I AM HealingStrong
Discover how to transform the most challenging chapter of your life with Jim Mann's inspiring podcast. As a stage 4 cancer survivor, Jim interviews famous musical artists like Tasha Layton, Ellie Holcomb, Katy Nichole, and Tim Timmons, as well as health influencers who beat incurable diseases like depression and addiction. Through humor and a renewed sense of purpose, guests courageously share their stories of overcoming the toughest times and learning to trust God. Tune in to Jim's powerful podcast to find hope and inspiration.
I AM HealingStrong
103: Life After Breast Cancer with Holistic Healing and Community Support | Jenny Bradley
From Pop-Tarts and Cherry Coke to a holistic, anti-cancer lifestyle.
Jenny Bradley shares her inspiring personal journey after being diagnosed with breast cancer in her 30's. Through a blend of conventional and holistic therapies, she found strength and hope to thrive.
Jenny opens up about the emotional roller coaster of a cancer diagnosis, from the initial shock to her proactive decisions that followed. She's not just battling cancer; she's living a vibrant life through integrative approaches like IV vitamin C therapy, ozone therapy, and a plant-focused diet. Her faith and creativity have helped her continue on her path through the process of acquiring knowledge, community, and having a will to live as powerful tools in overcoming trials.
Due to her story, a new passion emerged from her journey. Jenny ventured into culinary nutrition and cancer coaching, sharing her wisdom and hope with others. This episode shines a light on HealingStrong, a nonprofit organization that supports individuals facing cancer whether holistically, integratively, or conventionally, and emphasizing the power of community and faith.
HealingStrong's mission is to educate, equip and empower our group leaders and group participants through their journey with cancer or other chronic illnesses, and know there is HOPE. We bring this hope through educational materials, webinars, guest speakers, conferences, community small group support and more.
Please consider supporting our mission by becoming a part of our Membership Program, as a monthly donor.
When you do, you will receive additional resources such as: webinars, access to ALL our past and most recent conference videos, downloadables and more, as a bonus.
To learn more, head to the HealingStrong Membership Program link below:
Up until surgery, I always said I thrived with cancer, I'm living with cancer. And now I like to say I've thrived through cancer and I'm living cancer free. Yeah, but my mindset is I am living an anti-cancer lifestyle.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I'm never going to go back to the standard American diet.
Speaker 2:Right, yes.
Speaker 1:I mean like never say never in the words of Justin Bieber never say never. But I mean that is one thing that is definitely a absolute boundary in my life.
Speaker 3:You're listening to the I am healing strong podcast, a part of the healing strong organization, the number one network of holistic cancer support groups in the world. Each week we bring you stories of hope, real stories that will encourage you as you navigate your way on your own journey to health. Now here's your host stage four cancer thriver, jim Mann.
Speaker 2:Talking to Jenny Bradley and full disclosure. We just had a conversation before we got into this about the music industry. My little tail was wagging because I just I love the music industry and I kind of miss it now that I'm not in radio anymore, but I do come to Nashville a lot.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm going to keep my eyes open for you, yeah for sure.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah yeah, the place will be buzzing when I come to town. Oh, he's back, jim's back. Yeah, well, tell us. I know you were diagnosed, but tell us, before all this, we just want to know a little bit more about you, what your background is. Were you eating healthy? Were you an exercise nut? Just give us a little background leading up to that.
Speaker 1:Well, I would like to say I wish that I was a health, not an exercise, not before. No, I used to. Well, I say, you know, and this is true, that I lived off of Pop-Tarts and Cherry Coke during grad school.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love Pop-Tarts.
Speaker 1:Yes, not anymore, not anymore. But no, I have a background in theology and ministry and education, and so I was in ministry to students for basically almost 20 years and taught at the college level as well. And then, well, you know, we like to say BC and AD, right Like before cancer and after diagnosis. So before cancer life was different in the sense that I didn't know better, I didn't know better, and we were a happy, blissful couple. I was diagnosed in my 30s, so we were married for about three not quite three full years before I was diagnosed, and so now the majority of our marriage has been under the guise of knowing what it's like to live with cancer. But anyhow, we were, you know, just living the blissful life and enjoying life, being able to serve others and live in what our gifts and talents were.
Speaker 1:And then AD after diagnosis, that kind of stuff slowed down, obviously, for me, because my main focus became what do I need to do on this healing journey?
Speaker 1:To put this you know to take, as our friend, your friend Chris Work would say, massive action.
Speaker 1:Right, what do we need to do to take massive action?
