[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.
erberry@sbcglobal.net
Susan, I’m so new to your site that this too is new for me…. to leave a comment. And God knows we all spend too much time on these computers, but it’s a lovelovelove hate relationship with all the knowledge benefits and yes your great recipes and for a first in my life, I have not made a single one that I did not love. A FIRST. So get to the point Liz. I read your story about Ca and cried. If you had not shared all the points about trying to be the “good vegan” and what will people say now, I would not have taken inventory r of who I am. You helped me grow, give up perfection again today and just love you from a far and wish you well. WE all can only do our best each day and give up all the control we sometimes think we have in life. You will be thought of often and again I wish you healthy peaceful days and if you love making people happy, with your recipes, then please please continue. Because you have made my day today. God bless. Elizabeth
Renee
Wow! You are truely an inspiration, so happy you’ve won this round with the big “C”. I look at it this way, how much worse it could’ve been if you weren’t vegan and if you had made the wrong choices. Bravo, looking forward to whatever else you decide to share. Love your recipes!!
Joanna Lleverino
Thank you for sharing your journey. You are a true inspiration. I have been a vegetarian all my life, never ever have had any animal products. I came across your blog via veggieonapenny.com just checking out new recipes for tonight’s dinner for my son and I…and I decided to check yours out. There’s so much going on inside my head and heart at this moment after reading about your diagnosis. I have made it a priority to make my appointment for my mammogram and to eat MORE of what I am lacking and to truly delete coffee out of my system. I had a mammogram done at the age of 40 and found out my breasts were full of cysts, due to the caffeine intake. I do not drink coffee everyday anymore, but do drink it maybe 4 times a month, but you were a reminder of that moment when I was told of the dangers of these cysts. Honestly, from the bottom of my heart Thank You for sharing your story. Stay strong, be blessed and continue to bless others with your knowledge of food and all those yummy recipes and your inspiration to push forward and to stay positive and healthy!
Blessings,
Joanna
EM
While I certainly am not in a place to deny the success of diet in treating cancer, I have had three friends who attempted to use diet (diet alone, no meds, chemo, radiation, etc.) to treat cancer. All three had been long-term vegetarians or vegans, but all three did not survive the cancer. I do not know the particulars of their types of cancer cells, and I know that 2 of them caught the cancer later than could be hoped. But I am a believer in diet combined with recommended medical treatments for cancers. I am a life-long vegetarian, and I know that my lifestyle choices make it more likely, statistically, that I will live a longer, disease-free life. But statistics, while helpful in looking at large groups of people, mean very little to the individual life. I still try to live healthfully, but I ultimately have to take my future on faith. I really appreciate your openness in posting your experience, and I wish you all the best, in health and in life.
Lee
Hi Susan,
I have been following your blog for awhile, using some of your recipes too. I missed this post originally, but thank you so much. I have been a plant-based eater (vegetarian for 40+ years and vegan (mostly) for about 5-6 years). I chose this way too eat because I like it. I am also a retired neuro-biochemist, so science, science, science. Now I am also a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with Uterine Cancer in March 2014. Surgery, radiation, remission, recurrence, chemo and for today n.e.d. (no evidence of disease). I had none of the typical risk factors for Uterine Cancer, but there it was.
I love your blog and your posts, they are so informative, reasonable, non-judgmental and moderate. I love your statement about our uniqueness and unique nutritional desires and needs. I think that eating a plant-based diet is more healthy for me, for today, but there is no food that either completely prevents or cures any disease. I wish it was so simple.
I wish you the very best on your path and look forward to many more years of your delightfully delicious recipes.
Best regards
Jane
Dear Susan, I have just subscribed to your blog as I have been enjoying your wonderful recipes on Pinterest. Was so sorry to hear of your cancer diagnosis but very glad that you are now over your treatments and cured. I can identify with your feelings regarding being diagnosed. I too have been a vegetarian (and in recent years vegan) for most of my life, have no history of breast cancer in my family and breastfed all my babies for years (even in my early 20s I was aware that extended breastfeeding can help prevent breast cancer). I was diagnosed with grade 3 DCIS when I was 49 with a micro invasion. I didn’t have to have chemo but, due to the large area involved, needed a mastectomy. I was in denial for some time as I just didn’t think it was possible. We live in a polluted world so, even healthy living is no guarantee but I am positive it helps a great deal. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes and I love your writing style. Jane
Kimberly Ylitalo
Great post! Thanks for sharing, Susan. I see your recipes on my FB news feed and really enjoy trying some of them! Keep up the great work.
