January 7, 2025 • 36 mins
Marlies Alves shares her journey from being a registered nurse to becoming a cancer patient, highlighting the importance of nutrition in overall health. She candidly discusses her experiences with acute myeloid leukemia, conventional cancer treatment, and how she found healing through holistic practices.
• Growing up in Rhode Island after losing her father
• Becoming a nurse and her early experiences in healthcare
• Mother’s colon cancer diagnosis sparks a passion for nutrition
• Navigating her own cancer diagnosis and treatment
• Advocating for nutrition in the hospital setting
• Transitioning from conventional treatments to holistic health coaching
• Launching Healing Strong group to support others in their journeys
• Reinforcing the importance of taking charge of one’s health
• Finding purpose in sharing her story with others
Contact Marlice:
magoosrn@gmail.com
RI Group Leader
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
One of the things I liked about the facility where I
was at in Boston.
I had my own littlerefrigerator so I had my own
stash of stuff in there.
My husband would cook for mebecause I tried to stay away
from the hospital foods and Idid the best I could.
You can only do so much whileyou're in the hospital and my
(00:21):
husband would cook for me.
He would cook organic.
I could not have raw vegetables, raw fruits, anything raw, they
wouldn't allow.
But he cooked for me the bestthat he could and so I ate
everything that he brought in.
And I stayed away from thesnack carts that came around in
(00:42):
the morning and in the afternoonand it broke my heart when I
saw the other patients people,the visits they would have in
their rooms.
They would come out and juststock up and know nothing but
sugar.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
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 (01:22):
So happy to be talking to Marlies Alves today
on our episode.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I'm doing well, thank you.
How are you doing, Jim?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I'm doing great.
You're up there in the smalleststate in the whole country.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yes, beautiful small state of Rhode Island.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, were you raised there, were you born there.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Actually, I was born in Cape Verde Islands.
I came to the United Stateswhen I was 10 years old.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
And I've been in Rhode Island ever since.
Wow, that was 56 years ago, jim.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
No way, you're in your 40s.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, that's it.
I like your math.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, I saw your website and I said, oh, that's
got to be a typo.
She's saying she's 66.
Nah, it's got to be 46.
So maybe you can correct that.
Yeah, you're still younger thanme 66 and going strong.
Yeah, you are.
I was looking at that statebecause I've never been there
before and I love that area ofthe country, connecticut and
(02:21):
Massachusetts and all that butI've never been in that little
place.
Do you have like threeneighborhoods in the state?
I mean, is it so small?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
It doesn't take long to get out of Rhode Island.
We can quickly be inMassachusetts and quickly be in
Connecticut.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
My drive that I used to have going to the station
that I worked at.
I would have to go out of stateif I was in Rhode Island.
Just the distance I drove.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I thought wow, yes, you would.
It's beautiful in the summer.
The fall is gorgeous.
It's beautiful right now.
Yeah, the winters it's anotherstory.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, as long as you're inside, you can look out
by the fireplace and, yeah, Iwould like that.
Wouldn't like to work in it,but I would like to live where
it's snowing on the outside.
Yeah, thought I'd throw thatout there.
You have a great story.
I know a little bit about it.
Sadly, you lost your dad whenyou were just four, right?
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, my dad passed away when I was four years old,
so I grew up with just my mom,yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
So obviously you probably don't remember a lot
about him.
No, what did he pass away of?
He had cirrhosis of the liver.
Oh, but he was much older thanmy mother too.
Okay, see, we were back in CapeVerde Islands and he lived here
in the United States, retiredearly and went there and married
my mom, so I never really knewmy dad.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Okay, do you have any siblings?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
No, I'm the only child.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah.
So growing up I always wantedto wish I had especially a
sister.
But no, I was the only child.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Okay, now.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I have a daughter and a son, and my daughter and I
and my son we're very close, soGod provide it.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And they're all still in Rhode Island.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
My son presently in Florida.
Oh okay, he went there becauseof the weather.
He's been there about three orfour years but they're planning
he and his wife are planning tocome back next year.
I'm hoping they do.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I'm planning to have children, so they want to be
closer to the family, and Ithink that's a great idea.
So my daughter's here in RhodeIsland.
She and her husband and threegranddaughters.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yes, florida's too hot.
It's nice in the winter.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yes, summer's hot.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yes, I lived there for a short 22 years.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Oh, you lived there 22 years.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yes, and I ran out of sweat so I moved back up.
I have two daughters in collegedown there still Okay, they're
enjoying it, but they both saidthey're moving up north.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
You're in the Carolinas right.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yes, ma'am, south South Carolina.
It's still too warm for me here.
I'm probably better off whereyou guys are.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Yeah, I've never been , but it's beautiful weather
there.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You became a nurse, right.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yeah, I'm a registered nurse.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
What made you go in that direction?
You were just always interestedin that.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
I didn't think you were going to ask me this.
It's funny story because when Iwas about 11, 12 years old, I
was in a hospital.
I had a minor surgery and atthat time I fell in love with
the hospital.
I said I want to be a nursewhen I grow up.
And then in my late nursingwasn't a cool thing to do?
I was thinking as a teenager.
(05:28):
So, I went another direction.
So later on God just hadreplaced that in my heart.
I went back and changed careerand became a nurse.
So when my kids were little, Iwent back to school Wow.
And I worked for 24 years in aneonatal ICU.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Yeah, but now I'm a retired nurse, retired
registered nurse, and I'm ahealth coach.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Retired at 40-something.
Right yeah, my youngestdaughter in college.
She's going to be a nursePediatric nurse is what she's
going to be?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Oh yeah, I love my profession.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah, she's perfect for it, so I hope it goes well
for her.
Yeah, I'll just have her giveyou a call, get some advice
anytime, I believe I remembercorrectly.
Then.
Then, uh, your mom got adiagnosis, is that right?
Speaker 1 (06:19):
yes, my mom got diagnosed in 2007 of colon
cancer and that's when Iactually started my research and
looking deeper into this wholecancer.
I was already a nurse, but alot of the things I started
learning I never learned from anursing school, Right.
But if someone was to ask megrowing up in my 20s 30s, do I
(06:41):
consider myself healthy?
I would always say yes, becauseI always watch my weight, I
always counted calories, I wasalways low-fathers and
sugar-feeders and I always didmy exercises.
You know Jane Fonda days.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
You know, I did Jane Fonda, I did my step aerobic, I
did Thai bows.
I was always exercising and theweight would go on.
Weight would come off, but Iwas healthy.
I didn't care about what I ate,as long as it was about the
calories.
So it wasn't until 2007 when mymom did get that diagnosis of
(07:19):
colon cancer and somebody gaveme a VA justice back then of Dr
Lorraine Day.
I don't know if you ever heardof her.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I don't know much about her, but I've heard of her
, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, dr Lorraine Day , she was a chief surgeon,
orthopedic surgeon and I believewas San Francisco.
So I started watching a lot ofthings where she was doing
because she declined to havechemo or radiation.
