To hear you have Skin Cancer at 34 years old is a shock. Cancer at any age is a shock for that matter... and I wondered... how did this come to be? Is it genetics /hereditary? Too much sun exposure? Because I am fair skinned? and Why? There are so many questions and thoughts that come rushing in when someone says you have Cancer.... "Is this the only place I have it?" ...."Has is spread?"..."What do I do now?" ...the list goes on and on and on.
Ok friends so here is the story. I went for my regular doctor for my yearly check up and the doctor told me she didn't like the look of the mole I had on my upper right shoulder blade. I said I had had it since I was a kid. She insisted I get it checked out. So I did...and thank goodness that I did because it ended up being Melanoma. I went into surgery the next day to have it removed but there was some concern that it might have reached my lymph nodes. So some blood work and things had to be done.
At this point I am freaking out. Tons of things are going through my mind..."Is that the only spot?"...."Has it spread?"..."What do I do now?"...etc...In my regular doctor visit my blood work showed I had high iron in my system and we couldn't figure out where it was coming from. My husband had had an allergy test done a few years ago that helped him find out things that he should avoid. So, in my panic to figure out what was going on with me...I did an allergy test.
The allergy test had 3 parts: 1. Skin scratch test, 2. Under the skin test and 3. Blood work. The scratch test showed issues with yeast and mold but it was the under the skin test that lit my arm up like a christmas tree. Candida yeast being the highest on the charts. So, I did some digging and found that Candida is a yeast that naturally lives in the gut. It is there with the good bacteria that live in the system. When candida gets out of control by antibiotics, bad eating habits, etc...it can escape the gut into the bloodstream and end up any where in the body.
While I was waiting for the blood work from the allergy test to come back my research on candid continued. Did you know that CANDIDA YEAST over growth is tied to CANCER? I didn't know that. I didn't realize the havoc that candida can cause in the body, things like: headaches, digestive issues, depression, fatigue, foggy thinking, skin issues (acne, eczema, etc..) and much much more. It seemed like in all the research I was readying...they were talking directly to me.
With the support of my husband Eric we decided to do a candida yeast cleanse...because his allergy test showed issues with yeast too. Its not just a woman thing...its an everyone thing. Then when my test results came back there was a whole bunch of other things that I am allergic to that we had to eliminate as well: Almonds, Eggs, Wheat, Potatoes, Barley, Cantaloupe, Soy, Dairy, ... just to name a few. The future looked bleak. I was scared about the cancer and now it looked like I had a bunch of other things going on too. I had to start somewhere so I started with cleaning out my kitchen of all things I couldn't have, I ordered a candida cleanse and went shopping for some much needed kitchen tools (Juicer, dehydrator, etc..).
All the doctors and naturopaths that I am working with agree that a candida cleanse is important for my health and that making serious changes to my eating habits is a must. But there are other things that I have to think about for my future as well. Every 4-6 months I have to get my skin checked. Currently I have 5 spots that are under watch because they are multi colored, non-circular, or raised. All are signs of possible other skin cancers / melanomas. I need to make sure that I get in for my regular check ups and keep everyone updated if there are any changes. Right now I feel like I'm under a microscope!
The future looks good though. Nutrition changes are not has difficult as I had first thought. So follow my blog as I record my findings and share with you all about the good, the bad and the challenging.
Thank you all for your support and I hope that this helps some of you make some healthy changes too!
A special THANK YOU to all my friends and family for your support!
You know who you are!! xoxo
~ Phoenix
No comments:
Post a Comment