October 8, 2024 • 38 mins
From Pop-Tarts and Cherry Coke to a holistic, anti-cancer lifestyle.
Jenny Bradley shares her inspiring personal journey after being diagnosed with breast cancer in her 30's. Through a blend of conventional and holistic therapies, she found strength and hope to thrive.
Jenny opens up about the emotional roller coaster of a cancer diagnosis, from the initial shock to her proactive decisions that followed. She's not just battling cancer; she's living a vibrant life through integrative approaches like IV vitamin C therapy, ozone therapy, and a plant-focused diet. Her faith and creativity have helped her continue on her path through the process of acquiring knowledge, community, and having a will to live as powerful tools in overcoming trials.
Due to her story, a new passion emerged from her journey. Jenny ventured into culinary nutrition and cancer coaching, sharing her wisdom and hope with others. This episode shines a light on HealingStrong, a nonprofit organization that supports individuals facing cancer whether holistically, integratively, or conventionally, and emphasizing the power of community and faith.
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.
To learn more, head to the HealingStrong Membership Program link below:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Up until surgery, I always said I thrived with
cancer, I'm living with cancer.
And now I like to say I'vethrived through cancer and I'm
living cancer free.
Yeah, but my mindset is I amliving an anti-cancer lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
I'm never going to go back to the standard American
diet.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Right, yes.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I mean like never say never in the words of Justin
Bieber never say never.
But I mean that is one thingthat is definitely a absolute
boundary in my life.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
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 (00:56):
Talking to Jenny Bradley and full disclosure.
We just had a conversationbefore we got into this about
the music industry.
My little tail was waggingbecause I just I love the music
industry and I kind of miss itnow that I'm not in radio
anymore, but I do come toNashville a lot.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yes, I'm going to keep my eyes open for you, yeah
for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Oh yeah yeah, the place will be buzzing when I
come to town.
Oh, he's back, jim's back.
Yeah, well, tell us.
I know you were diagnosed, buttell us, before all this, we
just want to know a little bitmore about you, what your
background is.
Were you eating healthy?
Were you an exercise nut?
(01:37):
Just give us a littlebackground leading up to that.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Well, I would like to say I wish that I was a health,
not an exercise, not before.
No, I used to.
Well, I say, you know, and thisis true, that I lived off of
Pop-Tarts and Cherry Coke duringgrad school.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yes, I love Pop-Tarts .
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yes, not anymore, not anymore.
But no, I have a background intheology and ministry and
education, and so I was inministry to students for
basically almost 20 years andtaught at the college level as
well.
And then, well, you know, welike to say BC and AD, right
(02:19):
Like before cancer and afterdiagnosis.
So before cancer life wasdifferent in the sense that I
didn't know better, I didn'tknow better, and we were a happy
, blissful couple.
I was diagnosed in my 30s, sowe were married for about three
(02:43):
not quite three full yearsbefore I was diagnosed, and so
now the majority of our marriagehas been under the guise of
knowing what it's like to livewith cancer.
But anyhow, we were, you know,just living the blissful life
and enjoying life, being able toserve others and live in what
(03:04):
our gifts and talents were.
And then AD after diagnosis,that kind of stuff slowed down,
obviously, for me, because mymain focus became what do I need
to do on this healing journey?
To put this you know to take, asour friend, your friend Chris
Work would say, massive action.
Right, what do we need to do totake massive action?
(03:27):
And so I thank goodness I had avery generous, kind leader at
the church that I worked for atthe time that I was diagnosed,
that he said we are here tosupport you.
If we really believe what theBible says, we're going to
support you, and so we want youto stay on staff, but we
(03:48):
understand if you need to taketime to go do your various
therapies.
So it made it so that I couldstill be with the students and
that was, you know, really a bigpart of my like soul health
right.
So being able to be with thestudents and still have my
creative outlets and the thingsthat gave me life, and then
(04:10):
doing so much of the at-homehealing therapies and then going
to a clinic for the IV vitaminC and just the various other
therapies integrative, holistictherapies that I did that were
at a clinic for the first coupleof years during my story, and
then, in about month 20, after Iwas diagnosed, I had
(04:32):
cryoablation, which I don't knowif you know about cryoablation.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Not much.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
It is where they freeze the tumor, so it's in my
case it was liquid nitrogen.
So they go in with a probe andthey do a freeze cycle and a
thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, several minutes
at a time, and it's the traumato the cancer cells during those
cycles that impacts the cells,and so that was kind of a stop
(04:58):
gap measure for me.
Um, and then my story goes on.
I don't want to, I'll let you.
I don't want, I don't want toshare too much right at first.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Okay, Now was all that in Kansas.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I went across the country to California for
cryoablation.
Okay, so I'm very much a.
We do what we have to do to getthings done Right.
And so there's no cryoablationoffered in Kansas that's where I
lived at the time and reallycryoablation isn't offered in
the majority of the UnitedStates and it is offered for
(05:33):
certain types of cancer, butbreast cancer, which is the type
that I have, it is not fullyapproved for breast cancer.
It is approved for, like cysts,but not tumors.
So also in most cases at thispoint, cryoablation is self-pay.
Nice, so again, it was verymuch a and and you can get a
(05:55):
super bill and try to get itreimbursed by insurance.
And some people are, um, havethat blessing, that was not my
case, but um, so, yeah, yeah,cryoablation.
I always tell any women thatI'm connecting with about breast
cancer to look into it.
It may or may not be a fit foryour case, but in my case it was
(06:16):
one of the major steps I tookto be a stopgap.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Okay, let me back up a little here, just because I'm
nosy.
Yep, and I could do thatbecause I'm the host, right?
That's right, that's right howdid you and your husband mike
meet?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
well, you will also appreciate this.
We met backstage at christianconferences.
so he is an audio engineer andhe would be on the production
team that would get contractedto work alongside the team that
I would get asked to come workand be like an artist liaison
(06:52):
backstage in green room type ofstuff.
So I did that a few times ayear.
I would get asked to come outto some of the bigger events
where they needed more help andso that, since I worked at a
church full-time and in ministryfull-time in those years, that
was like my way of serving.
It was getting outside of whatmy day-to-day job was, and I
(07:13):
went and served at Christianconferences at the time, so
that's how we met.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Wow, again, I'm going to be even noosier.
Which conference was this?
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Oh, there was lots of them there.
Which conference was this?
Oh, there was lots of them.
There was DCLA, which is Youthfor Christ.
Back in the day and there wasDare to Share.
And that's also a youthconference, and I mean all kinds
of different ones, the NationalHispanic Christian League.
Oh yeah, on and on.
(07:42):
We could go.
I could list several.
All right, that they did, yeah,yeah, but the ones that we
really, oh well, youthspecialties, the national youth
workers convention.
That's the one where he endedup coming over to me before the
end of loadout and said can I,can I get your number?
That type I mean there's abigger story, but that's the
(08:04):
very short story is Is that howhe sounded?
Well, he is.
I do really like his voice.
It's much deeper than what Ican do.
But, yeah, now he very muchasked for my number during
loadout of a National YouthWorkers Conference.
Oh, excellent, yeah, if youneed to cut out this, that's
fine.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Oh, no, I, excellent.
Yeah, if you need to cut outthis, that's fine.
No, no, I'm going to lead withthis Way to go.
Mike, that's funny, it's beingan audio guy.
His name is Mike.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I'm sure no one's ever said anything like that.
Yeah, Okay, so like you getmarried the next week, right?
Speaker 1 (08:41):
We got married about two years later.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Okay, all right, the next week right we got married
about two years later.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Okay, all right.
Yeah, he was uh very called methe next day and we've been in
contact ever since and rightaway, right away, he was very
specific in his like pursuit ofme.
