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But it said, “Sugar Free”!?!?

Posted on June 30, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

For the most part, I think most would agree that sugar is bad, very bad! It causes a copious amount of diseases, is almost entirely responsible for the obesity epidemic in our country, and is 8 times more addictive than cocaine. Yes 8 TIMES more addictive than COCAINE!

So what about all those “sugar free” choices out there? Well, this is the definition by the FDA of “sugar free” : “Sugar Free”: Less than 0.5 g sugars per RACC and per labeled serving (or for meals and main dishes, less than 0.5 g per labeled serving) (c)(1)
Contains no ingredient that is a sugar or generally understood to contain sugars except as noted below (*) You can read their definitions on the FDA website here. The problem with this definition is the fact that there are a lot of ingredients these days that are hidden in our foods that will spike your insulin levels faster than cane sugar and are not identified as so called “sugar”. Many of these are sneaky ingredients in foods you would never guess like salad dressings, spices and seasonings, and marinated products. These are foods that you may still be eating because I know you are not eating those awful processed foods anymore, right?

You need to know that just because you don’t see “sugar” or dare I say, “high fructose corn syrup” on the label does not mean you are home free.

Here is a list taken from JJ Virgin’s Sugar Impact Diet book:

The Many Names for Sugar

Barley Malt

Beet Sugar

Brown Sugar

Buttered Syrup

Cane Juice Crystals

Cane Sugar

Caramel

Carob Syrup

Castor Sugar

Confectioners’ Sugar

Corn Syrup

Corn Syrup Solids

Date Sugar

Demerara Sugar

Dextran

Dextrose

Diastatic Malt

Diatase

Ethyl Maltol

Fructose

Fruit Juice

Fruit Juice Concentrate

Galactose

Glucose

Glucose Solids

Golden Sugar

Golden Syrup

Grape Syrup

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Honey

Icing Sugar

Invert Sugar

Lactose

Malt Syrup

Maltodextrin (This is a BIG one!)

Maltose

Maple Syrup

Molasses

Muscovado Sugar

Panocha

Raw Sugar

Refiner’s Syrup

Rice Syrup

Sorbitol

Sorghum Syrup

Sucrose

Treacle

Turbinado Sugar

Yellow Sugar

And don’t forget the sweeteners:

Acesulfame Potassium

Alitame

Aspartame

Aspartame-acesulfame salt

Cyclamate

Isomalt

Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone

Nutrasweet

Saccharin

Spenda

Sucralose

If you see any of these ingredients – Stay away – far, far away. If you are still drinking diet drinks – wean yourself, by drinking sparking water, La Croix, fresh brewed tea, or water! It does the body good!

The sneakiest one on the list for me has been the Maltodextrin! It is in more than you could imagine. I have found it in sauces, and especially seasoning mixes. For instance, I used to love dumping a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix into 16 ounces of sour cream for a yummy veggie dip. Then, I actually took a minute to look at the ingredients, and there it was, in black and white – #3 on the ingredient list – Maltodextrin. That was a huge wake up call for me when I thought I was doing it all right! I cannot say it enough, “READ YOUR LABELS!” A really good rule of thumb to follow is this: If it has more than 5 ingredients, you probably shouldn’t eat it, but if it has ingredients you cannot pronounce, you definitely should not eat it! I guarantee that if you saw the manufacturing and chemical processing of these products you wouldn’t want them in your body. Best to choose foods grown from the earth or raised grazing the green grass. These are your REAL FOODS!

The other mention on this subject is the Glycemic Index. There is more study needed on this index, but it is a good resource going back to ingredients like Maltodextrin. The Glycemic Index measures how much the food you eat affects your blood sugar levels. The higher the rating, the greater the effect the food will have on your blood sugar. The scale ranges from 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest (well-used to be the highest). A 100 rating will shoot your blood sugar through the roof! Here are some examples:

Remember that Maltodextrin? Well, it measured higher than pure Glucose which used to top the scale:

Maltodextrin – 110

Pure Glucose – 100

Splenda – 80

Sucrose (Table Sugar) – 65

Maple Syrup – 54

Honey – 50

Lactose – 45

Coconut Palm Sugar – 35

Maltitol – 35

Agave – 15

I like this website published by the University of Sydney, that allows you to enter in foods to calculate the impact it has on your body. This website published by Harvard is also an eye-opening chart that lists common foods with their Glycemic Index as well as the Glycemic Load which takes into account the serving size, or “dose” of sugar. The difference between the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load is the serving size. The “Index” measures the sugar impact on the same amount of food, not a typical serving size. The “Load” uses the Glycemic Index as its foundation but takes serving size into account.

