[Update: I wrote this in October of 2014. It’s been 3 years, and I’m still doing great. Thanks to all of you who continue to check up on me and wish me well!]
It was February 5th, my mother’s birthday and a month before the 20th anniversary of my becoming vegan. I was sitting in a breast surgeon’s office in a paper gown, cradling my biopsied breast and waiting. After about an hour and a half, my surgeon finally appeared, apologizing for keeping me waiting because the results had only just come in. He took a deep breath and said, “You don’t have cancer.” I thought, “I didn’t think I did.” Unfortunately, as I would later find out, we both were wrong.
He went on to explain that the biopsy found abnormal cells, officially called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), but often referred to as Stage 0 or pre-cancer. While I was still reeling from the word “carcinoma,” he explained that these cells might become cancer, so they had to be treated like cancer. My options were a lumpectomy with radiation or a mastectomy. I asked whether there was any chance that the pathology report could be wrong, and my doctor said no.
I was stunned. I left in a daze and went over to my husband’s office nearby to give him the news.
Three months before, a routine mammogram had spotted a place that looked different from my last mammogram. I was sent to the Breast Health Center for another mam and then an ultrasound to get a closer look. The spot was so small and deep inside the breast that the ultrasound technician couldn’t find it at all, so I was given an appointment to return in three months. At that three month mammogram, the “spot” was clearly visible even to me as a glowing white circle in a sea of black and gray. A ultrasound-guided biopsy was scheduled for early the next week.
I’d had one of these biopsies four years ago, and that spot had turned out to be nothing but a harmless cyst, so I had been expecting the same results this time. Like most women, I didn’t think “The Big C” could happen to me. But because I was a vegan, I think I was even more positive that I couldn’t have cancer. After all, wasn’t I doing everything the vegan doctors tell us to do to protect ourselves from heart disease and cancer? Low-fat, lots of green and cruciferous vegetables and brightly colored fruit? No animal products? Moreover, no one in my family had ever had cancer. I naively thought I was immune.
So I didn’t really believe the pathology report, and I became even more skeptical when I read an article that said that DCIS is sometimes misdiagnosed. I decided to get a second opinion from one of the doctors mentioned in that article, a pathologist specializing in breast cancer in San Francisco. I had the hospital send him my biopsy slides, and a week later, I had a consultation with him on the phone. He was unable to confirm DCIS or rule out actual cancer because the radiologist who had performed the biopsy had noted that he had actually missed the “mass.” The biopsy needle had gone in front of the suspected tumor and gathered cells from there, just a few that looked abnormal. But until the actual mass was tested, the pathology specialist couldn’t rule out either DCIS or invasive cancer. He suggested I get another, more accurate, biopsy called a stereotactic biopsy, and I asked my doctor to schedule it.
I had high hopes that this second biopsy would show no DCIS and no cancer. Those hopes were shot down when my new medical oncologist called to give me the results: I had a small invasive cancer, Stage 1, that showed signs of being aggressive. She recommended surgery within the next 3-4 weeks. Just to be sure, I had the slides sent to the pathologist in San Francisco, who agreed with her diagnosis.
Snowball Fight with Daughter E at Oberlin College
So I did what any logical person would do: I took a vacation. It was Spring Break, and my husband and I had planned a 5-day trip to take our high school junior (now senior) to visit 6 colleges in the Midwest. We wanted to do it while we could because we knew that after the surgery, I would need 6 ½ weeks of daily radiation treatments and might not be able to get away during the summer. The trip was a great distraction, but as soon as we got home, I made an appointment with the surgeon and scheduled my lumpectomy for the following week.
The surgery went perfectly. The surgeon removed the tumor and the area around it, as well as three lymph nodes which tested negative: the cancer had not spread to them. A week later, I returned to the surgeon’s office for more good news: The final pathology report showed that the “margins” or edges of the material he had removed were clean, meaning that all of the targeted cancer cells had probably been removed. The only worrisome thing to my husband and me were some figures in the report that seemed a little scary, particularly a “grade” of 3, meaning the cancer was aggressive. My surgeon was unconcerned, and my oncologist said that she would order a genetic test called Oncotype DX to more conclusively determine my chances of having the cancer recur.
A few weeks went by as I recovered from the surgery and waited for the results of the Oncotype test. I was expecting to start radiation soon when my medical oncologist called with the test results. They indicated that I was at a moderately high risk of recurrence. She was recommending that I have chemo.
This was the first time the other Big C word had been mentioned, and for some reason, “chemotherapy” scared me more than “cancer.” The oncologist explained that the type of chemo she was recommending was “well-tolerated” and without all of the serious long-term consequences of other treatments. I wasn’t convinced, and I began frantically researching the chemo itself and alternatives to it.