There was no question, rightthat he said I'm, I would like
to come visit you and if, when Icome visit you, I'm either
going to leave as your boyfriendor I'm going to leave and we'll
(09:06):
be friends that just likehappen to see each other at
conferences yeah, and he left asmy boyfriend, you know, and
then you know now we've beenmarried for 10 years wow, yeah,
he's always on the road right so.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
So that's probably why he was looking for a wife to
settle down with.
Yes, that was a good story.
Okay, we're moving on now.
So, yeah, and you were sayingjust a couple years into, it is
when you got your diagnosisright.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Yes.
So I was actually misdiagnosedfor two years and the doctor
said you're too young for cancerQuote I'm not worried at all
that this is cancer.
And she thought it was just afatty lipoma.
And then that second year shesaid I'm going to go ahead and
(09:56):
send you to a specialist justbecause they cut these out all
the time, and you'll have abetter aesthetic outcome.
She said I could cut this outfor you, but I'm going to go
ahead and send you to aspecialist just because I do it
every day.
So then when I went to thespecialist several months later
because I wasn't seen as anemergent case, that doctor took
one look at like before she evenpalpated me.
(10:17):
She looked at me because myskin's always been involved with
my tumor and she took one lookand said I'm so sorry, I'm so
sorry, I think this is cancer.
And she took one look and saidI'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I
think this is cancer.
And she brought in anultrasound and ultrasound in me
and she said this does not looklike a fatty lipoma, this very
much looks like the signaturesof a cancerous tumor.
And then she said I would liketo do a biopsy and it was in
(10:38):
December and I said back to heryou know, we're really close to
the end of the deductible yearand we have not met our
deductible.
Could we just start and couldwe do that in January?
And we all kind of talked aboutit in the room.
My husband just happened to bewith me because we thought that
we were scheduling just a quickexcision procedure.
(10:59):
So he happened to be with me.
We did not go in there at allthinking cancer was on the table
, right, um, and in that case Ihonestly for me I think that was
a blessing because I there wasnothing about me that was riled
up, right, um, we were just likedoing the business.
So, yeah, and we talked aboutit in the moment and she very
(11:23):
much said now you've had thisbump for a while, right, and you
know, we, we talked through thetimeline and she said it's not
gonna like, there's nothingthat's going to change about it
in a few weeks.
So, yes, if you want to comeback in January, I'll do your
biopsy then.
And then, as we continue totalk, my husband, mike, and I
just kind of went well, we'reactually here now, let's just go
(11:49):
ahead and take care of it.
Like, let's just go ahead anddo it and then we'll know what
we need to do to move forward.
So we literally walked acrossthe hall and she did the biopsy
and then that was on a Tuesday.
And then on that Thursday I gota call from her office that it
was definitely a carcinoma butthey needed to send it out for
further pathology.
And that was over Christmasweekend and so we told my family
(12:12):
during our Christmascelebration, if you will I mean
like we all open presents firstbut you know I wanted to tell
people face to face.
I did, but you know I wanted totell people face to face.
And then I did not have any ofthe pathology reports back until
like more than it was basicallymore than a week lot of
(12:33):
research right away, withoutanyone's opinions involved.
At that point and in my mindand this is again where I go,
thank you, lord, that youdeposited this idea back,
(12:56):
however many years ago.
At that point I was like I thinkthat there is something about
IV, vitamin C and cancer, Ithink that there is something
about IV vitamin C and cancerand so I Googled it and there
was a place called ReardonClinic that was 10 minutes away
from me and Reardon Clinic and,as they say, like the leaders in
(13:17):
IV vitamin C research forcancer, and so, anyway, I was
able to actually start gettinginto them before I ever had my
first conventional oncologyappointment, just because of how
the timeline happened, from mypathology results and all that
right so, um, it was a, and Ilearned about chris work right
away.
(13:37):
I learned about um.
I ordered the night of mybiopsy.
I ordered anti-cancer bookDavid Servin Schreiber's book.
I ordered radical remissionthat night and as soon as those
came I started reading them, noteven fully knowing what my
pathology was, but knowing thatthere was something more out
there for me and that, you know,I kind of have always taken the
(13:59):
path of opening up my hands andgoing all right, Lord, like,
what do you need me to be awareof for such a time as this?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Yeah, Wow.
So how did it hit you when youheard the diagnosis first that
you had cancer?
You're like yeah, whatever.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I don't know that I was whatever, but I will say I
wasn't.
I have never, even after beingdiagnosed, I don't live in the
fear of cancer and I think a lotof that is and again, I could
talk to you about this Like wecan share a similar language on
this podcast.
I think so much of it is havinga greater like eternal
(14:35):
perspective, and that doesn'tmean that life isn't hard and it
doesn't mean that there's notlike.
I mean like.
Obviously you know cancer is areal struggle, isn't hard and it
doesn't mean that there's notlike.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
I mean like obviously you know, cancer is a real
struggle.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
But I think, just from the moment that she, that
that specialist, uttered I'msorry, I think this could be
cancer.
I kind of go into two.
My brain goes into two pathsand one of those paths is the
business mode of like, okay,what do we need to do to take
care of the next step?
Like, what is the very nextthing we need to do?
Okay, got it, okay, go, youknow.
(15:09):
And then the other path in mybrain is okay and we have an
eternal perspective that I havea Holy Spirit within me that is
no child, and that I am guidedby, you know, this higher power
that can help me navigate things.
And whether that means that Imake it beyond that first month
(15:31):
of the diagnosis or not, I justhad that type of perspective.
And again, just to restate,like that doesn't mean that
things aren't hard and thatdoesn't mean that there weren't
some teary moments and hardconversations.
And I also bought books ondeath and dying and I also, like
(15:51):
, watched and listened to thingsabout hospice.
And, by the way, my mom died,um, when I was in my 20s and I
walked through that process withher.
Not, she didn't die from cancer.
So I think there was a part ofme as a young adult that was
already like oh, this is whatit's like to have somebody in my
(16:13):
immediate family walk throughthe dying process Right.
And so even in that sense itwasn't a completely foreign idea
to me.
If that makes sense, I'm sayingyeah.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah, it does.
Yeah, foreign idea to me.
If that makes sense, I'm sayingyeah, yeah, it does.
Yeah, I mean I was.
I was similar to that after thefirst shock because you know,
of course I ate garbage too, butI also ate good stuff.
I just ate a lot, so I ate good, and then I added a lot of
supplemented with sugar, so itwas, which is very that's what I
would say.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I I overdosed on sugar.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yes, yes, and so yeah , but after I got the first
shock of that and the fact thatit was stage four and they
thought I'd live a month or two,that was a little bit too short
.
But after that initial week ofcraziness then yeah, I was there
too, because I mean, it makesyou face the fact that death is
(17:05):
going to come eventually.
Anyway.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
And of course, we're sure where we're going.
After that I was like, yeah,I'm fine with it.
It kind of made me it's likethe rest of my I'm in my 60s now
.
I know it's hard to believe.
You think I'm 30.
But I'm in my 30s for thesecond time.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
There and I'm in my 30s for the second time.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
There you go, there you go.
And I always thought, man, howdo you feel when you get older?
I mean, knowing that the end iscoming soon, do you start
freaking out?
And then, of course, I watchedmy parents.
They went into their 90s and itnever bothered them at all.
They're like, hurry up, let'sgo.
But I'm like, hey, I'm ready.
I mean, I still have four kidsand a wife and I don't
(17:44):
necessarily want to leave them,but hey, they're going to catch
up with me up there.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Sorry, yeah, I think that's the other aspect of it
overall is like I had a will tolive, I had a greater hope.
