Journey

There once was a time in my life (only 9 months ago) when I paid absolutely no attention to what foods I was eating. I grew up in a home that taught the importance of the four major food groups, but didn’t really follow the guide to nutrition. As all parents I am sure, mine did the best they could with what they knew. It’s the same for all of us.

We only know, what we only know.

I have been married to my wife for 11 years now. Even when we were dating, Jamie would talk about the importance of eating healthy, and paying attention to what we put in our bodies. I unfortunately never listened – until now. I am thankful for all the learning we have been doing. I was such a lazy person before. I didn’t care, or have a clue where my food came from. All that mattered to me was that it tasted good. When I look back on my life – food had become an addiction – it literally became a cancer.

Since the diagnosis, we have learned, and digested an incredible amount of information. My brain still hurts from all the reading, watching we do. It’s been good though. One area we have spent a lot of time learning about is nutrition. Not the nutrition classes we had when we were in grade school, but fascinating and complex truths about the importance of nutrition in our lives. Unfortunately, myself and countless others have ignored this aspect of truth for far too long, but thankfully it is never too late to start learning.

I immediately cut everything out of my life. No meat. No diary. No sugar. Everything I knew about food crumbled before my eyes. Life was about to take a drastic change. Drastic times call for drastic measures don’t they? So, basically I lived on juice for the first 4 months after the diagnosis. Secretly, I had become afraid of food. I thought that whatever I put in my mouth could have the potential of causing more cancer. The mind plays crazy tricks on you when you filled with poison from the chemo. I wanted nothing to do with food. It had become my enemy. It was responsible for my cancer. Now this was how I used to think (kind of). Let me explain…

Opinions are like belly buttons – everyone has one.

I have no concrete evidence on the cause of my cancer. Just an opinion.

I don’t think anyone is the absolute authority on how and why certain cancers form or when, where, and in whom they do. Cancer seems to be quite mysterious to some, and to others – the cause of cancer(s) is pretty obvious. I am more of the mind set that believes many of the leading causes of cancer are found in the foods we eat, beverages we drink, and numerous everyday chemical invested household items that are stored in our cabinets. This is just one part of the problem. There are other reasons why people develop cancer. Family genetics, our living conditions, the environment, did we or do we smoke, health, nutrition – the list goes on and on. All of these, and more, are factors which contribute to the possibility of one developing cancer. We obviously don’t have the time to unpack each one of these subjects.

Hear me out… I’m not a radical. All I am saying is that I think it is important that we should spend some time educating ourselves. Start somewhere. There is so much to learn, so don’t get overwhelmed. Find trusted resources to educate yourself with. Ask questions. For me, as I became more aware of what I ate – I slowly became less afraid of what I eat. I still have my days, but they are few and far between. I have developed a desire to become more informed of my food. Where it comes from. How it is processed…which we don’t really want to eat processed food, mind you, the conditions it is grown in. For far too long I have lived with my head in the sand. I am thankful I have finally taken it out.

I want ‘food to be my medicine’ (Hippocrates), not be the cause of my death.