Walking and thinking in a cypress swamp
I was in a panic. On the one hand, I’ve always believed in fighting disease with nutrition and had always been opposed to taking any medication if it could be avoided. On the other hand, hadn’t I been doing just that for the past 20 years? My oncologist was telling me that chemo could reduce my risk of having the cancer recur and spread, that preventing it now would be much easier than trying to stop if it spread to my other organs. I went back and forth, one day deciding that chemo was just too dangerous and the next deciding that I didn’t want to take the risk of the cancer coming back. I was, frankly, a mess. I couldn’t sleep or eat for worrying about the chemo. I finally decided to get a second opinion from a highly recommended breast cancer oncologist at the University Medical Center.
My second opinion doctor came back with the same recommendation as the first: Have the chemo. She assured me that I was young (me!) and healthy and I could handle it. And it would cut my chance of recurrence in half.
My husband was very careful to stand back and let me make the decision for myself, but I knew that he hoped that I would have the chemo. And I was afraid that if I didn’t have it, I would be anxious for the rest of my life, afraid that I hadn’t done everything I possibly could to prevent a recurrence. I’d read the stories of people who had fought their cancer with diet and lifestyle choices, but those people weren’t already eating a whole foods, plant-based diet like I was.
So I decided to do the chemo, four rounds, three weeks apart. I read everything I could find about the treatments and armed myself with supplements that could help prevent side effects. And I found out my oncologist was right: the treatments, though no fun, we’re not as bad as I’d feared. My side effects were minimal, the most annoying being a bad taste in my mouth that would come and go and made it difficult to create new recipes.
Just after my initial diagnosis, I’d begun getting up at 5:30 every morning and walking with my husband and our dog. During chemo, and later radiation, I considered it a point of honor that I never missed a walk. On the weekends, my family and I tried to get out of the house and do a little hiking or local sightseeing so that I wouldn’t feel like the treatment was making me isolated. I ate lots of fruits and vegetables to support my immune system and was careful to avoid coming into contact with people who were sick, and I sailed through my summer of chemo without so much as a sniffle.
A Visit to “My” Lake at Montreat, NC
When chemo ended, I was determined to take a family vacation before I had to start radiation therapy, so at the beginning of August, we spent a week in the mountains of North Carolina and a few days in Nashville, seeing my newest niece for the first time (and, of course, my brother and sister-in-law).
I got back home and jumped right into daily radiation treatments–33 of them. Again, the treatments weren’t nearly as bad as I expected, but I was thrilled when they ended last week. I couldn’t wait to put all of this cancer stuff behind me.
I didn’t write about this while it was going on mainly because I was afraid that people would offer suggestions and criticisms of my decision to go through with chemo and radiation, and I just couldn’t risk the additional stress that would have put on me. So why am I telling you now? Even though this blog is recipe-oriented and not usually very personal, I wasn’t sure if I could go on writing it if I had to pretend like something this big hadn’t happened to me, something that has consumed the last eight months of my life and has changed the way I see myself and the way I think about diet, veganism, and health.
My first month post-diagnosis, before I had the specter of chemo to worry me, all I could think about was “why” and “how”: Why did I, a vegan who tries to eat healthy, get cancer when no one else in my Standard American Diet-eating family has ever had cancer? What had I done wrong? Had I eaten too few nuts? Too little cilantro? Not enough flax seeds? BPA? Soy?! I worried that I had caused my cancer by never being able to get to my goal weight and stay there, that I didn’t exercise consistently, that I had had only one child late in life and that I hadn’t breastfed her long enough.
I was blaming myself, and I had a lot of help from the Internet. I couldn’t visit Facebook without seeing posts about how eating X (broccoli, nuts, soy, orange) would help prevent cancer. Or people posting about their frustration that a friend or family member had breast cancer and refused to treat it by adopting a plant-based diet. If I, someone who had been eating all the right things (and not eating all the wrong ones), got the message that I was to blame for my cancer, how must other cancer patients feel, the ones who hadn’t been stuffing themselves with kale and mushrooms? Is there a way to promote a plant-based diet that doesn’t point the finger of blame, that doesn’t make grand promises of health, and that doesn’t make people like me feel so confident in the invincibility of our diets that we put off mammograms or other screening tests?
I don’t know. But for me, it’s been helpful to think of the vegan diet as promoting health, but not providing a “Get out of Disease Free” card. My friend Maria made me see that even if my diet didn’t prevent me from getting cancer, perhaps the cancer would have grown much more quickly if I hadn’t been vegan. Perhaps I wouldn’t have sailed through chemo without ever needing nausea meds if I hadn’t been nourishing my body with fruits and vegetables. Perhaps my immune system wouldn’t have stayed as strong as it did or my energy as high if I had been consuming animal products.