I didn't have a reason to digin and feel unhopeful.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yeah, tell us exactly , okay, closely, like your
protocol.
How did, how did you changeyour life from that point on to
the clinic?
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Of course, I was already gluten-free and
vegetarian.
I was not vegan, but I wasvegetarian at the time and I was
doing that for my gut healthand for my thyroid health and
but that didn't mean that didn'tmean that I was really fully
aware and understanding ofingredients.
Right, so there is gluten-freebread, but that doesn't mean
(18:34):
it's any better for you.
Yeah, it just doesn't have thegluten, um, you know, as an
example anyway.
So after I was diagnosed, Ilearned a lot about nutrition.
I have read over.
When I say this stuff, I don'tmean it to sound pompous, I
don't mean it that way.
I'm just sharing about, like,the path that I took and the
(18:55):
personality that I am is thatI'm a reader and I want to learn
, like I'm a lifelong learnerand there's a big, big, big part
of me is like, if I canunderstand it, then that helps
me with my why, that helps mewith my what, like on those days
that I'm so tired of makinganother smoothie or you know,
(19:15):
like, whatever the thing is, Iunderstand the greater why of
why it makes a difference that Iam more motivated to do it.
So I've read over like 50 to 60books on cancer and health and
nutrition and whatnot and inthose things, and then watching
documentaries and the HEALdocumentary was a big early on
(19:41):
help in radical remission waskind of interspersed with that.
You know, knowing it's likewhat you do with this podcast,
right, it's like knowing otherpeople's stories and the other
people could thrive through this.
That's what spurred me onthrough all these years really.
So I learned about what kindsof different things could help
support my body.
I learned about what kinds ofdifferent things could help
(20:03):
support my body and I got youknow in that into Reardon Clinic
within basically two weeks ofmy diagnosis and was able to
start on a protocol with themright away.
So I did IVC, vitamin C threetimes a week for a long time and
(20:26):
I guess I should back up alittle bit Conventional oncology
.
In my particular case, with myparticular pathology, chemo was
not recommended, radiation wasnot recommended and literally
the surgeon told me I will notoperate on you for a minimum of
six months.
So I had this big on-ramp to doall kinds of stuff they could
do the hormone receptor blockers, and at the time again, it was
(20:50):
one of those things where I, youknow, raised my palms up, as I
like to say, and said Okay, lord, if this is something that is
needed in my case at this time,let me see what I need to see
about it.
Good or bad, right.
And I along the way have said tothe conventional oncology like
there we my husband and I thinkof conventional oncology and
(21:12):
integrative naturopathiconcology as a checks and
balances.
So we don't want one withoutthe other necessarily.
And with conventional oncologyI have just said you know, could
you please note in my patientrecord that you can prescribe
that to me, but you're not goingto submit it yet, like you're
(21:36):
not going to electronicallysubmit it to a pharmacy yet.
I would like to go away andlook on it a little bit more and
have 24 hours to 48 hours tothink about it.
And it's not a no forever, it'sa not yet.
And so that's kind of in all ofmy conventional oncology
appointments.
We always kind of circle backaround to those similar
conversations.
So there hasn't been a lot inconventional oncology that they
(21:56):
can offer me in my case untilsurgery.
So I did a whole lot of things.
I in my lifetime of cancerworld I have done IV vitamin C,
iv ozone, iv mistletoe mistletoeshots, hellebora shots.
I have done coffee enemas, ofcourse, all the nutrition like
(22:17):
anti-cancer nutrition, and thatto me that means gluten free,
plant focused, very plantcentered.
And so this is my seventh oreighth year I'm not great at
math, but somewhere in myseventh or eighth year of after
diagnosis and so my diet ebbsand flows with what my like
(22:40):
what's going on that quarter is.
I have quarterly lab work doneand so I just kind of go okay,
what well, I should say not justme with my naturopathic
oncologist, we kind of make aplan of like what is going on
this quarter and what are thingsyou're leading into that we
need to support your body around.
So I had cryoablation aroundmonth 20, as I mentioned before,
(23:02):
and then in spring of 2024.
So literally this just happened.
Basically, I have had majorsurgery, so I had a single
mastectomy and then deep flapreconstruction and breast cancer
reconstruction is typically nota one and done type of thing,
and so I'm in my series.
(23:23):
I like to say now I'm kind ofin my messy middle of what all
these surgeries are and howthings are so like right now for
my nutrition.
My protocol is centered morearound supporting my body
recovering from surgery andpreparing for my next surgery.
So I need a lot more proteinthan I may have a year ago type
(23:44):
of deal.
So we just, like it ebbs andflows with what is important to
my particular body in myparticular case at the time, and
how do we need to customize itfor that end?
Yeah, and I'm trying to thinklike there's just so many other
things.
I mean infrared saunas, youknow doing things to help my
lymphatic system, yeah, allkinds of all kinds of things
(24:07):
that I know I'm missing.
Yes, yes.
So I have a little minitrampoline and I have a
vibration plate also and youknow, like dry brushing, any of
those things, it just depends,right, Like I take the dry brush
with me on trips and I'm notgoing to take a mini trampoline
on a trip, but you know, it'sjust a matter of like getting on
(24:28):
your toes, like bouncing up anddown on your toes, even in a
hotel room, or even, you know,at a gas station stop or
whatever.
So I think that's one thing islike there's always ways that we
can support our body.
Even if we're not at a clinicand even if we're not at our
very own home, there's alwayssomething we can do to help
ourselves.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Okay.
So how do you right now youfeel like you are obviously.
I mean you say it's a process,obviously, but I mean you feel
like you're in the clear, so tospeak, or I like how you asked
that question.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
So one of the regular lab work that we do is the
circulating tumor cell type ofblood work and that has been
showing that I don't have anycirculating tumor cells.
Yes, and they got clear marginsin surgery and the surgeons
like to say your kids are free.
And the surgeons like to sayyour kids are free.
(25:31):
Nobody wants to do a scan rightnow, while I'm in the middle,
like I literally have anothersurgery coming up before the end
of this year.
So everybody is kind ofsuggesting let's not do another
scan until after that surgerybecause I'm in the middle of,
like, heightened inflammationright now from surgery, world
right.
I'm in the middle of likeheightened inflammation right
now from surgery, world Right.
So, uh, in my particular casethey're not so worried that I
need a cancer type of scan rightnow in the middle of my
(25:54):
surgeries, but I will have oneat the basically like towards
the beginning of next year.
But again, like, I've neverlived in fear and I have other
things, other like the otherblood work, the other, my tumor
to me was always palpable andvisual and that doesn't mean
(26:16):
that cancer can't be otherplaces.
I'm very aware of that but Ihave always in my case had a
variety of means and checking itother than just scans right so
I'm up until surgery.
I always said I thrived withcancer, I'm living with cancer,
and now I like to say I'vethrived through cancer and I'm
(26:39):
living cancer free.
Yeah, but my mindset is I amliving an anti-cancer lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I'm never going to go back to the standard American
diet.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Right, yes.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
I mean like never say never in the words of Justin
Bieber never say never.
But I mean that is one thingthat is definitely a absolute
boundary in my life.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Yeah, has any of this changed Mike and the way he
eats or does anything, or?
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Yes, great question.
So he grew up in Colorado andwas already juicing and stuff
before I met him.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
So he was a big fan and a big helper in me, you know
, juicing a lot and all thattype of stuff and prepping
vegetables and whatnot andprepping vegetables and whatnot.
So kind of the same deal, likehe's ebb and flow, like he'll
help me make meals and he'll eatwhatever I eat at home type of
deal.