She did have surgery.
And what I was learning fromher it was something that was
(07:54):
blowing my mind becausesomething I never heard of the
power of nutrition right withcancer or any health disease.
You know we always have aprescription for this,
prescription for that.
So as I was taking my mom tothe local hospital where she was
getting her chemotherapy, I wasvery aware now of what they
(08:16):
were serving her for lunch, forsnacks.
I was like this is totally theopposite of what I'm learning
from these VHSs.
So that's when it started myinterest a little bit.
I don't want to keep talkingunless you want to ask me a
question Once I start telling mystory.
I just want to keep going.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
No, that's fine, that's fine.
So, yeah, that messes with themind.
It messes with everybody's mindonce they figure out that
nutrition has a lot to do withit.
But especially someone in themedical field who's been trained
.
And I know I've always heard Idon't know anything I've always
heard that you don't get a lotof teaching on nutrition in any
(08:58):
kind of medical school, whetherit's nursing or for a doctor.
So you probably didn't have anyeither, did you?
Speaker 1 (09:04):
No, not in the level that I was learning yeah you
know, you learn about the micro,the, the fat content, but
nothing as far as helping yourbody.
No, not at all, not at all.
So I wish I knew then what Iknow now with my mom.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
So what I did?
I did make some changes.
I wasn't so focused on calories.
I continued my exercise.
I tried keto diet because Iknew about the sugar, but I
didn't make a big change.
I just made some changes and Iwent on with my life.
It wasn't until 2015 when I sawthe Truth About Cancer
documentary Right, they did anice job, ty and Charlene
(09:50):
Belanger and the Global Quest.
I learned so much and this iswhen I really started making
changes and I became very awareand knowledgeable of how we take
care of our bodies and how theindustry even though I'm in the
medical field but how there wasreally no connection with the
(10:11):
Western medicine and nutrition.
So that's when I made a bigchanges and I started doing more
research myself.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Right.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And it got to the point that now I'm taking, I'm
making big changes with diet,with everything and everything I
was learning I became thatperson that everybody would call
what can I do for this?
What can I do for that?
And I had such a passion tohelp people, to help them.
(10:42):
Once you realize your eyes areopen to something, you want to
help others.
So it became a passion of mineand I was trying to advocate for
myself and help others gothrough things and start a
sharing.
But I had this the passion.
The passion was really there.
So, fast forward a little bit in2018, it was September 2018.
(11:04):
My church that I was attendingasked me if I would do a
teaching to the Christian schoolthat we had at the church very
small staff.
I was like, yes, I would loveto teach, just basic.
I titled it eat to live, don'tlive to eat.
Teach people the basics of howto read ingredients, about oil
(11:27):
change.
Everybody needs an oil change,what kind of oils we use,
matters, additives in the food,just the basic things.
I was teaching them and mypastor came in during that class
and asked if I would do thatfor the congregation.
It's like, whoa, okay, I'lltake a step of faith, because I
(11:48):
want to educate people, becauseit's not my strong point, so I
did.
It wasn't a Sunday morningservice, it was a Wednesday
night service, so at least itwas a smaller group and I did
that to the congregation and thefeedback was so great.
People asked me different things, they want to know more, they
want to go deep, go deeper.
(12:10):
And we started doing a smallgroup of where I would just
teach.
The church is very big, so wewould have small groups or
different things, so this was asmall group teaching them how to
eat, how to eat, how to live ahealthy lifestyle.
So, jim, I was on the spiritualhigh, like God is using me to
(12:30):
help others to see, beyond theconventional medicine, how to
live a holistic lifestyle, andmyself, like I said, I was
really applying all the thingsthat I had been learning.
So it was 2018, end of 2018,holidays was coming on, so put
it on hold, let's start thesmall group in January.
(12:51):
Well, december I started notfeeling good, just generalized
flu-like symptoms.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Right.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
And I was supposed to work that Christmas and it was
Christmas Eve.
Usually whenever I get sick, ifI have a cold, a couple of days
it's gone and this just keptlingering and I wasn't feeling
better.
But I was supposed to workChristmas day at the hospital.
So you can't call out onChristmas day, you have to have
(13:22):
a doctor's note.
So Christmas Eve I call my PCP.
There's no way I could workbecause I would go down the
stairs from the hospital,walking across the parking lot
and I was getting tired.
I'm full of energy and at thistime I was doing step anymore,
but I was doing cycling, I wasdoing spin classes and I was
(13:44):
running out of energy.
So I went to see my doctorChristmas Eve.
The lab has all been, have allbeen closed.
He looked at my throat.
He said you look like you havestrep throat, put me on
antibiotics and steroids Not myfavorite thing, but I had to do
something.
I wasn't feeling good, right,got the note for the hospital
and I was out of work for twoweeks and I started feeling a
(14:05):
little better.
And then I went back to workbeginning of January, like
second week of January, and Istarted feeling lousy again.
The same symptoms again.
So I call my PCP.
I said something is wrong.
I think I must have mono.
I mean, I never had it, butthis kind of symptoms you know.
So can you send me for a testwith my uh for Epstein virus?
(14:29):
And how about just the CBCchemistry?
Can let's see what's going on?
So I got a call later on thatday, after getting the lab work,
to come into the office.
So when I went in I was positivefor mono and I found out later
that Epstein virus now isactually something that could
trigger cancer.
(14:49):
And so anyway, he says to me,he looks at me, he says we need
to get you to see hematology,hematologist, oncologist.
So that right, there tells meokay, you're thinking cancer,
blood cancer, right, that'sscary.
So come to find out.
I went that same afternoon Iwent to see the hematology.
(15:11):
I asked them to repeat theblood work again.
I wanted to make sure, just incase it was a fluke.
But no, full-blown AML, acutemyeloid leukemia.
Wow, now, up to that point, fromwhat I had learned, I always
told my husband if I have atumor, a breast cancer, if I
have a tumor anywhere, I am notjumping into the conventional
(15:34):
medicine.
I'm going to do as much as Ican, naturally, because I know
the tumor doesn't grow overnight, over a week.
It takes a long time.
But this took me for a loop,jim.
It came out of nowhere.
Aml is aggressive, aggressive,it's fast, it's.
It's a cancer that I wasn'tthat familiar with and I
(15:55):
remember leaving that doctor'soffice and I, my my husband,
came with me for thatappointment.
He wasn't with me with the firstone because there was no need
to.
I was just going to get resultsof my blood work.
So for the hemat oncology, thatone, he was with me and we left
the office.
The oncologist wanted me it wasfour third in the afternoon.
(16:18):
He squeezed me the lastappointment.
He wanted me to leave there andgo straight to the hospital,
get admitted to the hospital.
I couldn't do that.
I wanted to come home.
So we left.
I got on the elevator and myhusband said just take a deep
breath.
And, jim, you know, the Bibletells us God has not given us a
spirit of fear, which is true.
(16:40):
The Bible is true, right, butfear comes.