Watch out for those hidden sugars. “No Sugar Added” always mean sugar! Food labels are tricky. I really like the way JJ Virgin writes in her book, “Let’s be honest. You get excited when you see that sparkly starburst on the box telling you there’s been no sugar added to those fruit roll-ups. Well, I’ll be delicate here. They’re taking some poetic license – with you health. Manufacturers give you some credit, and they know that if you saw a box that read “21 teaspoons of added sugar for your metabolic upheaval!” you might think twice. So they’ve spent a lot of time and money testing ways to get around your sensible objections so they can manipulate you into buying as much of what they’re selling as possible, guilt and worry free. They’ve made all your favorite treats “without added sugar,” so you could have your cake and eat it, too….And just because a manufacturer labels a food or drink “no added sugar,” that in no way means that it doesn’t contain sugar. No added sugar does not mean sugar-free. It can also mean they’ve used fruit juice concentrate as their sweetener. That’s essentially fructose without the fiber. (Fructose goes straight to your liver!) And remember that white flour will end up as sugar anyway, so many of the ingredients in your no-sugar added cookie will turn into sugar as soon as you start munching. Labels can be misleading.” JJ Virgin – Sugar Impact Diet.

In a nutshell, read your labels – the ones on the back, buy “Real Food”, and know your sugars and their impact. And remember:

Posted in articles, Cancer, Health, Research, Sugar, Sugar Substitute, tips, Uncategorized tagged with Added Sugar, addiction, Article, Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load, Research, sugar, Sugar Substitutes, sugar-free, tips

Sweeteners; How to Choose the Right One

Posted on June 25, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

We know sugar is BAD! The sad truth is that many “No Calorie Sweeteners” are also bad. The choices are plentiful! The health consequences of these are also plentiful!

My first choice of sweetener when we decided to go Keto was Splenda (Larger name is Sucralose.) because that was my husband’s sweetener of choice, and you could bake with it in equal amounts. Then…I heard the story about how Sucralose was invented. It was invented by a group of chemists looking for a new formula for pesticide. Yes, I said pesticide! When you eat Splenda or other versions of Sucralose you are eating the mistake of chemists looking for a new improved pesticide. When Chemist A said to Chemist B, “Have you tested it?”, Chemist B responded, “It tastes sweet!” Obviously mishearing, taste for test, Chemist A was horrified that B actually put this poison in his mouth. But, the formula for a new product began at this point. Let’s see when you put that stuff to your lips again.

There are many other choices…We are all familiar with the blue stuff, the pink stuff, and the list goes on. Then you have honey, agave, and maple syrup. Granted, these are natural sweeteners, but have an effect on blood sugar. Honey, agave and maple syrup can all have a dramatic effect on your blood sugar, and leave you craving for more. Honey? I know, but just like everything else, it has become highly processed, and basically “all the good stuff” has been removed. The only exception I would find, would be a good local source that you know has quality honey from the area in which you live. I still would not eat it, but I would use it to sweeten things such as grass-fed plain yogurt and other quality foods for my children. If you can find good LOCAL honey, it is great for allergy resistance for your children in very small amounts – I emphasize SMALL. Please use with caution because it still will spike blood sugar. If you are trying to lose weight or have insulin resistance at all (which over 70% of our adult population does) stay away and stick to the others mentioned next. To read more about the worst and best sweetener, check out this article, The 4 Best and 3 Worst Sweeteners to Have in Your Kitchen, written by Dr. Mercola.

Natural sweeteners that do not have an impact on blood sugar are Swerve, Stevia, and Chicory Root, and every once in a while, Xylitol for certain foods (be careful with Xylitol – toxic for pets). These are the ones that we choose to use. You can purchase Swerve at Whole Foods, Sprouts, or in our Amazon store, here. There are many different forms of Stevia on the market. Be careful, and READ your labels. I have found all sorts of added ingredients. This is the Chicory Root powder sold by Chocoperfection:

This is granular swerve, good used on anything that is NOT cold, such as coffee or baked goods. Choose the purple confectioners for cold items, such as puddings or custards.

