A few more thoughts on cancer . . .

As I continue down this road of healing, I am reminded that it takes a while.  Even though I have had all of the cancer removed via surgery, four holistic doctors have confirmed that I continue to be challenged as my body likes to make cancer.   There are days when I just want to get well and I don't want to tell anyone I don't feel well.  I put on a happy face and say, "I'm doing good"!  I believe there is something to the mental part of telling yourself "I AM good today!"

I have been doing so many CRAZY holistic remedies that most of you would laugh at me, but I DO feel surprisingly better.  Today, I did some blood work so we will see what my oncologist says on Wednesday.  She worries about me with my low iron and high estrogen.  But I believe God has me on this journey to help people.  And it has been such a blessing to do just that almost every day!  So many friends are getting healed and it is exciting!

I have been praising the Lord lately that I did not have to do chemo or radiation.  Truly feels like a miracle because if I had been, I would just be finishing my four month treatment and moving on to my year long dose of herceptin.  My hair would be growing back and I would be feeling more "normal" they say.  Thank you Jesus for making me a miracle to help others and not have to endure this!

Along the journey, I have learned much.  Recently, a friend sent me an email with all of this information.  There was no credit given to a single source; however, the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego does tell all their students most of these points.  Some of them I learned just researching.  I just had to share this because I believe each one of the points.  God has given me the blessing of getting to research them and now share them with you. . .

Things I learned at OHI and doing research along the way:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer 

cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have

multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients

that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after 

treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the

cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable

size. 

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a 

person's lifetime. 

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer 

cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and

forming tumors. 

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has

nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,

but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors. 

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing

diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day 

and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system. 

 It is important to find out if the supplements you are taking work with your body.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing

cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells

in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc., and can 

cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc. 

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars 

and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs. 

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often

reduce tumor size. However, prolonged use of chemotherapy 

and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction. 

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from

chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either

compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb

to various kinds of infections and complications. 

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to

mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.

Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer

cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply. 

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON: 

a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc. are made

with Aspartame and it is harmful.  A better natural substitute

would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small

amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in

color Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt. 

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the

gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. 

By cutting off milk and substituting 

with unsweetened almond or coconut milk cancer cells are being starved. 

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based

diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat, 

like chicken.  OR THE BEST IS A VEGAN DIET.  

Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites,

 which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer. 

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole

grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into

an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked

food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live

enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to

cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance

growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building

healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most

vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw

vegetables 2 or 3 times a day.  Enzymes are destroyed at

temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).. 

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high

caffeine Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer

fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or

filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap

water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it. 

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of

digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the

intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup. 

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering.  By

refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes

to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the

body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells. 

14. Some supplements build up the immune system

(IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals,

EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy

cancer cells.  Other supplements like vitamin E are known

to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's

normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or

unneeded cells. 

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.

A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior

be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put

the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to

have a loving and forgiving spirit.  Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated

environment.  Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to

get more oxygen down to the cellular level. 

Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells. 

Here is to living the life that God intended for you to live with the health that He planned for each of us to have to ultimately bring Him glory until He takes us home!  Blessings!

"Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.  

My soul clings to you , your right hand upholds me"  Ps 63:7

My "Academy Award" speech

A few weekends ago, my brother's family and mine celebrated my mom's birthday for the fist time without my dad.  We ate dinner. opened gifts and affirmed my mom.  The kids got to play with their cousins which is a rare treat.  We also watched the Academy Awards . . .

I normally don't watch it as I find moments of it distasteful and boring.  They seem to always border on offensive and indoctrinating.  But inevitably I catch parts of it because I am intrigued as the event planner with the event, the stage, the parties, etc.  This year, I thought it was different, enjoyable and funny.  Billy Crystal brought back class and humor of an age gone by.  I also noticed that each acceptance speech was to only be one minute long.  How do you thank everyone in your life in one minute?

I thought back over the last six months and all the people that help me and my family in a time of need. In the moment of those days,  I was extremely grateful, but perhaps the whirlwind of events, pain of surgeries and many lost days to my illness washed all of my "thank yous" into the black sea of my memory.  I am a "day to day" kind of gal.  I live in the moment.  I decided that each of us who has had cancer (or any trauma in their life) need the opportunity to give an "Academy Award" speech without a time clock.  So here is my acceptance speech for the greatest award to receive - a friend who loves you.