Now when we go out to eatsomewhere we're going to choose
(27:37):
our own entrees and his is goingto look different than mine.
But we are both obviously muchmore aware of how nutrition
impacts our bodies and hownutrition impacts how we feel.
But we are two separateindividuals that lead individual
lives and for him, as somebodythat goes on the road, he has a
(28:00):
little bit less.
There's oftentimes where he hasless control of what is being
served to him.
Oh, yeah, so he just tries tomake wise choices in those
moments.
There's often times where hehas less control of what is
being served to him.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Oh yeah, so he just tries to make wise choices in
those moments.
Yeah, I've seen those mealsbackstage.
That's right, they're verytasty but sometimes not that
healthy.
But it depends on the artist.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Sometimes they insist on doing something super
healthy and we appreciate thoseartists.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, we do.
Now did you hear about HealingStrong through Chris Wark you?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
know.
I mean I would probably saythere was some correlation in
the beginning years of when Ifound out that.
That's where I originally heardabout it.
But also I've been around AnnieAppleseed, her complementary
and alternative therapies forcancer conference, and there's
been lovely, lovely people.
(28:51):
It's such a lovely communitythere and there's been lovely,
lovely people from healingstrong that I've met through um
the annie appleseed conferenceand um I've been aware of you,
know your podcast and been awareof the different offerings that
Healing Strong has had over theyears.
So probably originally theChris Work days.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
What you're saying is this podcast has changed your
life.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Changed my life.
Changing my life right now.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yes, thanks for playing along.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Well, I am serious, though.
I think there is.
You know, as people who are inthe healing strong world will
know, there is a difference in aspiritually minded support
group, yeah than other types ofsupport groups, and this
definitely fills a special needyeah, that's true, very true,
(29:45):
very well put.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
uh, where do you see things going from here?
Just kind of continue with,obviously, your routine of
eating properly, vegetarian andchecking the blood, doing all
that stuff, I mean yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
So even in the midst of like the quarterly blood work
as a part of that, I come backto Kansas.
I no longer live in Kansas, Ilive in Nashville, but I come
back to Kansas to Reardon Clinicbecause that has been my
healing home and my family ishere, etc.
And so I come here and I doagain customized specific to
(30:20):
where I am in my case at thetime, some specific rounds of
therapies here.
So, like this week that I'mhere at the time, some specific
rounds of therapies here.
So, like this week that I'mhere, I'm doing several days in
a row of I'll have IVC one dayI'll have basically it's like a,
it's MAH, it's a blood ozone,so they'll run ozone through my
blood and put my blood back inme and more IVC, et cetera.
(30:46):
So I'm doing a cycle of thathere.
This summer when I came, it wasto do a cycle round of
mistletoe therapy because I hadcome out of my surgery and so we
were trying to support myimmune system coming out of
surgery.
So we did a mistletoe not shotsbut IVs round then.
And so I am pretty particularabout coming back here to my, if
(31:12):
you will, my healing home baseand keeping up with some
therapies.
But also, as probably many ofyour listeners will understand,
I am years and years into thisjourney.
I have not had metastasis yet,praise the Lord.
And I don't want to say yet Idon't mean like I'm expecting to
have it, I don't mean it thatway I haven't had metastasis,
(31:34):
but I have lived with cancer foryears and years and years, and
so I've lived this.
I've had over 400 IVs and allof these whatever things that I
do right, um, and all of thesewhatever things that I do right.
And so there comes a pointwhere we understand that
resources are limited and weunderstand that time and energy
are limited and we understandthat, like, my whole entire life
(31:58):
doesn't need to be cancer orcancer focused, or cancer life,
um, so, um.
So I'm, I'm at a season, if youwill, that I am.
My priorities are, yes,nutrition, anti-cancer nutrition
and making sure I am checkingin with what my healing home
base is and the therapies thatcan support my body as much as
(32:21):
possible.
But that you know it used to beweekly in my intensive days and
it's not weekly anymore, it'ssometimes it's monthly.
Right now, sometimes it'squarterly.
And then, yeah, checking inwith what are those core, basic
things that we can do in ourhomes that help us support our
bodies.
(32:41):
And minds, you know, I mean, Ithink our mind and spirit are
just as much a part of this.
And minds, you know, I mean, Ithink our mind and spirit are
just as much a part of this.
And so, like having ananti-cancer mindset and a hope
filled, my mindset has alwaysbeen God designed our bodies to
heal yeah and so that's themindset that I live in, even in
my, like, hard surgery recoverydays, because, man, these
(33:02):
surgeries are so hard, you know,and I kind of I always kind of
go, um well, okay.
So I don't know that listenersare going to be able to see this
, but I have marks on my um, onthe top of my hand, where they
drew my blood for my surgeries,and I go.
That's just a reminder to methat my hand is healing over and
(33:26):
that body was designed to heal,like even in any little things
or like a bug bite.
Oh, my bug bites are healingbecause my body is designed to
heal, and if my body can dothose little things, it can do
the big things too.
I just need to help give itthose healthy inputs, you know.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
That's a good point, because some people don't
believe that our bodies can healfrom cancer.
But when you cut yourself, itdoesn't stay cut for the rest of
your life.
I mean it heals without youreally doing anything other than
keeping it clean.
So, yeah, it's pretty simplewhen you think about it.
God knew what he was doing whenhe made it.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
God knew what he was doing.
Imagine that, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Yeah, who knew that?
Speaker 1 (34:05):
Yeah, and can we also just say that God is the only
one that knows our end date?
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
There's no doctor that knows our end date.
There's no surgeon that knowsour end date.
There's no family member thatknows our end date.
There's no surgeon that knowsour end date.
There's no family member thatknows our end date.
You know, God is the only onlyone, and so I'm going to live
every day to my fullest at thispoint.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Yes, you know, that's true.
You know we could just betotally healed of cancer and go
out and have a tree fall on us.
It's totally up to Him, yep, orwhere we walk also.
Well, Jenny, thank you so muchfor doing this, and I felt like
I've met a new Nashville friend.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Next, time I'm in.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Nashville and you and Mike can get together and we'll
get some coffee somewhere.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Thank you.
I would love that I know thespots that have unsweetened like
nut milks.
So I'll let you know those?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yeah, I need that.
I need that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
And the ones that have, you know, the healthy
organic matcha.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Ah, okay.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
I do want to mention that, as a part of what cancer
instigated in me, as a part ofmy learning was, I ended up
doing a culinary nutritionprogram and I ended up also
doing a cancer coaching programbecause I have felt like, if I
am going to go through this, Iwant to use it for other
(35:31):
people's benefits.
And so that's why I started myshrink the mutant website and
that's why I started sharing.
My instagram is shrink themutant and that's why I started
sharing on there years ago.
Um is so that other peoplecould see what these various
holistic therapies are and thatcancer is a word, not a sentence
, and that you can thrivethrough cancer.
(35:54):
So that's the mutant shrink themutant Yep.
So it's um.
If I'm going to have cancer,I'm going to use it for good.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Excellent.
Is that shrink the mutantcom or?
Speaker 1 (36:08):
it is shrink the mutantcom and shrink the mutant
on Instagram.
Yeah, and I named it shrink themutant because cancer is our
own mutated cells and I neededto work on shrinking the tumor.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Plus it's funny.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
And it's funny All right?
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Well, thank you so much.
I won't take up any more ofyour time because I know you're
a busy woman.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
I'm about to, I'm going to.
After we get off this call, I'mactually going to the clinic to
get my next therapy.
No joke.
Well, there you go.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Yep, all right.
Well, you have, and I'll seeyou next time I'm in Nashville.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
I love it.