Speaker 1:And so I thank goodness I had a very generous, kind leader at the church that I worked for at the time that I was diagnosed, that he said we are here to support you. If we really believe what the Bible says, we're going to support you, and so we want you to stay on staff, but we understand if you need to take time to go do your various therapies. So it made it so that I could still be with the students and that was, you know, really a big part of my like soul health right. So being able to be with the students and still have my creative outlets and the things that gave me life, and then doing so much of the at-home healing therapies and then going to a clinic for the IV vitamin C and just the various other therapies integrative, holistic therapies that I did that were at a clinic for the first couple of years during my story, and then, in about month 20, after I was diagnosed, I had cryoablation, which I don't know if you know about cryoablation.
Speaker 2:Not much.
Speaker 1:It is where they freeze the tumor, so it's in my case it was liquid nitrogen. So they go in with a probe and they do a freeze cycle and a thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, several minutes at a time, and it's the trauma to the cancer cells during those cycles that impacts the cells, and so that was kind of a stop gap measure for me. Um, and then my story goes on. I don't want to, I'll let you. I don't want, I don't want to share too much right at first.
Speaker 2:Okay, Now was all that in Kansas.
Speaker 1:I went across the country to California for cryoablation. Okay, so I'm very much a. We do what we have to do to get things done Right. And so there's no cryoablation offered in Kansas that's where I lived at the time and really cryoablation isn't offered in the majority of the United States and it is offered for certain types of cancer, but breast cancer, which is the type that I have, it is not fully approved for breast cancer. It is approved for, like cysts, but not tumors. So also in most cases at this point, cryoablation is self-pay. Nice, so again, it was very much a and and you can get a super bill and try to get it reimbursed by insurance. And some people are, um, have that blessing, that was not my case, but um, so, yeah, yeah, cryoablation. I always tell any women that I'm connecting with about breast cancer to look into it. It may or may not be a fit for your case, but in my case it was one of the major steps I took to be a stopgap.
Speaker 2:Okay, let me back up a little here, just because I'm nosy. Yep, and I could do that because I'm the host, right? That's right, that's right how did you and your husband mike meet?
Speaker 1:well, you will also appreciate this. We met backstage at christian conferences.
Speaker 1:so he is an audio engineer and he would be on the production team that would get contracted to work alongside the team that I would get asked to come work and be like an artist liaison backstage in green room type of stuff. So I did that a few times a year. I would get asked to come out to some of the bigger events where they needed more help and so that, since I worked at a church full-time and in ministry full-time in those years, that was like my way of serving.
Speaker 1:It was getting outside of what my day-to-day job was, and I went and served at Christian conferences at the time, so that's how we met.
Speaker 2:Wow, again, I'm going to be even noosier. Which conference was this?
Speaker 1:Oh, there was lots of them there. Which conference was this? Oh, there was lots of them. There was DCLA, which is Youth for Christ. Back in the day and there was Dare to Share.
Speaker 1:And that's also a youth conference, and I mean all kinds of different ones, the National Hispanic Christian League. Oh yeah, on and on. We could go. I could list several. All right, that they did, yeah, yeah, but the ones that we really, oh well, youth specialties, the national youth workers convention. That's the one where he ended up coming over to me before the end of loadout and said can I, can I get your number? That type I mean there's a bigger story, but that's the very short story is Is that how he sounded? Well, he is. I do really like his voice. It's much deeper than what I can do. But, yeah, now he very much asked for my number during loadout of a National Youth Workers Conference. Oh, excellent, yeah, if you need to cut out this, that's fine.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, I, excellent. Yeah, if you need to cut out this, that's fine. No, no, I'm going to lead with this Way to go. Mike, that's funny, it's being an audio guy. His name is Mike.
Speaker 1:That's true.
Speaker 2:I'm sure no one's ever said anything like that. Yeah, Okay, so like you get married the next week, right?
Speaker 1:We got married about two years later.
Speaker 2:Okay, all right, the next week right we got married about two years later.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. Yeah, he was uh very called me the next day and we've been in contact ever since and right away, right away, he was very specific in his like pursuit of me. There was no question, right that he said I'm, I would like to come visit you and if, when I come visit you, I'm either going to leave as your boyfriend or I'm going to leave and we'll be friends that just like happen to see each other at conferences yeah, and he left as my boyfriend, you know, and then you know now we've been married for 10 years wow, yeah, he's always on the road right so.
Speaker 2:So that's probably why he was looking for a wife to settle down with. Yes, that was a good story. Okay, we're moving on now. So, yeah, and you were saying just a couple years into, it is when you got your diagnosis right.