It’s also been helpful to me to remember my real reason for being vegan. Though I’ve followed a McDougall-type diet ever since I became vegan, my ultimate reason for becoming vegan was not to improve my own health but to decrease the suffering of animals. So if you’re reading this and worrying that I’m going to be another vegan blogger who goes back to eating animals for her own health, don’t. No diagnosis in the world could convince me to eat another animal or animal product.
As for my current health, I feel great, and I’m confident that I caught this cancer early and have done and am doing everything medically and nutritionally possible to make sure I never have to worry about it again. I’ve tweaked my diet to reduce or eliminate foods I don’t need (sugar, soy, wine, and coffee) and to increase those I wasn’t eating enough of before (broccoli sprouts, flax seeds, organics). I walk at least once and sometimes twice a day, and soon I’ll be starting a workout routine at the gym. I plan to lose the extra weight I’ve been carrying around, which is the biggest threat to my health.
I think the hardest struggle I’ve faced isn’t physical but emotional. My image of myself as a healthy person who never took pills and was confident her vegan diet would protect her from anything–that image took a pretty big hit. I’ve been worried about “coming out” as a vegan with cancer for fear that non-vegans would see it as proof that a vegan diet “doesn’t work” and that some vegans would skewer me for resorting to traditional medicine. In the end, I decided that I had to put my truth out there so that I can get past it and get back to blogging as usual. Next post, you can expect a recipe. Cancer isn’t on the menu.
Loki has become an excellent therapy cat–when he isn’t destroying the house.
Thank you to all my family, friends, and friends of friends who offered love and support. And to my church, the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Jackson, and my parents’ church, The First Presbyterian Church of Hammond, LA (love the shawl and cap, y’all!) And to Maria Maggi, Nava Atlas, Dreena Burton, and Stephanie Weaver–wise women all, whose words of advice and offers of support helped me more than they probably know.
Horte
Thank you so much for keeping it real. So glad that you are feeling well. May the “C” stay away and every bite and morsel that your are inspired to create nourish every cell of yours and all of those that you have inspired. Thanks again.
Joni Baker
I also am a vegan who was diagnosed with breast cancer. I also chose to have surgery and chemotherapy. I was told I needed to have radiation therapy but chose not to. However, I did have genetic testing done and have the BRCA gene mutation. Although I have a family history of breast cancer, no one before me had it when the testing was available. But no one has had recurrence. I just choose to go ahead with my vegan diet and take the best care that I can of myself. You go ahead and do the same thing. I think all of us breast cancer survivors need to stick together, regardless.
Ann M
Just saw your post today about the cancer and chemo treatments. I am so sorry that you had to go through this. Sometimes bad things happen even though you do everything right. You’re been through a rough time and I hope you continue to be cancer free. You have been an inspiration to thousands and even more so now. Love your recipes and your blog posts. Have followed you for years.
Best wishes for the future!
Ann M
Grandma Julie
Thank you for sharing your story:) Two years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer just 4 months after running a Boston Qualifying marathon! I changed to a whole food, plant based diet because I wanted to strengthen my immune system to get through treatment. I have now been animal- product free for 2 years and feel fantastic. Like you, I don’t think I’m “bullet-proof” from disease, but I am strengthening my body and giving it the best chance possible to fight! While I can’t really control my external environment, one thing I CAN control is my internal environment (nutritional input). Best wishes to you and thank you for your wonderful website…I especially appreciate your yummy recipes!!!
Karen
Hi Susan, I have been reading and passing along your blog for years.
I turned to veganism in part because an illness.
Beyond everything else there is to say, I wanted to point out a major, and very unusual cause of breast cancer that most people are not aware of, which is ambient light at night.
Simply, your brain releases melatonin in darkness. Melatonin causes sleepiness, but it is also a strong tumor suppressor.
Epidemiological studies showed that people who live in brightly lit cities had high rates of breast cancer (though I don’t know how they narrowed the cause to light).
Then they did animal tests showing basically: nighttime light = tumor growth. nighttime light + melatonin = no tumor growth.
Any light bright enough to read by, a television, a night light can cause this effect.
As it still sounds fairly incredible, here are links:
>The most thoroughly studied mechanism to explain the effects of night-shift work is called the light-at-night (LAN) hypothesis (Stevens, 2009). Increasing exposure to light, especially bright indoor lights, at times outside of normal daylight hours, decreases secretion of melatonin (Stevens, 2009). Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in response to decreases in ambient light. Normal high levels of melatonin at night are important for regulation of both pituitary and ovarian hormones (including the naturally secreted estrogen estradiol), and for suppressing the local production of estrogen resulting from the conversion of androgens into estrogen in the breast tumor cells (Cos, 2000; Knower, 2012).