We do all need to try to be as sugar free as possible for so many health reasons. The problem is, any time there is a good thing, the food industry can take it and make it BAD! Take for instance, Stevia. Stevia is a great product, used for centuries in South America. It is all natural, has a low glycemic index, and a little goes a long way. The food industry in America saw that this was an up and coming sweetener, and has come along and ruined it in many ways. For example, Pure Stevia used to be the only thing you could buy. Now you have huge food and beverage companies coming into the market, and adding other ingredients, such as sugar (yes, sugar) maltodextrin, and a variety of other ingredients we do not want inside our bodies. My point of this post is to tell you to be careful when choosing sweeteners and reading labels. We need to cut down on the “sweet” period! That is, teach our tongues not to crave the sweet. If you do need a little sweet every once in a while, choose carefully by doing your research, and reading your labels. Do not go by what you see on the front of a box! At the moment, I buy the Sweet Leaf packets:

And Stevia Drops which come in a variety of flavors and you can purchase at Whole Foods, Sprouts, or our Amazon store here:

Sometimes as a treat, I use these drops to sweeten plain unsweetened almond milk for the children. When I use the chocolate drops, it magically turns into a chocolate milkshake!

Stevia measures VERY VERY differently than any of these other sweeteners which more or less can be measured cup for cup just like sugar. This website is a great resource for conversions if you have any questions. Just click here for a conversion chart! This works for PURE Stevia only.

I ordered a “Pure Stevia” off of Amazon last week, and was livid when I received it to find that the “other ingredient” was Malodextrin which has one of the highest glycemic index values out there. It is BAD stuff! Needless to say, it is going back, and I will continue to do my research to find an actual PURE stevia with no other added ingredients. It is becoming harder and harder to do this. The one place I have been able to find actual pure, organic, non-GMO stevia for baking is Trader Joe’s. While there, pick up some coconut cream, ghee, nuts of many varieties, and some Creme Fraiche! Yum!!!

So the take away of this article is to READ, READ, READ you labels! There are new brands of Stevia, especially, coming to the market daily because it is a HOT item. To make them better, companies are making these sweeteners worse for us. Take care and sweeten carefully!

Posted in articles, Cancer, Dessert, Groceries, Health, Research, Sugar, Sugar Substitute, Uncategorized tagged with Article, Splenda, Stevia, sugar, Sugar substitute, Suggestion, Swerve

A Little Summer Treat!

Posted on June 18, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

We all need a little treat every once in a while! Even on Keto, you can make treats that will actually help with weight loss and your desire to stay in Ketosis. We all usually need to up our fat intake. Some recipes are easy, and some require effort. Today’s post is super simple, and was my go-to when I first started on the Ketogenic diet and just needed that little “something”. It is loaded with saturated animal fat (this is good), smooth, creamy, and has just the right amount of sweetness to end a busy day. And…it is so filling – you just need a tad, and you won’t have the urge to eat another thing! The kids beg for it after dinner, and I usually oblige, sometimes selfishly, so I can have a bite too.

The Keto part of this is simple…Heavy Whipping Cream! I will say that this is where a KitchenAid Stand mixer comes in very handy. Check out the one I have here. It is a nice gift to yourself if you don’t already have one, and makes life faster and easier in the kitchen. I usually get my cream going while I am washing dinner dishes, and we have a fresh dessert in no time.

On a Ketogenic diet, we recommend staying away from many fruits. This is due to the natural fructose in fruit that makes a b-line for your liver. It is especially bad for Cancer patients and those with insulin resistance…Read more in this great article! However, there are some fruits that are better than others. My favorite fruits have always been berries! Thank goodness, because they also contain lower amounts of fructose which can spike your blood sugar. I know there is a lot of controversy on this subject, but I have seen it first hand with blood glucose monitoring, so I am on the no/low fruit bandwagon for myself. I do allow my children to have organic berries, and on occasion, I do too in small quantities. The trick for doing this is to make sure you eat your berries with plenty of fat to counteract the fructose in the fruit. Hence, the whipping cream.

What is better in whipped cream than berries. Yum! Now, don’t go crazy! You just need a small handful to do the job. Summer and berries have always gone hand in hand, so this is the perfect season to make yourself a Keto friendly dessert!

It is probably the easiest thing I have posted…

I used:

1 Quart of Promised Land Heavy Whipping Cream (Any will work)

1 Tbsp Pure Vanilla

1/4 – 1/2 cup Swerve Confectioners (Granular is very grainy in this one.)

