What does it take to find true healing after escaping a war-torn country and facing lifelong challenges? Cindy Jewell shares her incredible journey from being born with polio, escaping Vietnam, running away and being trafficked in her youth and eventual escape, being in an abusive marriage and eventual cancer diagnosis.
Cindy's story demonstrates and testifies to the human spirit and spiritual strength that helped her continue on in her journey. Her story is one of resilience and triumph, eventually finding solace and healing through the HealingStrong organization.
Cindy's faith and resilience are put to the ultimate test as she navigates this harrowing journey with the support of her loving husband. She candidly discusses the tension between traditional medical advice and alternative treatments, including a plant-based diet. Through it all, Cindy's unwavering faith becomes her anchor, guiding her through the storm. Join us as we explore Cindy's inspiring story and learn how Healing Strong provides a supportive community for those facing similar struggles.
CONTACT:
Bangor, Maryland HealingStrong Group Leader
healingstrongbangor@gmail.com
HealingStrong's mission is to educate, equip and empower our group leaders and group participants through their journey with cancer or other chronic illnesses, and know there is HOPE. We bring this hope through educational materials, webinars, guest speakers, conferences, community small group support and more.
Please consider supporting our mission by becoming a part of our Membership Program, as a monthly donor.
When you do, you will receive additional resources such as: webinars, access to ALL our past and most recent conference videos, downloadables and more, as a bonus.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I got married.
I wasn't happily marriedbecause I had a lot of issues
that I never took care of when Iwas younger.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
You know, and.
I tried my best to be happy,but I didn't know why I had so
much issue.
I had anger issue.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
You know, I was easily triggered and I just
didn't know why I was being likethat.
Because I had a wonderfulhusband who treats me so well.
I've never been like treatedlike a queen before.
And I had a baby and you know,she's beautiful, she's 11 years
old now and I should be reallyhappy, but I wasn't.
(00:41):
And then she started when shegot a little older, she started
noticing that, you know, mommy'snot happy, you know, and I
didn't want her to see me likethat.
So I tried to find ways to healmyself and that still didn't
work.
It wasn't until I found HealingStrong that I was able to
(01:03):
really find people to help me,to talk about my past.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
You're listening to the I Am Healing Strong podcast,
a part of the Healing Strongorganization, the number one
network of holistic cancersupport groups in the world.
Each week we bring you storiesof hope, real stories that will
encourage you as you navigateyour way on your own journey to
health.
Now here's your host stage fourcancer thriver, jim Mann.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, I am so excited to talk to Cindy Jewell.
How are you doing, Cindy?
Speaker 1 (01:38):
I'm doing good.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Great, you're all the way up there in Maine.
And now full disclosure.
We had recorded this earlierand there were some technical
difficulties On my end.
Something happened.
I don't know what it was,because I've never made mistakes
before, but actually I thinksomething went wrong with the
board.
I don't know, it doesn't reallymatter, because Cindy was
(02:00):
telling her story and she wasjust bringing in all these facts
left and right and I'm likewhat, what in the world?
So I'm glad to do this over,because I want to get this full
story, because this podcast isnot just about people overcoming
cancer even though that's howit started and that's like our
main focus but you have overcomeso many things from birth until
(02:23):
now, and so I just want peopleto be encouraged by this.
So, cindy, take us all the wayback.
You were born in Vietnam, bornwith polio, right?
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yes, born in Vietnam and I had polio as a baby.
And then my parents were veryscared, so my dad decided that
we were going to come to Americaand we escaped, leaving on a
boat, a small boat, with otherpeople too.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
So you had to escape there.
You can't just leave, huh.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, we left that night when it was really late
and I just remember being on thebeach and everybody's telling
me please don't cry, pleasedon't cry, wow.
And then we saw a boat, andthen we just ran to the boat and
other people was on it too, andthen we started sailing.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Wow, was it really crowded.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Not as crowded as the other pictures that I saw, but
it was a lot of people.
Yeah, wow, so it really crowded.
Not as crowded as the otherpictures that I saw, but it was
a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah, wow.
So how far did you get?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I'm not sure, but we were rescued by I believe it's
American Navy ship and they tookus to I think it's like another
island, like near Taiwan,something like that, and we
stayed there with immigrationand we filled out papers and my
(03:50):
uncle sponsored for us.
So we came to America and toCalifornia.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Okay, which is where your uncle lived, right?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Okay, so you were able to find a doctor there to
kind of figure out what to dowith your polio.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah, the doctor gave me some braces to wear when I
was younger and I didn't walk.
I didn't know how to walk atfirst, but with the braces they
helped me to walk and every dayI would go for a walk with my
dad and then one day I juststarted walking on my own.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Wow, but how old were you at that time?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I think I was probably four or five when I
escaped from Vietnam.
I was three.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And then I learned how to walk around maybe four or
five.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
That was probably exciting for you, wasn't it?
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah, yeah.
Everybody was cheering me onlike come on, you can do it.
I remember all the neighbor'skids were there.
And then I took my first walkand everybody was shouting yay.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Wow, so you've lived there in that area of California
, up until your teens, right?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Up until I met my husband online about 15 years
ago and then he lived in Maineand he had a job already and I
didn't work at that time.
So I figured I'll just comeover to Maine and try to make
him come over to California soon.
(05:22):
Try to make him come over toCalifornia soon.
But that never happened,because I realized that Maine is
a beautiful place to raise yourfamily and I enjoy living here.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, yeah, maine is a beautiful place, as long as
you like cold.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, at first it was like challenging, but now I
don't really mind.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Well, let's go back a little.
I think somewhere in your teensyou lost your mother, right
yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Not until later.
It was a couple of years agowhen I was living in California
with my father.
My mom wasn't here yet.
My dad sponsored her to comeover, but she didn't come over
until 15 years later excited tohave her and my brother and
(06:17):
sister, and I thought that wewere going to be really happy,
like the Brady Bunch family.
You know, I have two brothersand two sister and I was the
only child, felt like the onlychild at first, coming to a big
family, and things just didn'tum, came to be like I wanted, um
, you know, there was a lot ofdrama and stuff like that
sadness and I just couldn'thandle it and so I ran away from
(06:41):
home when I was a teenager.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
And when I was on the run, I met these people.
