April 2, 2004

Dear Friends, Family and Clients:

Today is 5 years post-cancer for me. I wanted to share a few understandings I've come to about nutrition and health from my journey. There are about a million OTHER things I learned from these past 5 years, but I will hold back on those lest this become book-length! ;-) Please keep in mind, your mileage may vary.

I was diagnosed with a rare, very aggressive cancer. The diagnosis came after surgery for what was assumed to be a benign condition -- it was a big surprise.

Funny thing was that a week after surgery I felt like $10 million bucks! But I pretty much got the idea of how serious it could be when the first oncologist I visited wept at our initial meeting. There were no treatments to prevent recurrence, which was considered inevitable and which would be immediate and soon fatal. I felt it prudent to -- as they say -- "settle my affairs."

Fast-forward to 2004 -- If this cancer was going to recur, it would have done so within the first year or so. It's 5 years in the past now, and I am healthier than I've been most of my adult life. I am a rare (and very pleased!) survivor.

Four things I want to pass on here:

1. STATISTICS CAN BE MISLEADING. Always doing my best to help myself was so important to me -- I think this hopeful message is vital to tell others as often as possible. I did not take on the idea that "the numbers are a death sentence" and just give up. I kept active at being well, including moving toward being at peace with a strong possibility of dying. Statistics and survival rates are a good description of what happens across a GROUP of people. But they are lousy predictors of what will happen to ANY ONE PERSON...I am living proof of that.

2. FRUITS & VEGGIES KICKED MY BUTT! While I am not saying intensive use of fruits and veggies cured my cancer, they gave a HUGE boost to my body to fight it off. Before we had any clue I had cancer, I felt that I was dying -- and no one believed me or could tell me why. I decided to start juicing, though I was hesitant to because I tolerate sugar so very poorly. But fresh juice SIGNIFICANTLY started helping my failing strength in LITERALLY A DAY when nothing else could! I kept with it for several months after diagnosis.

3. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU ARE PREVENTING. The good care we give ourselves goes to wherever we need it the most, regardless of what our conscious wishes are. Committing LONG TERM to a healthy lifestyle has benefits we may never fully understand. Before the cancer diagnosis, I had taken REALLY good care of myself for many years but was having a LOT of trouble recovering from an automobile accident a few years prior. I think so much of my energy went into fighting the cancer that it was difficult to otherwise heal. Unbeknownst to me, my body had been doing an AMAZING job!

4. ACID-PRODUCING FOODS MAY FEED TUMORS. Can we ever eat enough servings of fruits and veggies to offset high consumption of animal foods? Six months before I started to feel that I was dying, I went on a low-carb diet. While I was eating LOTS of raw and cooked veggies, I was also eating more animal protein than I was used to. Within a month, I was experiencing rapidly-increasing health problems, including feeling generally and seriously unwell. Plant foods reduce intra-cellular acidity -- tumors thrive on acidity. While I am certain this diet didn't CAUSE the cancer (it was there already), the timing of events tells me it was a last straw and my body could no longer keep the cancer in check.

I look forward to the next 5 (and 50!) years!

best,
Deborah

Deborah Bier, PhD
Concord, MA
wellness@GreaterWellbeing.com
978 369-8454

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©2006 Deborah Bier