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/radiation-chemicals-and-breast-cancer/light-at-night-and-melatonin.html
>Background Breast cancer incidence is increasing globally for largely unknown reasons. The possibility that a portion of the breast cancer burden might be explained by the introduction and increasing use of electricity to light the night was suggested >20 years ago.
http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/38/4/963.short
Anyway, I wish more women (and men) knew about this. Not that it will solve every cancer, but every bit helps.
I am sure your diet has been an amazing benefit to you.
renata
I just love coming here. I am still in transition from vegetarian and I see you as an inspiration. Love your recipes.
I’ve been through this with my mother too. She’s alive and well like you. <3
I wish you and your family all the good things and stay strong!
Lauren
February 5 is also the day my father passed away… best of luck to you – stay strong!
Jeannine
Oh Susan, thank you for your post and for sharing your experiences. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING you said was spot on. I’ve done a lot of thinking along the same lines. My dad, who lead me to try to eat vegan, lived a very health lifestyle. He was a happy guy, always had a positive outlook on things. He was extremely active. He even switched from road biking to mountain biking at age 74. A day hardly passed that he was not biking or hiking or kayaking. He also switched to a vegan diet about 4 years ago. Before that he still ate very healthy by US standards. Lots of veggies and maintained a healthy weight. Sadly none of that stopped him from being diagnosed this February with a Grade 4 Glioblastoma that took his life in 8 months. He and everyone around him were shocked that it could happen to him.
I am a nurse who administers chemo to patients. I hope you had some nice nurses taking care of you and I’m glad to hear your treatment went well. I have never had any appetite for the vegan blame game. Now, as you can well understand, I have much less patience for it. Eat well and hope it provides you with some benefit but don’t pretend it’s the panacea. It is not.
You were so wise to keep this to yourself until you were ready to share. This experience was life changing for you. You will continue to learn from its lessons as the years pass. One day you may even be grateful for the deeper insight it’s given you into life’s mysteries and gifts. Best wishes to you and your family and let’s all hope for a less eventful 2015.
Row
Dear Susan
Thankyou for bravely sharing your story. It certainly is an unexpected diagnosis. You have been such an inspiration. Your recipes are truly a livesaver for people like me who are after whole foods plant based options…I use them all the time.
I will keep you in my prayers for your continued recovery and good health.
xxx Row
Lynn
Hi Susan! Just wanted to let you know that I support your decisions to face life head on and to offer my support. Sometimes we will never know why we are faced with certain challenges but to face them and walk through them with grace and dignity is the best anyone can choose to do. You have shown all of us here on your blog that very grace and dignity. Thank you for choosing to share a very personal part of your life with us!
rachel
Susan, my first time to your site, thank you for your honesty and sharing.
I have been a vegetarian or vegan for 27 years in my own life. I am a holistic practitioner who also sells quality, powerful healing products that alkalize and detoxify (no pills). These factors are vitally important to keep us healthy and eliminate garbage and toxins in our bodies; it is much more than eating a salad and going to the gym.
I have learned how much emotion, stress and attitude play a part in health no matter what else you do. Our body/health is a mirror for our unconscious and conscious thoughts. The breast area for instance is about nurturing and maybe a lot of breast cancer is about the emotional needs of women not being met (and we nurture others). namaste’, rachel
Kym
Susan, after our chat on Facebook I had to come find this blog post. Reading this blog I swear it sounds like me. I also had something odd out of mammogram four years ago and I didn’t even blink an eye. I knew I couldn’t have it because of the way I’ve been eating for 24 years it turns out I didn’t. And after looking at several things by doctors including McDougall, I no longer get mammograms. This is a very eye-opening and humbling block. I wish I knew you well enough to give you a hug and knit you something wonderful. My diet is never been perfect and I also carry an extra 30 pounds or so. I’m really going to have to sit and think about everything you’ve written and figure out where to go from here. I too would never go back to eating meat or animal products but I cannot honestly say that my diet is right where it should be. Although I do not eat junk food I certainly do not eat enough greens or fresh fruits much less fresh vegetables tight budget and all of that. I think you might be my new hero your honesty, bravery, love, talent, and wisdom of willingness to share regardless of feedback is amazing. I look forward to to reading back through your block at the things I’ve missed and I definitely look forward to what the future holds for you.