To my love, Bruce, I want to thank you for being a wonderful doting husband.  I want to thank you first because "I don't want to run out of time in the end" (that's what Merryl Streep said) nor do I want to put you anywhere but on the top of the list.  Bruce was thrown into all of this with me without warning and he did a fabulous job.  We had a couple of rough spots that we worked through that indeed has improved our marriage.  The things Bruce did are too numerous to count here, but he was loving, kind, accepting, encouraging, helpful and full of grace.  I love you and thank you for loving me in spite of me!

The day I found out I had cancer, my first call was to Victoria Sanders, a friend for 17 years.  She is my accountability partner, my friend through thick and thin.  She was the first one to hear me crying and babbling on the phone since Bruce was not picking up his line at work and my parents were out.  She dropped everything and headed to my house.  She was there for the first couple days, helping with the kids, keeping the house in order and many times thereafter when I went to doctor appointments.  She listened when I would talk, cry or just not know what to say.  She planned Danika's birthday party for me just weeks after my double mastectomy and she helped me find my full time help.  She prayed endlessly for a miracle for me and God answered her prayer.  Thank you Vicky for loving me during this time and rearranging your whole life to be there for me!

Once I found out it was cancer, my sweet surgeon friend, Lisa Fox found me at the hair salon.  (Yes, I was in shock and went to get my hair done.  Crazy, huh?)  We went to lunch and cried.  She and her husband John were a support the day I thought I had thyroid cancer too.  They came to every medical procedure for support - from the biopsy to my surgery.  She is my doctor friend who I could call with medical questions.  She helped me take my first shower and treated me to my first pedicure after surgery.  She called me daily or texted and came to help so often.  I don't know what I would have done without her help!  Thank you Lisa for your kind and firm ways to help me through this season in my life!

My dear friend and "sister" Christina Landaas, my maid of honor in my wedding was right there to help once she heard the shocking news.  She dropped everything once a week, sometimes twice a week to take me to doctor appointments and then out to lunch.  She even went to a Feldenkrais class with me.  She came to Hoag while I was in surgery and supported my husband.  She helped me wash my hair the first time after the surgery and pampered me.  She called me, emailed me and prayed for me.  God gave her huge capacity to love on me during these months and I will forever be indebted to her and her family who gave us a place to escape for the day and not think about our lives.  I love how it made us much closer!

Our help in time of need was definitely, Dawn Heinrich, our full time helper.  She came in right before my surgery in October and she learned how to "be me".  She did everything from homeschooling the kids to grocery shopping, laundry to running the kids around.  She is a true servant always trying to help above and beyond what is needed.  I will forever be in her debt because she did such an excellent job, I never needed to worry about anything.  Thank you Dawn for "being Jesus" to me!

Once I had gone through the detox at OHI, my old friend from MOPS, Theresa Sharp, came to my rescue with food and nutrition help.  Not only did her and her daughter, Jasmine, juice, cook and shop  for me, but they helped me think through many of my health questions.  She went to a cancer conference for me and took notes, getting me holistic information and CDs.  She even did a blood analysis for me that was very interesting.  She was my "go to" person to drive my kids everywhere during a time when I couldn't drive.  Thank you Theresa for filling in so many places where I needed help!

Long time Inside/Out friends, Bradley and Cindy Kirk, were kind enough to show up at our doorstep on one of the first nights with dinner.  Cindy was a huge help as she herself had traveled the breast cancer journey.  I loaded her with tons of questions, and still do!  She was also the one who set up my online meals calendar and communication on "Lots a Helping Hands".  Bradley was a support as he showed up at my surgery and was the first one there to pray with us and help with a knowing look.  Thank you for supporting me and loving me through this hard time!

Many of you brought meals through the months that helped so much!  I am not going to name you all, but each of your meals was a bright spot in our day and something I didn't have to think about.  My kids thought the food was wonderful since mom was only cooking healthy stuff before the surgery.  A couple of friends who I can't leave the "speech" without mentioning are Tami, Carolyn and Tina.  Tami Mangum, my deep thinking spontaneous friend, was a shoulder to lean on through much of this time.  She watched my kids so many times, I can't even remember.  She fed us many meals.  She was just a pillar of grace and strength for me.  Carolyn Olsen, long time Pepperdine friend, was having so many hard situations in her own life, but was able to still watch my kids, call and pray for me and even bring us meals.  And Tina Bush, who would anonymously, bring meals to school and leave them frozen on my car for the "just in case" days.  That was truly precious!