Fear comes.
And I remember telling thislike I just want to choke up,
because I remember looking upand just saying God, help me
keep my eyes on you, jesus.
Help me, keep my eyes on you,because I know you're my healer
and I know you're the one thatwalked me through this.
(17:02):
Because I was scared I was.
I felt so powerless anddefeated and because I came from
this high that God is using meto help others.
And here I am, feeling sodefeated.
There goes my credibility.
Now, right, don't know what todo.
(17:24):
I was one that did not neverwant a chemo and here I am not
knowing what to do.
I was one that did not neverwant a chemo and here I am not
knowing what to do.
But I cried out to God and heheard me, so came home, spoke
with my children, my two adultchildren, and I ended up that
morning going to a localhospital and get admitted.
So now I'm dealing with I can'tbelieve I'm going to put this
(17:48):
toxic chemotherapy into my body.
But I did.
I went.
I started off in a hospital inRhode Island, then I transferred
myself to a fine institution inBoston.
And I say that becauseeverybody says to me even now
people say but you did the rightthing, you went to the best
(18:10):
hospital you could get.
I said you know, I used to tellmy oncologist at Boston.
I had a great relationship withhim until I stopped my chemo.
I said to him it's a cookiecutter mentality.
So I tell people yeah, I wentto Boston, the care was a little
different, there were somethings with the hospital that I
(18:31):
liked better, but as far as thetreatment it's a cookie-cutter
mentality.
So whether I'm in Rhode Island,boston, florida, north Carolina
, california, it's the same.
There are two phases for my AML,the way they're going to treat
it.
So I went in.
I ended up being in thehospital for 40 days.
I said 40 days in thewilderness.
(18:53):
Wow, yeah.
So phase one of chemo, I wasfor a whole month.
I did it.
I was praying the whole time.
But God is so graceful hestarted showing me.
Hadn't I taken care of my body,hadn't I support my body
through this, I don't think Iwould be here.
You know, the doctors, theoncologists, would you know,
(19:16):
used to tell me not everybodygoes into remission after the
first round, the first phase.
They call it the inductionphase.
Right, I did, I went right intoremission.
They did another test, calledthe minimal residual test, that
showed if there's any residualcancer cells.
(19:36):
And that was gone after thefirst one.
So now I'm praying like do Istop this?
Because I was living throughthe nightmare that I had been
seeing and hearing, like I'mactually living this out.
I'm having conversations withmy oncologist that, oh my gosh,
this is the answer they give you.
For example, one of the thingsI liked about the facility where
(19:59):
I was at in Boston I had my ownlittle refrigerator, so I had
my own stash of stuff in there.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
My husband would cook for me, because I tried to stay
away from the hospital foodsand I did the best I could you
can only do so much while you'rein the hospital and my husband
would cook for me.
He would cook organic.
I could not have raw vegetables, raw fruits, anything raw.
They weren't allowed.
But he cooked for me the bestthat he could and so I ate
(20:31):
everything that he brought in.
And I stayed away from thesnack carts that came around in
the morning and in the afternoon.
And it broke my heart when I sawthe other patients, people, the
visitors they would have intheir rooms.
They would come out and juststock up and nothing but sugar.
You know, one time my doctorsaid to me because after I went
(20:55):
to the phase one now the phasetwo of the treatment they call
it consolidation, which ismaintenance, and I was allowed
to come home after 40 days andthen I would go back in for five
days, get the treatment andthen came back again.
So one of my visits he said tome you're losing so much weight.
They were very concerned aboutthe weight.
(21:16):
You're losing so much weight.
We need you to put some weighton.
He leaned over on his desk andhe says to me I need you to eat
some ice cream, some milkshake.
I leaned back to him and I saidabsolutely not.
I said what you're telling meis you're putting out the fire.
Now you're saying let's throwsome kerosthenic back in there.
(21:38):
I said we're not doing that.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
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Speaker 1 (22:16):
So I continued to do the best I could while in the
hospital and I would because ofwhat I've known, what I knew.
At that point I was my ownadvocate.
I asked them, with all theblood work you're doing, can you
do a vitamin D3 check on me?
Why, molly?
I was asked.
Everybody's vitamin D3 is low.
(22:36):
It's the middle of the winter.
I said, well, hopefully mineisn't, because that was one of
the things I had in my littlerefrigerator and um, and also
probiotic.
I said uh, I, I was onprobiotic, my own.
Why you on probiotic?
I said because I had uhantibiotic infused intravenously
(22:57):
for 30 days straight.
I'm trying to protect my gut,you know.
When I asked them is this goingto destroy the stem cells?
No, that it doesn't do.
So I had to take control asmuch as I could while in the
hospital.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
So then, after the consolidation, they wanted me to
do four more rounds of that.
So I did one, praying, justpraying god, like when do I stop
?
When do I stop?
I know I need to stop and but Ididn't have that peace.
I was waiting for that peace ofgod that surpasses all
understanding, to just not be atpeace, to know this is it.
(23:36):
So I did round two and then gym.
I started really getting sick.
You know, I started getting thecumulative effect now of this
toxic stuff that I'm puttinginto my body and I one day, my
temperature was so high it wentto 104.
I developed rash all over mybody.
(23:59):
Not only was itchy, it waspainful at the same time.
But I realized, okay, one, Igot to stop.
This is time to stop.
My body is trying to fight in mybehalf this temperature.
Is my body trying to fight inmy behalf the rash that I was
having.
I know I'm detoxifying, mybody's doing what it's supposed
(24:22):
to do.
That's when I knew, without ashadow of a doubt, I'm choosing
to stop this.
So I called my oncologist andtold him that I would stop, and
of course he thought I was crazy, but I knew nobody was going to
convince me otherwise that Iknew I got to the point that
I've had enough, so I stoppedthe chemo and he asked me if I
(24:46):
would like to continue beingmonitored by them and I said,
yeah, I would do that.
And somebody was supposed tocall me to set up an appointment
.
I'm still waiting.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Oh, really that was in 2019.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
No one ever called.
So I continued to be followedfrom that point on with my PCP,
continuing my blood work, and soI ended the chemo.
But some of the things I keptdoing at the same time, in
addition to vitamin D3 and theprobiotic, I continued probiotic
for a whole year.
I also was doing Esiak tea.
My husband started making Esiaktea and took it to the hospital
(25:17):
.
I was doing Esiak tea.
My husband started making Esiaktea and took it to the hospital
.
I was taking Esiak tea.
I was taking quercetin, I wasdoing a multi.
I was doing vitamin C again andtrying to control as much as I
could with food.
Once I was able to come home, Ihad more control of the food.
That's when I went into juicing, I went into raw food and I
(25:38):
learned about bcancerorg.
They were very helpful.
From that point on I went towhole food, plant-based.
I changed the water in thehouse to reverse osmosis.
We fine-tuned the chemicalenvironment around the house
from what we put into our bodies.
I started doing castor oil packcoffee enemas.