You've been listening to the IAm Healing Strong podcast, a
part of the Healing Strongorganization.
We hope you found encouragementin this episode, as well as the
confidence to take control ofyour healing journey, knowing
that God will guide you on thispath.
Healing Strong is a nonprofitorganization whose mission is to
(37:01):
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.
You can do that by going to ourwebsite at healingstrongorg and
(37:21):
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
join our membership program at$25 or $75 a month.
This helps us to be able toreach more people with hope and
(37:45):
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
word.
We'll see you next week withanother story on the I Am
Healing Strong podcast.
Up until surgery, I always said I thrived with
cancer, I'm living with cancer.
And now I like to say I'vethrived through cancer and I'm
living cancer free.
Yeah, but my mindset is I amliving an anti-cancer lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
I'm never going to go back to the standard American
diet.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Right, yes.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I mean like never say never in the words of Justin
Bieber never say never.
But I mean that is one thingthat is definitely a absolute
boundary in my life.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
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 (00:56):
Talking to Jenny Bradley and full disclosure.
We just had a conversationbefore we got into this about
the music industry.
My little tail was waggingbecause I just I love the music
industry and I kind of miss itnow that I'm not in radio
anymore, but I do come toNashville a lot.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yes, I'm going to keep my eyes open for you, yeah
for sure.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Oh yeah yeah, the place will be buzzing when I
come to town.
Oh, he's back, jim's back.
Yeah, well, tell us.
I know you were diagnosed, buttell us, before all this, we
just want to know a little bitmore about you, what your
background is.
Were you eating healthy?
Were you an exercise nut?
(01:37):
Just give us a littlebackground leading up to that.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Well, I would like to say I wish that I was a health,
not an exercise, not before.
No, I used to.
Well, I say, you know, and thisis true, that I lived off of
Pop-Tarts and Cherry Coke duringgrad school.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Yes, I love Pop-Tarts .
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yes, not anymore, not anymore.
But no, I have a background intheology and ministry and
education, and so I was inministry to students for
basically almost 20 years andtaught at the college level as
well.
And then, well, you know, welike to say BC and AD, right
(02:19):
Like before cancer and afterdiagnosis.
So before cancer life wasdifferent in the sense that I
didn't know better, I didn'tknow better, and we were a happy
, blissful couple.
I was diagnosed in my 30s, sowe were married for about three
(02:43):
not quite three full yearsbefore I was diagnosed, and so
now the majority of our marriagehas been under the guise of
knowing what it's like to livewith cancer.
But anyhow, we were, you know,just living the blissful life
and enjoying life, being able toserve others and live in what
(03:04):
our gifts and talents were.
And then AD after diagnosis,that kind of stuff slowed down,
obviously, for me, because mymain focus became what do I need
to do on this healing journey?
To put this you know to take, asour friend, your friend Chris
Work would say, massive action.
Right, what do we need to do totake massive action?
(03:27):
And so I thank goodness I had avery generous, kind leader at
the church that I worked for atthe time that I was diagnosed,
that he said we are here tosupport you.
If we really believe what theBible says, we're going to
support you, and so we want youto stay on staff, but we
(03:48):
understand if you need to taketime to go do your various
therapies.
So it made it so that I couldstill be with the students and
that was, you know, really a bigpart of my like soul health
right.
So being able to be with thestudents and still have my
creative outlets and the thingsthat gave me life, and then
(04:10):
doing so much of the at-homehealing therapies and then going
to a clinic for the IV vitaminC and just the various other
therapies integrative, holistictherapies that I did that were
at a clinic for the first coupleof years during my story, and
then, in about month 20, after Iwas diagnosed, I had
(04:32):
cryoablation, which I don't knowif you know about cryoablation.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Not much.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
It is where they freeze the tumor, so it's in my
case it was liquid nitrogen.
So they go in with a probe andthey do a freeze cycle and a
thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, several minutes
at a time, and it's the traumato the cancer cells during those
cycles that impacts the cells,and so that was kind of a stop
(04:58):
gap measure for me.
Um, and then my story goes on.
I don't want to, I'll let you.
I don't want, I don't want toshare too much right at first.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Okay, Now was all that in Kansas.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
I went across the country to California for
cryoablation.
Okay, so I'm very much a.
We do what we have to do to getthings done Right.
And so there's no cryoablationoffered in Kansas that's where I
lived at the time and reallycryoablation isn't offered in
the majority of the UnitedStates and it is offered for
(05:33):
certain types of cancer, butbreast cancer, which is the type
that I have, it is not fullyapproved for breast cancer.
It is approved for, like cysts,but not tumors.
So also in most cases at thispoint, cryoablation is self-pay.
Nice, so again, it was verymuch a and and you can get a
(05:55):
super bill and try to get itreimbursed by insurance.
And some people are, um, havethat blessing, that was not my
case, but um, so, yeah, yeah,cryoablation.
I always tell any women thatI'm connecting with about breast
cancer to look into it.
It may or may not be a fit foryour case, but in my case it was
(06:16):
one of the major steps I tookto be a stopgap.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Okay, let me back up a little here, just because I'm
nosy.
Yep, and I could do thatbecause I'm the host, right?
That's right, that's right howdid you and your husband mike
meet?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
well, you will also appreciate this.
We met backstage at christianconferences.
so he is an audio engineer andhe would be on the production
team that would get contractedto work alongside the team that
I would get asked to come workand be like an artist liaison
(06:52):
backstage in green room type ofstuff.
So I did that a few times ayear.
I would get asked to come outto some of the bigger events
where they needed more help andso that, since I worked at a
church full-time and in ministryfull-time in those years, that
was like my way of serving.
It was getting outside of whatmy day-to-day job was, and I
(07:13):
went and served at Christianconferences at the time, so
that's how we met.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Wow, again, I'm going to be even noosier.
Which conference was this?
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Oh, there was lots of them there.
Which conference was this?
Oh, there was lots of them.
There was DCLA, which is Youthfor Christ.
Back in the day and there wasDare to Share.
And that's also a youthconference, and I mean all kinds
of different ones, the NationalHispanic Christian League.
Oh yeah, on and on.
(07:42):
We could go.
I could list several.
All right, that they did, yeah,yeah, but the ones that we
really, oh well, youthspecialties, the national youth
workers convention.
That's the one where he endedup coming over to me before the
end of loadout and said can I,can I get your number?
That type I mean there's abigger story, but that's the
(08:04):
very short story is Is that howhe sounded?
Well, he is.
I do really like his voice.
It's much deeper than what Ican do.
But, yeah, now he very muchasked for my number during
loadout of a National YouthWorkers Conference.
Oh, excellent, yeah, if youneed to cut out this, that's
fine.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Oh, no, I, excellent.
Yeah, if you need to cut outthis, that's fine.
No, no, I'm going to lead withthis Way to go.
Mike, that's funny, it's beingan audio guy.
His name is Mike.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I'm sure no one's ever said anything like that.
Yeah, Okay, so like you getmarried the next week, right?
Speaker 1 (08:41):
We got married about two years later.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Okay, all right, the next week right we got married
about two years later.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Okay, all right.
Yeah, he was uh very called methe next day and we've been in
contact ever since and rightaway, right away, he was very
specific in his like pursuit ofme.
There was no question, rightthat he said I'm, I would like
to come visit you and if, when Icome visit you, I'm either
going to leave as your boyfriendor I'm going to leave and we'll
(09:06):
be friends that just likehappen to see each other at
conferences yeah, and he left asmy boyfriend, you know, and
then you know now we've beenmarried for 10 years wow, yeah,
he's always on the road right so.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
So that's probably why he was looking for a wife to
settle down with.
Yes, that was a good story.
Okay, we're moving on now.