Start by beating your cream until it begins to thicken. Add your Swerve, starting with 1/4 cup. Our taste has changed quite a bit, so that we do not prefer things super sweet anymore, but feel free to add more to your desired taste. Then add your vanilla. Beat until it is very thick, but careful not to beat too much or you will have butter! It is okay to stop and start (tasting as you go). This is a preference treat, so keep an eye on it, and stop beating when it’s to your liking.

Top with a small amount of berries or eat it plain. It is delicious both ways! Enjoy!

This one was for the kiddos. When I have mine, I go with blueberries, blackberries or raspberries with a ratio or 2:1, cream to berries. I skip the strawberries generally. Let the cream work to your benefit!

Posted in Cancer, Dessert, Kids, recipe, Research, Snacks, Sugar, tips, Uncategorized tagged with Berries, cancer, cream, dessert, Fructose, fruit, Insulin Resistance, Summer, treat

The Warrior Continues Her Cancer Battle!

Posted on June 16, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

What a difference a week can make!

Last Wednesday, we received a phone call at dinner telling us that we needed to get Erin and Charlie’s daughter, Elise, from the neighbor. Charlie had to call EMS because Erin had a seizure after a completely normal day at work.

Imagine, waking up to a regular schedule, getting ready for work, dropping the kids at school, working all day, returning home thinking about dinner, and boom, your world is black. This is what happened to Erin last week. A normal day, and then she awakened in the Emergency Room with no memory of how she arrived there.

As family descended, the discussion centered on a panic attack, because she had experienced a few over the past three months, or so we thought. In fact, as Erin and I worked on the conception of The Sweet Life Sugar Free the very first night, I witnessed her first “attack.” Her hands were shaking as she tried to type, and she got flustered. We took a break and discussed her day. She had experienced a hectic day at work and was not able to drink her water, take her supplements, or eat anything substantial. She drank two bottles of water and took some magnesium and potassium. She was obviously dehydrated, and possibly excited and nervous about starting our new venture. After a few minutes she felt better, and we got back to work as our girls played “Princess” in the adjacent room. Later that evening, as she was leaving the house, she came to get me because she couldn’t buckle Elise into her carseat or get her keys into the ignition of her car. She said she just “couldn’t get her hands to do what she was telling them to do”. I gave her yet more water, and she and Elise stayed for the night.

The next day, Erin was better and carried on as normal.

About a month ago, she called me from home early in the afternoon, and told me she had the same experience at work and had to leave because she couldn’t type. “My hands just aren’t working,” she said. This time she chalked it up to too much coffee and being nervous about her upcoming PET scan. Again, she slept and felt better the next day.

She was certain that both of these “panic attacks” centered around her anxiousness about her PET Scan on May 13, 2015, dehydration, lack of nutrients, and too much coffee. Makes sense, right?

I reread her post yesterday from May 15th, which discussed her clear PET scan, and how she was thanking Cancer for helping her have courage and appreciate the little things in life. She was so relieved when the scan came out clear just one short month ago. She closed her post by telling Cancer, “You are not welcome back!”

Fast forward to last Wednesday evening. I had Elise (Erin and Charlie’s daughter) and my kids at home, and my husband, Chip, returned from the hospital at 11:30 pm after sitting with Erin’s husband, and his cousin, Charlie. Erin was awake, and they were awaiting the results from the CT Scan. As soon as Chip walked into the bedroom, he received a phone call from his aunt in Denver that he needed to return to the hospital immediately…the CT results did not look good. There were two spots. I sat straight up in bed, and all I could think was, “No!” She had a panic attack, right? And, it certainly couldn’t be Cancer because she just received an “All Clear” on May 13th! That was less than one month ago! She was doing everything right! There was no way – the radiologist had to be wrong!

I got updates throughout the night without much information. As with many diseases, the waiting is horrible, terrible, endless. No one tells you anything. (Doctors, take note!) Chip returned home again about 6:30 am with no more information, other than Erin was scheduled to be transported to a different hospital. They had been waiting for hours for the transport so she could get an MRI which would show more detail in the brain. The hope was that the CT was showing something insignificant. She was to be observed by her oncologist and an awaiting Neurosurgeon. Everyone was just waiting, in holding mode, as if the clock remained still. Finally, she was transported about 8:30 am, on Thursday morning and taken to the MRI. Then, more waiting. At this point, more family members were on planes making their way to Texas.