(26:00):
I started doing that because Iknew I had to do some serious
detoxifying.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
A longer probiotic for a year and I started in a
supplement called blood buildingsupplement, and so I did as
much as I could, and that was2019.
I took a total of seven monthsout of work to rebuild my body
Right and I went ahead in 2022and got certified now as a
(26:28):
health coach to go back helpingothers.
This was not the path I wanted,no, but God saw me through that
, answered my prayer when Iasked him to keep his eyes on
him, keep my eyes on him and hebuilt me up.
So I went through a time wasmentally, physically challenging
(26:51):
and spiritually, but God wasthere, took me through it.
I know my journey is differentfrom others, but so I did chemo
part of it and then in 2022, in2023, I 2022, 2023, 2022, that's
when I learned about Chris BCancer.
I wish I knew about Chris.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
I learned about Chris B Cancer and incorporated
square one, which is a lot whatI was already doing Right, but I
started doing a lot of his alsoum entire cancer revolution.
I learned a lot from them tothe dead documentary, and that's
how I heard about healingstrong.
And in 2023, I called one thezoom meetings from Massachusetts
(27:37):
, nancy, and 2023, I called oneof the Zoom meetings from
Massachusetts, nancy, and Ijoined her Zoom meeting a couple
of times and now God is reallytugging at my heart.
These people are awesomeSpending time on Healing
Strong's website.
It's like, oh my gosh, and weshare the same faith and these
people are awesome.
So God is tugging at my heart.
You should become a leader.
You should become a leader.
(27:57):
So God started getting in myheart.
You should become a leader.
You should become a leader.
So I did so.
Beginning of 2024, I started agroup in Rhode Island with a
church that I now attendAwakening Church in Smithfield,
rhode Island, little RhodeIsland and I am doing it's
Awakening.
We call it crew, but a smallgroup the way I was when I first
(28:18):
got sick.
So we just finished the firstyear of Healing Strong crew
meetings and it's just beenawesome.
I feel God has took me aroundback a full circle to where?
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I was.
Yeah, I can imagine, especiallywith your background, being a
nurse and then doing all thatresearch and then all of a
sudden being sick.
That must have been veryconfusing for you, like, oh, hey
, what is going on here?
And then the chemo.
I totally understand thatbecause you know that's probably
(28:52):
not the best route to go.
But then when all of a suddenyou're sick and you're sick with
an aggressive cancer, rightLike, wow, what direction do I
go?
Which is an excellent thingthat makes us rely on God.
When we're like totallyconfused and we're like, oh, I
don't know what to do, eventhough I have all this knowledge
.
But sometimes God has to takeus to those points to help us to
(29:15):
realize, wow, maybe I shouldrely on him and get some
direction.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Exactly 100%, 100%.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
You know, in the script that says lean out into
your own understanding and allyour ways acknowledge him and he
will direct your path.
That's what I did, because Ireally thought I would never do
chemo.
I would never do that, but Iwas in a situation.
I was very confused.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
I didn't know what else to do yeah, you can relate
to other people that are in thatsame situation oh, for sure,
for sure yeah, you don't have tosay you're crazy doing that
chemo.
You totally understand why theydo that and for sure, yeah,
that that's incredible.
And now you've been doing thehealing strong since the first
part of this year.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Yes, started in February.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Wow, with a state that small, you can probably get
people from all corners of thatstate.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Even Massachusetts.
Right yeah, Connecticut.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
That's incredible.
You also have a website foryour what's it called
Wellnesswithmarlisecom.
Yeah, wellnesswithmararlisecom.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah, wellnesswithmarlisecom.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
And you do coaching and that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
I do health coaching?
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Wow.
Is that going well for you.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
It is.
It is that and Healing Strong.
I get so much enjoyment out ofit.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
It's so rewarding and that's something I always liked
as a nurse, and now I continueto do it in a different approach
, in a holistic approach.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
That sounds great and you physically are fine.
Now right?
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Oh yeah.
So first I was being followedby my PCP.
He retired so I said, well, letme get him an oncologist here
in Rhode Island.
And I've been seeing him fortwo years.
March of this year he says tome he's looking at the chart, he
says all my records.
He goes, I can look at you andtell you you are cured.
(31:10):
Wow, it's like that's not aword you usually hear in a
cancer oncologist.
I knew that, but it's very goodto hear.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
But you know you keep your guards up.
I will never go back thelifestyle I had, just counting
calories and look, you'reforever changed.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Right, right, and you have to.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
And still, you know, sometimes you get.
If you get a pain here there,it's like uh-oh, what is that?
Oh yeah, you know, sometimesyou get.
If you get a pain here there,it's like uh-oh, what is that?
Oh yeah, you know that stillcomes.
But I got to keep my guards upand take care of my body,
because it's all about buildingthe terrain.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Right.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Right.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, Whatever you were doing before, something was
out of balance Correct, and so,yeah, you got to change.
A balance Correct and so, yeah,you got to change.
That's a big part about peoplewho do do chemo, who think you
know well, whatever the doctorsays I have to do, but they
don't change their lifestyle andthat's why, you know, it
usually comes back with avengeance because it doesn't
(32:09):
change anything else and justbeyond me.
And I have no medical background, I'm really bad in the medical
field, but you know, I even havethe logic to realize.
You know you have to changesomething.
You can't eat garbage andexpect your body to be healthy.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Exactly.
I like to use the analogy Likewhen I asked my oncologist is
this going to destroy the stemcell?
No, I like to use analogiesLike if you have a plant and the
plant's not healthy and it'sdying, so you just cut off the
plant, but if you leave thatroot in there, you know there's
a chance that that plant isgoing to come back up oh yeah
(32:47):
right.
So you gotta, you know, it's allabout the terrain in our bodies
.
You can't, I can't totally, youknow, say that's because chemo
put me into remission, I'm good,I'm going back lifestyle.
That would be foolish of me.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yes, yes indeed.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Prevention is the best medicine.
We have a lot of people in ourgroup that we have some that has
active cancer, but a lot ofpeople just want to learn how to
preventively walk this walk ofhealth and wellness.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Yeah, and you've kept your reputation on knowing what
you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah, so I'm so grateful to God that I made this
complete circle and God is backusing me.
So, even when I get invited tothe podcast.
I got to tell you this is outof my comfort zone.
But it's like I'm going to tellmy story because if you can
help one person, yes.
(33:44):
It's so worth it.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
It's so worth it.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Anybody listening?
If you ever travel throughRhode Island, you'll probably
see her, because it's not thatbig right.
Well, Marlies, I appreciatetaking the time to do this, and
is there anything else you wantto throw out there before we go?
Speaker 1 (34:05):
No, I just want to say thank you for the
opportunity to do this Sure,because my heart I have such a
passion for health and wellnessand my heart is for people.
It's to help others, andthey're not alone.
God is always there, that'sright.
And there's hope.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
That's right, indeed.