Speaker 1:Yes. So I was actually misdiagnosed for two years and the doctor said you're too young for cancer Quote I'm not worried at all that this is cancer. And she thought it was just a fatty lipoma. And then that second year she said I'm going to go ahead and send you to a specialist just because they cut these out all the time, and you'll have a better aesthetic outcome. She said I could cut this out for you, but I'm going to go ahead and send you to a specialist just because I do it every day.
Speaker 1:So then when I went to the specialist several months later because I wasn't seen as an emergent case, that doctor took one look at like before she even palpated me. She looked at me because my skin's always been involved with my tumor and she took one look and said I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I think this is cancer. And she took one look and said I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I think this is cancer. And she brought in an ultrasound and ultrasound in me and she said this does not look like a fatty lipoma, this very much looks like the signatures of a cancerous tumor. And then she said I would like to do a biopsy and it was in December and I said back to her you know, we're really close to the end of the deductible year and we have not met our deductible. Could we just start and could we do that in January? And we all kind of talked about it in the room. My husband just happened to be with me because we thought that we were scheduling just a quick excision procedure. So he happened to be with me. We did not go in there at all thinking cancer was on the table, right, um, and in that case I honestly for me I think that was a blessing because I there was nothing about me that was riled up, right, um, we were just like doing the business. So, yeah, and we talked about it in the moment and she very much said now you've had this bump for a while, right, and you know, we, we talked through the timeline and she said it's not gonna like, there's nothing that's going to change about it in a few weeks. So, yes, if you want to come back in January, I'll do your biopsy then. And then, as we continue to talk, my husband, mike, and I just kind of went well, we're actually here now, let's just go ahead and take care of it. Like, let's just go ahead and do it and then we'll know what we need to do to move forward.
Speaker 1:So we literally walked across the hall and she did the biopsy and then that was on a Tuesday. And then on that Thursday I got a call from her office that it was definitely a carcinoma but they needed to send it out for further pathology. And that was over Christmas weekend and so we told my family during our Christmas celebration, if you will I mean like we all open presents first but you know I wanted to tell people face to face. I did, but you know I wanted to tell people face to face. And then I did not have any of the pathology reports back until like more than it was basically more than a week lot of research right away, without anyone's opinions involved. At that point and in my mind and this is again where I go, thank you, lord, that you deposited this idea back, however many years ago.
Speaker 1:At that point I was like I think that there is something about IV, vitamin C and cancer, I think that there is something about IV vitamin C and cancer and so I Googled it and there was a place called Reardon Clinic that was 10 minutes away from me and Reardon Clinic and, as they say, like the leaders in IV vitamin C research for cancer, and so, anyway, I was able to actually start getting into them before I ever had my first conventional oncology appointment, just because of how the timeline happened, from my pathology results and all that right so, um, it was a, and I learned about chris work right away.
Speaker 1:I learned about um. I ordered the night of my biopsy. I ordered anti-cancer book David Servin Schreiber's book. I ordered radical remission that night and as soon as those came I started reading them, not even fully knowing what my pathology was, but knowing that there was something more out there for me and that, you know, I kind of have always taken the path of opening up my hands and going all right, Lord, like, what do you need me to be aware of for such a time as this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Wow. So how did it hit you when you heard the diagnosis first that you had cancer? You're like yeah, whatever.
Speaker 1:I don't know that I was whatever, but I will say I wasn't. I have never, even after being diagnosed, I don't live in the fear of cancer and I think a lot of that is and again, I could talk to you about this Like we can share a similar language on this podcast. I think so much of it is having a greater like eternal perspective, and that doesn't mean that life isn't hard and it doesn't mean that there's not like. I mean like. Obviously you know cancer is a real struggle, isn't hard and it doesn't mean that there's not like.
Speaker 4:I mean like obviously you know, cancer is a real struggle.
Speaker 1:But I think, just from the moment that she, that that specialist, uttered I'm sorry, I think this could be cancer. I kind of go into two. My brain goes into two paths and one of those paths is the business mode of like, okay, what do we need to do to take care of the next step? Like, what is the very next thing we need to do? Okay, got it, okay, go, you know. And then the other path in my brain is okay and we have an eternal perspective that I have a Holy Spirit within me that is no child, and that I am guided by, you know, this higher power that can help me navigate things.