Kym
Susan, after our chat on Facebook I had to come find this blog post. This is a very eye-opening and humbling blog. I wish I knew you well enough to give you a hug and knit you something wonderful. I think you might be my new hero your honesty, bravery, love, talent, and wisdom of willingness to share regardless of feedback is amazing. I look forward to to reading back through your blog at the things I’ve missed and I definitely look forward to what the future holds for you. None of us are bullet proof, but we can make the best choices for our lives. You have chosen to share this journey in openess and love. You are an amazing woman. Thank you
Melissa
Sending love, light, and healing to you, Susan. <3
Susan B
So many thoughts and fears–I share many of your assumptions about being vegan; like you, I have a cherished internal plot line that veganism will save me from disease. My beliefs haven’t been tested yet, but I agree that, no matter what occurs, it all comes back to the animals. Taking the impact of a head-on crash with reality requires a while for the head to reel and wobble before it regains equilibrium. But even under the shock of a mighty blow, you show admirable fortitude: checking and double-checking your diagnoses, taking rest, and maintaining your commitment to work, writing, walking, and veganism. You have helped me and many others over the years with your gifts of recipes and photographs, and now I also need to thank you for putting your most personal thoughts in writing.
Terre
Wishing you the very best, Susan. What a scary thing to go through. You’ve handled it beautifully. Inspirationally. Thank you for your amazing recipes. Many blessings!
Lynn
Oh my gosh, I am blinking back tears. You are a very brave and strong lady. I look forward to reading your awesome recipe blogs for the next 50 years. Regards, Lynn in Australia
Debra
This is an excellent article. Thank you so much for sharing.
Elena
I stumbled across your site as I was searching for vegetarian meals for Thanksgiving. It has only been 2 mths since I stopped consuming meat in hopes of saving an animal or two in my lifetime. Then I read your post about your health and felt the need to comment.
Thank you for being so brave, for sharing such a personal, emotionally wrenching experience. Thank you for your empathy toward innocent living creatures, and taking a stance by reducing the demand for their flesh. Thank you for sharing recipes (the few I have seen so far appear to be delicious!) to help others enjoy meals that don’t include butchering a life. It appears you have saved many lives in your lifetime, you have helped others do the same, and that in return you were “saved” from experiences that could have been more severe. Yours were severe enough, but they could also have been worse. It sounds like the choices you have made to nourish your body have made your body that much stronger. And it is inspiring to hear you are not letting go of your beliefs and your lifestyle.
I had both a biological father and stepfather. My biological father was strong, didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, believed in doing everything himself, was always on the move, and consumed healthy foods. He passed away before he turned 50.
My stepfather was overweight, smoked, was very sedentary and consumed a very unhealthy animal-based-fatty-diet or items loaded with sugar. He was known as the “Twinkie Man” at a convenience store he frequented almost daily. He had multiple bypass surgeries, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and lived passed 60 years of age.
Initially I found this disturbing. I too believed you are what you eat. My faith became a little shaken. Then I realized the real question was, what would have happened if the diets/activity levels were reversed? I now believe my biological father would have lived a much shorter life, riddled with intrusive operations, and that my stepfather had the potential of living a longer, more rewarding life.
And that’s how I see you…I think it is no mistake your body managed invasive treatment better than expected. Again, you are an inspiration to many. I hope to you are to yourself as well…
uli and sven
lots of love from germany. we are very sorry to hear about your diagnosis and wish you the best of health. we love your recipes so much. thank you for being such a creative kitchen monster.
love from uli and sven
Debbie
Thank you for posting this. I have been fighting an autoimmune disorder since very early childhood. Five years ago it dramatically worsened, despite already following a healthy diet. I had hoped that by following a whole, plant based diet that I would be able to stop taking the very powerful medications that allow me to continue functioning somewhere near normal. Alas that hasn’t happened, and I’ve had to take an “all of the above” approach.
I’ve found this very difficult, emotionally, because I truly believed that if I just tried harder, ate better, that I would be cured. Or that I would at least be able to control my condition with diet alone as others have done. However it seems that I need more “weapons” to fight with – hence the “all of the above” approach. Like you, Susan, I need to know that I’ve done everything I possibly can.
But I am disappointed that diet (and exercise, and supplements, and meditation and other natural, holistic methods) have proven insufficient. It doesn’t fit in with my image of myself as a healthy, vibrant, self-sufficient woman who doesn’t need any dang pills to stay healthy. And it doesn’t help when others, generally out of compassion, suggest something that I have already tried. Or tell me I just need to try harder. Or that their relative had exactly what I had and (insert diet/food/lifestyle here) cured them. Believe me, I’ve tried it. Except the parasitic worms – there are limits!
When it comes down to it, I’m doing everything I can to stay healthy and that includes medications. I believe I’m doing better than I would if I wasn’t following all of my particular lifestyle options, but I am not willing to find out for sure by quitting my lifestyle choices. I know I am reducing my risk or the various other illnesses I am at higher risk of, given this autoimmune condition. But I also know that despite everything I do, it may well kill me prematurely. Reduction of risk is *not* the same as elimination of risk.