Honorable mentions:  There were a group of you that gathered and prayed while I was in surgery at Hoag Hospital to support Bruce - my parents, Christina Landaas, John and Lisa Fox, Sheri Trupp, Bradley Kirk, Chuck and Judy Marshall and my brother Garrett.  I was blessed to know you were all there praying for me.  Many of my neighbors, who I do Bible study with in the summers, took me to most of my doctor appointments.  I loved catching up with them and talking through life.  One of them even decorated my front door with pumpkins in the fall when my dad died.  There were so many friends who lived far away that wished they could have been here and they let me know. . . I wish you lived closer too.

I had quite a team of prayer warriors that I believe were answered with a miracle from the Lord.  Thank you for praying for me so much and often!  A couple of special friends stand out.  Lolo Beshore prayed so much for me, I think it physically was too much for her.  Sally Clarkson prayed for me at 5:00 a.m. as I was driving to the hospital and also called me ten minutes after my dad died without knowing it.  The Lord used her to calm my heart and two different monumental moments.  My mentor Jackie Johnson prayed for me and listened to me think through things.  Thank you for your advice!  My group of friends at Mom Heart Intensive Leadership Team prayed and texted me daily.  I was covered in prayer.  To my sister-in-law Amy your continued and many emails, cards and calls really lightened my days.  Too all of you I cannot thank you enough for bowing a knee for me!

Last but not least, my parents.  Thank you mom and dad for being a continued support and sounding board.  Even though you couldn't be there much because dad was sick too, I knew you were thinking about me and praying for me.  And to my in-laws thank you for always coming to help with the kids, especially when I got home from the hospital and the next two weeks when Bruce and I will have our first vacation away since all this has happened.

For those of you that have made it through this speech, God bless you!  Whenever you do something like this, you forget someone.  You just do!  I have been working on it for the last couple of days hoping not to do that and I hope I didn't.  But if I did, please forgive me!  I am grateful for all that everyone has done!  God bless you all!

Where does God hide during trials?

Last weekend, I was blessed to speak at the Mom Heart conference with Sally Clarkson.  I was honored to speak, but also found that the process of preparing, pondering, writing, practicing and then finally giving the talk (with tears) was very therapeutic for me.  I hope it will bless you all!

"Last August, I was tested with a real trial - multi focal invasive ductal carcinoma.  I knew that this day would come because I had been discipled that life is not without trials.  According to James, trials are the fastest road to maturity and I knew this day would come.    James 1: 2-4 'Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.' 

And I had been blessed with a pretty Pollyanna life so far.  But as I am learning each of us will have our time.  When the day came, I panicked initially.  I asked “Why me?”  When I went out and saw people at the grocery store, I thought“They don’t have cancer and they are eating so poorly.  Why do I?”  In the beginning, it seemed I had only a 10% survival rate as we thought I had Inflammatory Breast Cancer. I began to think about dying.   I began to ponder my life and what Bruce would do.  I came to grips with Bruce remarrying and my children being raised by someone else.   You just do that!  I had a very blessed opportunity to come to grips with dying and being excited about the reality of heaven.  Part of me looked forward to leaving this world and seeing my Jesus face to face.  It is a beautiful place to be really.  

I cried alone  . . . and with friends.  I had many sleepless nights trying to come to grips with it all.  The hardest was the unknown.  I am a planner and I just wanted to know all the answers.  I wish I could tell you I made the right choice in those first minutes or days of my diagnosis, but I didn’t.  If I had, I don’t think God would have had the opportunity to teach me more of who He is and lead me on this journey.

During this time, I grappled with God.  Even in the turmoil, I felt his hand of peace over me the whole time.  This unnerving sense of  His peace and it was beautiful.  But I didn’t feel close to him.  I couldn’t hear Him speak and I couldn’t find Him in the usual places.   When I sat to read scripture, I was overwhelmed with the sense that the verses I found didn’t apply to me.  When I prayed, I felt like I was begging.  When I listened to contemporary praise music, it made me feel close to heaven and I would cry.  When I tried to journal, I had nothing to say.  These were all my regular places to find God, yet He seemed beyond my grasp.  But I was blessed to have memorized scripture and it came to me when I needed it -  Heb. 13:5 “I will never leave you or forsake you” - Ps. 46:10  "Be still and know that I am God".    I could not deny the peace I had from Him.  God where are you hiding?  Why do I feel guilty that I can’t find you?