So, yeah, and you were sayingjust a couple years into, it is
when you got your diagnosisright.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Yes.
So I was actually misdiagnosedfor two years and the doctor
said you're too young for cancerQuote I'm not worried at all
that this is cancer.
And she thought it was just afatty lipoma.
And then that second year shesaid I'm going to go ahead and
(09:56):
send you to a specialist justbecause they cut these out all
the time, and you'll have abetter aesthetic outcome.
She said I could cut this outfor you, but I'm going to go
ahead and send you to aspecialist just because I do it
every day.
So then when I went to thespecialist several months later
because I wasn't seen as anemergent case, that doctor took
one look at like before she evenpalpated me.
(10:17):
She looked at me because myskin's always been involved with
my tumor and she took one lookand said I'm so sorry, I'm so
sorry, I think this is cancer.
And she took one look and saidI'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I
think this is cancer.
And she brought in anultrasound and ultrasound in me
and she said this does not looklike a fatty lipoma, this very
much looks like the signaturesof a cancerous tumor.
And then she said I would liketo do a biopsy and it was in
(10:38):
December and I said back to heryou know, we're really close to
the end of the deductible yearand we have not met our
deductible.
Could we just start and couldwe do that in January?
And we all kind of talked aboutit in the room.
My husband just happened to bewith me because we thought that
we were scheduling just a quickexcision procedure.
(10:59):
So he happened to be with me.
We did not go in there at allthinking cancer was on the table
, right, um, and in that case Ihonestly for me I think that was
a blessing because I there wasnothing about me that was riled
up, right, um, we were just likedoing the business.
So, yeah, and we talked aboutit in the moment and she very
(11:23):
much said now you've had thisbump for a while, right, and you
know, we, we talked through thetimeline and she said it's not
gonna like, there's nothingthat's going to change about it
in a few weeks.
So, yes, if you want to comeback in January, I'll do your
biopsy then.
And then, as we continue totalk, my husband, mike, and I
just kind of went well, we'reactually here now, let's just go
(11:49):
ahead and take care of it.
Like, let's just go ahead anddo it and then we'll know what
we need to do to move forward.
So we literally walked acrossthe hall and she did the biopsy
and then that was on a Tuesday.
And then on that Thursday I gota call from her office that it
was definitely a carcinoma butthey needed to send it out for
further pathology.
And that was over Christmasweekend and so we told my family
(12:12):
during our Christmascelebration, if you will I mean
like we all open presents firstbut you know I wanted to tell
people face to face.
I did, but you know I wanted totell people face to face.
And then I did not have any ofthe pathology reports back until
like more than it was basicallymore than a week lot of
(12:33):
research right away, withoutanyone's opinions involved.
At that point and in my mindand this is again where I go,
thank you, lord, that youdeposited this idea back,
(12:56):
however many years ago.
At that point I was like I thinkthat there is something about
IV, vitamin C and cancer, Ithink that there is something
about IV vitamin C and cancerand so I Googled it and there
was a place called ReardonClinic that was 10 minutes away
from me and Reardon Clinic and,as they say, like the leaders in
(13:17):
IV vitamin C research forcancer, and so, anyway, I was
able to actually start gettinginto them before I ever had my
first conventional oncologyappointment, just because of how
the timeline happened, from mypathology results and all that
right so, um, it was a, and Ilearned about chris work right
away.
(13:37):
I learned about um.
I ordered the night of mybiopsy.
I ordered anti-cancer bookDavid Servin Schreiber's book.
I ordered radical remissionthat night and as soon as those
came I started reading them, noteven fully knowing what my
pathology was, but knowing thatthere was something more out
there for me and that, you know,I kind of have always taken the
(13:59):
path of opening up my hands andgoing all right, Lord, like,
what do you need me to be awareof for such a time as this?
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Yeah, Wow.
So how did it hit you when youheard the diagnosis first that
you had cancer?
You're like yeah, whatever.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I don't know that I was whatever, but I will say I
wasn't.
I have never, even after beingdiagnosed, I don't live in the
fear of cancer and I think a lotof that is and again, I could
talk to you about this Like wecan share a similar language on
this podcast.
I think so much of it is havinga greater like eternal
(14:35):
perspective, and that doesn'tmean that life isn't hard and it
doesn't mean that there's notlike.
I mean like.
Obviously you know cancer is areal struggle, isn't hard and it
doesn't mean that there's notlike.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
I mean like obviously you know, cancer is a real
struggle.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
But I think, just from the moment that she, that
that specialist, uttered I'msorry, I think this could be
cancer.
I kind of go into two.
My brain goes into two pathsand one of those paths is the
business mode of like, okay,what do we need to do to take
care of the next step?
Like, what is the very nextthing we need to do?
Okay, got it, okay, go, youknow.
(15:09):
And then the other path in mybrain is okay and we have an
eternal perspective that I havea Holy Spirit within me that is
no child, and that I am guidedby, you know, this higher power
that can help me navigate things.
And whether that means that Imake it beyond that first month
(15:31):
of the diagnosis or not, I justhad that type of perspective.
And again, just to restate,like that doesn't mean that
things aren't hard and thatdoesn't mean that there weren't
some teary moments and hardconversations.
And I also bought books ondeath and dying and I also, like
(15:51):
, watched and listened to thingsabout hospice.
And, by the way, my mom died,um, when I was in my 20s and I
walked through that process withher.
Not, she didn't die from cancer.
So I think there was a part ofme as a young adult that was
already like oh, this is whatit's like to have somebody in my
(16:13):
immediate family walk throughthe dying process Right.
And so even in that sense itwasn't a completely foreign idea
to me.
If that makes sense, I'm sayingyeah.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah, it does.
Yeah, foreign idea to me.
If that makes sense, I'm sayingyeah, yeah, it does.
Yeah, I mean I was.
I was similar to that after thefirst shock because you know,
of course I ate garbage too, butI also ate good stuff.
I just ate a lot, so I ate good, and then I added a lot of
supplemented with sugar, so itwas, which is very that's what I
would say.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I I overdosed on sugar.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yes, yes, and so yeah , but after I got the first
shock of that and the fact thatit was stage four and they
thought I'd live a month or two,that was a little bit too short
.
But after that initial week ofcraziness then yeah, I was there
too, because I mean, it makesyou face the fact that death is
(17:05):
going to come eventually.
Anyway.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
And of course, we're sure where we're going.
After that I was like, yeah,I'm fine with it.
It kind of made me it's likethe rest of my I'm in my 60s now
.
I know it's hard to believe.
You think I'm 30.
But I'm in my 30s for thesecond time.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
There and I'm in my 30s for the second time.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
There you go, there you go.
And I always thought, man, howdo you feel when you get older?
I mean, knowing that the end iscoming soon, do you start
freaking out?
And then, of course, I watchedmy parents.
They went into their 90s and itnever bothered them at all.
They're like, hurry up, let'sgo.
But I'm like, hey, I'm ready.
I mean, I still have four kidsand a wife and I don't
(17:44):
necessarily want to leave them,but hey, they're going to catch
up with me up there.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Sorry, yeah, I think that's the other aspect of it
overall is like I had a will tolive, I had a greater hope.
I didn't have a reason to digin and feel unhopeful.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yeah, tell us exactly , okay, closely, like your
protocol.
How did, how did you changeyour life from that point on to
the clinic?
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Of course, I was already gluten-free and
vegetarian.
I was not vegan, but I wasvegetarian at the time and I was
doing that for my gut healthand for my thyroid health and
but that didn't mean that didn'tmean that I was really fully
aware and understanding ofingredients.
Right, so there is gluten-freebread, but that doesn't mean
(18:34):
it's any better for you.
