In my guest blog, I talk about the initial symptoms I experienced that eventually moved us towards changing our lives. What I didn't share were the very private and intimate moments one goes through when faced with the fear of the unknown. You see, when the first tests came back indicating that there were spots on my lungs, the diagnosis could have gone a couple of ways; Sarcoidosis or Lymphoma. I had never heard of Sarcoidosis but Lymphoma - I knew what that was - cancer. It would take over a week to get the final diagnosis but during those five days, I battled every emotion one can imagine. I called all of my kids and told them what I was facing - a difficult task in itself. I cried, I prayed and I did the classic bargaining with God thing. It was in the midst of that bargaining that a very dear friend of mine in California, Shelley, called to visit. She had no idea what I was facing and I wasn't sure I was going to tell her.
Shelley wanted to share an exciting Bible Study that she was doing with me - thinking I might enjoy it. It was called, "One Month To Live"! WHAT?!? Are you serious? Being a person who believes that God often speaks through the lives of other people, I was confident this was my 'sign' that I had Lymphoma. Oh the thoughts we have when fear is our guide!
The point of the story is that the book was pivotal in our lives and I believe God had used Shelley in those moments to help facilitate the change that was so desperately needed in our lives. The book is written by a pastor, Kerry Shook, who councils the dying as part of his pastoral role. He wrote the book because he felt that people in their final days have such clarity - something each of us should have in our lives. The fact is we will all face the same fate. 1 out of 1 people will die. The point is what we do with our lives knowing that we face this statistic.
Well, as you know, my prognosis ended up being Sarcoidosis, a disease still serious but usually not fatal. I continued to face a number of serious issues but by reading that book and doing some serious reflection on how I wanted to live my life for the rest of my life was forever altered through that experience. The changes were not immediate, rather fairly gradual, but they came one by one and they continue to unfold in both my life and the life of my husband.
We are clearly not the same people we were two years ago. We would have never imagined that those events would have resulted in so many positive changes. So today, we are thankful for those times. In fact, we consider that period of our life to be the best time of our life. It was that moment of clarity when we acknowledged that we were not in control and that to the extent that we are willing to yield to God's leadership in our lives, we would begin to experience the 'peace that passes all understanding' - Philippians 4:6-7, NKJ.
With this as a backdrop for the changes in our diet, here is my guest blog;
My Plant-Life Journey
It was about two years ago when I was at work teaching a new class of technical support agents when I began to feel dizzy. The dizziness was followed by blurred vision and a numbness in my arm. I called out to the trainer in the next room and asked that he take over the remainder of my class while I attempted to reach my husband. What followed was a rapid series of tests, all of which would uncover one physical ailment after the other.
The battery of tests revealed that I was basically falling apart; sarcoidosis in my lungs, a blocked carotid artery, dangerously high cholesterol, nerve and disc compression in my back and neck and it was likely that the dizziness and numbness revealed that I had suffered a minor TIA (transient ischemic attack), or stroke.
Fast forward to this past December, we had just crossed three months of ‘playing’ with a vegetarian diet so that I could lose weight followed by the completion of the 21-Day Vegan Quickstart with PCRM (Physician Council for Responsible Medicine) just to see what a vegan diet was like. At the end of the 21 days I was feeling good and wanted to see if the changes in my diet had helped with my conditions. The results were amazing. My cholesterol numbers had improved by almost 50% and the blockage in my carotid artery was gone. Additionally, I had lost 15 pounds and was feeling incredible. Good enough to address the issues with my failing back.
Even with these great results, we didn’t jump right in to a Plant-based diet. In fact, our entire journey has been cautious. You see, my husband was raised on a 40,000 acre cattle ranch in Montana and I was raised in a typical suburban home with a diet like most modern Americans. Additionally, my husband, Larry, is a Type 1 diabetic and we both believed that he could only eat a high-protein (meaning animal protein), low carbohydrate diet. So we were a bit scared and suspicious that this new way of eating would not work for us.
We had watched several documentaries that began to open our eyes including; Food Inc, Food Matters and finally Forks Over Knives. It was FOK that really got our attention. Yet, the fear of jumping in was preventing us from fully engaging. At this point, we had successfully cut out all soda, all meat and most cheese but making the final leap and fully embracing a Plant-Based, No Processed Foods, No Oil and No Cheese diet was met with fear on both of our parts. What if Larry’s blood sugar levels go through the roof? What if they plummet? What will our friends and family think? What if we find that we miss our ‘old’ way of eating and we fail?
Our final documentary was Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue. I immediately downloaded the e-book and read it the next day. I announced to Larry that I was going to start the 28 day plan the following Monday. To my surprise, he agreed to join in with me.
As with most fears, none of them were realized. In fact, we have been amazed at how quickly we have adapted to the new way of eating. Larry’s A1C (average blood sugar levels) have actually improved by 30%. He wakes up most mornings with normal levels. Something he hasn’t ever experienced before. It is nothing short of miraculous in our minds.
The hardest transition for us was to give up cheese and oil. I had always considered myself a proper ‘foodie’ and ALL good cooks include Olive Oil as part of their recipes, don’t they? And cheese? Isn’t that a staple of the diet? We transitioned slowly. With the oil, we started by limiting dishes to small amounts of oil in baking and no added oil in stove top dishes. Eventually, we were able to incorporate some of the tips provided by Engine 2 and other plant loving sites and said our final farewell to oil.
Saying goodbye to cheese was the hardest thing for me. It was not unusual for me to snack on morsels all day long and add it to every dish (if it wasn’t the main dish). So, the process of letting go was very slow. When I learned about casomorphines, that was it for me. I had just stopped taking about five medications in an effort to live a drug-free life and cheese was my final drug of choice that had to go.
Today, the thought of adding greasy fatty cheese to my beautiful plate of vegetables is nearly nauseating. I’m thankful for that. I’m also thankful for the Engine 2 diet and the tools that help us succeed every day. We are still in the early days of our new life but the future is so bright. We truly believe that our lives have been extended and the quality of our lives has improved ten-fold.
My advice to anyone considering a plant-based diet is to be good to yourself. Allow yourself to have and ask questions. There are plenty of resources out there and people committed to your success. Do your research and then take the plunge. There will be times in the early days when you question your decision but if you hang in there, play with menu choices and experiment with new foods, you will love your choice - and so will your heart.
Here’s to living Plant Strong!
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