In the meantime, Erin’s oncologist arrived and had taken a look at the CT scan. She told Erin and Charlie that it appeared the Cancer from the breast had taken root in the brain. Basically, Breast Cancer in the brain. I know what you are thinking…what about the clear PET scan? I hope you are as outraged as the rest of us were. The response was, “Insurance only covers a scan from the neck down.” I was stunned! Are you kidding me? They were told that day, for the first time by Erin’s oncologist, that 1 in 10 Breast Cancer patients with HER2 breast cancer, develop tumors in the brain! (Click here for more information on HER2.) Yet, they don’t scan for this? It is absurd! It was disturbing to all of us there that not only do they not scan the brain, but that Erin was never told to watch for symptoms or told that this was a possibility. All of these “panic attacks” she was having were small seizures caused by the tumors! Outrage, contempt, and anger seized every muscle and nerve in my body! No mention, no warning, no prevention – is that really what we call healthcare?

We also all learned that the tumors have more than likely been in her brain this whole time. Since the beginning of the story! I did not know that the particles in the chemotherapy cannot travel up the brain stem, therefore, leaving the brain as a free for all. The rest of her body is completely clean, and looks great, according to all the doctors. Seeing that the tumors in the brain are breast cancer tumors, they had to get there before she started chemotherapy almost two years ago since the rest of her body is cancer free. They were trapped in the brain without a chance of being eliminated by the chemotherapy and treatments she was receiving for the rest of her body!

Later in the day, the neurosurgeon entered the room and gave Erin the news that, yes, there were definitely two tumors in the brain, and there was an additional one near the brain stem for a total of three. She was scheduled for brain surgery the next morning at 10:30 am. Not much time to think, which was good for Erin, and probably everyone in the room for that matter! He was going to be able to remove the two higher tumors, but would have to do radiation for the third because it was too close to the brain stem. It is by the grace of God, and the advantage of a Ketogenic diet, that the tumors did not raise their evil heads until two years later, spread, or cause more havoc. Erin is still a believer! She was able to recover from her earlier surgeries before she had to do this one! This VERY big one! Whew, this was a lot to swallow! More Cancer and Brain Surgery in less than 24 hours! We all thought she was fine!

Friday roles around, and thanks to many prayers, and an excellent neurosurgeon, nurses and staff, “the surgery could not have gone more smoothly,” according to the surgeon! Praises for everyone in that operating room, all of her caregivers, and more than anything, the strength of our amazing warrior, Erin! She is amazing!

The day after surgery, she was up walking, and ready to go home. A little impatient, maybe, but strong as an ox! She was not waiting or relying on anyone! In fact, she said to me, “I just really don’t like asking others to do things for me!” Really?!?! She had just come out of brain surgery! We are all still in awe at her strength and determination. It is going to take an army to get her to sit still and recuperate. She was able to come home yesterday, and already talking about paint colors, as she stared from her chair to her fireplace. “Goodness!” was all I could say and smile.

My what a difference a week makes, and what a week it has been for my dear friend! She is not just a fighter, but a warrior. She is not just a patient, but a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a mighty encourager for those suffering through cancer, those that have fought the same battle, and those that may in the future. If only the insurance companies could see through the patient to the person.

Erin stands without fear and encourages the rest of us! May this be an encouragement to everyone that the battle carries on, and Erin will fight not only for herself, but for all the others out there as well! Be strong you amazing woman! You will win this battle, if only by your own will and determination! I have no doubt, and I love you dearly! You ARE an amazing warrior!

And yes, this is Erin yesterday – after brain surgery just four day earlier! Amazing!!!

Posted in Cancer, Health, Supplements, tips, Treatment, Uncategorized tagged with Brain, Breast, cancer, Chemotherapy, Doctors, Insurance, treatment

How Can Keto Help You?

Posted on May 16, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

As a follow up from Erin’s emotional post on her Cancer survival, I thought this article apropos to post. Erin gives so much credit to her survival of Cancer and continued remission to the Ketogenic diet. Erin also did traditional therapy, but the results were much faster because of Keto. So fast, in fact, that her doctor asked her what she was doing in addition to traditional therapy! We often wonder if Keto could have cured it all, but at 31, she needed to do everything humanly possible to get that disease as far away as possible – forever! So, we are definitely not saying to avoid traditional therapy, but we are saying that you can help yourself move towards faster healing by eliminating sugar from your diet because sugar feeds Cancer! As you will read in the article, a majority of Cancers have been proven to be metabolic diseases. All are not simply genetic, or a case of bad luck, as so many of us have been told and believed for quite some time.