As a baby Christian, I was blessed to have been discipled by a Godly mentor.  She is the lady who I wrote the books with Jackie Johnson. I encourage all of you to ask an older woman to walk along side you.  I feel like Sally through her books has mentored me into the mom I am today.  I continue to learn from her.  Isn’t it wonderful to feel as if Sally is talking directly to you in her books.  Does anyone else feel that way?  As a new believer, I was taught about the Y in the road.  Walking the Christian road, there will come a time - an irritation, a temptation, a trial where you must choose which road you will walk.  I could either choose the road most taken – feeling sorry for myself, being angry, fretful or complaining and the den of Satan's lies or I could choose the road less taken - God's peace, joyfulness, gratefulness and the victorious life.  In knew from 2 Peter 1:3 that God had already given me everything I need to live a godly life.  The key to the Y in the road is that you must choose much sooner than the Y in the road which way you will go.  If one waits for the decision when the clouds of darkness roll in, it is too late.  The moment will overtake you.  But I had decided years ago what I would do.  I just needed to remember this truth.  This choice determined everything for me.

I knew in the past I had decided to choose freedom and life and now was the test in this trial of breast cancer.  Choosing life for me meant that I had to give thanks, rejoice and give God the glory with no excuses!  I remember at the Intensive I told Sally that I didn’t need to sit in on the blogging part.  I was never going to blog!  She encouraged me years ago to do it.  You never know, she said.  She was right!  God had called me to blog this cancer journey – for me, for His glory and for others.   I write about where God has be, health tips I have learned and the Joy-filled Journey I am traveling.  

In November, recovering from a double mastectomy I decided to join fellow facebook friends to give thanks for one thing each day.  During those days, my larger-than life dad who was my friend and biggest fan passed into glory.  I got to hold his hand and see him into eternity.  Still on those days, I was choosing to practice gratefulness because I had decided before I came to the choice in the road“Y’ what I was going to do.

In the beginning, I told you I thought God was hiding.  I couldn’t find him.  I felt peace but I wanted more.  You know when I made Him my joy, gave him glory and choose his road on the Y, he showed up!  Sometimes just going through the motions until I believed it worked the best.  God showed up in the most unexpected places.  I was looking for Him in my weekly Bible Study and homework, journaling, my prayer time.  But he was alive in my pain and became my Hiding Place and my joy during this time.  I saw Him in the psalms, in old classical hymns, in the faces of my friends, in verses people would mail me, in so many of the health classes I was taking and things I was learning, I saw Him in my kids as they watched and learned God’s character through my responses to this trial, I saw Him in my husband and his increased faith journey.  I can honestly say I am grateful to have had cancer now and would never want to go back to my life before.

We all know that if we aren’t in a trial today, we may be tomorrow.  I know that I will have this opportunity again.  So choose with me this day to embrace victory in Joy, gratefulness and Life when you get to the “Y” in the road.  And there we will find the Lord and He can show us that He was walking side by side with us.- never hiding. "

Surgery Yesterday, Next Weeks Opportunities

Surgery Update

Yesterday, I completed the 2nd stage surgery for my breast reconstruction.  The surgery went well and I am home resting which leaves me time to think and blog.  My mom is here taking care of the kids with Bruce as it is hard to lift and use my arms.  Thank you for all of your prayers yesterday and for the meals coming the next couple of days.  I certainly felt the prayers and was at peace with everything.

The whole process is a bit odd, if you ask me.  It's just not something you ever think you are going to do.  Am I too big?  Am I too little?  What is the right size?  In the end, I tried to get as close as I could to the ones God originally gave me.  When all else fails, go with God's original plan, right?

So I am sore today and stiff.  I can't take a shower for a couple of days and I have the ace bandage on.  But underneath it all, I can tell it will be better - softer, more real.  This whole process has really had me just grateful for his eternal love for me.  Elisabeth Elliot once said "We can only know that Eternal Love is wiser than we, and we bow in adoration of that loving wisdom".

Health Cocktail

Whenever I post, I feel the need to include a health tidbit.  There is so much I am learning and I just know that I need to share it.  This year we have adopted a new health ritual that we do daily.  Bruce, myself and the kids, even my mom.  We take the Vitamin C cocktail to ward of any colds, diseases, etc. and we have made it halfway through the year very healthy.  We used to do Juice Plus or Airborne, but this works so much better and it is cheaper.  Once when I forgot to give it to the kids for a week, Danika got a fever.  But we quickly implemented it and she was better and no one else got it.  Praise the Lord!  For as you know, with four kids, when one gets sick, they ALL get it!

The Health Cocktail:  Juice or water 4 - 8 oz, 5 drops of Grapefruit seed extract (GSE - a natural antibiotic- I take 10 drops) and a capful of pure lemon extract (no oil - get at Sprouts for $2)  The kids drink it with a straw since the good stuff sinks to the bottom.