Yeah, it just doesn't have thegluten, um, you know, as an
example anyway.
So after I was diagnosed, Ilearned a lot about nutrition.
I have read over.
When I say this stuff, I don'tmean it to sound pompous, I
don't mean it that way.
I'm just sharing about, like,the path that I took and the
(18:55):
personality that I am is thatI'm a reader and I want to learn
, like I'm a lifelong learnerand there's a big, big, big part
of me is like, if I canunderstand it, then that helps
me with my why, that helps mewith my what, like on those days
that I'm so tired of makinganother smoothie or you know,
(19:15):
like, whatever the thing is, Iunderstand the greater why of
why it makes a difference that Iam more motivated to do it.
So I've read over like 50 to 60books on cancer and health and
nutrition and whatnot and inthose things, and then watching
documentaries and the HEALdocumentary was a big early on
(19:41):
help in radical remission waskind of interspersed with that.
You know, knowing it's likewhat you do with this podcast,
right, it's like knowing otherpeople's stories and the other
people could thrive through this.
That's what spurred me onthrough all these years really.
So I learned about what kindsof different things could help
support my body.
I learned about what kinds ofdifferent things could help
(20:03):
support my body and I got youknow in that into Reardon Clinic
within basically two weeks ofmy diagnosis and was able to
start on a protocol with themright away.
So I did IVC, vitamin C threetimes a week for a long time and
(20:26):
I guess I should back up alittle bit Conventional oncology
.
In my particular case, with myparticular pathology, chemo was
not recommended, radiation wasnot recommended and literally
the surgeon told me I will notoperate on you for a minimum of
six months.
So I had this big on-ramp to doall kinds of stuff they could
do the hormone receptor blockers, and at the time again, it was
(20:50):
one of those things where I, youknow, raised my palms up, as I
like to say, and said Okay, lord, if this is something that is
needed in my case at this time,let me see what I need to see
about it.
Good or bad, right.
And I along the way have said tothe conventional oncology like
there we my husband and I thinkof conventional oncology and
(21:12):
integrative naturopathiconcology as a checks and
balances.
So we don't want one withoutthe other necessarily.
And with conventional oncologyI have just said you know, could
you please note in my patientrecord that you can prescribe
that to me, but you're not goingto submit it yet, like you're
(21:36):
not going to electronicallysubmit it to a pharmacy yet.
I would like to go away andlook on it a little bit more and
have 24 hours to 48 hours tothink about it.
And it's not a no forever, it'sa not yet.
And so that's kind of in all ofmy conventional oncology
appointments.
We always kind of circle backaround to those similar
conversations.
So there hasn't been a lot inconventional oncology that they
(21:56):
can offer me in my case untilsurgery.
So I did a whole lot of things.
I in my lifetime of cancerworld I have done IV vitamin C,
iv ozone, iv mistletoe mistletoeshots, hellebora shots.
I have done coffee enemas, ofcourse, all the nutrition like
(22:17):
anti-cancer nutrition, and thatto me that means gluten free,
plant focused, very plantcentered.
And so this is my seventh oreighth year I'm not great at
math, but somewhere in myseventh or eighth year of after
diagnosis and so my diet ebbsand flows with what my like
(22:40):
what's going on that quarter is.
I have quarterly lab work doneand so I just kind of go okay,
what well, I should say not justme with my naturopathic
oncologist, we kind of make aplan of like what is going on
this quarter and what are thingsyou're leading into that we
need to support your body around.
So I had cryoablation aroundmonth 20, as I mentioned before,
(23:02):
and then in spring of 2024.
So literally this just happened.
Basically, I have had majorsurgery, so I had a single
mastectomy and then deep flapreconstruction and breast cancer
reconstruction is typically nota one and done type of thing,
and so I'm in my series.
(23:23):
I like to say now I'm kind ofin my messy middle of what all
these surgeries are and howthings are so like right now for
my nutrition.
My protocol is centered morearound supporting my body
recovering from surgery andpreparing for my next surgery.
So I need a lot more proteinthan I may have a year ago type
(23:44):
of deal.
So we just, like it ebbs andflows with what is important to
my particular body in myparticular case at the time, and
how do we need to customize itfor that end?
Yeah, and I'm trying to thinklike there's just so many other
things.
I mean infrared saunas, youknow doing things to help my
lymphatic system, yeah, allkinds of all kinds of things
(24:07):
that I know I'm missing.
Yes, yes.
So I have a little minitrampoline and I have a
vibration plate also and youknow, like dry brushing, any of
those things, it just depends,right, Like I take the dry brush
with me on trips and I'm notgoing to take a mini trampoline
on a trip, but you know, it'sjust a matter of like getting on
(24:28):
your toes, like bouncing up anddown on your toes, even in a
hotel room, or even, you know,at a gas station stop or
whatever.
So I think that's one thing islike there's always ways that we
can support our body.
Even if we're not at a clinicand even if we're not at our
very own home, there's alwayssomething we can do to help
ourselves.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Okay.
So how do you right now youfeel like you are obviously.
I mean you say it's a process,obviously, but I mean you feel
like you're in the clear, so tospeak, or I like how you asked
that question.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
So one of the regular lab work that we do is the
circulating tumor cell type ofblood work and that has been
showing that I don't have anycirculating tumor cells.
Yes, and they got clear marginsin surgery and the surgeons
like to say your kids are free.
And the surgeons like to sayyour kids are free.
(25:31):
Nobody wants to do a scan rightnow, while I'm in the middle,
like I literally have anothersurgery coming up before the end
of this year.
So everybody is kind ofsuggesting let's not do another
scan until after that surgerybecause I'm in the middle of,
like, heightened inflammationright now from surgery, world
right.
I'm in the middle of likeheightened inflammation right
now from surgery, world Right.
So, uh, in my particular casethey're not so worried that I
need a cancer type of scan rightnow in the middle of my
(25:54):
surgeries, but I will have oneat the basically like towards
the beginning of next year.
But again, like, I've neverlived in fear and I have other
things, other like the otherblood work, the other, my tumor
to me was always palpable andvisual and that doesn't mean
(26:16):
that cancer can't be otherplaces.
I'm very aware of that but Ihave always in my case had a
variety of means and checking itother than just scans right so
I'm up until surgery.
I always said I thrived withcancer, I'm living with cancer,
and now I like to say I'vethrived through cancer and I'm
(26:39):
living cancer free.
Yeah, but my mindset is I amliving an anti-cancer lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
I'm never going to go back to the standard American
diet.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Right, yes.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
I mean like never say never in the words of Justin
Bieber never say never.
But I mean that is one thingthat is definitely a absolute
boundary in my life.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Yeah, has any of this changed Mike and the way he
eats or does anything, or?
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Yes, great question.
So he grew up in Colorado andwas already juicing and stuff
before I met him.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
So he was a big fan and a big helper in me, you know
, juicing a lot and all thattype of stuff and prepping
vegetables and whatnot andprepping vegetables and whatnot.
So kind of the same deal, likehe's ebb and flow, like he'll
help me make meals and he'll eatwhatever I eat at home type of
deal.
Now when we go out to eatsomewhere we're going to choose
(27:37):
our own entrees and his is goingto look different than mine.
But we are both obviously muchmore aware of how nutrition
impacts our bodies and hownutrition impacts how we feel.
But we are two separateindividuals that lead individual
lives and for him, as somebodythat goes on the road, he has a
(28:00):
little bit less.
There's oftentimes where he hasless control of what is being
served to him.
Oh, yeah, so he just tries tomake wise choices in those
moments.
There's often times where hehas less control of what is
being served to him.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Oh yeah, so he just tries to make wise choices in
those moments.