I'm a group of people, a femaleand about three guys and they
said you can come with us andwe'll provide you a place to
stay and food.
And, um, I was a runaway with afriend of mine and I talked to
(07:05):
her and she said, okay, but thenI don't know what happened, she
disappeared, and so I end upgoing by myself and, um,
everything was good, they let mestay with them and fed me.
And then one day, um, the girlcame into um what she told me to
take a shower, and she told me,um, what to do.
(07:27):
And then I just thought thatwas really weird.
And then, um, she came in theshower again and tell me to come
outside.
And when I went outside, all ofthem were sitting around and one
of them had a gun, and hedidn't say anything, but she
started talking.
She said I need you to dosomething for us and you're
(07:48):
going to have to do it.
And at that moment I didn'trealize what she was saying
because I was really nervousabout the gun.
And then she said that this guyis going to come over and we
want you to entertain him.
And then that's when I figuredit out.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, that had to be scary.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yeah, I don't know how long I stayed there, but I
was planning my escape for awhile.
But I was planning my escapefor a while and then one day I
had a thought that maybe I couldjust tell them that I'll get
some more girls you know, I'llget my girlfriend that was a
runaway to come down.
And they thought, ok, so theygave me a quarter to go outside
(08:32):
and call on the payphone and Icalled my friend and I asked her
, like if she was planning to gohome.
And she said no.
And then I called my dad whenthey weren't around and I asked
him.
He heard me and he said that,oh well, you know, please come
home.
You know, please come home.
We really love you and miss you.
(08:53):
And I told him well, if I, ifI'm gonna come home, I want
things to change a little bit,you know.
And I also told him, like, well, if you really want me to come
home too, I have a friend.
She has to come with me becauseI didn't want her to be left
alone and, you know, end up likesomething like me.
You know, I was really scaredfor her.
So I said, please, you have tolet her come.
(09:14):
And at first he said no, butthen I said that I'm not coming
home unless she comes home.
And then he agreed.
And then I looked around to seewhere I can go to get help.
And I was in front of a barAmerican bar and I just went in
there and the guy followed mebecause he was wondering where I
(09:38):
was taking so long.
And when I went into the bar Ilooked around for somebody to
talk to and I just immediatelystarted busting out in tears and
saying please help me.
I really need help right now.
And when the guy saw that I wascrying and you know telling
them, you know I needed help, hewas really scared.
(09:58):
So he took off and I never seenthem again and I told the bar
guy to if I could use the phone.
I called one of my friends and Iasked people at the bar to give
direction because I didn't knowits direction.
They took me to LA and I was inOrange County.
(10:19):
That's about half an hour awayor an hour.
I didn't know street directioneither.
Luckily there was somebodythere that knew the direction to
come from.
I gave him the phone and hegave the direction to my friend.
My friend came to pick me up.
I went to pick up my friend andshe came to live with us.
(10:41):
She stayed with us for a coupleweeks and then she went home to
her family, so that was good sohow did your parents feel?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
were they excited to see you?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
obviously um, my dad was really excited to see me,
yeah, yeah, I just really feltlike awkward around my family
because I wasn't really close tothem at first.
So I just like, when I camehome, I just stayed in my room
and I just like not talked.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Yeah, how old were you at that time?
Speaker 1 (11:17):
I think I was 16 or 15, 17.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
That's almost normal behavior for a teenager, then,
to stay in the room for some ofthem anyway.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Yeah, well, I didn't have a room at first because it
was a big family and I wasstaying with my sister and my
mom, but I knew that at home was, you know, it's very
challenging and I needed a placeto escape.
And I told him please, please,let me have my own room.
And he agreed to that.
I just felt like maybe you knowmy other other family, my
(11:55):
brother and sister, might nothad liked it so much, because
you know I come home and I getthis and get that yeah, so your,
your dad was like really strictright yeah, he was very strict
yeahyeah, he didn't let me have any
friends.
He expected me to go to school,get straight A's, and you know,
I, during that time, I, when he, he worked all the time so I
(12:18):
was left at home all by myself,starting at age of eight.
You know, I had my own keys, Igo in the house and he said,
don't go anywhere.
And you know, and I had foodand he wasn't around to help me
with homework and you know so Ifelt like I wasn't very smart in
school and you know so I feltlike I wasn't very smart in
school, so I didn't have goodgrades and that was really a big
(12:40):
problem with him.
And he didn't let me have anyfriends too.
So you know that was something.
I went to school and I hadfriends and I couldn't go hang
out with them, I couldn't talkto them on the phone.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
So it was like I wanted to have some freedom and
have some friends.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I couldn't even have girlfriends, you know, wow, yeah
, that's kind of rough.
Feel isolated, didn't you?
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Yeah, yeah, very isolated.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, I don't have any friends either, but that's a
whole different story.
Just kidding, I have friends,but they all live in other
states.
I should take that personally,I guess.
So what happened from thatpoint?
Did you eventually just moveout as you got older?
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, I moved out and then I was in a relationship
and it was abusive.
So he started doing drugs andyou know I did it and then I saw
that the like really helpedwith my depression.
And that's all I did when I wasolder, at least for a couple of
years.
(13:41):
I was just doing drugs and justtrying to forget.
And then one day I just hadthis thought like you know, if I
keep doing things like this,then my dad is going to bury me
and I didn't want him to do thatbecause I didn't want him to
think, like you know, I hatedhim or anything like that.
So I left, I tried to leave myex, and then I went back home
(14:07):
because I knew he couldn't findme there, and I got clean and I
had a little niece and nephewtoo at that time and they were
like around three years old.
So I took my time.
Like the whole time I just tookthem out, took care of them,
and that really helped with mydepression because, you know,
they're so loving and they don'tjudge.
(14:29):
So I love them very much.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Kids can be great.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, and then when they get older around, like when
they were 10, I started goingonline to find somebody and I
met my husband online and he wasliving in Maine and I'm like,
oh, my goodness, I guess it'snot gonna happen then because he
lives in Maine.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah, it's a little ways from California.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, and he was legally blind so he couldn't
drive.
So I was thinking, oh well, Iguess he can't come here.
But then he did.
He visited me and he visited mewith his father.
And the first time I met him Iwas so excited and nervous, I
(15:18):
was laughing all the time.