I have a Breast Cancer story similar to yours. My diagnosis was in 2012. I can finally say I’m ‘right in the head’ again. Took awhile. 🙂 I had only started a whole food/plant based diet a short time before my diagnosis and so glad I did. I am never going back.
Good luck with all the new goals you’ve set for yourself. Happy October!
Lucille
Hi Susan! You are a very courageous woman! I am so happy that you are now healed! Thank you so much for sharing your story. Your daughter is gorgeous, by the way. Keep up your walks and exercise program and you will get there and lose that weight you want to lose. Take care! Be seeing you on your blog and Facebook!
Ruth Abate
Susan,
Thank you so much for posting. I just was flipping through Facebook and came upon it. I was recently diagnosed with invasive lobular carinoma, and I like you I sat dumbfounded, so convinced that my vegan diet protected me. But I agree with you, maybe it is helping my cancer grow slower and I am counting on it helping me get through the treatment that is ahead of me. I was just sitting here feeling low, and you gave me the boost I needed.
Thanks for sharing your story. Every woman should know that just because breast cancer is not in your family or your diet is clean, is not an excuse for not doing self exams and getting regular check ups.
Thank you also for all the great recipes you share!
Ruth
Lee at Veggie Quest
Hi Susan, I don’t know how I missed this post, but I did. Also, you probably won’t read this (comment #725, I think!), but just in case, I wanted to respond.
First, congrats to you on making some very tough decisions and coming through treatment healthy and whole! I’m certain your diet helped you get through in one piece, and Maria is right–there’s a good chance you would have developed this cancer earlier, and perhaps an even more aggressive version, if you’d been eating a standard American diet. (How did Maria get to be such a wise soul?)
Also, as unfair as it is, much of our cancer risk is determined before we really have a say over much of anything–while we’re tweens and teenagers, and perhaps even while we’re in the womb. In fact, what your grandparents ate and were exposed to could potentially impact your risk! (Just Google “epigenetics.”) Then there’s the matter of environmental exposures and your unique combination of genes to add to the situation.
What it all adds up to, to me, is that the best anyone can ever do is reduce their risk–of getting cancer, of having a recurrence. No diet or treatment is a guarantee. And I’ll be honest–even though I’ve had a borderline precancerous breast lesion removed, I still have trouble sticking to the diet and lifestyle I know can most reduce my risk. But I also know that even if I do stick to the diet strictly and faithfully, it won’t be a sure deal.
So kudos to you for 20+ years of being vegan, for taking care of your body and getting second opinions, and making it through what I’m guessing were physically and emotionally demanding treatments. You’re an inspiration, and thank you for continuing to share delicious, health-promoting recipes on FatFree Vegan. It’s an amazing blog, and I very much look up to you!
Judith Dodd
I’m so happy to hear that you are doing much better now as I was saddened and alarmed to hear that you had cancer. Your wonderful recipes have been a mainstay for the meals I prepare my non-vegan husband. When he gets mad he won’t eat vegan, but I win him back with your New Orleans Red Beans and Rice. He was born at Hotel Dieu in New Orleans and we now live in Upstate NY. He commented the other day that he didn’t think he would enjoy “real red beans” if he went back to NOLA as they would be too heavy. I think of you as family and just want you to know I look forward to your lovely recipes for many years to come. Happy New Year.
Susan Voisin
Thank you, Judith, for one of the nicest comments I’ve ever received. Have a very happy 2016!
Anna
Dear Susan, I just found your incredible post today, when searching for fat free desert as my friends are coming over and they always look up your recipes for new ideas. My friend has serious kidney issues and is really watching carefully what’s on her plate and I love her spirit and never giving up! I am amazed about your sincere post coming from your heart and can feel your worries but also on the other hand the great spirit after the treatment and strength to do other changes in your diet which is already so clean and soooo plant based. I wish you and your family Happy New Year 2016 and lots of health!