Try it!  We swear by it!  You will not be disappointed!

Bed REST is another word for Spiritual Stimulation

With time on my hands, I am catching up on my reading and sermons I have missed.  I love to just have the time.  God is working on two different lessons I am going to share Feb. 3rd.  One to our Elements Bible Study on marriage "Where did love go?"  God is teaching me so much about his love that I am excited about this.  And at the Sally Clarkson Mom Heart conference, I am going to share a little about "Where God is Hiding during trials?"  I have found not that He hides, but that I find Him outside of the usual places.  My old ways of connecting with God don't work, but new ones come when I let go and follow his lead.  So Feb. 3rd is a big day for me.  Looking forward to sharing, but also excited about the preparing.  Thanks in advance for your prayers!

Parasite Free 2012

As the new year begins, I have spent time writing out my new year's resolutions.  I am just that kind of gal. I like having goals and encouraging my kids to have goals.  This is the first year that "losing weight" has not been one of my resolutions.  What a freeing feeling that is!  I can't even tell you.  But instead I have added "exercising 4 times a week minimum" to the list.  This resolution of sweating will help me increase my oxygen and in turn keep away the cancer.

I got a body scan on Wed. from Claudia, my holistic doctor, and she said that I am not making cancer in my body, even in the smallest form (as I was once before in my ovaries and bones).  I am alkaline and oxygen rich.  While I still have strides to make with my thyroid, parasites and fungi, I am feeling very positive about where the Lord has brought me and the process He has allowed in my life.  It is a good place to be!

As many of you start the new year, you have asked me all kinds of questions.  I welcome any and all questions as I believe God has brought me on this journey to help others.  It seems that many of you are in search of "The New You" in 2012.  A healthier, fitter, thinner person than 2011.

I mentioned before that I have parasites.  I have a couple of really nasty ones that have aided in my auto-immune system takeover which was the pathway for cancer for me.  I probably got some of them traveling overseas or from mosquitoes while visiting back East.  I know so of you may be skeptical of that, but that's okay.  The list 13 symptoms I had first really had nothing to do with breast cancer, but they were symptoms of parasite activity in my body that led to me discovering breast cancer in the first place.

As we are in the beginning of a new year, I thought I would share a couple of ideas to keep your body healthier and parasite-free in 2012.  This is not an inclusive list, just one that was shared with me that we follow.  Happy New Year to you all!

1. Don't eat hamburger or ground beef of any kind.  I don't eat meat at all, but when I heard about all the parasites that are in ground meat.  I was disgusted because I used to eat it alot.  I liked it and it was cheap. One pound of burger has the parasites of up to 100 cows, not one, because they pool all of the animals together.  Also the FDA allows a certain amount of colon and feces in each pound.  So hamburger has the potential to be chock full of parasites.  If you must have hamburger:  get fillet mignon or another type of meat and have butcher grind it for you, it would be much healthier coming from one cow.

2.  Don't eat sushi.  Raw fish just isn't good for you.  There are parasites, no matter how fresh the fish is.  It's Bruce's favorite, but he feels better since he stopped eating it.

3.  Don't eat corn or corn products.  I know it is in everything.  Well, not everything since I still eat and I don't eat corn.  But it is terrible what is happening to the agricultural industry with Genetically Modified Food.  I know so many people up in arms about it.  Funny how the average American has no idea.  Google "GMO and corn" to read up on the arguments.  Either way our government is allowing big business to change the food that God gave us.  It is not good for us.  Period.  I buy organic corn products ONLY.  Even for my kids!

4.  Don't eat soy.  I know it, too, is in everything!  Not only is it GMO, but it also mimics estrogen in women and can lead to breast cancer.  Here is a good article to sum it all up for you:  http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/soy.htm

This healthy eating thing is hard, but it is worth it!!!  I feel great.  Just eat the foods God gave us (that man hasn't infected) and you should be fine.  My favorite saying to my kids "If God wanted us to eat _____________________(goldfish, cookies, candy, anything bad, you fill in the blank), then He would have given us a ____________________ (goldfish, cookies, candy, anything bad, you fill in the blank) tree!"  Happy New Year!

Healthy Christmas Gifts to ask for!

Part of my cancer journey was to change so many things in my daily life.  Things that I never really considered before.  I realized that many of the external things in my home, make up bag, shower, etc. were just as important as the food I was putting in my body and the stress I was creating in my life.