Um, I fell in love with him andI, you know, I just knew at
that moment like, okay, he's theone.
I knew he was the one because,um, we were on the bus and it
was so crowded and I was justthinking about him and then all
suddenly I just started gettingso much anxiety and I could like
, I was breathing like reallyhard and he had to take me off,
(15:41):
to carry me off the bus.
That's like the first time Iknew like, yeah, this is gonna
be serious, he's the one thatI'm gonna marry and I just it
just got me like really a panicuse for some reason yeah, yeah
he went home, I just felt like Ihad to be with him.
So I told him I'm going to comevisit you.
He bought me a ticket.
(16:02):
I was supposed to come visithim for Thanksgiving.
He bought me a ticket and Ijust stayed.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
And that's where you've been ever since right.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Okay, so you got married and you're still happily
married, right?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
I got married.
I wasn't happily marriedbecause I had a lot of issues
that I never took care of when Iwas younger.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
OK.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
You know, and.
I.
I try my best to be happy, butI didn't know why I had so much
issue.
I didn't know why I had so muchissue I had anger issue.
You know I was easily triggeredand I just didn't know why I was
being like that.
Because I had a wonderfulhusband who treats me so well.
I never been like treated likea queen before.
(16:50):
And I had a baby and you knowshe's beautiful, she's 11 years
old now and I should be reallyhappy, but I wasn't.
And then she started when shegot a little older, she started
noticing that, you know, mommy'snot happy, you know, and I
didn't want her to see me likethat.
So I tried to find ways to healmyself and that still didn't
(17:14):
work find ways to heal myself,and that still didn't work.
It wasn't until I found HealingStrong that I was able to
really find people to help me totalk about my past, and Pastor
Seaman helped me how to releasemy emotion, and he counseled me
(17:35):
for quite a while.
And then, um, when he didn'tcounsel me anymore and times
when I was really upset, I justtalked to myself and say what is
it that you're upset about?
And if it's nothing, then justlet it go.
And if it's something, then isit worth being upset, right, you
(17:55):
know?
And then I would just do whathe taught me to do.
I would close my eyes and packup all my anger and then give it
to the Lord and say I don'twant this anymore, please take
it from me.
And it actually really works.
I felt so much better, and so Ido that every time, like I
really I get triggered and youknow I I'm seeing a counselor
(18:20):
and my mind start being reallyhealthy, I start thinking
clearer and I started, um, youknow, uh, figuring out what I
wanted to do with my life.
Yeah, um, but um, that that wasbefore.
That was during the time when Iwas diagnosed with cancer that
I found out.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Right, wow.
So let me back up here.
Cindy, I think you've had kindof a rough beginning.
I think you shouldn't be toohard on yourself, which I'm sure
you probably were.
You're probably not now.
No, yeah, like all of us, youhad a hole in your life that you
(18:59):
were trying to fill and youdidn't know which direction to
go until you found God,obviously, because that's what
that hole was all about.
But when did you become aChristian?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
because that's what that hole was all about, but
when did you become?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
a.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Christian.
I was a Catholic being raisedbut I didn't really go to church
because my father didn't go tochurch.
He stopped going to church.
But I always thought of God assomebody who's made all the
world and stuff like that, likethey say.
But I didn't really understandwho he was Right and at times
(19:32):
I'm wondering if he made thisworld, why is there so many
sadness and why am I born likethis?
Did I do something bad?
I used to think like that, andwhen I met my husband he was a
Christian, so he goes to churchevery Sunday, and so I started
going to church with him.
But I didn't really feel Goduntil later, when I was
(19:54):
diagnosed.
And then I called my friend andI told her I'm really scared, I
don't know what to do.
And she told me just pray toGod and ask for forgiveness.
And that day I prayed to himand I cried so much and asked
for forgiveness and I said Idon't know what I'm doing with
my life.
It seems like everything that Ichoose is wrong.
(20:16):
So please help me.
I surrender my life to you.
Please show me the way towhichever way I'm supposed to go
, because I don't know what todo anymore and I don't want to
make any more mistakes.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Right, wow, yeah, that's the best place to be.
That's when, especially whenyou had such a rough life, and
then you get a diagnosis, andGod becomes very real during
those moments, because you feelout of control and you're like
I'm scared, I don't know what todo.
You're kind of at rock bottom,and that's where God shows up in
our lives, because we're at theend of our ropes.
(20:49):
So, man, you have quite thestory.
You have a movie in the makinghere.
So, when the diagnosis, whatwere your symptoms?
What made you realize you needto go to the doctor?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
my doctor um wanted me to uh do.
And how do you say that?
colonoscopy yeah, colonoscopy,because I was at the age of it
and, um, it was during covid andI was the only one who was able
to go by myself.
My husband wouldn't allow to gowith me.
(21:21):
But, um, I was put asleep andwhen I woke up, my um, my
husband was there and I'm like,okay, so they didn't tell me at
first.
But then when the doctor camein and he said, okay, we found
something and he believes thatit's cancer because he's done
this a lot of times and he'sgoing to refer me to a surgeon
(21:46):
from there, there, an oncologist.
And you know, I didn't evenunderstand what he was saying at
first because it didn't reallypick up in my mind, because I
was going through a lot of stuffat that time.
Before COVID, my mom had passedaway, and then, during COVID,
my mother-in-law passed away andI was just like in shock of
(22:10):
every event happening to me,just like in three years, you
know.
And so it didn't click to myhead.
And when I went to the surgeon,he was telling me that he wanted
me to have surgery to remove itbecause I had rectal cancer,
(22:33):
rectal colon cancer.
He wanted to remove the bottomof the rectal colon cancer and
have me go on a colostomy bag.
And that's when I broke down intears and like, oh no, I don't
need this, please, I don't needthis, please, I don't need this
right now.
And then the next day I askedhim, like the next week, when I
went to visit him again, I askedhim like am I going to be able
(22:55):
to remove it by myself?
Because I can't.
My right arm is paralyzed, youknow, and my husband, you know,
he's like going blind, so hecan't help me in that issue.
There.
And the doctor, I guess hereally had sympathy for me and
he said, like okay, we justremoved your cancer, but you
have to do chemo and radiation.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
And I went home and I did a lot of research and I
found Crispy's cancer and Iheard that he had colon cancer
and it was stage three.