Beth Ashley
Thanks so much for sharing your story. It is one that needs to be heard, and I’m glad you realized that. I wish you the best!
John McDougall
Please contact me
drmcdougall@drmcdougall.com
Jen Borcic
I’ve been following your recipes for years – I just now stumbled on this one blog. I’m so sorry you went through that! I completely agree with you – the diet is a healthy and cruelty free lifestyle – but it doesn’t mean we are immune from the world around us. The air we breath, genetically modified stuff floating all around us, and on and on. Life happens to all of us – even the ones taking steps to prevent the worst.
I hope you are doing better and that is all behind you now.
Janet
Susan,
Thank you so much for sharing your personal journey with cancer. I happened on your site recently as I face my own cancer battle. I was diagnosed with stage 3C ovarian cancer almost 8 years ago. I too experienced few side effects to the chemo and thanks to many prayers and lifestyle changes I have remained surprisingly healthy. Doctors gave me little hope 8 years ago, but they clearly don’t know everything. Unfortunately, I have experienced a recent reoccurrence, gone through chemo again, and though I am not cancer free right now, I am hoping that my next scan will be clean. This disease has caused me to make many lifestyle changes, but I have recently read about the effects of meat and dairy as it relates to cancer and have decided to adopt a whole food plant-based diet. Your recipes look wonderful and I look forward to trying them as I continue on a road to better health. Never let anyone make you feel uncomfortable for the choice you made to have chemo and radiation. No one knows what they will do until a doctor gives them a cancer diagnosis. We make the best decision for us at the time. You obviously made the right decision….you’re a survivor! Praying that you continue to not just survive but thrive!
Grandpa Ron
OMG!… Yer ole Grandpa has been out of the loop for so long! Glad you made the right decision.
Love you, (List) Mom!
dora Helwig
I am not a long winded person ,so this is my comment ,you are an inspiration.I wish you love and continuing good health.
Susan Voisin
Thanks you so much, Dora!
Lisa Denniston
Hi Susan,
Thank you for sharing your story. Cancer is a pretty scary diagnosis. I’m impressed with your diligence in pursuing second opinions. I am thankful that you have found success with your treatments. So many of my younger and older friends have been diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s frustrating. Thankfully they have also survived their cancer diagnosis. Your story is lighting a fire to also increase my daily aerobic activities. Enjoy your life of abundance! We are truly blessed.
Today I’m officially shopping for your Pasta Fagioli recipe. I found Cranberry Beans at my local health food store and I’m looking forward to an excellent meal this evening! Thank you for all you do!
Roger
Thanks for your article it highlights what everyone seems to miss, eating healthy and exercising lower the odds, they don’t eliminate them. Whenever I hear someone say you can “heart attack proof yourself” I cringe. You can only improve your odds, you can never eliminate them. It is human to equate low odds with zeto odds, but they are not the same. I believe those selling the cancer and heart disease proof diet are doing a disservice to all. I too am a McDougall type vegan, but I believe my diet has lowered my odds dramatically, but I won’t be stunned if I have a heart attack. You can still be the 1/100.
megsmash
Thank you so much for sharing your story. When you have a health crisis, it is very personal and I am glad you had such a good support system. I am an RN, and I have seen many different outcomes, so I know that it is not the same for everyone. It is very hard to make a decision on what to do, especially when medications have so many side effects. But I think being very well informed, doing your research, and listening to your gut is so important. You did all of these, and it is wonderful that you had such a great outcome. I also had to make a decision regarding my health, and it is what made me start eating this way. But I know that personal tug of war that you speak about, and it is hard. I appreciate you sharing from a perspective of you having a health crisis after you have already been eating healthy, and educating others to listen to their bodies. I also feel this way of eating is the healthiest and can help with many health problems, but you can also get sick, and it is important that people understand that there are many other factors involved.
Sue
Thanks for sharing your story. It has many parallels to my own. 20 years a vegetarian, and no history of Cancer in the family, then out of the blue, I found a lump in my breast and within a month was in hospital having a lumpectomy just before my 39th birthday. Of the 13 lymph nodes removed from my armpit, 7 were shown to be “infected”. 6 months of chemo, then radiotherapy followed, after which I was advised to have my ovaries removed as a precaution, as my Cancer (like yours) had been aggressive, and also Oestrogen dependent. Whilst we had no plans for any more children, I felt increasingly like my choices were being dictated by this disease that I hadn’t invited. I was angry, really bitter. I agreed to the surgery. But it took me a long time to stop feeling angry at the whole situation. I was a healthy, fit, active vegetarian and even when I found the lump I had never felt better physically and emotionally. The treatment, however, made me feel absolutely crap.
