  They eat fresh caught fish about twice a week and other meats about five times a month. They drink goat’s milk and eat honey. They drink lots of herbal teas like wild marjoram, sage, mint, rosemary, artemisia, and dandelion.  They consume very little refined sugar. 75% less than Americans.  They spend a lot of time socializing and sharing meals with each other.  And get this. They drink on average 2-3 cups of coffee and 2-4 glasses of wine per day. Wowzers! Here’s a link to the full New York Times article by Dan Buettner.  www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/magazine/the-island-where-people-forget-to-die

Stamaitis, still rockin'

 

 

Thanks to Chris Wark of Chris Beat Cancer for this link and story.  I think I’m going to do my best to follow in Stamaitis’s footsteps, what a way to defeat cancer!  And here’s a start…
The Former Boyfriend and I were treated to another “Behind the Scenes” tour of the Columbus Zoo.  A special gift from our friends Jim and Mariann.  This year’s tour was of the animal hospital. The Columbus Zoo is rated one of the best in the world and the work they do there is amazing.  Also, we had no idea how many local people doctors actually donate their time to the Zoo to help out the Veterinary staff.  One of the best stories was of an Ophthalmologist from Nationwide Children’s Hospital helping the staff diagnose an eye problem a resident puffer fish.  They chose a pediatric ophthalmologist because they are accustomed to squirmy, very uncooperative patients.  To get the diagnosis the Veterinary staff would lift the fish out of the water and the Ophthalmologist would get a glimpse of the affected eye. After a few attempts they had their diagnosis and the fish is living as they say…happily ever after.  Thank you so much Jim and Mariann – we loved our visit.

At Jack Hanna's yurt

So I still have two wisdom teeth

Greetings, it’s another edition of Photo Friday – yep I’m still at it, the photos keep me honest with my workouts.

This week I wanted to share some research that I’ve found on the internet.  In the Journal of Cancer Survivorship (yes there is such a thing) was an article about Low-Level Laser Therapy. It was a meta-analysis of patients with breast cancer-related lymphedema that pooled the data from nine peer-reviewed studies.

In the analysis low-level laser therapy was associated with a beneficial effect on breast cancer patients (reducing swelling and pain).  I bring this up because my Chiropractor, Dr. Rodney Merritt urged me to use his low-level laser as soon as I was done with proton therapy to help with my healing.  I’ve been receiving treatments three times per week since May.  And I’ve never (Thank God!) had any trouble with my arm.  I’m so lucky to have access to holistic approaches to medicine and healing and forward thinking Doctors.

And speaking of forward thinking doctors, Dr. Kanodia (my Integrative Specialist) has me doing a 28 day liver detoxification which includes powders, pills and a very restrictive diet during the 28 day period.  But because of the restrictions he has had me on since my cancer diagnosis these new “restrictions” are barely noticeable. The detox is necessary  because a healthy liver is key in preventing cancer recurrences.

 I was really noticing a difference until yesterday when I was sidelined with a wisdom tooth extraction. Right now I have chipmunk cheeks!  Not at all attractive.  But it helps with the detox diet because I don’t feel like eating much of anything right now.

For now, I’ll continue to search for answers to staying healthy and go with whatever works the best for me.

Wishin' we were still in Florida

 

Back from vacation

Wow! Time for another edition of Photo Friday.  Sorry I missed last week’s post but the Former Boyfriend and I were vacationing in Central Florida with my Brother Paul and his wife Deb.  It was great to spend time with them – and by the way Paul’s looking great, just waiting for doctor appointments and decisions.  To repeat a favorite Tom Petty quote, “The waiting is the hardest part.”

While we were gone there were a couple of huge cancer stories.  The first was a study that claims 65% of cancers are caused by bad luck. The study concluded that many cancers are caused by bad luck in cell division. The media have taken off with this headline, which claims the 2/3 of cancers are caused by the “bad luck” of DNA mutations and only 1/3 are caused by diet and lifestyle.

This is in direct contradiction to the American Association of Cancer Research.  And this flawed study did not even include prostate and breast cancers in the data. I hate that the media are perpetuating this lie because it makes cancer patients feel powerless.  It suggests that if you didn’t set the stage for it to grow then there is nothing you can change to prevent a recurrence. You don’t need to change your diet or get off that couch and exercise.

This was not a lab study, but a study of other studies…just a bunch of gobbled statistics, no humans were even involved.  Choices do matter and there are literally thousands upon thousands of scientific studies which have found that prevention and reversal of cancer through diet and lifestyle are possible.

Thankfully Dr. David Katz wrote a rebuttal in the Huffington Post.  He emphatically states that the report is not true.  He lists several studies that show some populations around the world get much less cancer, as well as other chronic diseases, not because of genetic advantage, but because of lifestyle advantage, mediated by culture. Dr. Katz states fortune favors the prepared!  So I’ll eat my veggies tonight and every day.

The second cancer story was 17 year old Cassandra Fortin who refused chemotherapy cancer treatment.  She’s been taken from her family in this stressful time and put into children’s services custody where she will be forced to undergo chemotherapy treatments. After going through chemotherapy and knowing that attitude is 80% of surviving I ask that anyone who prays send prayers to this girl.  Chemotherapy and the constant side effects are horrible enough…I can’t even imagine being forced into that situation against your will. And if she’d been a few months older, the courts wouldn’t have been able to do a thing.

Just before one of many lovely lunches

Nobody was fed to the gators

Oh for another walk on a warm afternoon