Mine was stage one and hedidn't do chemo radiation and he
said that he changed hislifestyle, eating plant-based
food, and I said I think I cando that.
(23:39):
And I talked to my husband andhe said, okay, if that's what
you want to do, I'll stick byyou.
But he said that he is kind ofnervous because you know we
don't know what to expect.
And, um, I told my surgeon thatand he said well, before you
decide to not do it, please goto your oncologist and talk to
(24:02):
them.
And when I it was three hoursof lecture, and how wrong I was.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, and you had to pay for that.
Wow, yeah, some doctors don'tlike that.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
They don't like the natural stuff.
That worked well.
I said do you think changingyour diet will help?
And he said no.
Wow.
He flat out said no.
Wow.
He flat out said no.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
That's crazy.
Yeah, I fortunately had a goodone that said, yeah, you know
what you eat, matters, exercisematters and all kinds of stuff.
So I was very fortunate withthat.
But, yeah, some of them theythink chemo is it?
That's all you can do, andthat's not true.
I can tell you that I'm not adoctor.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
My regular doctor, he was fine with it.
He said okay, we'll monitor you, make sure everything is good.
And you know, I had blood tests.
At first it was like everymonth to see how my blood work
was and it went down to normal.
And then, um, every month itwas still normal.
(25:14):
And then my doctor said, okay,we just do three months, and
three months it was still normal.
So now he's saying we're gonnado it every six months yeah,
yeah, that's always a good, goodsign yeah and so and that's
where you're at now, right Everysix months still.
Yep.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Okay and everything looks good.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
All right, you sound like you have a great husband.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yes, I do.
He's wonderful, he's an amazingman.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yeah, and you are also, you're in the right frame
of mind now as far as, yeah, youknow putting obviously god as
your uh, your provider, yourresource, in charge of
everything and and, of course,we're always going to make
mistakes because we're human,but as long as you know, we have
god that we focus on, uh,things will be great.
(26:03):
You don't have to worry about,you, don't have to stress out
about.
You know how I mean.
You've gone through so manyobstacles, so many things in
your life that most people wouldhave given up by now, but
you're an amazing person.
Let me tell you that.
Thank you.
Yeah, you just keep on goingand you seem so happy now.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Yeah, yes, I am really happy.
I figured out what I wanted todo with my life.
I wanted to be a nutritionist,and that's all because of
Healing Strong too.
It's just a passion juststarted firing in my heart and I
(26:47):
went to adult learning to do myEnglish and my math before I
started college, because I wasreally terrible.
It's been like years since Igone back to school, you know,
and I'm in college now.
It's my second year and lastyear I did really good.
I got three days.
Wow, I'm really proud.
But I couldn't have done itwithout God.
Every morning, you know, I hadso much anxiety going to school
(27:08):
because I was so scared, but Iprayed to him and every morning
I get up at five o'clock and Ijust tried to have that time
with him first, and then everyday would go so smoothly when I
had time to be with him.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Yeah, so he goes to school with you.
Huh, yes, he does.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
That's the first thing I say.
I'm like, please, God, be withme today.
In school.
I need you and he's alwaysthere.
And sometimes, when things gowrong and I get so panicky, but
then I have that voice inside meDon't worry.
You said give it to God, sotrust in him.
And I say, okay, trust in him,trust in him.
And then it works out on itsown because I trusted in him.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Yeah, that's crazy, isn't it?
Yeah, and so now you're a groupleader, right?
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yeah, when I tried to look for a group in Maine,
there wasn't any, and so atfirst I didn't want to do it
because I was really nervous.
I didn't want to talk I don'tlike talking but I realized that
my journey was really hard andI needed the people on Healing
Strong and they helped me somuch.
So there might be people herethat need that kind of support.
(28:21):
So I said, okay, god, pleasehelp me with this.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah, so when did you start that?
Speaker 1 (28:29):
I started last year.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah, last year.
How's that going?
Speaker 1 (28:35):
It's going good.
Yes, I have a couple of members.
It's like I get people callingme to go to my Zoom meeting and
then when I talk about the stuffyou know, about how to stay
away from sugar, how to don'teat a lot of meat and processed
food and junk food and stufflike that, and they get really
(28:56):
depressed so I don't hear fromthem anymore.
But the one that really like,really believes in that they
stick, they stick around andthey you know.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Yeah, man, that's great.
Well, cindy, I'm glad we got todo this over again, because you
have there's so much to yourlife and I'm sure there's so
much more that you're nottalking about.
But, man, if anyone's listeningand they're in Maine, what's it
?
Bangor, bangor, bangor.
Okay, if you're in that area,you got.
(29:26):
Well, of course you're Zoom,right.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, I'm on Zoom every second Monday at 5 o'clock
.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Yeah, okay, so if you're anywhere on the planet,
you can join her group.
How about that?
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Okay, and how can people get in touch with you?
Speaker 1 (29:41):
They can reach me.
My information is on HealingStrong and I can reach at
reached at healingstrongbangorat gmailcom.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Okay, like I said, you're an amazing person and
you've come a long way and it'sso good to see you being happy.
I love your little smiling facethere.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah, you just make me happy talking to you.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It's a pleasure to speak to you.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Okay, maybe I'll join your Zoom meeting sometime.
When is it again?
Which day is it of the month?
Speaker 1 (30:13):
The second Monday every month.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Second Monday okay.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
At 5 o'clock.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
All right.
Well, I look forward to hearingmore as you go on in life and
as you do great things,especially with the nutrition.
I'd love to learn more aboutthat.
I don't know, but I am eatingright.
I'm doing the Chris Work saladand juicing like crazy and I
feel so much better.
I've been eating it regularlyfor the past several well, for
(30:40):
this week I've been very good atit and I feel great today.
I got a lot of energy.
As you can see, I'm lookingvery beautiful right now.
Cindy, thank you so much andhopefully we'll cross paths
again.
I know you were in Houston, butI didn't get a chance to talk
to you then because there's justso many people there.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah, there was.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Yeah, well, you have a great day and thank you so
much for doing this.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Thank you so much for having me, and you too have a
(31:23):
great day is a nonprofitorganization whose mission is to
connect, support and educateindividuals facing cancer and
other diseases throughstrategies that help to rebuild
the body, renew the soul andrefresh the spirit.
