Carolyn's Story: Yes to Life helped me recover my health

Today's blog post is by the amazing Carolyn Axtell, who recently took part in the Tour de Salah to raise funds for Yes to Life who helped her recover her health.

Yes to Life's unique services, rediscovering the joys of cycling and the support of my wonderful community all played significant roles in helping me to recover my health after being diagnosed with cancer.So what better way to celebrate and mark 2 years since finishing my treatment, than taking part in the Tour de Salah bike ride around London's mosques to raise funds to support the essential work of fantastic charity Yes to Life?

Years of chronic ill-health, repeated infections, prolonged stress, exhaustion from raising three young children and neglecting my own needs culminated in my breast cancer diagnosis.

The cancer journey is a minefield and it's difficult to make informed treatment decisions when you are emotionally vulnerable. It's all too easy to get carried along on the production line as a passive patient.

The key to recovering my health was taking charge of my care and treatment, and working with experienced practitioners to identify and address the underlying factors in my cancer. My diagnosis gave me a great opportunity to take stock of my life and reassess my priorities.

Through Yes to Life I discovered integrated cancer treatment options. Tests not available on the NHS showed that I was not metabolising oestrogen safely; that I had chronic inflammation, adrenal stress,  heavy metal toxicity and a number of other factors. After adopting various protocols recommended by my naturopath and nutritionist to correct these deficiencies, further tests showed fantastic improvements.

As a result of the lifestyle changes I have made, my health is better than it has ever been. I am grateful every day for the opportunity to enjoy life and I feel extremely blessed to have found a new role supporting others to take up cycling, which has given me and many others a new lease of life!

So please help Yes to Life to empower more people to take charge of their health and wellbeing. You could even start training for next year's Tour de Salah...

So far Carolyn has raised a whopping £1,037.50 for Yes to Life. You can still donate to Carolyn's fundraising page by visiting https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/carolyn-axtell?

To find out more about the Tour de Salah, visit www.tourdesalah.org.uk

For more information on Hornbeam JoyRiders women and family cycle club, visit https://www.facebook.com/JoyRidersWalthamstow

The slow and often painful birth of a revolution

Today's blog is from Robin Daly, Chairman & Founder of Yes To Life, who shares the story behind the new book, The Cancer Revolution.

One thing that parents will tell you is that there’s pretty much no way to explain to someone who hasn’t ‘been there’ what all the fuss is about. It all seems straightforward enough, especially to would-be parents. I’ve come to realise that, in this at least, creating a complex book shares some common territory.

As long ago as 2010(!) we started hatching a plan for an incredible book about Integrative Medicine that was going to be the No 1 resource for people with cancer who want to look ‘outside the box’. I could already picture it in Waterstone’s shop window, with a beautiful Yes to Life logo proudly adorning the front cover. Slowly, slowly the pieces of the jigsaw fell into place: Patricia Peat was the obvious choice of author due to her unparalleled overview of the territory, and many other clear candidates for contributors were identified as Patricia and I honed the structure of the book. Then began the long task of asking for contributions and slowly piecing together the first rough draft.

Throughout this journey, we have been beyond fortunate in the generosity the project has attracted from writers, designer, proofreaders, editor, researchers and more. These beneficial relationships that have made the project a possibility, have also had an effect on the pace of the project, as you can’t afford to be too precious  or demanding about your deadlines when you’re dealing with busy professionals who are  going out of their way to help!

The Reset Button

Today's blog is from cancer survivor John Hagger, who writes a very moving and inspirational account about his experience with terminal cancer and the Gerson Therapy.

Preface

This is a story of my experience with the disease, malignant melanoma, a particularly virulent and fast spreading form of cancer. To be truthful, this is more an interim account of my experience with the Gerson Therapy after 12 months of the 2 year regime and an expression of the fundamental movements that have occurred in the deepest part of my life since having the original cancer diagnosis 21 months ago.

Max Gerson

Initially, I was able to carry on my life as normal until 9 months later I was told that the cancer had spread to my lymphatic system and I was not expected to survive a year.  It would be far too presumptuous to celebrate a cure at this stage but instead of following the normal pattern of swift destruction I am still alive. After 4,745 freshly pressed juices and 1,288 coffee enemas I am in good health.  All visible cancer symptoms have disappeared and I am confident, most of the time, that I will survive another 12 months.