Kevin
It must have been hard for you to post all this and I hope you recover completely – emotionally, physical and any other way.
I don’t think anyone will see this as “that a vegan diet doesn’t work”. As wonderful as being vegan is, it can’t protect us from everything.
All the best.
Vyolet
Hi Susan..I just wanted to say that even though we don’t know each other and I am just a huge fan of your delicious blog, I am very happy and relieved that you beat that terrible disease…you are a fighter, you’re tuff as nails..Its so admirable that you faced it with bravery. I wish you much much health and I send you good thoughts and wishes 🙂 Keep up the amazing blog, your creativity with food and recipes is always a tasty treat to read. Warm regards to you and your family <3
Vyolet
Brenda
I am so happy I came across this post ….. I have been so heart broken since last night because I had read an article about Sam Simon the co creator of the Simpsons cartoons who was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer in 2012 he is 59 and has been a vegan since 2005 and a vegetarian since he was 19. I was reading his storey and I found myself crying … I’m 39 I have been a vegetarian since my late 20 and a vegan for 5 years now. I watched the documentaries and I’ve read countless of articles where doctors say vegan diet keeps heart disease diabetes and cancer away . Read the articles of how cancer can even be cured when eating a whole foods plant based diet … And that was my argument to anyone who would try to debate with me on food choices …. I too believed that vegans were immune to everything ! I believed in this so much. ! I was a vegetarian for the animals then learned about the dairy and egg industry and that was the initial reason for transitioning to a whole vegan diet. But more so then anything i did it for health . And I just feel so devastated that now I’m realizing that cancer doesn’t care if you eat meat or only vegetables. I am no different then the people are argue with so passionately about this lifestyle …. So maybe eating a whole foods plant based diet helps with slowing the cancer cells or helps keep you stronger and healthier then the regular standard american diet eater … But it doesn’t make you immune. I’ve been reading that most vegans who consume coconut oils and soy burgers can still get heart disease … I would never go back to consuming animal products . But I just feel so let down .. I so happy that you wrote this on your blog. You have opened my eyes. And I thank you. You have giving me a sense of peace. That although I eat healthy I still need to get checked and that I shouldn’t think I’m invincable .. Thank you. I wish you health and longevity. ❤️❤️❤️
~Nilu~
Thank you for sharing your story with us. You have explained your concerns and reasons for taking chemo n radiation, in a very lucid manner. It is a huge sense of relief to everyone who follows a mainly plant-based diet, to know that you still feel that way of living is worth it. Your strength through the entire process- getting the right diagnosis, making the crucial decisions, and going through with it, and now sharing it with the online world, is admirable. I wish you good health now n forever.
Gregory Miller
Hi Susan,
You are an amazing inspiration and the above responses show how many lives you touch everyday! God be with you, live long and prosper! Check amalgam fillings too. If have any, please replace them.
Angie
This is the first time that I have visited your website and I came upon it by chance after searching for some ideas for vegan Christmas fare for my family.
As a vegan for 15 years now it was very sobering to read of your recent experiences with cancer.
I was raw vegan for a long time and still do not consume processed foods (like flour and pasta, etc), sticking to whole foods instead but I am aware that nothing gives us 100% immunity against our modern diseases so none of us should feel that it is our fault somehow if we become ill. Having said that, I realise how you must have felt about telling your subscribers about your condition and I greatly admire your courage in being so honest about it all. It will make us re-visit our diets a little as it is easy to become blasé after a few years of veganism and perhaps not be eating as well as we should, as well as we were when we initially set out and were more conscious of our food choices. So thank you for that.
I think we also have to remember that there are so many other factors that can impact on our health, many of them outside of our control, such as environmental carcinogens – in the air, in our water, from the mobile phones, computers, etc, etc – as well as studies that show it may take several generations for the real benefits of veganism to kick in. So if our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents were not vegan then we are a product created from less than ideal stock, as it were!
Please take heart in knowing that your lifestyle choice has bestowed a great gift on your family’s future generations, especially as you have set them such a great example in healthy eating.
Finally, I am convinced that your prognosis would have been worse had you not been vegan. I guess there is no proving my opinion on this but it stands to reason that your body, fed on such nutritious fare would be better able to fight back. So take well deserved credit and comfort in the fact that you have given your family the most precious gift you could have – your best chances of fighting off any disease and still being around for them 🙂
I would like to wish you and your family many, many more years of continued health and togetherness. Oh, and thanks for all the fab recipes you have generously supplied on your website. I’m sure my family will love them.