It costs nothing to be a partof a local or online group.
(31:43):
You can do that by going to ourwebsite at healingstrongorg and
finding a group near you or anonline group, or start your own,
your choice.
While you're there, take a lookaround at all the free
resources.
Though the resources and groupsare free, we encourage you to
(32:04):
join our membership program at$25 or $75 a month.
This helps us to be able toreach more people with hope and
encouragement, and that alsocomes with some extra perks as
well.
So check it out.
If you enjoyed this podcast,please give us a five-star
rating, leave an encouragingcomment and help us spread the
(32:25):
word.
We'll see you next week withanother story on the I Am
Healing Strong podcast.
I got married.
I wasn't happily marriedbecause I had a lot of issues
that I never took care of when Iwas younger.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
You know, and.
I tried my best to be happy,but I didn't know why I had so
much issue.
I had anger issue.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
You know, I was easily triggered and I just
didn't know why I was being likethat.
Because I had a wonderfulhusband who treats me so well.
I've never been like treatedlike a queen before.
And I had a baby and you know,she's beautiful, she's 11 years
old now and I should be reallyhappy, but I wasn't.
(00:41):
And then she started when shegot a little older, she started
noticing that, you know, mommy'snot happy, you know, and I
didn't want her to see me likethat.
So I tried to find ways to healmyself and that still didn't
work.
It wasn't until I found HealingStrong that I was able to
(01:03):
really find people to help me,to talk about my past.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
You're listening to the I Am Healing Strong podcast,
a part of the Healing Strongorganization, the number one
network of holistic cancersupport groups in the world.
Each week we bring you storiesof hope, real stories that will
encourage you as you navigateyour way on your own journey to
health.
Now here's your host stage fourcancer thriver, jim Mann.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, I am so excited to talk to Cindy Jewell.
How are you doing, Cindy?
Speaker 1 (01:38):
I'm doing good.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Great, you're all the way up there in Maine.
And now full disclosure.
We had recorded this earlierand there were some technical
difficulties On my end.
Something happened.
I don't know what it was,because I've never made mistakes
before, but actually I thinksomething went wrong with the
board.
I don't know, it doesn't reallymatter, because Cindy was
(02:00):
telling her story and she wasjust bringing in all these facts
left and right and I'm likewhat, what in the world?
So I'm glad to do this over,because I want to get this full
story, because this podcast isnot just about people overcoming
cancer even though that's howit started and that's like our
main focus but you have overcomeso many things from birth until
(02:23):
now, and so I just want peopleto be encouraged by this.
So, cindy, take us all the wayback.
You were born in Vietnam, bornwith polio, right?
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yes, born in Vietnam and I had polio as a baby.
And then my parents were veryscared, so my dad decided that
we were going to come to Americaand we escaped, leaving on a
boat, a small boat, with otherpeople too.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
So you had to escape there.
You can't just leave, huh.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, we left that night when it was really late
and I just remember being on thebeach and everybody's telling
me please don't cry, pleasedon't cry, wow.
And then we saw a boat, andthen we just ran to the boat and
other people was on it too, andthen we started sailing.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Wow, was it really crowded.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Not as crowded as the other pictures that I saw, but
it was a lot of people.
Yeah, wow, so it really crowded.
Not as crowded as the otherpictures that I saw, but it was
a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah, wow.
So how far did you get?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I'm not sure, but we were rescued by I believe it's
American Navy ship and they tookus to I think it's like another
island, like near Taiwan,something like that, and we
stayed there with immigrationand we filled out papers and my
(03:50):
uncle sponsored for us.
So we came to America and toCalifornia.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Okay, which is where your uncle lived, right?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Okay, so you were able to find a doctor there to
kind of figure out what to dowith your polio.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah, the doctor gave me some braces to wear when I
was younger and I didn't walk.
I didn't know how to walk atfirst, but with the braces they
helped me to walk and every dayI would go for a walk with my
dad and then one day I juststarted walking on my own.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Wow, but how old were you at that time?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I think I was probably four or five when I
escaped from Vietnam.
I was three.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And then I learned how to walk around maybe four or
five.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
That was probably exciting for you, wasn't it?
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah, yeah.
Everybody was cheering me onlike come on, you can do it.
I remember all the neighbor'skids were there.
And then I took my first walkand everybody was shouting yay.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Wow, so you've lived there in that area of California
, up until your teens, right?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Up until I met my husband online about 15 years
ago and then he lived in Maineand he had a job already and I
didn't work at that time.
So I figured I'll just comeover to Maine and try to make
him come over to California soon.
(05:22):
Try to make him come over toCalifornia soon.
But that never happened,because I realized that Maine is
a beautiful place to raise yourfamily and I enjoy living here.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, yeah, maine is a beautiful place, as long as
you like cold.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, at first it was like challenging, but now I
don't really mind.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Well, let's go back a little.
I think somewhere in your teensyou lost your mother, right
yeah?
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Not until later.
It was a couple of years agowhen I was living in California
with my father.
My mom wasn't here yet.
My dad sponsored her to comeover, but she didn't come over
until 15 years later excited tohave her and my brother and
(06:17):
sister, and I thought that wewere going to be really happy,
like the Brady Bunch family.
You know, I have two brothersand two sister and I was the
only child, felt like the onlychild at first, coming to a big
family, and things just didn'tum, came to be like I wanted, um
, you know, there was a lot ofdrama and stuff like that
sadness and I just couldn'thandle it and so I ran away from
(06:41):
home when I was a teenager.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
And when I was on the run, I met these people.
I'm a group of people, a femaleand about three guys and they
said you can come with us andwe'll provide you a place to
stay and food.
And, um, I was a runaway with afriend of mine and I talked to
(07:05):
her and she said, okay, but thenI don't know what happened, she
disappeared, and so I end upgoing by myself and, um,
everything was good, they let mestay with them and fed me.
And then one day, um, the girlcame into um what she told me to
take a shower, and she told me,um, what to do.
(07:27):
And then I just thought thatwas really weird.
And then, um, she came in theshower again and tell me to come
outside.
And when I went outside, all ofthem were sitting around and one
of them had a gun, and hedidn't say anything, but she
started talking.
She said I need you to dosomething for us and you're
(07:48):
going to have to do it.