And don't forget, go towellnesswithmarlisecom for more
information or to get a hold ofyou.
I'm sure people will have somequestions perhaps, especially
knowing that you have theknowledge being a nurse, and you
know, a certified holisticcancer coach.
Right, right, all right.
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
Thank you.
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
(35:07):
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 part ofa local or online group.
You can do that by going to ourwebsite at healingstrongorg and
(35:30):
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
(35:53):
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.
One of the things I liked about the facility where I
was at in Boston.
I had my own littlerefrigerator so I had my own
stash of stuff in there.
My husband would cook for mebecause I tried to stay away
from the hospital foods and Idid the best I could.
You can only do so much whileyou're in the hospital and my
(00:21):
husband would cook for me.
He would cook organic.
I could not have raw vegetables, raw fruits, anything raw, they
wouldn't allow.
But he cooked for me the bestthat he could and so I ate
everything that he brought in.
And I stayed away from thesnack carts that came around in
(00:42):
the morning and in the afternoonand it broke my heart when I
saw the other patients people,the visits they would have in
their rooms.
They would come out and juststock up and know nothing but
sugar.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
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 (01:22):
So happy to be talking to Marlies Alves today
on our episode.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I'm doing well, thank you.
How are you doing, Jim?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I'm doing great.
You're up there in the smalleststate in the whole country.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yes, beautiful small state of Rhode Island.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, were you raised there, were you born there.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Actually, I was born in Cape Verde Islands.
I came to the United Stateswhen I was 10 years old.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
And I've been in Rhode Island ever since.
Wow, that was 56 years ago, jim.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
No way, you're in your 40s.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, that's it.
I like your math.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, I saw your website and I said, oh, that's
got to be a typo.
She's saying she's 66.
Nah, it's got to be 46.
So maybe you can correct that.
Yeah, you're still younger thanme 66 and going strong.
Yeah, you are.
I was looking at that statebecause I've never been there
before and I love that area ofthe country, connecticut and
(02:21):
Massachusetts and all that butI've never been in that little
place.
Do you have like threeneighborhoods in the state?
I mean, is it so small?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
It doesn't take long to get out of Rhode Island.
We can quickly be inMassachusetts and quickly be in
Connecticut.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
My drive that I used to have going to the station
that I worked at.
I would have to go out of stateif I was in Rhode Island.
Just the distance I drove.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I thought wow, yes, you would.
It's beautiful in the summer.
The fall is gorgeous.
It's beautiful right now.
Yeah, the winters it's anotherstory.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, as long as you're inside, you can look out
by the fireplace and, yeah, Iwould like that.
Wouldn't like to work in it,but I would like to live where
it's snowing on the outside.
Yeah, thought I'd throw thatout there.
You have a great story.
I know a little bit about it.
Sadly, you lost your dad whenyou were just four, right?
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, my dad passed away when I was four years old,
so I grew up with just my mom,yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
So obviously you probably don't remember a lot
about him.
No, what did he pass away of?
He had cirrhosis of the liver.
Oh, but he was much older thanmy mother too.
Okay, see, we were back in CapeVerde Islands and he lived here
in the United States, retiredearly and went there and married
my mom, so I never really knewmy dad.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Okay, do you have any siblings?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
No, I'm the only child.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah.
So growing up I always wantedto wish I had especially a
sister.
But no, I was the only child.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Okay, now.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I have a daughter and a son, and my daughter and I
and my son we're very close, soGod provide it.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And they're all still in Rhode Island.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
My son presently in Florida.
Oh okay, he went there becauseof the weather.
He's been there about three orfour years but they're planning
he and his wife are planning tocome back next year.
I'm hoping they do.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I'm planning to have children, so they want to be
closer to the family, and Ithink that's a great idea.
So my daughter's here in RhodeIsland.
She and her husband and threegranddaughters.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yes, florida's too hot.
It's nice in the winter.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yes, summer's hot.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yes, I lived there for a short 22 years.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Oh, you lived there 22 years.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yes, and I ran out of sweat so I moved back up.
I have two daughters in collegedown there still Okay, they're
enjoying it, but they both saidthey're moving up north.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
You're in the Carolinas right.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Yes, ma'am, south South Carolina.
It's still too warm for me here.
I'm probably better off whereyou guys are.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Yeah, I've never been , but it's beautiful weather
there.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You became a nurse, right.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yeah, I'm a registered nurse.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
What made you go in that direction?
You were just always interestedin that.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
I didn't think you were going to ask me this.
It's funny story because when Iwas about 11, 12 years old, I
was in a hospital.
I had a minor surgery and atthat time I fell in love with
the hospital.
I said I want to be a nursewhen I grow up.
And then in my late nursingwasn't a cool thing to do?
I was thinking as a teenager.
(05:28):
So, I went another direction.
So later on God just hadreplaced that in my heart.
I went back and changed careerand became a nurse.
So when my kids were little, Iwent back to school Wow.
And I worked for 24 years in aneonatal ICU.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Yeah, but now I'm a retired nurse, retired
registered nurse, and I'm ahealth coach.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Retired at 40-something.
Right yeah, my youngestdaughter in college.
She's going to be a nursePediatric nurse is what she's
going to be?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Oh yeah, I love my profession.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah, she's perfect for it, so I hope it goes well
for her.
Yeah, I'll just have her giveyou a call, get some advice
anytime, I believe I remembercorrectly.
Then.
Then, uh, your mom got adiagnosis, is that right?
Speaker 1 (06:19):
yes, my mom got diagnosed in 2007 of colon
cancer and that's when Iactually started my research and
looking deeper into this wholecancer.
I was already a nurse, but alot of the things I started
learning I never learned from anursing school, Right.
But if someone was to ask megrowing up in my 20s 30s, do I
(06:41):
consider myself healthy?
I would always say yes, becauseI always watch my weight, I
always counted calories, I wasalways low-fathers and
sugar-feeders and I always didmy exercises.
You know Jane Fonda days.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
You know, I did Jane Fonda, I did my step aerobic, I
did Thai bows.
I was always exercising and theweight would go on.
Weight would come off, but Iwas healthy.
I didn't care about what I ate,as long as it was about the
calories.
So it wasn't until 2007 when mymom did get that diagnosis of
(07:19):
colon cancer and somebody gaveme a VA justice back then of Dr
Lorraine Day.
I don't know if you ever heardof her.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I don't know much about her, but I've heard of her
, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah, dr Lorraine Day , she was a chief surgeon,
orthopedic surgeon and I believewas San Francisco.
So I started watching a lot ofthings where she was doing
because she declined to havechemo or radiation.
She did have surgery.
And what I was learning fromher it was something that was
(07:54):
blowing my mind becausesomething I never heard of the
power of nutrition right withcancer or any health disease.
You know we always have aprescription for this,
prescription for that.
So as I was taking my mom tothe local hospital where she was
getting her chemotherapy, I wasvery aware now of what they
(08:16):
were serving her for lunch, forsnacks.