Cindy
Dear Susan,
Thank you so much for sharing your story. You have been a real hero of mine for a long time and I always drop by from time to time for some great, vegan, food inspirations. You’re even more of a hero to me now, not because you got cancer, heck, anyone can do that, but because you’ve handled it so well and made some tough decisions, while remaining true to your vegan roots. You’ve also had the courage to share it with us. Thanks! I know that you will be happier and healthier from now on. Hugs to you.
~ C
tammy
Glad to hear that you are recovering so well! My bff’s sister also had a breast cancer diagnosis this year and went through chemo and radiation as well. So far, so good for her for now. She was/is an avid workout enthusiast and was in fantastic shape at the time of her diagnosis and everyone was shocked. She seemed to sail through her treatments, rarely missing a workout. Her doctors seem to think that she recovered so well because she was in such good shape prior to her surgery and treatment. Perhaps your case was similar? Your diet and lifestyle are very healthful which helped your body to handle and process the treatments? Again, I am very glad to hear you are doing so well!!!
sandy
Susan – thru the spicy jalepeno hummus recipe I just found this post (was on vacation when you wrote it). I remember a while ago (spring I suppose) you saying something about a “procedure” and then all was quiet. I put you in my prayer box! The story of your diagnosis, the aggressive score, the chemo being scarier than cancer, the second opinion that said yes, you should have chemo – it all so nearly replicates what i went through in 2000…..it brought me right back. I too (reluctantly) did chemo and radiation and haven’t seen cancer in almost 15 years now.
Anyway – this isn’t about me! Just a heartfelt note that I care (and understand)! I’m glad you shared your experience as you are so important to all of us – we can give you great support (even silently).
Picturing you whole and healthy (and continuing on with the fabulous recipes that feed my body and soul).
warmly
sandy
Susan
Hello Susan!
Thank you so so much for sharing your story! It really touched me, as I lost a best friend 2 yrs ago to cancer and things you mentioned are exactly what she went thru and we talked about! so much I want to say, but I’ll leave it at….I admire your openness and wish you all the joy and happiness and health you deserve!
Also….I’ve been to “MY” lake too…lol. Love NC and asheville….beautiful and can really feel the positive energy there! I’m sure it was good for your spirit,
love and hugs!!
another Susan 🙂
Deborah
Thanks so much for sharing your story. I follow McDougall and Esselstyn’s diet of an oil free, nut free whole foods plant based diet but have very high cholesterol. I finally got to speak with Dr. Esselstyn and although they advocate an oil free diet with plenty of whole grains and potatoes and vegetables, for people like me, I have to limited them and eat mostly vegetables and beans and tons of leafy greens but very little grains and no coffee or wine. As with you, I wouldn’t give up the way I am eating but we need to tweak it a bit more than most of the others.
Namaste
Emilie
Dear Susan,
I have visited and used your recipes hundreds of times since I began my plant based adventure a little over 3 years ago. So along with many thanks, I send my prayers to you and a special ‘ thanks’ for your courage and honesty. When I started eating plant based, it was in response to illness, and my willpower was certainly fueled by a slight magical thinking, similar to your “Get our of Disease Free, Card.”
But with age, and a bit more realism, I know that is not the case. As I began to read your note, I sensed what you were sharing, but knew it was important to keep reading. I am so glad you sought multiple opinions. Your note is a recipe for how to manage the crises life throws our way, no matter how careful we are.
I hope you will continue to include more sharing on the website. I wish you continued strength and good health.
All the best,
Emilie
Debbie
Susan, thank you so much for sharing your story. I switched to a mostly vegan/plant based diet nearly 2 years ago (I’m not 100% there yet, but will be!) and absolutely love your recipes. I can really relate to your reaction of disbelief of a breast cancer diagnosis. I discovered a lump on April 1, 2014 (yes, April Fool’s Day!). I thought “No! This can’t be!” I had just had a mammogram five months earlier and had been diligent in getting them every year with no problems, yet here I was. I called my GYN doctor and was immediately referred to a breast cancer surgeon. After a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound guided biopsy, I was told I had both a Stage 1 invasive ductal carcinoma and DCIS in my right breast. Like you, it was a total shock. No history in my family. Long story short, after many tests, many needles, and the discovery of a pre-cancerous mass in the left side as well, I opted for a double mastectomy. Thankfully they were able to achieve clear margins and no lymph nodes were involved. I also had the Oncotype DX test and had a low chance of recurrence, and feel incredibly lucky that my oncologist recommended no chemo or radiation, but did recommend Anastrozole (as opposed to Tamoxifin since I’m 61 and post menopausal) for the next 5 years to help prevent a chance of recurrence. I firmly believe that, although my doctors told me this tumor has been most likely been growing for several years, my change in diet slowed it down and prevented it from becoming worse than it was. I am now in the reconstruction phase and feeling strong and healthy! Please keep up the good work and continue to promote a vegan diet! I will NEVER go back to my old ways!