How are metabolic diseases treated? Answer: Diet

If you have not already read our page entitled, “What is a Ketogenic Diet?” I encourage you to do so. While we often speak to Cancer, the Ketogenic Diet can be used to treat many other diseases and illnesses, and help you live a stronger, healthier and more fulfilled life. For instance, it reversed my pre-diabetic status, put my PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome symptoms at bay, and alleviated every bit of lower back pain I had from an injury I sustained while training for a marathon several years ago when I ruptured a disk.

This article is excellent in explaining how great the Keto diet is for most Cancers, and why we don’t hear more about it (hint…$$$).

I also encourage you to do your own research or talk to your doctor about how this type of lifestyle might be able to help you with your own ailments or even just living a healthier lifestyle. I will tell you; I have never felt better, been stronger, or had clearer skin in my entire life! I just wish I had learned about it sooner than a year and a half ago. I hope that it can help you too! Let us know how we can help you!

Posted with Love,

Cindy

From examiner.com:

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Seyfried discussed why the ketogenic diet has not been embraced by the medical community to treat cancer despite its proven track record both clinically and anecdotally.

“The reason why the ketogenic diet is not being prescribed to treat cancer is purely economical,” said Dr. Seyfried, author of Cancer as a Metabolic Disease. “Cancer is big business. There are more people making a living off cancer than there are dying of it.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/low-carb-ketogenic-diet-beats-chemo-for-most-cancers-says-dr-thomas-seyfried

Posted in articles, Cancer, tips, Uncategorized tagged with Diabetes, Diet, Disease, Joint Pain, keto, Ketogenic, Metabolic, PCOS, Seyfried, sugar, Therapy

Thank you, Cancer

Posted on May 15, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

I learned that I am still cancer free today!

I endured that lovely PET/CT scan that I talked a little about in my last cancer post. The results are in and got the all clear. Ahhhhhhhh…

Door of the tiny room, guess what’s radiating-me

Really?! Inside the tiny room, an O Magazine from 2011 and is the Christmas edition its either this or AARP. sheesh

Really?! Inside the tiny room, an O Magazine from 2011, the Christmas edition. It’s either this or an AARP mag.

I am still learning so many things about myself and about this disease. I have grown and learned so much in the last almost two years. This is why I have decided to tell cancer:

Thank you.

I have to say, you are one Hell of a teacher.

Here are a few things you have done for me:

Giving me the nerve to quit a job I hated.

Making me truly healthier than I ever have been before or even cared about being. (Yay Keto!)

Teaching me to appreciate my daughter’s shoes on the wrong feet. And how, no matter what I try, her hair is going to look like she is in the middle of a tornado.

To hug as much as possible.

That all birthdays are kinda a big deal.

Laughter can get you through pretty much anything.

To be okay with tears, both the happy and sad.

How great it is to have super short hair.

To try to never say again, “If it were me I would…” especially if I have never experienced what the person is going through.

How breast implants have their pros and cons.

For moving me to Colorado, and allowing me to experience a “real” winter complete with negative temperatures and regular snow.

Now knowing that I have the best family, both blood and chosen, on this planet.

Deepening my faith.

Solidifying the fact that through thick or thin, sickness and in health, richer or poorer, long curls or bald, my husband loves me.

This list could go for miles…

Today, I am more confident than I have ever been. I now know what it takes to get through something like cancer. More often than not, I have to rely on the fact that I decided to live, and if that meant certain things had to be done, then I had one choice: do them.

Anyway, while this post may sound all sunshiney and rainbows, I can definitively state, Cancer, is not. There have been buckets of tears, pleas to God, decisions made that can never be changed, time stolen, and countless scars added.

I think the largest sucker punch I ever received was when I was told my diagnosis; Breast Cancer. But then to hear stage 4, there are no words. I remember looking at the little girl that was sitting on the couch, and prayed that she would remember me. Somehow telling people I had cancer, often felt almost as hard as the treatment. I literally had to tell my dad that I had the same disease that took his mother.