I was like this is totally theopposite of what I'm learning
from these VHSs.
So that's when it started myinterest a little bit.
I don't want to keep talkingunless you want to ask me a
question Once I start telling mystory.
I just want to keep going.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
No, that's fine, that's fine.
So, yeah, that messes with themind.
It messes with everybody's mindonce they figure out that
nutrition has a lot to do withit.
But especially someone in themedical field who's been trained
.
And I know I've always heard Idon't know anything I've always
heard that you don't get a lotof teaching on nutrition in any
(08:58):
kind of medical school, whetherit's nursing or for a doctor.
So you probably didn't have anyeither, did you?
Speaker 1 (09:04):
No, not in the level that I was learning yeah you
know, you learn about the micro,the, the fat content, but
nothing as far as helping yourbody.
No, not at all, not at all.
So I wish I knew then what Iknow now with my mom.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
So what I did?
I did make some changes.
I wasn't so focused on calories.
I continued my exercise.
I tried keto diet because Iknew about the sugar, but I
didn't make a big change.
I just made some changes and Iwent on with my life.
It wasn't until 2015 when I sawthe Truth About Cancer
documentary Right, they did anice job, ty and Charlene
(09:50):
Belanger and the Global Quest.
I learned so much and this iswhen I really started making
changes and I became very awareand knowledgeable of how we take
care of our bodies and how theindustry even though I'm in the
medical field but how there wasreally no connection with the
(10:11):
Western medicine and nutrition.
So that's when I made a bigchanges and I started doing more
research myself.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Right.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And it got to the point that now I'm taking, I'm
making big changes with diet,with everything and everything I
was learning I became thatperson that everybody would call
what can I do for this?
What can I do for that?
And I had such a passion tohelp people, to help them.
(10:42):
Once you realize your eyes areopen to something, you want to
help others.
So it became a passion of mineand I was trying to advocate for
myself and help others gothrough things and start a
sharing.
But I had this the passion.
The passion was really there.
So, fast forward a little bit in2018, it was September 2018.
(11:04):
My church that I was attendingasked me if I would do a
teaching to the Christian schoolthat we had at the church very
small staff.
I was like, yes, I would loveto teach, just basic.
I titled it eat to live, don'tlive to eat.
Teach people the basics of howto read ingredients, about oil
(11:27):
change.
Everybody needs an oil change,what kind of oils we use,
matters, additives in the food,just the basic things.
I was teaching them and mypastor came in during that class
and asked if I would do thatfor the congregation.
It's like, whoa, okay, I'lltake a step of faith, because I
(11:48):
want to educate people, becauseit's not my strong point, so I
did.
It wasn't a Sunday morningservice, it was a Wednesday
night service, so at least itwas a smaller group and I did
that to the congregation and thefeedback was so great.
People asked me different things, they want to know more, they
want to go deep, go deeper.
(12:10):
And we started doing a smallgroup of where I would just
teach.
The church is very big, so wewould have small groups or
different things, so this was asmall group teaching them how to
eat, how to eat, how to live ahealthy lifestyle.
So, jim, I was on the spiritualhigh, like God is using me to
(12:30):
help others to see, beyond theconventional medicine, how to
live a holistic lifestyle, andmyself, like I said, I was
really applying all the thingsthat I had been learning.
So it was 2018, end of 2018,holidays was coming on, so put
it on hold, let's start thesmall group in January.
(12:51):
Well, december I started notfeeling good, just generalized
flu-like symptoms.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Right.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
And I was supposed to work that Christmas and it was
Christmas Eve.
Usually whenever I get sick, ifI have a cold, a couple of days
it's gone and this just keptlingering and I wasn't feeling
better.
But I was supposed to workChristmas day at the hospital.
So you can't call out onChristmas day, you have to have
(13:22):
a doctor's note.
So Christmas Eve I call my PCP.
There's no way I could workbecause I would go down the
stairs from the hospital,walking across the parking lot
and I was getting tired.
I'm full of energy and at thistime I was doing step anymore,
but I was doing cycling, I wasdoing spin classes and I was
(13:44):
running out of energy.
So I went to see my doctorChristmas Eve.
The lab has all been, have allbeen closed.
He looked at my throat.
He said you look like you havestrep throat, put me on
antibiotics and steroids Not myfavorite thing, but I had to do
something.
I wasn't feeling good, right,got the note for the hospital
and I was out of work for twoweeks and I started feeling a
(14:05):
little better.
And then I went back to workbeginning of January, like
second week of January, and Istarted feeling lousy again.
The same symptoms again.
So I call my PCP.
I said something is wrong.
I think I must have mono.
I mean, I never had it, butthis kind of symptoms you know.
So can you send me for a testwith my uh for Epstein virus?
(14:29):
And how about just the CBCchemistry?
Can let's see what's going on?
So I got a call later on thatday, after getting the lab work,
to come into the office.
So when I went in I was positivefor mono and I found out later
that Epstein virus now isactually something that could
trigger cancer.
(14:49):
And so anyway, he says to me,he looks at me, he says we need
to get you to see hematology,hematologist, oncologist.
So that right, there tells meokay, you're thinking cancer,
blood cancer, right, that'sscary.
So come to find out.
I went that same afternoon Iwent to see the hematology.
(15:11):
I asked them to repeat theblood work again.
I wanted to make sure, just incase it was a fluke.
But no, full-blown AML, acutemyeloid leukemia.
Wow, now, up to that point, fromwhat I had learned, I always
told my husband if I have atumor, a breast cancer, if I
have a tumor anywhere, I am notjumping into the conventional
(15:34):
medicine.
I'm going to do as much as Ican, naturally, because I know
the tumor doesn't grow overnight, over a week.
It takes a long time.
But this took me for a loop,jim.
It came out of nowhere.
Aml is aggressive, aggressive,it's fast, it's.
It's a cancer that I wasn'tthat familiar with and I
(15:55):
remember leaving that doctor'soffice and I, my my husband,
came with me for thatappointment.
He wasn't with me with the firstone because there was no need
to.
I was just going to get resultsof my blood work.
So for the hemat oncology, thatone, he was with me and we left
the office.
The oncologist wanted me it wasfour third in the afternoon.
(16:18):
He squeezed me the lastappointment.
He wanted me to leave there andgo straight to the hospital,
get admitted to the hospital.
I couldn't do that.
I wanted to come home.
So we left.
I got on the elevator and myhusband said just take a deep
breath.
And, jim, you know, the Bibletells us God has not given us a
spirit of fear, which is true.
(16:40):
The Bible is true, right, butfear comes.
Fear comes.
And I remember telling thislike I just want to choke up,
because I remember looking upand just saying God, help me
keep my eyes on you, jesus.
Help me, keep my eyes on you,because I know you're my healer
and I know you're the one thatwalked me through this.
(17:02):
Because I was scared I was.
I felt so powerless anddefeated and because I came from
this high that God is using meto help others.
And here I am, feeling sodefeated.