That was 16 years ago, and even now I have days of feeling resentful at the whole situation; but then at least I’m still here, so not all bad.
I hope you can come to terms with things, and thanks again for sharing your story.
xx
Lorraine
This is a great post. Thank you.
Ruth
Thank you for sharing your inspiring story. I too and a vegan cancer survivor, mine was in the upper lobe of my right lung. My surgeon performed a lobectomy (removel of the entire upper lobe) in August 2014. She told me that they got it all and that the lymph nodes were not affected. She told me that I wouldn’t need chemo or radiation. 3 years later, I am still cancer free and I thank God every day for my life, family and friends.
Bob Highfill
Thank you for such a well-written account of your experience. I would like to think that your analysis is representative of how UU’s think (I’m one, too), but know that that is as simplistic as to think that a plant-based diet guarantees against cancer in all cases. I wish you good health and happiness, and thank you for your recipes that I use and enjoy almost daily. fatfreevegan.com is my go-to reference site. Stay enthusiastic.
Kathy Rezansoff
I am SO grateful and thankful that you are doing well. I’ve been wondering over the past few years how things were going for you. Your Facebook page has given no indication that things were otherwise great — so I went with that. :)You are a strong woman for standing by your convictions. I admire you.
All the best for the future. May the years bring you nothing but the best of health — and more wonderful nutritional recipes to share! 😉
Thanks so much for sharing your story – and the good news update.
Wendy allen
Very nice, positive post. wishing you a long and happy life. Thanks for sharing.
Billie St. Marie
Thank you so much for all the wonderful recipes, I survived too.
Laura Laser
I’m going through this now except I have ovarian cancer and they had to give me a total hysterectomy. I didn’t want to have chemo either, but here I am 2 down 4 to go. I’m glad your doing well
Becky. Ault
Thank you for sharing your story. I am making my mammogram appointment tomorrow..
Sending you peace and love.
Becky Ault
Chris
wow! that was an eye opener…
So glad you got through it OK, and wishing you the best of health going forward!
Dr. McDougall did post an interesting video about his analysis of why Steve Jobs got cancer. here it is on youTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81xnvgOlHaY&t=2s
take Care,
Chris
Katpurzz
Thank you for sharing. I too was diagnosed (5 years ago) with BC. Unfortunately mine was bigger and had one lymph node involved. At the time, I was still eating limited eggs and cheese, and I was on my way to being vegan – for the animals. After my diagnosis, I went full vegan for animals and my health. I read everything I could find regarding having/not having chemo. and I chose it in the end. I went through four rounds of chemo with virtually no problems and then six weeks of radiation.
carolinamoon
I am so glad you shared this. Prayers for your continue health. I too went thru it last year – chemo, surgery. Praying everyday it never comes back, but it’s on my mind constantly. I had always eaten a SAD diet and thought that if I had been vegan maybe it wouldn’t have happened. Then I read all those websites claiming you could cure anything with enough carrot juice. Funny how we blame ourselves for this stuff. I do think improving my diet might be a good thing, but it’s nice to get some perspective on the roll of diet and cancer. Thanks for being so open and honest. The best to you and your family.
Sagar Matha
Thank you so much Susan for sharing your experience in such an honest and open manner. I am so happy you are doing well now. May you be well forever. Keep up the good work.
Allison
❤️ Thank you for sharing
Hollie
I’m obviously reading this quite late, but just wanted to add my voice to those who are saying, thank you so much for sharing! I know it must have been a hard thing to write about, but I’m sure it’s been so beneficial to others. It helps me to remember that nothing is guaranteed, and to take care of my whole self, not just what I put in my mouth. And I’m sure you’ve heard this already, but I bet your diet did play a huge positive role in how you were able to cope with treatment, both physically and mentally. I’m glad you’re still doing so well, and thank you for the recipes you write and publish! 😀
Kim
Thank you for your story and keeping it honest. Thank you for also not giving up on veganism, as our goals for veganism don’t change with our health.