But, I am still here to celebrate the light on the other side of that tunnel, and that is what I am choosing to do today.

Everything happens and is given to us for a reason. (Sorry for the cliche.) I honestly believe that what I have gone through was something placed in my path for a purpose. Today, I have no idea what that reason is or was, but hopefully one day I will. There is no trial or person that crosses your path from whom you cannot learn. I guess cancer taught me that too…

Our selfie after my last round of chemo on Christmas Eve 2013

Thank you cancer for the lessons. Just one last thing, you are not welcome to come back.

Posted in Cancer, tips tagged with cancer, treatment

Treatment, cancer, and sugar

Posted on May 1, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

By now, most of you know that I am a cancer survivor. I have been in remission for 18 months now, but due to the advancement of my disease (Stage 4) my doctors would like me to stay on “maintenance treatment.” This means that every three weeks I am back in the treatment room, feet propped up in my chemo chair.

This is not my favorite place on the planet. But honestly, and this may sound a little crazy, I get a big dose of grateful every time alone with the drugs. I am grateful that I am still here, grateful that I get to watch my daughter grow, and grateful for the support that I have been given through the whole dang thing. It’s often referred to as a cancer journey, and that is incredibly true.

I am also annoyed. As I look around the treatment room, I see candy dishes, bags and bags of fast food, and even route 44 Sonic drinks. Let’s be real here. These things aren’t good for those healthy among us, and yet here, in a treatment room, they are the norm.

I’m sick of it.

I’m sick of what is not being said. I am sick of the knowledge not being shared. On occasion I see the loved one that honestly thinks they are doing the right thing when they bring in the egg white bagel sandwich with baked chips and a large diet coke. There are mini snickers on the nurses counter and meal replacement shakes (with the three ingredients after water being corn syrup, sugar, and vegetable oil) right next to them. It’s truly amazing the gobs and gobs of fruit juice and crackers consumed around me.

This is all SUGAR people, and we cancer patients are not being told to stay away from the stuff! Heck, from all obvious angles, we are being encouraged to consume it!

Let me go a little further.

Every six months I have to get a PET CT scan to look for any new or re-occurrence of cancer. The whole processes stresses me to the core, but let me tell you a little about the routine.

I am told to fast for 12 hours; dinner the night before should consist of no sugar or carbs, heavy on the protein.

After check-in the fun begins. I get called back for my injection, my power port is not accessed for this 🙁 and that syringe is full of radioactive glucose. Yup. Radioactive. Sugar.

Why glucose? Cancer loves the sugar stuff and will light up like a Christmas Tree when they stick me in the machine.

After the injection, I am placed in a tiny room, alone, to ponder life for about an hour. That gives the liquid time to fully saturate my body. After the timer dings, I get to hop into a tiny tube in my massive hospital gown.

The tube part doesn’t take long, and then I’m off to worry about the results for the next 24-48 hours until I hear from my doctor or nurse. The waiting is the hardest part. I’m incredibly impatient – I call as soon as that 24 hour mark hits, and pester and pester until I get those results. Then I know that I have made it another chunk of time. I know it means that I will get that much more time.

So lets think about this, and lets try not to get upset, or frustrated, or angry. In effort to see the cancer in the scan, science has found the best thing to do is FEED IT. What is Cancer’s favorite fuel?

SUGAR.

Why in the world then, are we patients not being told to stay as far away from the stuff as possible? Instead, we are only told to steer clear of sugar and carbs just before a scan.

Why are we not being told that cancer loves any and all sugar? Sugar is sugar! Be it fake, natural, naturally derived, or whatever else. Sugar is sugar, honey is sugar, fruit is mainly sugar, starches and grains are also sugar!

I have yet to have an oncologist tell me that diet matters. Yet, I know they have to be out there…

Believe it or not, I have been told that “these people” meaning cancer people, my people, don’t want to change their diets – it would just be too hard.

I have a very hard time believing that.

Everyone in this room is a fighter. Most of these folks have seen multiple doctors, shoved in countless tubes, have been treated like pin cushions and guinea pigs, and watched their reflection age like something out of a movie. At least give them the knowledge and the choice.

Cancer patients, their friends, and their families need to know, and we need to tell them. There is more they can do for themselves and their loved ones than just get chemo and pray.

Posted in Cancer, tips tagged with cancer, glucose, sugar, treatment