There goes my credibility.
Now, right, don't know what todo.
(17:24):
I was one that did not neverwant a chemo and here I am not
knowing what to do.
I was one that did not neverwant a chemo and here I am not
knowing what to do.
But I cried out to God and heheard me, so came home, spoke
with my children, my two adultchildren, and I ended up that
morning going to a localhospital and get admitted.
So now I'm dealing with I can'tbelieve I'm going to put this
(17:48):
toxic chemotherapy into my body.
But I did.
I went.
I started off in a hospital inRhode Island, then I transferred
myself to a fine institution inBoston.
And I say that becauseeverybody says to me even now
people say but you did the rightthing, you went to the best
(18:10):
hospital you could get.
I said you know, I used to tellmy oncologist at Boston.
I had a great relationship withhim until I stopped my chemo.
I said to him it's a cookiecutter mentality.
So I tell people yeah, I wentto Boston, the care was a little
different, there were somethings with the hospital that I
(18:31):
liked better, but as far as thetreatment it's a cookie-cutter
mentality.
So whether I'm in Rhode Island,boston, florida, north Carolina
, california, it's the same.
There are two phases for my AML,the way they're going to treat
it.
So I went in.
I ended up being in thehospital for 40 days.
I said 40 days in thewilderness.
(18:53):
Wow, yeah.
So phase one of chemo, I wasfor a whole month.
I did it.
I was praying the whole time.
But God is so graceful hestarted showing me.
Hadn't I taken care of my body,hadn't I support my body
through this, I don't think Iwould be here.
You know, the doctors, theoncologists, would you know,
(19:16):
used to tell me not everybodygoes into remission after the
first round, the first phase.
They call it the inductionphase.
Right, I did, I went right intoremission.
They did another test, calledthe minimal residual test, that
showed if there's any residualcancer cells.
(19:36):
And that was gone after thefirst one.
So now I'm praying like do Istop this?
Because I was living throughthe nightmare that I had been
seeing and hearing, like I'mactually living this out.
I'm having conversations withmy oncologist that, oh my gosh,
this is the answer they give you.
For example, one of the thingsI liked about the facility where
(19:59):
I was at in Boston I had my ownlittle refrigerator, so I had
my own stash of stuff in there.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
My husband would cook for me, because I tried to stay
away from the hospital foodsand I did the best I could you
can only do so much while you'rein the hospital and my husband
would cook for me.
He would cook organic.
I could not have raw vegetables, raw fruits, anything raw.
They weren't allowed.
But he cooked for me the bestthat he could and so I ate
(20:31):
everything that he brought in.
And I stayed away from thesnack carts that came around in
the morning and in the afternoon.
And it broke my heart when I sawthe other patients, people, the
visitors they would have intheir rooms.
They would come out and juststock up and nothing but sugar.
You know, one time my doctorsaid to me because after I went
(20:55):
to the phase one now the phasetwo of the treatment they call
it consolidation, which ismaintenance, and I was allowed
to come home after 40 days andthen I would go back in for five
days, get the treatment andthen came back again.
So one of my visits he said tome you're losing so much weight.
They were very concerned aboutthe weight.
(21:16):
You're losing so much weight.
We need you to put some weighton.
He leaned over on his desk andhe says to me I need you to eat
some ice cream, some milkshake.
I leaned back to him and I saidabsolutely not.
I said what you're telling meis you're putting out the fire.
Now you're saying let's throwsome kerosthenic back in there.
(21:38):
I said we're not doing that.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
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That's hope, the number fourcancercom.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
So I continued to do the best I could while in the
hospital and I would because ofwhat I've known, what I knew.
At that point I was my ownadvocate.
I asked them, with all theblood work you're doing, can you
do a vitamin D3 check on me?
Why, molly?
I was asked.
Everybody's vitamin D3 is low.
(22:36):
It's the middle of the winter.
I said, well, hopefully mineisn't, because that was one of
the things I had in my littlerefrigerator and um, and also
probiotic.
I said uh, I, I was onprobiotic, my own.
Why you on probiotic?
I said because I had uhantibiotic infused intravenously
(22:57):
for 30 days straight.
I'm trying to protect my gut,you know.
When I asked them is this goingto destroy the stem cells?
No, that it doesn't do.
So I had to take control asmuch as I could while in the
hospital.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
So then, after the consolidation, they wanted me to
do four more rounds of that.
So I did one, praying, justpraying god, like when do I stop
?
When do I stop?
I know I need to stop and but Ididn't have that peace.
I was waiting for that peace ofgod that surpasses all
understanding, to just not be atpeace, to know this is it.
(23:36):
So I did round two and then gym.
I started really getting sick.
You know, I started getting thecumulative effect now of this
toxic stuff that I'm puttinginto my body and I one day, my
temperature was so high it wentto 104.
I developed rash all over mybody.
(23:59):
Not only was itchy, it waspainful at the same time.
But I realized, okay, one, Igot to stop.
This is time to stop.
My body is trying to fight in mybehalf this temperature.
Is my body trying to fight inmy behalf the rash that I was
having.
I know I'm detoxifying, mybody's doing what it's supposed
(24:22):
to do.
That's when I knew, without ashadow of a doubt, I'm choosing
to stop this.
So I called my oncologist andtold him that I would stop, and
of course he thought I was crazy, but I knew nobody was going to
convince me otherwise that Iknew I got to the point that
I've had enough, so I stoppedthe chemo and he asked me if I
(24:46):
would like to continue beingmonitored by them and I said,
yeah, I would do that.
And somebody was supposed tocall me to set up an appointment
.
I'm still waiting.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Oh, really that was in 2019.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
No one ever called.
So I continued to be followedfrom that point on with my PCP,
continuing my blood work, and soI ended the chemo.
But some of the things I keptdoing at the same time, in
addition to vitamin D3 and theprobiotic, I continued probiotic
for a whole year.
I also was doing Esiak tea.
My husband started making Esiaktea and took it to the hospital
(25:17):
.
I was doing Esiak tea.
My husband started making Esiaktea and took it to the hospital
.
I was taking Esiak tea.
I was taking quercetin, I wasdoing a multi.
I was doing vitamin C again andtrying to control as much as I
could with food.
Once I was able to come home, Ihad more control of the food.
That's when I went into juicing, I went into raw food and I
(25:38):
learned about bcancerorg.
They were very helpful.
From that point on I went towhole food, plant-based.
I changed the water in thehouse to reverse osmosis.
We fine-tuned the chemicalenvironment around the house
from what we put into our bodies.
I started doing castor oil packcoffee enemas.
(26:00):
I started doing that because Iknew I had to do some serious
detoxifying.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
A longer probiotic for a year and I started in a
supplement called blood buildingsupplement, and so I did as
much as I could, and that was2019.
I took a total of seven monthsout of work to rebuild my body
Right and I went ahead in 2022and got certified now as a
(26:28):
health coach to go back helpingothers.