And at that moment I didn'trealize what she was saying
because I was really nervousabout the gun.
And then she said that this guyis going to come over and we
want you to entertain him.
And then that's when I figuredit out.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, that had to be scary.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yeah, I don't know how long I stayed there, but I
was planning my escape for awhile.
But I was planning my escapefor a while and then one day I
had a thought that maybe I couldjust tell them that I'll get
some more girls you know, I'llget my girlfriend that was a
runaway to come down.
And they thought, ok, so theygave me a quarter to go outside
(08:32):
and call on the payphone and Icalled my friend and I asked her
, like if she was planning to gohome.
And she said no.
And then I called my dad whenthey weren't around and I asked
him.
He heard me and he said that,oh well, you know, please come
home.
You know, please come home.
We really love you and miss you.
(08:53):
And I told him well, if I, ifI'm gonna come home, I want
things to change a little bit,you know.
And I also told him, like, well, if you really want me to come
home too, I have a friend.
She has to come with me becauseI didn't want her to be left
alone and, you know, end up likesomething like me.
You know, I was really scaredfor her.
So I said, please, you have tolet her come.
(09:14):
And at first he said no, butthen I said that I'm not coming
home unless she comes home.
And then he agreed.
And then I looked around to seewhere I can go to get help.
And I was in front of a barAmerican bar and I just went in
there and the guy followed mebecause he was wondering where I
(09:38):
was taking so long.
And when I went into the bar Ilooked around for somebody to
talk to and I just immediatelystarted busting out in tears and
saying please help me.
I really need help right now.
And when the guy saw that I wascrying and you know telling
them, you know I needed help, hewas really scared.
(09:58):
So he took off and I never seenthem again and I told the bar
guy to if I could use the phone.
I called one of my friends and Iasked people at the bar to give
direction because I didn't knowits direction.
They took me to LA and I was inOrange County.
(10:19):
That's about half an hour awayor an hour.
I didn't know street directioneither.
Luckily there was somebodythere that knew the direction to
come from.
I gave him the phone and hegave the direction to my friend.
My friend came to pick me up.
I went to pick up my friend andshe came to live with us.
(10:41):
She stayed with us for a coupleweeks and then she went home to
her family, so that was good sohow did your parents feel?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
were they excited to see you?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
obviously um, my dad was really excited to see me,
yeah, yeah, I just really feltlike awkward around my family
because I wasn't really close tothem at first.
So I just like, when I camehome, I just stayed in my room
and I just like not talked.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Yeah, how old were you at that time?
Speaker 1 (11:17):
I think I was 16 or 15, 17.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
That's almost normal behavior for a teenager, then,
to stay in the room for some ofthem anyway.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
Yeah, well, I didn't have a room at first because it
was a big family and I wasstaying with my sister and my
mom, but I knew that at home was, you know, it's very
challenging and I needed a placeto escape.
And I told him please, please,let me have my own room.
And he agreed to that.
I just felt like maybe you knowmy other other family, my
(11:55):
brother and sister, might nothad liked it so much, because
you know I come home and I getthis and get that yeah, so your,
your dad was like really strictright yeah, he was very strict
yeahyeah, he didn't let me have any
friends.
He expected me to go to school,get straight A's, and you know,
I, during that time, I, when he, he worked all the time so I
(12:18):
was left at home all by myself,starting at age of eight.
You know, I had my own keys, Igo in the house and he said,
don't go anywhere.
And you know, and I had foodand he wasn't around to help me
with homework and you know so Ifelt like I wasn't very smart in
school and you know so I feltlike I wasn't very smart in
school, so I didn't have goodgrades and that was really a big
(12:40):
problem with him.
And he didn't let me have anyfriends too.
So you know that was something.
I went to school and I hadfriends and I couldn't go hang
out with them, I couldn't talkto them on the phone.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
So it was like I wanted to have some freedom and
have some friends.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I couldn't even have girlfriends, you know, wow, yeah
, that's kind of rough.
Feel isolated, didn't you?
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Yeah, yeah, very isolated.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, I don't have any friends either, but that's a
whole different story.
Just kidding, I have friends,but they all live in other
states.
I should take that personally,I guess.
So what happened from thatpoint?
Did you eventually just moveout as you got older?
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, I moved out and then I was in a relationship
and it was abusive.
So he started doing drugs andyou know I did it and then I saw
that the like really helpedwith my depression.
And that's all I did when I wasolder, at least for a couple of
years.
(13:41):
I was just doing drugs and justtrying to forget.
And then one day I just hadthis thought like you know, if I
keep doing things like this,then my dad is going to bury me
and I didn't want him to do thatbecause I didn't want him to
think, like you know, I hatedhim or anything like that.
So I left, I tried to leave myex, and then I went back home
(14:07):
because I knew he couldn't findme there, and I got clean and I
had a little niece and nephewtoo at that time and they were
like around three years old.
So I took my time.
Like the whole time I just tookthem out, took care of them,
and that really helped with mydepression because, you know,
they're so loving and they don'tjudge.
(14:29):
So I love them very much.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Kids can be great.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, and then when they get older around, like when
they were 10, I started goingonline to find somebody and I
met my husband online and he wasliving in Maine and I'm like,
oh, my goodness, I guess it'snot gonna happen then because he
lives in Maine.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah, it's a little ways from California.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, and he was legally blind so he couldn't
drive.
So I was thinking, oh well, Iguess he can't come here.
But then he did.
He visited me and he visited mewith his father.
And the first time I met him Iwas so excited and nervous, I
(15:18):
was laughing all the time.
Um, I fell in love with him andI, you know, I just knew at
that moment like, okay, he's theone.
I knew he was the one because,um, we were on the bus and it
was so crowded and I was justthinking about him and then all
suddenly I just started gettingso much anxiety and I could like
, I was breathing like reallyhard and he had to take me off,
(15:41):
to carry me off the bus.
That's like the first time Iknew like, yeah, this is gonna
be serious, he's the one thatI'm gonna marry and I just it
just got me like really a panicuse for some reason yeah, yeah
he went home, I just felt like Ihad to be with him.
So I told him I'm going to comevisit you.
He bought me a ticket.
(16:02):
I was supposed to come visithim for Thanksgiving.