The Food and Drug administration does not really monitor what goes into all of these items.  There is always the hope that they will, but we can never be too sure.  It is really my job to make sure that as much as I am able, I keep the purest things from going on and in my body.  You have to read the ingredients because they can say organic on the front and only have one organic ingredient.


Toxins come in many forms.  Foreign elements that create all kinds of problems in our body.  A recent study talks about the growing concern in the amount of toxins in our environment.  The study reveals individuals may be even more vulnerable to toxicants than previously thought. "It's even likely that there's an even higher burden of disease from our exposures to different chemicals because we are exposed to so many simultaneously," she says.  I learned through biofeedback that I had many toxic issues, so I began cleaning up my act.


My cancer was estrogen positive.  I learned from blood tests a year ago that my hormones were out of whack.  During my cancer "clean up", I learned that many products I use INCREASE the estrogen and make my hormones off balance.  My hormones now are completely normal.  I learned that all women my age, some older and some younger, have hormone issues that could be corrected by detoxing your bathroom and home.


Listed below are some of the items I have changed and what I do now.

Scrub brush natural fiber with
Jojoba oil and Sesame oil

1.  Take the chemicals out of your lotions.  Your skin is an organ, just like any of them in your body.  What you put on it is absorbed into your system.  Dry skin is just a symptom for a root issue somewhere else in your body that needs detoxing.  Lotion just hides the problem.
       What I do:  I dry brush before I take a shower for up to 10 minutes.  Rubbing in circles from my outer extremities to my heart.  This helps with ridding your body of toxins (pounds of them!), helps circulation and exercises the skin.  Then after I take a shower, I don't dry off.  I rub either organic jojoba oil or organic sesame oil on my skin with the water, even on my face.  In a few minutes, the water is absorbed into my skin with the oil.  I only use the towel for my back and hair.  My skin is soft and not dry.

Face lotion from the Optiumum
Health Institute; Face scrub from
Soul at Home and Face soap
from Mothers

2.  Change your face routine.  Have you seen the list of ingredients in your face products?  Are you a chemist?  My rule of thumb is "If I don't know what it is, I don't buy it"  At Mothers and Sprouts, they sell a plethora of facial products that are "healthy".  Remember, your face is an organ too.  You want to get rid of PARABEN.  It is a preservative that keeps the shelf life.  It mimics estrogen and causes cancer. Parabens can be found in shampoos, commercial moisturizers, shaving gels, cleansing gels, personal lubricants, topical pharmaceuticals and toothpaste.  So many things that you use.  Studies have also shown it can effect the reproductive organs, especially in children.  When there are safe alternatives, why would we use this?  They also use it in "food additives" so make sure you can read your food ingredients too.

My favorite shampoo and
conditioner

3.  Take the poison out of your soap, toothpaste and shampoos.  Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and its close relative Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) are commonly used in many soaps, shampoos, detergents, toothpastes and other products that we expect to "foam up". Both chemicals are very effective foaming agents, chemically known as surfactants.  The problem is they are poison.  In the same way as it dissolves the grease on car engines, sodium lauryl sulfate also dissolves the oils on your skin, which can cause a drying effect.  They are a variety of health issues that are related.  For more info read this article:   http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/sodium-lauryl-sulfate.html

My deodorant

4.  Throw away your deodorant.  I know this sounds extreme, but it is so bad for you!  Your odor is caused by toxins on the inside and bacteria on your skin.  The chemicals you are putting on your skin are just masking the problem.  I am proud to say that I do not wear deodorant and I have no body odor.  You can be this way too!  I used to wear Mitchums for years because I sweat and smell, but no more.  One of the key ingredients in anti perspirants is aluminum chlorhydrate, a salt that reduces perspiration and it is linked to Alzheimers. They also have paraben in them too. More importantly, your body is trying to tell you something - you need a good detox and to eat healthier.  That is what it is saying when you have body odor.  I spray on liquid minerals to help with my intake of minerals and to keep my skin bacteria free.


5.  Buy new feminine products.  Most of us women have been using tampons every month since we went through puberty.  Did you know that cotton is the most heavily pesticide treated product in the US?  We don't eat cotton so there is no regulation on it.  BUT we make tampons out of them!  We put them in our bodies for hours and for days without thinking of the pesticides in them.  Studies have shown that it lengthens your period and causes a heavier flow, as well as releasing toxins into your system.  I have switched to organic tampons and pads.  They are a bit more expensive, but it is worth it.  