This was not the path I wanted,no, but God saw me through that
, answered my prayer when Iasked him to keep his eyes on
him, keep my eyes on him and hebuilt me up.
So I went through a time wasmentally, physically challenging
(26:51):
and spiritually, but God wasthere, took me through it.
I know my journey is differentfrom others, but so I did chemo
part of it and then in 2022, in2023, I 2022, 2023, 2022, that's
when I learned about Chris BCancer.
I wish I knew about Chris.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
I learned about Chris B Cancer and incorporated
square one, which is a lot whatI was already doing Right, but I
started doing a lot of his alsoum entire cancer revolution.
I learned a lot from them tothe dead documentary, and that's
how I heard about healingstrong.
And in 2023, I called one thezoom meetings from Massachusetts
(27:37):
, nancy, and 2023, I called oneof the Zoom meetings from
Massachusetts, nancy, and Ijoined her Zoom meeting a couple
of times and now God is reallytugging at my heart.
These people are awesomeSpending time on Healing
Strong's website.
It's like, oh my gosh, and weshare the same faith and these
people are awesome.
So God is tugging at my heart.
You should become a leader.
You should become a leader.
(27:57):
So God started getting in myheart.
You should become a leader.
You should become a leader.
So I did so.
Beginning of 2024, I started agroup in Rhode Island with a
church that I now attendAwakening Church in Smithfield,
rhode Island, little RhodeIsland and I am doing it's
Awakening.
We call it crew, but a smallgroup the way I was when I first
(28:18):
got sick.
So we just finished the firstyear of Healing Strong crew
meetings and it's just beenawesome.
I feel God has took me aroundback a full circle to where?
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I was.
Yeah, I can imagine, especiallywith your background, being a
nurse and then doing all thatresearch and then all of a
sudden being sick.
That must have been veryconfusing for you, like, oh, hey
, what is going on here?
And then the chemo.
I totally understand thatbecause you know that's probably
(28:52):
not the best route to go.
But then when all of a suddenyou're sick and you're sick with
an aggressive cancer, rightLike, wow, what direction do I
go?
Which is an excellent thingthat makes us rely on God.
When we're like totallyconfused and we're like, oh, I
don't know what to do, eventhough I have all this knowledge
.
But sometimes God has to takeus to those points to help us to
(29:15):
realize, wow, maybe I shouldrely on him and get some
direction.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Exactly 100%, 100%.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
You know, in the script that says lean out into
your own understanding and allyour ways acknowledge him and he
will direct your path.
That's what I did, because Ireally thought I would never do
chemo.
I would never do that, but Iwas in a situation.
I was very confused.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
I didn't know what else to do yeah, you can relate
to other people that are in thatsame situation oh, for sure,
for sure yeah, you don't have tosay you're crazy doing that
chemo.
You totally understand why theydo that and for sure, yeah,
that that's incredible.
And now you've been doing thehealing strong since the first
part of this year.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Yes, started in February.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Wow, with a state that small, you can probably get
people from all corners of thatstate.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Even Massachusetts.
Right yeah, Connecticut.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
That's incredible.
You also have a website foryour what's it called
Wellnesswithmarlisecom.
Yeah, wellnesswithmararlisecom.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yeah, wellnesswithmarlisecom.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
And you do coaching and that kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
I do health coaching?
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
Wow.
Is that going well for you.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
It is.
It is that and Healing Strong.
I get so much enjoyment out ofit.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
It's so rewarding and that's something I always liked
as a nurse, and now I continueto do it in a different approach
, in a holistic approach.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
That sounds great and you physically are fine.
Now right?
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Oh yeah.
So first I was being followedby my PCP.
He retired so I said, well, letme get him an oncologist here
in Rhode Island.
And I've been seeing him fortwo years.
March of this year he says tome he's looking at the chart, he
says all my records.
He goes, I can look at you andtell you you are cured.
(31:10):
Wow, it's like that's not aword you usually hear in a
cancer oncologist.
I knew that, but it's very goodto hear.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (31:20):
But you know you keep your guards up.
I will never go back thelifestyle I had, just counting
calories and look, you'reforever changed.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Right, right, and you have to.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
And still, you know, sometimes you get.
If you get a pain here there,it's like uh-oh, what is that?
Oh yeah, you know, sometimesyou get.
If you get a pain here there,it's like uh-oh, what is that?
Oh yeah, you know that stillcomes.
But I got to keep my guards upand take care of my body,
because it's all about buildingthe terrain.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Right.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Right.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Yeah, Whatever you were doing before, something was
out of balance Correct, and so,yeah, you got to change.
A balance Correct and so, yeah,you got to change.
That's a big part about peoplewho do do chemo, who think you
know well, whatever the doctorsays I have to do, but they
don't change their lifestyle andthat's why, you know, it
usually comes back with avengeance because it doesn't
(32:09):
change anything else and justbeyond me.
And I have no medical background, I'm really bad in the medical
field, but you know, I even havethe logic to realize.
You know you have to changesomething.
You can't eat garbage andexpect your body to be healthy.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Exactly.
I like to use the analogy Likewhen I asked my oncologist is
this going to destroy the stemcell?
No, I like to use analogiesLike if you have a plant and the
plant's not healthy and it'sdying, so you just cut off the
plant, but if you leave thatroot in there, you know there's
a chance that that plant isgoing to come back up oh yeah
(32:47):
right.
So you gotta, you know, it's allabout the terrain in our bodies
.
You can't, I can't totally, youknow, say that's because chemo
put me into remission, I'm good,I'm going back lifestyle.
That would be foolish of me.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yes, yes indeed.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Prevention is the best medicine.
We have a lot of people in ourgroup that we have some that has
active cancer, but a lot ofpeople just want to learn how to
preventively walk this walk ofhealth and wellness.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Yeah, and you've kept your reputation on knowing what
you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah, so I'm so grateful to God that I made this
complete circle and God is backusing me.
So, even when I get invited tothe podcast.
I got to tell you this is outof my comfort zone.
But it's like I'm going to tellmy story because if you can
help one person, yes.
(33:44):
It's so worth it.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
It's so worth it.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Anybody listening?
If you ever travel throughRhode Island, you'll probably
see her, because it's not thatbig right.
Well, Marlies, I appreciatetaking the time to do this, and
is there anything else you wantto throw out there before we go?
Speaker 1 (34:05):
No, I just want to say thank you for the
opportunity to do this Sure,because my heart I have such a
passion for health and wellnessand my heart is for people.
It's to help others, andthey're not alone.
God is always there, that'sright.
And there's hope.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
That's right, indeed.
And don't forget, go towellnesswithmarlisecom for more
information or to get a hold ofyou.
I'm sure people will have somequestions perhaps, especially
knowing that you have theknowledge being a nurse, and you
know, a certified holisticcancer coach.
Right, right, all right.
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
Thank you.
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
(35:07):
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 part ofa local or online group.
You can do that by going to ourwebsite at healingstrongorg and
(35:30):
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
(35:53):
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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