Stage IV Ovarian Cancer was my lemon. My will to live, to see my son grow up, was my lemonade.

I am a 32-year-old mother of a toddler and a stage IV ovarian cancer survivor. In June of this year, when my son was a little over a year old, I had a long list of symptoms that eventually landed me in the ER. I was given the news that no one wants to hear, it was bad, very bad. The doctor told me he could either write me a prescription for pain pills and send me to hospice to die, or he could attempt to save my life with surgery to remove the tumors blocking my kidneys from functioning. I chose surgery. They removed my ovaries, uterus, appendix, omentum, and part of my colon. They also removed 7 pounds of tumors scattered all throughout my abdominal cavity and on the outside of my diaphragm and liver. I almost died on the operating table. They had to call in the emergency team to get me put back together, and I had to have a blood transfusion. I weighed 86 pounds after surgery.

They said we would wait a few weeks for me to heal a bit before starting 4 1/2 months of aggressive chemotherapy. I felt like I was in a dream. I went home after surgery, and for a while I felt completely defeated. It just felt so wrong. Chemotherapy? Cancer? Me? One day as I was watching my son play, I began to cry. I cried because I was told that I would not live to see his 5th birthday, and I wouldn’t get to watch him play much longer.

This broke my heart.

Something happened to me that day. A small voice in my head started cheering me on, started saying “You can do this, I know you can.” That day I decided not to do chemotherapy. I chose to heal naturally.

I started researching day and night. I completely changed my diet, I adopted a grain-, dairy- and sugar-free diet, and a long list of supplements and natural therapies. Most of all I changed my THINKING. I stopped listening to fear, and developed a positive attitude. Every time I started feeling fearful, or feeling sorry for myself, I would think of my son, and how much I still have left to do here. I see myself well and healthy, and making lemonade every day.

IT IS WORKING!!

My last scan was clear, and the bloodwork detects my levels dropping each and every month! My doctors don’t know what to think! I am now very close to being in full remission.

Once I am in complete remission, I plan to help others do what I have done. I want to help people change their diets and their thinking so that they will not have to go through what I did.

It has not been easy going the alternative route. I have no doctor telling me exactly what to do and insurance covers none of the cost of my treatment, but I am living proof that you can do whatever you put your mind to. You just need to think positively, never give up, and believe in yourself! Keep your focus on the lemonade and not the lemons!