Our favorite toothpaste and
my lipsticks

6. Rethink your cosmetics.  We put foundation, blush, lipstick, etc. on our skin.  We wear it all day, so it should be something that is good for us, or at least not bad for us.  Most of us EAT on average 5 pounds of lipstick or lip gloss a year.  It is filled with parabens (a couple of different kinds), red dye 22 and 36 (linked to cancer and nervous system failure) and Tocopheryl Acetate, which causes itching, swelling, etc.  Not to mention, the squished up insects they use - Yuck!  For me, I have bought all of my lip products at Mothers.  They are made with hemp, vegetables and natural products.  They sure taste better and I feel so much better wearing them.


I have a few more items to discuss in another blog, but this should get you started.  Don't forget to check your cleaning products too.  If you can't read the ingredient and you have to be a chemist to know, then it is most likely bad for you!  If you spray it in your house, you inhale it and eat it!


Spiritual application:  So as always I see the spiritual side to all of this.  I really am beginning to see how the world has really strayed so far from God's original plan in so many ways.  I believe God wanted us to eat the food he created for us, not the junk that we have man-made.  Like when we sin, we have gotten so far off the beaten path.  America can hardly see another way of living.  The food and items that are so bad for us are so readily available.  Just like when we sin, temptation can be everywhere!  I am sad for the state of our world, for our sakes, for our kids sakes.  Like I tell my kids, if God intended us to eat "Goldfish", He would have made a Goldfish tree. If we all demand a better way, "they" will have to follow.  If the world rejected the fake foods, and only bought organic, things would be cheaper (supply and demand)!    When will we wake up America!   The statistic changed this year:  one out of every two Americans will have cancer before you die!  1 out of 2!  It used to be 1 out of 3.  They say that by the year 2020, 1 out of 1 Americans will have cancer.  Maybe then we will listen . . . maybe.  For me, I am doing my best to live the way God intended us to eat.  I am already part of the cancer statistic, but by God's grace I can live to see another day and help all of you who are ready to make a change!

Living the American Dream

 My dad passed into glory on Nov. 17.  I was there holding his hand as he breathed his last breath.  I was able to tell him that he was a great dad, the best I could have asked for and that I loved him and would miss him.  We were very close and saying goodbye is so difficult.


For those of you that don't know my dad, he lived the American Dream.  His name was Fred Carl Stolle and was born on September 30, 1928 to Heinrich and Gesiene Stolle in a small family farmhouse in Haschenbrok, Germany.  He was the middle child of five and enjoyed a simple childhood with two brothers and two sisters.  Growing up, Dad lived in the beautiful Neidersachen county, but the country of Germany was devastated by  depression like the rest of the world.  He often told stories of only having one pair of shoes and never getting to eat sweets.  Dad’s life revolved around school and helping daily with the family farm until Hitler came into power.  When he was 10 years old, he was automatically enrolled in the Hitler Youth program, which is similar to The Boy  Scouts.  They marched and played sports every Saturday.  Dad quickly became a leader and was sent to the North Sea to fortify the farms from Allied invasion.  While there, the officer in charge showed favor to my Dad, offering him the chance to enroll in officers school instead of being sent to the front lines.  Dad saw that 
God had a hand in his life and never forgot he most likley would 
have died if sent to the front lines. Fred soon found himself in 
officers school in Prague, Czechoslovakia learning military strategy.
 In the last days of the war, his commanding officer was ordered 
to send all boys to the eastern front in Russia with a Panzerschrek 
(a tank buster bazooka) and only one shell. Thankfully, Dad's
 commander didn’t obey that order and told Dad and the other boys to
 sneak home. Also, following his father’s advice “Whatever you do, 
never go to Russia”, he and another friend escaped and headed 
home on the train.  With all of the confusion in Germany, no one 
noticed them and they arrived home safely four weeks later.  He 
always said this was one of the smartest things he ever did.  

After the war, Dad went back to school and finished his six years of Latin and one year of English, making Abitur or graduation.  His father wanted him to become a veterinarian, but he had other plans.  He wanted desperately to leave his war-torn homeland for the land of opportunity.  Everything had been destroyed in Germany and Dad would have to wait five years to go to a university.  Unknown to his parents, Fred had applied for a visa to America when he was 16.  Once a week, he rode his bike 30 miles to talk to the American Consulate in Bremen. At the time,  America was only allowing scientists to come from Germany to America.  His persistence paid off and he was one of the first non-scientists to get a visa. He always thought that someone gave up their spot so he could go.  He was

 really proud of that fact. On August 25, 1949, his mother’s birthday...Dad 

left for America.  He was 20 years old.

