Naturopathy

At the prime age of 66, my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

At the prime age of 69 my mother passed away due to cardiovascular disease.

What a wake up call that was! for my whole family, I knew nothing about cancer (and still to this day, I consciously don’t take any cancer cases, a decision I made when I qualified as a Naturopath)

Those of you who know me well, know how inquistive I am, more so, how I like to take on challenges and solve them. Sadly in my father’s case, I barely had the time to research, let alone study the matter at hand.

My father left our world exactly a year from initial diagnosis, even though, “He had the best medical treatments available” A procedure was done to remove his prostate, and we were assured by his surgeon that he came at the right time. He was then further prescribed post surgery drugs, and chemo therapy…with no improvement in sight, and pain becoming excruciating, a baffling issue!!, we were constantly monitoring his PSA (a blood marker for prostate cancer) and it always came back NORMAL, of course it did! the prostate was removed!!! Sadly what we didn’t know at the time, was that his cancer had metastasised, meaning it had spread to other organs, we will never know if the prostate was primary or secondary, meaning, did the cancer start in his prostate, or it spread to it from other organs…You see cancer can be a silent Asymptomatic disease, till it hits an organ that may manifest into symptoms, like the prostate….

Growing up, our mother instinctually always cooked fresh clean produce for us, as she grew up on her family’s farm, she always ate fresh healthy foods, natural foods, so we never had processed foods in the house, even sugar, was a very occasional treat. She did’t succumb to the modern processed foods culture, till we left the nest and she had no one to cook for.

My father on the other hand, had mostly lived and worked abroad, eating whatever was convenient, I don’t ever remember seeing him eat a salad, he smoked, and although he was a very calm soul, he was bubbling on the inside with stress, like most family men, his main concern was bringing us up, to the best standard he can afford, and that he did…

Back to why I decided to study Naturopathic and Functional Medicine, throughout my father’s illness, there was never a mention by his oncologist of any other intervention as treatment, other than mainstream pharmaceuticals and surgery, well that didn’t work!! it didn’t even prolong his life for a little more, and worse, it didn’t alleviate the pain and suffering he went through, before he parted, he was taking strong painkillers that are classified as opioids, morphine didn’t even work. Poor soul, he was ready to leave, the pain was unbearable.

Never once, we were advised of lifestyle, Nutrition changes!! and deep inside, I knew there had to be a natural solution, a cure, better yet, a preventative measure, you see prostate cancer is a hormonal cancer, it can also be genetic, which means I could have inherited the gene mutation that can cause me to have ovarian or breast cancer myself.

This alarming news, didn’t scare me, “I’m strong” as much as it gave me a new challenge, something to study to avoid the same fate as my late father (I adored the man) after all, everything that I am, any positive aspect about me, is attributed to him and my late mother, the confidence he instilled in me, not only made me strong, able, but also it gave me the tool, to stay positive, happy and determined.

After some research, I discovered that, cancer is an epigentic mitochondrial disease. ‘Epigenetic’ Means above the genes, in simple terms, our lifestyle can either express or suppress cancer cells/genes.

I became more intrigued, and after extensive research, I realised there is a whole integrative world out there, and its not even alternative, its complementary and integrative.

I decided to study Bio medicine, Naturopathic Medicine (Natural Medicine, which includes Nutrition, herbs, Iridology) then went on to study Functional medicine, Nutrigenomics, and the rest in history…

Years later, and with testing numbers, my mitochondrial health is now better than 10 years ago. I cracked the code of evading ailments. I turned a negative health experience with my parents to a positive outcome.

A few years later, my husband had Prostatitis, his father too ironically had died of prostate cancer, so both our fathers were inflicted with this nasty cancer.

Thankfully, with my husband, we managed to evade cancer, with our new and modified lifestyle change…We did it, and so can you.

I continue and will continue to study till my last breath.

Always consult a qualified health practitioner. The Author cannot accept responsibility for illness arising out of the failure to seek medical advice from a doctor.