cancer

As many of you know, animals are an enormous part of my life. I’ve taken in many strays over the years, adopted animals, donated to animal shelters and such, and my reason for being vegan is… for the animals. I love animals. And… I love my dog so very very much.

It’s with a heavy heart that I write today… we found out he has lymphoma. (Many of you heard this from me yesterday via facebook and I thank you all for your heart felt wishes.)

He’s about 10 years old and he’s just the best dog ever. He’s been with me through many trying times in my life, always my therapy… there to lift my spirits when I didn’t think they could be lifted. He’s my buddy.

Zeus and I at the Mogollon Rim a few years ago. We want to take him back there once he’s feeling better. We also want to take him to the beach, which he loves! A little road trip to CA is in order… as soon as he’s feeling better. Maybe in a couple months.

I have learned that lymphoma is treatable to a degree and we can prolong his life. I’m happy about that. It’s just so hard to see him the way he is today… tired, not eating, sick. Apparently, with treatment he can have a nice quality of life for maybe another 1-2 years. Without treatment, they give him 1-2 months. That information is based on general outcomes, not specific to him yet. We’re waiting on blood test results. Today, he is visiting an oncologist to start chemotherapy. This vet also does acupuncture and combines treatments with some holistic therapies. (Wish us luck!)

This was taken last week. :)

I’ve been asked many times about his diet. I can’t help but question my choices I made for him. Throughout his life he’s had a mixed diet. For the past 5-7 years, it’s always been organic (except for the drive-through foods we’ve given him). He has eaten vegetarian, vegan, and carnivorous (sometimes raw, grass fed meats, and sometimes cooked grass fed meats). Feeding our dog meat has always been a battle in my head because I don’t want to support slaughtering (although, as I wrote, I would always buy him meat from Whole Foods – not sure how “bad” that is in terms of slaughter houses – I suspect almost as bad). But. I also don’t want to feed him a diet that isn’t natural to him. That being said, many vets support a vegan diet for dogs if that is what the owner wants. Therefore, I tried to keep it balanced – sometimes vegan – sometimes not.

Now that I’m researching cancer and dogs, I keep seeing two big words: NO GRAINS. Crap. He’s had a fair share of grains in his life. Sure, he didn’t always have cancer, so maybe the grains weren’t so terrible back then. But, now… grains are apparently a no-no. Without having spoken to the oncologist yet, I went to a natural pet food store yesterday and bought a variety of raw meat / veggie mixtures. I also bought an omega oil (combo of hemp oil and sardine oil). I’m interested in getting him some E3-Live, too. Maybe using a syringe to get it down if he doesn’t like it on his food.

So… he’s off to the vet right now with Greg while I stay home with Kamea. The vet has an office that she’s in today which happens to be a long ways away (maybe over an hour). I won’t know anything more for a few hours…

UPDATE: They just called me from the vet. It’s estimated that he’s stage 3 with hypercalcemia lymphoma. He’s starting treatment today with chemotherapy, and if he responds well, we might be blessed with another year. If he doesn’t do well… it could be weeks or months (I don’t even like thinking about that!). For his diet, she said to give him a higher protein diet and a small amount of whole grains is ok. He can have meat (raw or cooked), veggies (stay away from too many carrots or potatoes), and some tofu will be fine.

We are fighters! I’m going to add omegas, E3 Live, and maybe wheat grass if he’ll tolerate it. We will do everything we can. I’m currently reading the free pdf ebook, The Dog Cancer Diet and reading this (recommended by a trusted friend, thank you), The Nature of Animal Healing.

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I am inspired. I am motivated. I am feeling high after watching this documentary, even though it’s the fifth time I’ve seen it. When the publishers of Food Matters sent me a copy for review, I was elated because it had been on my to-do list for a long time. And, man, am I glad I saw it! I showed it to both my mom and husband and we all wholeheartedly agreed that this is a documentary we want to see a few times a year. It’s that good! Every time I see it, I hear something new. And for the stuff I’ve already heard, it just further ingrains it in my subconsciousness and I feel myself internalizing its details more and more. I walk away feeling strong, smart, and empowered about my lifestyle decisions, albeit a bit frustrated at times because not enough people know this information. That’s where YOU come in!