This work is dedicated to Lesley, my wife, to my dear family and friends who love me and have carried me through the darkest times, and supported me emotionally, physically and financially; to the compassionate and loving healers who continue to work with me and, of course, to the memory of Dr Max Gerson and his daughter Charlotte who continues his work uncompromisingly.

Anti-cancer diets & the benefits of wheatgrass

Today's post is from Dr Britt Cordi PhD from Live Wheatgrass, which supplies top quality, nutritionally valuable organic superfood juices throughout the UK, Europe and USA.

You might have seen the recent Daily Mail article about what to eat to beat Breast Cancer.

I have dug down into some published medical research articles that review the evidence for an Anti- Cancer Diet. It is totally exciting research and I hope the whole world will read this.

One article, written by research scientist Michael S. Donaldson, entitled "Nutrition and cancer: A review of the evidence for an anti-cancer diet", starts off by summarising the findings having reviewed an impressive 238 published articles on the topic.  It concludes from the review that between 30-40 percent of all cancers can be prevented by lifestyle and diet alone! 

Finding an integrative path for non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Today's post is from one of our beneficiaries, Olive*, 47, from Kent who has kindly shared her experience of being treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 

After a year of getting regular boils in my armpits and round after round of antibiotics I got concerned when one lump wasn't responding.  After another nine months of hospital visits starting with the breast clinic, chest clinic and skin clinic, I ended up with a diagnosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL) at the Haematology clinic.

Having never heard of this condition it did not register that this was cancer.  I was on my own when the consultant broke the news, having had so many visits to the hospital I thought this would be another 'we can’t find anything wrong'.  It was a shock to say the least.  I had no warning or pre-counselling about what I was about to be told.

I drove to work after that in my state of shock and the first people I told were my boss and a colleague.  They cried with me.

'Eat to Outsmart Cancer' by Jenny Phillips

Today’s blog post, from our intern Olivia Tilton, is a review of Jenny Phillips’ Book, ‘Eat to Outsmart Cancer: How to create optimal health for prevention and recovery’.

I have a confession to make. Scratch that... I have two confessions to make. Firstly, I have only recently come across the wonderful nutrition marvel that is Jenny Phillips. Bit late on the band wagon, wasn’t I? The second confession is, I found her by accident. Back in Leicester, before I started my internship at Yes To life, I dragged my Auntie to a nutrition talk one evening and Jenny Phillips was a speaker. Long story short, I am now fully onboard with the oracle that is Jenny. Her book was a great place for me to start to enter into her world of nutrition and fighting cancer.

Jenny’s journey started at 39 when diagnosed with grade 4 breast cancer. At the time, she was working part time in a management training company for which she would often work in the evenings and running training workshops and presentations away from home. Cheese and onion toasties were a firm favourite along with a few glasses of wine come dinner time. 

Finding the Support I Needed - My Breast Cancer Story

Today’s post is from one of our beneficiaries who kindly agreed to share her story. Lorraine, 49, from the South East was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 and found much needed support in Yes to Life.

One morning in June 2011 I looked in the mirror and noticed that my breast had an indentation running from under my arm towards the centre. I felt around and found a hard lump, then made an appointment to see my GP. After having a scan and biopsy at the local hospital I was called back to the consultant’s office.

He told me that it was cancer. My world suddenly collapsed, I was devastated and in complete shock. I was told that it was grade 3 and an aggressive cancer that needed to be removed the following week by a small operation. They also wanted to remove some lymph nodes to assess the prognosis.

I can’t tell you the fear and helplessness you feel when you are diagnosed with cancer. I had to try and explain it to my daughters, an 18 year old and a 10 year old. At 45 I considered myself still fairly young and I lived on my own with my 10 year old. My wider family were unsupportive and I felt very alone.

Breast Cancer, Metamorphosis and Me

Today’s post is from one of our beneficiaries who kindly agreed to share her story. Amanda, 43, from East Sussex has found a range of complementary approaches really beneficial and wants to share her experiences with others.

I was diagnosed with grade 3 breast cancer in March 2014, the day after my birthday.