He bought me a ticket and Ijust stayed.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
And that's where you've been ever since right.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Okay, so you got married and you're still happily
married, right?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
I got married.
I wasn't happily marriedbecause I had a lot of issues
that I never took care of when Iwas younger.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
OK.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
You know, and.
I.
I try my best to be happy, butI didn't know why I had so much
issue.
I didn't know why I had so muchissue I had anger issue.
You know I was easily triggeredand I just didn't know why I was
being like that.
Because I had a wonderfulhusband who treats me so well.
I never been like treated likea queen before.
(16:50):
And I had a baby and you knowshe's beautiful, she's 11 years
old now and I should be reallyhappy, but I wasn't.
And then she started when shegot a little older, she started
noticing that, you know, mommy'snot happy, you know, and I
didn't want her to see me likethat.
So I tried to find ways to healmyself and that still didn't
(17:14):
work find ways to heal myself,and that still didn't work.
It wasn't until I found HealingStrong that I was able to
really find people to help me totalk about my past, and Pastor
Seaman helped me how to releasemy emotion, and he counseled me
(17:35):
for quite a while.
And then, um, when he didn'tcounsel me anymore and times
when I was really upset, I justtalked to myself and say what is
it that you're upset about?
And if it's nothing, then justlet it go.
And if it's something, then isit worth being upset, right, you
(17:55):
know?
And then I would just do whathe taught me to do.
I would close my eyes and packup all my anger and then give it
to the Lord and say I don'twant this anymore, please take
it from me.
And it actually really works.
I felt so much better, and so Ido that every time, like I
really I get triggered and youknow I I'm seeing a counselor
(18:20):
and my mind start being reallyhealthy, I start thinking
clearer and I started, um, youknow, uh, figuring out what I
wanted to do with my life.
Yeah, um, but um, that that wasbefore.
That was during the time when Iwas diagnosed with cancer that
I found out.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Right, wow.
So let me back up here.
Cindy, I think you've had kindof a rough beginning.
I think you shouldn't be toohard on yourself, which I'm sure
you probably were.
You're probably not now.
No, yeah, like all of us, youhad a hole in your life that you
(18:59):
were trying to fill and youdidn't know which direction to
go until you found God,obviously, because that's what
that hole was all about.
But when did you become aChristian?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
because that's what that hole was all about, but
when did you become?
Speaker 2 (19:11):
a.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Christian.
I was a Catholic being raisedbut I didn't really go to church
because my father didn't go tochurch.
He stopped going to church.
But I always thought of God assomebody who's made all the
world and stuff like that, likethey say.
But I didn't really understandwho he was Right and at times
(19:32):
I'm wondering if he made thisworld, why is there so many
sadness and why am I born likethis?
Did I do something bad?
I used to think like that, andwhen I met my husband he was a
Christian, so he goes to churchevery Sunday, and so I started
going to church with him.
But I didn't really feel Goduntil later, when I was
(19:54):
diagnosed.
And then I called my friend andI told her I'm really scared, I
don't know what to do.
And she told me just pray toGod and ask for forgiveness.
And that day I prayed to himand I cried so much and asked
for forgiveness and I said Idon't know what I'm doing with
my life.
It seems like everything that Ichoose is wrong.
(20:16):
So please help me.
I surrender my life to you.
Please show me the way towhichever way I'm supposed to go
, because I don't know what todo anymore and I don't want to
make any more mistakes.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Right, wow, yeah, that's the best place to be.
That's when, especially whenyou had such a rough life, and
then you get a diagnosis, andGod becomes very real during
those moments, because you feelout of control and you're like
I'm scared, I don't know what todo.
You're kind of at rock bottom,and that's where God shows up in
our lives, because we're at theend of our ropes.
(20:49):
So, man, you have quite thestory.
You have a movie in the makinghere.
So, when the diagnosis, whatwere your symptoms?
What made you realize you needto go to the doctor?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
my doctor um wanted me to uh do.
And how do you say that?
colonoscopy yeah, colonoscopy,because I was at the age of it
and, um, it was during covid andI was the only one who was able
to go by myself.
My husband wouldn't allow to gowith me.
(21:21):
But, um, I was put asleep andwhen I woke up, my um, my
husband was there and I'm like,okay, so they didn't tell me at
first.
But then when the doctor camein and he said, okay, we found
something and he believes thatit's cancer because he's done
this a lot of times and he'sgoing to refer me to a surgeon
(21:46):
from there, there, an oncologist.
And you know, I didn't evenunderstand what he was saying at
first because it didn't reallypick up in my mind, because I
was going through a lot of stuffat that time.
Before COVID, my mom had passedaway, and then, during COVID,
my mother-in-law passed away andI was just like in shock of
(22:10):
every event happening to me,just like in three years, you
know.
And so it didn't click to myhead.
And when I went to the surgeon,he was telling me that he wanted
me to have surgery to remove itbecause I had rectal cancer,
(22:33):
rectal colon cancer.
He wanted to remove the bottomof the rectal colon cancer and
have me go on a colostomy bag.
And that's when I broke down intears and like, oh no, I don't
need this, please, I don't needthis, please, I don't need this
right now.
And then the next day I askedhim, like the next week, when I
went to visit him again, I askedhim like am I going to be able
(22:55):
to remove it by myself?
Because I can't.
My right arm is paralyzed, youknow, and my husband, you know,
he's like going blind, so hecan't help me in that issue.
There.
And the doctor, I guess hereally had sympathy for me and
he said, like okay, we justremoved your cancer, but you
have to do chemo and radiation.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
And I went home and I did a lot of research and I
found Crispy's cancer and Iheard that he had colon cancer
and it was stage three.
Mine was stage one and hedidn't do chemo radiation and he
said that he changed hislifestyle, eating plant-based
food, and I said I think I cando that.
(23:39):
And I talked to my husband andhe said, okay, if that's what
you want to do, I'll stick byyou.
But he said that he is kind ofnervous because you know we
don't know what to expect.
And, um, I told my surgeon thatand he said well, before you
decide to not do it, please goto your oncologist and talk to
(24:02):
them.
And when I it was three hoursof lecture, and how wrong I was.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah, and you had to pay for that.
Wow, yeah, some doctors don'tlike that.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
They don't like the natural stuff.
That worked well.
I said do you think changingyour diet will help?
And he said no.