Yeah, I've seen those mealsbackstage.
That's right, they're verytasty but sometimes not that
healthy.
But it depends on the artist.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Sometimes they insist on doing something super
healthy and we appreciate thoseartists.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, we do.
Now did you hear about HealingStrong through Chris Wark you?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
know.
I mean I would probably saythere was some correlation in
the beginning years of when Ifound out that.
That's where I originally heardabout it.
But also I've been around AnnieAppleseed, her complementary
and alternative therapies forcancer conference, and there's
been lovely, lovely people.
(28:51):
It's such a lovely communitythere and there's been lovely,
lovely people from healingstrong that I've met through um
the annie appleseed conferenceand um I've been aware of you,
know your podcast and been awareof the different offerings that
Healing Strong has had over theyears.
So probably originally theChris Work days.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
What you're saying is this podcast has changed your
life.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Changed my life.
Changing my life right now.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yes, thanks for playing along.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Well, I am serious, though.
I think there is.
You know, as people who are inthe healing strong world will
know, there is a difference in aspiritually minded support
group, yeah than other types ofsupport groups, and this
definitely fills a special needyeah, that's true, very true,
(29:45):
very well put.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
uh, where do you see things going from here?
Just kind of continue with,obviously, your routine of
eating properly, vegetarian andchecking the blood, doing all
that stuff, I mean yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
So even in the midst of like the quarterly blood work
as a part of that, I come backto Kansas.
I no longer live in Kansas, Ilive in Nashville, but I come
back to Kansas to Reardon Clinicbecause that has been my
healing home and my family ishere, etc.
And so I come here and I doagain customized specific to
(30:20):
where I am in my case at thetime, some specific rounds of
therapies here.
So, like this week that I'mhere at the time, some specific
rounds of therapies here.
So, like this week that I'mhere, I'm doing several days in
a row of I'll have IVC one dayI'll have basically it's like a,
it's MAH, it's a blood ozone,so they'll run ozone through my
blood and put my blood back inme and more IVC, et cetera.
(30:46):
So I'm doing a cycle of thathere.
This summer when I came, it wasto do a cycle round of
mistletoe therapy because I hadcome out of my surgery and so we
were trying to support myimmune system coming out of
surgery.
So we did a mistletoe not shotsbut IVs round then.
And so I am pretty particularabout coming back here to my, if
(31:12):
you will, my healing home baseand keeping up with some
therapies.
But also, as probably many ofyour listeners will understand,
I am years and years into thisjourney.
I have not had metastasis yet,praise the Lord.
And I don't want to say yet Idon't mean like I'm expecting to
have it, I don't mean it thatway I haven't had metastasis,
(31:34):
but I have lived with cancer foryears and years and years, and
so I've lived this.
I've had over 400 IVs and allof these whatever things that I
do right, um, and all of thesewhatever things that I do right.
And so there comes a pointwhere we understand that
resources are limited and weunderstand that time and energy
are limited and we understandthat, like, my whole entire life
(31:58):
doesn't need to be cancer orcancer focused, or cancer life,
um, so, um.
So I'm, I'm at a season, if youwill, that I am.
My priorities are, yes,nutrition, anti-cancer nutrition
and making sure I am checkingin with what my healing home
base is and the therapies thatcan support my body as much as
(32:21):
possible.
But that you know it used to beweekly in my intensive days and
it's not weekly anymore, it'ssometimes it's monthly.
Right now, sometimes it'squarterly.
And then, yeah, checking inwith what are those core, basic
things that we can do in ourhomes that help us support our
bodies.
(32:41):
And minds, you know, I mean, Ithink our mind and spirit are
just as much a part of this.
And minds, you know, I mean, Ithink our mind and spirit are
just as much a part of this.
And so, like having ananti-cancer mindset and a hope
filled, my mindset has alwaysbeen God designed our bodies to
heal yeah and so that's themindset that I live in, even in
my, like, hard surgery recoverydays, because, man, these
(33:02):
surgeries are so hard, you know,and I kind of I always kind of
go, um well, okay.
So I don't know that listenersare going to be able to see this
, but I have marks on my um, onthe top of my hand, where they
drew my blood for my surgeries,and I go.
That's just a reminder to methat my hand is healing over and
(33:26):
that body was designed to heal,like even in any little things
or like a bug bite.
Oh, my bug bites are healingbecause my body is designed to
heal, and if my body can dothose little things, it can do
the big things too.
I just need to help give itthose healthy inputs, you know.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
That's a good point, because some people don't
believe that our bodies can healfrom cancer.
But when you cut yourself, itdoesn't stay cut for the rest of
your life.
I mean it heals without youreally doing anything other than
keeping it clean.
So, yeah, it's pretty simplewhen you think about it.
God knew what he was doing whenhe made it.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
God knew what he was doing.
Imagine that, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Yeah, who knew that?
Speaker 1 (34:05):
Yeah, and can we also just say that God is the only
one that knows our end date?
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
There's no doctor that knows our end date.
There's no surgeon that knowsour end date.
There's no family member thatknows our end date.
There's no surgeon that knowsour end date.
There's no family member thatknows our end date.
You know, God is the only onlyone, and so I'm going to live
every day to my fullest at thispoint.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Yes, you know, that's true.
You know we could just betotally healed of cancer and go
out and have a tree fall on us.
It's totally up to Him, yep, orwhere we walk also.
Well, Jenny, thank you so muchfor doing this, and I felt like
I've met a new Nashville friend.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Next, time I'm in.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Nashville and you and Mike can get together and we'll
get some coffee somewhere.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Thank you.
I would love that I know thespots that have unsweetened like
nut milks.
So I'll let you know those?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
Yeah, I need that.
I need that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
And the ones that have, you know, the healthy
organic matcha.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Ah, okay.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
I do want to mention that, as a part of what cancer
instigated in me, as a part ofmy learning was, I ended up
doing a culinary nutritionprogram and I ended up also
doing a cancer coaching programbecause I have felt like, if I
am going to go through this, Iwant to use it for other
(35:31):
people's benefits.
And so that's why I started myshrink the mutant website and
that's why I started sharing.
My instagram is shrink themutant and that's why I started
sharing on there years ago.
Um is so that other peoplecould see what these various
holistic therapies are and thatcancer is a word, not a sentence
, and that you can thrivethrough cancer.
(35:54):
So that's the mutant shrink themutant Yep.
So it's um.
If I'm going to have cancer,I'm going to use it for good.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Excellent.
Is that shrink the mutantcom or?
Speaker 1 (36:08):
it is shrink the mutantcom and shrink the mutant
on Instagram.
Yeah, and I named it shrink themutant because cancer is our
own mutated cells and I neededto work on shrinking the tumor.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Plus it's funny.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
And it's funny All right?
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Well, thank you so much.
I won't take up any more ofyour time because I know you're
a busy woman.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
I'm about to, I'm going to.
After we get off this call, I'mactually going to the clinic to
get my next therapy.
No joke.
Well, there you go.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Yep, all right.
Well, you have, and I'll seeyou next time I'm in Nashville.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
I love it.
You've been listening to the IAm Healing Strong podcast, a
part of the Healing Strongorganization.
We hope you found encouragementin this episode, as well as the
confidence to take control ofyour healing journey, knowing
that God will guide you on thispath.
Healing Strong is a nonprofitorganization whose mission is to
(37:01):
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.
You can do that by going to ourwebsite at healingstrongorg and
(37:21):
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
join our membership program at$25 or $75 a month.
This helps us to be able toreach more people with hope and
(37:45):
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
word.
We'll see you next week withanother story on the I Am
Healing Strong podcast.
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