I was alone when I got the biopsy results. Afterwards I remember walking past my husband and mum and their faces glaring at me, waiting for a response. I calmly got dressed and told them very rationally that I had breast cancer and it was at a fairly late stage.

Looking back at that time now I remember being so numb and shocked. I felt so sorry for my body. I remember looking myself in the eye as I was getting dressed and feeling it so vividly.  I joked around with the staff as my biopsy was taken, they told me I was a ‘tough cookie.’

I told my family I was under no circumstances having chemotherapy or radiotherapy but they thought I should pursue both natural and conventional medicine. I had heard the positive stories of Kylie Minogue and Olivia Newton-John from my mum (bless her) but deep inside I had already made my decisions.

I had a lumpectomy in May 2014, then a mastectomy at the beginning of August.

Regaining Control - My Breast Cancer Journey

Today’s post is from one of our beneficiaries who kindly agreed to share her story. Laurence, 53, from South East London underwent extensive treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. Whilst suffering gruelling side effects, she began to explore other options that could support her recovery.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2014. I had noticed a thickening of the skin in my breast, but no lump as such just a change of texture. I had been having yearly mammograms for the past 20 years due to family history but they had always been clear. Both my mum and her sister had breast cancer and their mother, my grandmother, died of colon cancer aged 54.

My GP referred me for tests immediately. At the hospital, I noted that I was being processed completely differently. Previously when I was given a mammogram, I would be sent home and told to wait for a letter. On this day, I had a mammogram, a scan and four biopsies, followed by a meeting with the consultant and breast cancer nurse who invited me to the Macmillan unit the following week to talk about the results. It was obvious there was something wrong.

'The C Word - Your questions answered' at Camexpo 2015

Today's post is from our chairman Robin Daly introducing the expert panel 'The C Word - Your questions answered' that he is hosting at this years Camexpo at 3pm on Saturday 26th September. If you are interesting in registering to come along this weekend you can do so here.

Autumn is drawing in and it’s coming round to Camexpo time again. Yes to Life has been generously supported in having a stand at the show for many years, but this year, as a part of our 10th birthday celebrations, the charity is camexpo Charity of the Year...woohoo! We will also be hosting a panel Q&A on the subject of cancer and complementary therapies called 'The C Word - Your questions answered'.

Camexpo is a professional event, targeting the complete spectrum of complementary therapists, many of whom will have had some degree of contact with those with cancer and probably also many questions regarding supporting them. With this in mind, we have assembled a formidable team of experts who share between them a vast range of expertise and experience, with the aim of being able to give an authoritative answer to any question on the subject that a therapist may have.

‘How to be a Cancer Maverick’ by Nina Joy – a Review

This post is a review of Nina Joy's new book 'How to be a Cancer Maverick', a follow up to the highly successful ‘The Adventures of a Cancer Maverick’. Nina has spent the last two years defying predictions on her cancer prognosis by taking control of the management of her health. Since the publication of her first book Nina has taken daily calls on ‘how she is managing to live so successfully with cancer’, in this book she sets out to offer some answers. To purchase a copy please click here

Sometimes you pick up a book, and you know within a few pages that the person who sat down to write it is a truly remarkable individual. This is one of those books, and Nina Joy is one of those people. In August 2012 Nina was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, she was labelled ‘incurable’ and offered systematic chemotherapy as her last and only option.

‘In the blink of an eye, your life changes beyond comprehension. Everything you have held dear, and have taken for granted, is blown into smithereens. The future you thought you had – gone. The events and experiences you thought were yet to come – gone. Have you had you last birthday, your last Christmas? And bizarrely, I wondered if I would get to see the next series of Downton Abbey.’

The prognosis didn't sit well with Nina, who instinctively felt that she did have other options and it was just a case of finding them. Now almost three years later, Nina is enjoying good health and living life to the full. Having already shared her personal story in ‘The Adventures of a Cancer Maverick’ this follow up book is her guide to dealing with a cancer diagnosis and coming through it stronger than ever:

‘It has been said that what has happened to me is nothing short of a miracle. It feels like it to me! But the good news is that this miracle didn't just land on me from heaven. It’s one which I have had to figure out and work for, which makes it all the sweeter. More importantly it means that I can share the steps that I have taken, so that you may be able to create your own miracle too.’

As Nina would say, ‘hang on to your hats, let’s go Maverick!’