Adam Hall
Thanks for sharing your story. I have always thought that a whole food vegan diet was never about about what it does for you like somehow magically preventing cancer, or even heart disease. I always felt it was a moral decision and a good way to at least guide you away from unhealthy food choices. Food choices like the typical american diet which everyone agrees, no matter their position on veganism, as unhealthy and addictive.
Laura Montocchio
This is the second time I’ve contact you — the first was a fan letter three years ago to thank you for helping to make my transition to a plant-based diet fun and delicious. This time I want to thank you for sharing your personal story. Your comment in this post about you wanting to avoid judgment from others about your medical choices resonated with me. Many people adopt a plant-based diet because of compassion for animals, yet I sometimes observe a lack of compassion or harsh judgment for human beings from those same people. It’s extremely difficult to change one’s deeply ingrained habits and/or to cook multiple meals for a family that can’t agree on dietary changes. Around the time I became vegan, I read the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, and it had a great impact on me. Mr. Foer explores the many facets of dietary choices, including ethnic traditions, social interactions, conflicting nutrition information in the media, and, of course animal suffering. Everyone is on his or her own path, and harsh judgment of others rarely does anything but alienate those who feel judged. Good for you for following your own internal guidance regarding what was right for you. Best wishes for much health and happiness!
Bianca
Thank you for sharing this! I have been avoiding getting a mammogram and just called to set up an appointment because of this. I have little lumpy areas in my breasts and they have not been cancerous in the past and I thought that living a healthy life-style and eating Vegan would “protect” me. Your experience has helped me realize that it’s important to stay pro-active in getting those check-ups, because you just never know for sure. Thanks again!
Ashlee
First of all, thank you for sharing your story and honesty. I think everyone, vegan and nonvegan can admire your raw truth.
I recently became vegan (April 2014) after watching Forks Over Knives. I started obsessing over a plant-based diet and how it can prevent/cure cancer. I’m a little shy under a year of consistent research and I’ve calmed down a lot. I was all gung-ho about veganism being the only way to prevent cancer. But, honestly, environment is just as big of factor as poor diet. So maybe consider that the environment we live in today (and have no control over) could have contributed to your cancer, not your lack or kale or berries.
I love that you’re still sticking to your vegan roots. Your friend is definitely on point with your healthy diet contributing to how much success you had, how much energy you had, etc. Most people do not have as good of chemo story (if there is such a thing) as you do, and I totally believe your diet contributed to that.
Good for you for doing what YOU felt was for you. <333
Grace
Thank you for your ability to be so frank about your life. This story is vivid and to me, it’s a testament to the fact that many experiences and feelings have universal relevance. I may never have met you, but some close family members of mine are facing cancer, some not for the first time, and seeing this from the rarely-shared patient’s point of view has been insightful and deeply affecting to me (to the point where I’m actually in tears at the moment).
I’m so glad you felt able to tell people about the implications of this process for your attitude to lifestyle choices, to life, and to yourself. I can sympathise with the idea of feeling like you’ve done what’s right and still suffering consequences, but please don’t hold your choices accountable for what environment and genetics also influence. We’re doing a great thing by living a lifestyle that aims to rebuke unnecessary suffering and embrace good, honest, real food. I completely relate to your concern that people may connect your veganism to your health problems (I think many vegans know that experience), but that comes from their not understanding or wanting to understand different ways of doing things and ignoring the fact that eating the standard diet doesn’t protect large numbers of people from health issues — including nutrient deficiencies.
I appreciate your sharing and I hope things change for the better for you. I feel silly telling someone else this when I’m still moving towards it each day myself, but try not to let others’ lack of understanding affect your feelings about the rightfulness of your choices. It’s a complex picture when it comes to cancer treatments, and there’s many very legitimate reasons to believe that eating fresh, unprocessed vegan food is a positive health choice. Keep being you, Susan.
Meg
I read your blog and wanted to thank you for your honesty.
There is a book that I enjoyed call “Dying To Be Me” by Anita Moorjani that I though you might enjoy reading. She too ate all the right foods, practiced yoga and kept her body healthy. It’s certainly a fine balancing act. I’m very thankful that you are feeling better!
Rick Fingerman
Susan, thanks for sharing your story. I believe also that diet (and lifestyle) can play a big role on one’s health. No guarantees BUT I think your friend Maria is right. A plant based diet probably allowed you to get through this better.
All the best and be well!
Rick