Just remember, other factors besides diet play a part in our health. Our genes, what we breathe, what we put on our skin, sun exposure, and even medications.
Before I became vegan I started taking oral birth control again (after nearly 20 years without it) and my breasts became peppered with lumps. I spent most of my life with about 3 lumps but probably 5 more popped up in just 3 months. Two were very painful and had to be surgically removed. They were benign but the mechanism was there – the birth control. I changed to another birth control and a marble-sized lump I’ve had since I was 15 grew to golf ball size in a little over a MONTH. As with the two painful lumps, the doctor didn’t even have to touch it to find it – she could see the whole side of my breast lopsided by that single huge mass. She ordered me to stop all birth control so I did. I was only taking it to begin with to help with extremely painful, incapacitating cramps. The mass shrunk down much smaller after quitting all bc. Larger than before but no longer abnormally large.
Then I became vegan and once all the dairy had completely left my system any lump that had ever appeared after age 15 (probably about 4-5) completely disappeared like they had never existed. And the one from age 15 shrunk so tiny I sometimes cannot find it. And my cramps, which were the reason I started taking birth control again to begin with, have lessened and are closer to normal now. So don’t convince yourself diet is the only determining factor in disease. It plays a big role, but not the only role. I’m convinced your experience would have been much worse had you not been vegan.
Ultimately we should always remember: Eating vegan might not always be a cure-all, but it improves conditions in nearly every disease diagnosis – especially dietary ones like heart-disease, cancer and diabetes. And more importantly, we should never forget that consuming animal products ALWAYS worsens them.
Rebecca.pipe@yahoo.co.uk
Hi Susan, thank you so much for this post. I’m a vegan and I exercise most days. I’ve just been diagnosed with breast cancer and I feel exactly as you have described, asking myself how on earth this could be happening to me at 36 years old. I don’t know what treatment I’ll have to have but I am terrified of chemotherapy. It makes me feel better hearing you say it wasn’t as bad as you’d thought it would be. It would be good to be in contact somehow as everything is so unknown at the moment. Thanks for this post. Rebecca x
Susan Voisin
Rebecca, please feel free to email me at susan AT fatfreevegan.com. I also have a private Facebook group for vegans with cancer that you are welcome to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/VeganB4Cancer/. I know how scary the diagnosis is, and I’ll be happy to support you in any way I can.
JENNIFER
Hi Susan! I am not new to your site, having visited and tried recipes over the years, but this was the first time I stumbled upon your cancer story, and I’m glad I did. I am 49, have been vegetarian since age 15 and strict vegan for 15 years. I was diagnosed with breast cancer two months ago, and had a lumpectomy + lymph nodes removed two weeks ago. The pathology report was all clear, but I’m still waiting to see what treatment is recommended. Radiation is most likely, but chemo isn’t off the table. Although I know people who have gone through this and are fine now, no one is vegan or even vegetarian, so it’s nice to have a firsthand report from someone I can relate to – Thank you for sharing!
Jennifer
Lynne
Thank you for a very well written and informative post. I have been diagnosed with a two tumour cancer in my left breast (seems to be early stage) and will have surgery 6 days from now. One lymph node will also be removed to assure them that it hasn’t spread. I’m 71 and my diet has not been the healthiest throughout my life–probably too much meat, carbs, dairy and sugar, not enough plants. However I am aware that women who have very healthy life-styles (like you) are still susceptible to cancers.
It was after hearing an online talk this morning by Dr. Michael Greger (author of “The How Not to Die Cookbook”) that I became absolutely convinced that I must change and become a vegetarian and possibly vegan in the future. Although I have listened to other doctors advocate vegetarianism, what Dr. Greger said convinced me. We are sick in North America because of our diet.
But the real reason I am commenting is that your description of your cancer journey has helped me feel less apprehensive about my own upcoming treatments. The surgeon has already mentioned radiation and I have been worrying about the post surgery period. But now I am thinking that with a change in diet, I just might be able to overcome some of the worries. I am on my own except for the help of my one daughter who lives a bit of a distance from me, so I need reassurance.
With gratitude,
Lynne