Wow.
He flat out said no.
Wow.
He flat out said no.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
That's crazy.
Yeah, I fortunately had a goodone that said, yeah, you know
what you eat, matters, exercisematters and all kinds of stuff.
So I was very fortunate withthat.
But, yeah, some of them theythink chemo is it?
That's all you can do, andthat's not true.
I can tell you that I'm not adoctor.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
My regular doctor, he was fine with it.
He said okay, we'll monitor you, make sure everything is good.
And you know, I had blood tests.
At first it was like everymonth to see how my blood work
was and it went down to normal.
And then, um, every month itwas still normal.
(25:14):
And then my doctor said, okay,we just do three months, and
three months it was still normal.
So now he's saying we're gonnado it every six months yeah,
yeah, that's always a good, goodsign yeah and so and that's
where you're at now, right Everysix months still.
Yep.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Okay and everything looks good.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
All right, you sound like you have a great husband.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yes, I do.
He's wonderful, he's an amazingman.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yeah, and you are also, you're in the right frame
of mind now as far as, yeah, youknow putting obviously god as
your uh, your provider, yourresource, in charge of
everything and and, of course,we're always going to make
mistakes because we're human,but as long as you know, we have
god that we focus on, uh,things will be great.
(26:03):
You don't have to worry about,you, don't have to stress out
about.
You know how I mean.
You've gone through so manyobstacles, so many things in
your life that most people wouldhave given up by now, but
you're an amazing person.
Let me tell you that.
Thank you.
Yeah, you just keep on goingand you seem so happy now.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Yeah, yes, I am really happy.
I figured out what I wanted todo with my life.
I wanted to be a nutritionist,and that's all because of
Healing Strong too.
It's just a passion juststarted firing in my heart and I
(26:47):
went to adult learning to do myEnglish and my math before I
started college, because I wasreally terrible.
It's been like years since Igone back to school, you know,
and I'm in college now.
It's my second year and lastyear I did really good.
I got three days.
Wow, I'm really proud.
But I couldn't have done itwithout God.
Every morning, you know, I hadso much anxiety going to school
(27:08):
because I was so scared, but Iprayed to him and every morning
I get up at five o'clock and Ijust tried to have that time
with him first, and then everyday would go so smoothly when I
had time to be with him.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Yeah, so he goes to school with you.
Huh, yes, he does.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
That's the first thing I say.
I'm like, please, God, be withme today.
In school.
I need you and he's alwaysthere.
And sometimes, when things gowrong and I get so panicky, but
then I have that voice inside meDon't worry.
You said give it to God, sotrust in him.
And I say, okay, trust in him,trust in him.
And then it works out on itsown because I trusted in him.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Yeah, that's crazy, isn't it?
Yeah, and so now you're a groupleader, right?
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yeah, when I tried to look for a group in Maine,
there wasn't any, and so atfirst I didn't want to do it
because I was really nervous.
I didn't want to talk I don'tlike talking but I realized that
my journey was really hard andI needed the people on Healing
Strong and they helped me somuch.
So there might be people herethat need that kind of support.
(28:21):
So I said, okay, god, pleasehelp me with this.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah, so when did you start that?
Speaker 1 (28:29):
I started last year.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Yeah, last year.
How's that going?
Speaker 1 (28:35):
It's going good.
Yes, I have a couple of members.
It's like I get people callingme to go to my Zoom meeting and
then when I talk about the stuffyou know, about how to stay
away from sugar, how to don'teat a lot of meat and processed
food and junk food and stufflike that, and they get really
(28:56):
depressed so I don't hear fromthem anymore.
But the one that really like,really believes in that they
stick, they stick around andthey you know.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Yeah, man, that's great.
Well, cindy, I'm glad we got todo this over again, because you
have there's so much to yourlife and I'm sure there's so
much more that you're nottalking about.
But, man, if anyone's listeningand they're in Maine, what's it
?
Bangor, bangor, bangor.
Okay, if you're in that area,you got.
(29:26):
Well, of course you're Zoom,right.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, I'm on Zoom every second Monday at 5 o'clock
.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Yeah, okay, so if you're anywhere on the planet,
you can join her group.
How about that?
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Okay, and how can people get in touch with you?
Speaker 1 (29:41):
They can reach me.
My information is on HealingStrong and I can reach at
reached at healingstrongbangorat gmailcom.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Okay, like I said, you're an amazing person and
you've come a long way and it'sso good to see you being happy.
I love your little smiling facethere.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah, you just make me happy talking to you.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It's a pleasure to speak to you.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Okay, maybe I'll join your Zoom meeting sometime.
When is it again?
Which day is it of the month?
Speaker 1 (30:13):
The second Monday every month.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Second Monday okay.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
At 5 o'clock.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
All right.
Well, I look forward to hearingmore as you go on in life and
as you do great things,especially with the nutrition.
I'd love to learn more aboutthat.
I don't know, but I am eatingright.
I'm doing the Chris Work saladand juicing like crazy and I
feel so much better.
I've been eating it regularlyfor the past several well, for
(30:40):
this week I've been very good atit and I feel great today.
I got a lot of energy.
As you can see, I'm lookingvery beautiful right now.
Cindy, thank you so much andhopefully we'll cross paths
again.
I know you were in Houston, butI didn't get a chance to talk
to you then because there's justso many people there.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah, there was.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Yeah, well, you have a great day and thank you so
much for doing this.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
Thank you so much for having me, and you too have a
(31:23):
great day is a nonprofitorganization whose mission is to
connect, support and educateindividuals facing cancer and
other diseases throughstrategies that help to rebuild
the body, renew the soul andrefresh the spirit.
It costs nothing to be a partof a local or online group.
(31:43):
You can do that by going to ourwebsite at healingstrongorg and
finding a group near you or anonline group, or start your own,
your choice.
While you're there, take a lookaround at all the free
resources.
Though the resources and groupsare free, we encourage you to
(32:04):
join our membership program at$25 or $75 a month.
This helps us to be able toreach more people with hope and
encouragement, and that alsocomes with some extra perks as
well.
So check it out.
If you enjoyed this podcast,please give us a five-star
rating, leave an encouragingcomment and help us spread the
(32:25):
word.
We'll see you next week withanother story on the I Am
Healing Strong podcast.
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