If you haven’t seen Food Matters yet… get to it! You can rent it on Netflix or purchase it here. Once it’s in your hot little hands – watch it multiple times! Then, be sure to share it with your family and friends. Here’s some of what you’ll learn:

1. Heart disease and cancer are the top two killers in the United States annually. (That might not be breaking news to some people, but I get jolted every time I hear it.) Additionally, 39,000 people die due to unnecessary surgery and other errors in hospitals. But that’s not all! 80,000 people die due to other infections in hospitals and 106,000 people die due to adverse drug reactions.
2. Less than 6% of graduating physicians in the USA receive any formal training in nutrition! Holy sh*t!! No wonder they almost never prescribe nutritional remedies to things that, er, are 100% curable with nutrition. It just pains me every time I hear this. 

I pretty much hang on every line of Food Matters. I love the discussion of vitamins and the vital role they can play in helping fight illness at various quantities. It was fascinating to learn about therapeutic effects of niacin, and its history as a cure for depression with the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s important to recognize that vitamins enable the body to heal, it’s not the vitamins doing the healing. The body is powerful when given the right tools and building blocks.

The documentary also covers eye-opening, scary information about drugs, their trials, studies, and regulatory approval process. You’re not going to hear drug companies telling you that “two handfuls of cashews can give you the same therapeutic equivalent of a prescription dose of Prozac.” No wonder I love Raw vegan cheesecake.


Food Matters also addresses the fact that cardiovascular disease is a lifestyle disease which can be reversed with… drumroll please… DIET, FOOD, NUTRIENTS, STRESS REDUCTION, EXERCISE. Again, this is not rocket science. It’s a simple formula that we can all apply. (Ehem! I hope my dad is reading my blog.)  The scary aspect of it is the dependance on physicians who are viewed as omniscient, but who lack nutrition education, such as two physicians I heard last week on CNN and MSNBC about how heart disease “can’t be cured.” They don’t know!! Instead, they are knowledgeable only about drugs, and educated by the drug companies themselves. Something is very wrong with that picture. But, of course, this isn’t generally known to the public because:

1. Most doctors are not trained to the know this information.
2. There is no profit prescribing fruits and veggies. Drug companies have a duty to shareholders, and I get that. But, guess what? I have a duty to myself. So take that drug companies!

It was gripping learning about the amazing success of Gerson Therapy with some forms of cancer. Why aren’t more oncologists recommending this? My Nana died of malignant melanoma, where Gerson Therapy has been particularly effective. Why didn’t my Nana’s doctor tell her about this amazing vitamin-megadosing, nutritional option? Because they didn’t know about it!… Why not? Because they aren’t taught about it, and frankly, many physicians are not open to natural therapies, even though that’s how the body works. I wish I had known back then what I know now, because my grandmother would’ve been open to that form of therapy. I don’t want to come off too hard on doctors because I do recognize that there is a place for them and hospitals. They’re excellent in many aspects of medicine (acute illnesses, traumas, surgery, etc.) but they are systematically failing at helping us with many chronic diseases because they treat symptoms instead of underlying causes. The bottom line is, despite decades of research and new drugs, that the incidence of diseases like heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, cancer, obesity, diabetes… they’re going up. It’s sadly laughable to look at the money spent on the “war on cancer” and its failure to reduce cancer rates or deaths. I just wish more professionals would talk about how a healthy plant-strong lifestyle is helpful at fighting cancer and preventing it. It’s worked for so many already, and for those of us who don’t have that diagnosis of cancer, let’s do everything we can to prevent it. Go Plants!


Food does matter. Our bodies are powerful if only we’ll give them a chance to be strong with healthy, organic plant-based foods. So, choose those! Stack the deck in your favor! Set yourself up to win! Strengthen your immune system nutritionally! Nourish yourself with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytonutrients! Watch Food Matters and get FIRED UP about this awesome lifestyle!


Here is a great song they featured in Food Matters. Check out the lyrics here and sing along as you listen.





Here is a trailer for Food Matters.

Have you seen Food Matters? What did you think?

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It’s been such a great weekend. I went to the farmer’s market and loaded up with plenty of fresh, locally grown, organic, Super Qi produce. I played Mah Jongg with my family today. And, now it’s time to start a new week, all fresh and energized! It’s going to be a great week, I can feel it already. In fact, I think it’s that time again… for another one of my Awesome Giveaways! Check back this week for details.

I wanted to share a new blog with you, Living A Whole Life. A friend of mine started it and I’m enjoying it very much. Check it out!

News to Peruse
FDA to Reconsider Plastic Bottle Risk – It’s about time!
How Certain Veggies Combat Cancer – YEEHAW!!!
Celebs Resolutions Include Going Veg, Raw Foods, Dropping Smokes – Yay Fergie and Eva!

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