Anyone coming to America in 1949 needed a sponsor.  Dad sent letters to

 Germans in America and asked if he could work for them on their farms in 

return for his airplane ticket to America.  A family in New Jersey accepted

 him and he worked for a year on a farm to pay off $346 - the cost of his 

ticket. Dad couldn’t speak much English and didn’t learn the language his 

first year in America because he lived with Germans.  After that, he moved to 

Long Island, New York moving from job to job - first a landscaper, then a 

button factory worker, a painter, a carpenter and finally a storm door and 

window installer.  His first job wouldn’t give him a paycheck until the next week and he only had 50 cents for food for the whole weekend.  He went 

to the farmers market and found the cheapest thing he could - bananas.  He ate bananas Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday until he got a paycheck.  Times were hard in the beginning because Americans didn’t like Germans.  Dad endured many snears, jokes and doors slammed in his face.  Because of his tenacity, he eventually, owned his own business in New York, a window and door installation company.  He was proud to have installed all the windwos and doors on Governor's Island.  He often spoke of the cold ocean air he endure while installing those windows. 

In 1950, Jane Ostertun came over from his hometown and they were married that year.  Dad adopted her son, Tony and they were a family.  Dad saved all of his money and bought his first house with a private beach in Long Island.  He continued to buy real estate throughout New York and 

worked very hard at this time with his pool construction company.

Dad loved America.  He took the nationalization test and passed becoming an American citizen on June 14th, Flag Day, 1956.  He was proud to be an American and always had a flagpole in every one of his eleven houses to show his patriotism - always flying the American flag.

Christmastime 1959, Dad and Jane took a vacation to California.  He got his first sunburn at the Rose Parade and vowed never again to live in a cold climate again.  He went back to New York, sold everything and moved west to Long Beach, California.  He purchased the Penthouse and remodeled it.  Originally Dad wanted to make his career in real estate, but found himself in the car business by accident.   After relentlessly grinding a sales manager on price when buying a new car, the owner saw great talent in him and offered him a job on the spot.   Dad had a knack for sales and in total sold 99,987 cars in his career, serving as the General Manager of Cormier Chevrolet for many years. He once was quoted saying “I have traveled the whole world.  I have won every contest with Chevrolet and have gone everywhere first class.  America is the best!” While living the American Dream, Dad did experience tragedy when in 1966, his wife Jane, died of bone cancer and Fred was a widower.

Nearly two years later, Dad was ready to marry again and went every day 

looking for a wife.  When he met, Diane Sliger, he was certain she was the right one.  He asked her to be his wife on their second date.  After a fewmonths of “grinding” my mom, Fast Freddie finally won and they were married on March 2, 1968 at high noon.  Later that year, I was born, their first child and then my brothers, Fred Carl the next year and Garrett Lenz the year after that.  

In 1970, my parents bought 42 acres of land in Valley Center, CA.  They 

cleared the brush, dynamited rocks, built roads, installed an irrigation network and began planting avocado trees.  They worked their ranch tirelessly and planted 4,200 trees themselves.  They went to the ranch on every day off Fredhad from Cormier and created their dream home - a custom adobe home with many arches.  Fred put thousands of hours and endless amounts of blood and sweat to build the ranch just they way they wanted it.

In 1982, the Stolle family joined the Long Beach Church of Christ and Dad accepted Christ as his Savior and was baptized.  He loved his church family and helping with the building facilities.   He and my mom taught a young a young married class

and was know to speak to the young group at graduation.

Tired of working so hard and feeling the need to relax, Dad retired from Cormier in 1994, sold the ranch in 2001 and the Penthouse in 2004 and moved to La Quinta full time.  Here he cherished life, traveled the world and loved their ten grandchildren with number eleven due in February.  He learned to play golf and slow down.  He still had continual “projects” around the house and loved to dance and be invited to a good party.  He kept up with his German family, visiting his homeland 52 times in his lifetime and last year, he got the pleasure of showing his grandchildren the farm he was born on and the land of his youth.

My dad will be remembered as bigger than life - with the best stories, the most energy and an unrelenting zest for life.  He was a man with incredible work ethic and sheer determination.  He stood for all that America is - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Many of you will remember his famous motto: 

 “Look your best, Do your best, Be your best!” 

  My Dad would want you to remember him that way!

Please pray for our family this weekend as we say goodbye to my Dad with a burial today and a memorial tomorrow afternoon.  He was loved so much that it will be so hard for all of us!  Goodbye Dad, I miss you already!