Speaker 1:And whether that means that I make it beyond that first month of the diagnosis or not, I just had that type of perspective. And again, just to restate, like that doesn't mean that things aren't hard and that doesn't mean that there weren't some teary moments and hard conversations. And I also bought books on death and dying and I also, like, watched and listened to things about hospice. And, by the way, my mom died, um, when I was in my 20s and I walked through that process with her. Not, she didn't die from cancer. So I think there was a part of me as a young adult that was already like oh, this is what it's like to have somebody in my immediate family walk through the dying process Right. And so even in that sense it wasn't a completely foreign idea to me. If that makes sense, I'm saying yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it does. Yeah, foreign idea to me. If that makes sense, I'm saying yeah, yeah, it does. Yeah, I mean I was. I was similar to that after the first shock because you know, of course I ate garbage too, but I also ate good stuff. I just ate a lot, so I ate good, and then I added a lot of supplemented with sugar, so it was, which is very that's what I would say.
Speaker 1:I I overdosed on sugar.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and so yeah, but after I got the first shock of that and the fact that it was stage four and they thought I'd live a month or two, that was a little bit too short. But after that initial week of craziness then yeah, I was there too, because I mean, it makes you face the fact that death is going to come eventually. Anyway.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And of course, we're sure where we're going. After that I was like, yeah, I'm fine with it. It kind of made me it's like the rest of my I'm in my 60s now. I know it's hard to believe. You think I'm 30. But I'm in my 30s for the second time.
Speaker 1:There and I'm in my 30s for the second time.
Speaker 2:There you go, there you go. And I always thought, man, how do you feel when you get older? I mean, knowing that the end is coming soon, do you start freaking out? And then, of course, I watched my parents. They went into their 90s and it never bothered them at all. They're like, hurry up, let's go. But I'm like, hey, I'm ready. I mean, I still have four kids and a wife and I don't necessarily want to leave them, but hey, they're going to catch up with me up there.
Speaker 1:Sorry, yeah, I think that's the other aspect of it overall is like I had a will to live, I had a greater hope. I didn't have a reason to dig in and feel unhopeful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, tell us exactly, okay, closely, like your protocol. How did, how did you change your life from that point on to the clinic?
Speaker 1:Of course, I was already gluten-free and vegetarian. I was not vegan, but I was vegetarian at the time and I was doing that for my gut health and for my thyroid health and but that didn't mean that didn't mean that I was really fully aware and understanding of ingredients. Right, so there is gluten-free bread, but that doesn't mean it's any better for you. Yeah, it just doesn't have the gluten, um, you know, as an example anyway. So after I was diagnosed, I learned a lot about nutrition. I have read over. When I say this stuff, I don't mean it to sound pompous, I don't mean it that way. I'm just sharing about, like, the path that I took and the personality that I am is that I'm a reader and I want to learn, like I'm a lifelong learner and there's a big, big, big part of me is like, if I can understand it, then that helps me with my why, that helps me with my what, like on those days that I'm so tired of making another smoothie or you know, like, whatever the thing is, I understand the greater why of why it makes a difference that I am more motivated to do it. So I've read over like 50 to 60 books on cancer and health and nutrition and whatnot and in those things, and then watching documentaries and the HEAL documentary was a big early on help in radical remission was kind of interspersed with that. You know, knowing it's like what you do with this podcast, right, it's like knowing other people's stories and the other people could thrive through this. That's what spurred me on through all these years really. So I learned about what kinds of different things could help support my body. I learned about what kinds of different things could help support my body and I got you know in that into Reardon Clinic within basically two weeks of my diagnosis and was able to start on a protocol with them right away. So I did IVC, vitamin C three times a week for a long time and I guess I should back up a little bit Conventional oncology. In my particular case, with my particular pathology, chemo was not recommended, radiation was not recommended and literally the surgeon told me I will not operate on you for a minimum of six months. So I had this big on-ramp to do all kinds of stuff they could do the hormone receptor blockers, and at the time again, it was one of those things where I, you know, raised my palms up, as I like to say, and said Okay, lord, if this is something that is needed in my case at this time, let me see what I need to see about it. Good or bad, right.
Speaker 1:And I along the way have said to the conventional oncology like there we my husband and I think of conventional oncology and integrative naturopathic oncology as a checks and balances. So we don't want one without the other necessarily. And with conventional oncology I have just said you know, could you please note in my patient record that you can prescribe that to me, but you're not going to submit it yet, like you're not going to electronically submit it to a pharmacy yet. I would like to go away and look on it a little bit more and have 24 hours to 48 hours to think about it. And it's not a no forever, it's a not yet. And so that's kind of in all of my conventional oncology appointments. We always kind of circle back around to those similar conversations. So there hasn't been a lot in conventional oncology that they can offer me in my case until surgery.
Speaker 1:So I did a whole lot of things. I in my lifetime of cancer world I have done IV vitamin C, iv ozone, iv mistletoe mistletoe shots, hellebora shots. I have done coffee enemas, of course, all the nutrition like anti-cancer nutrition, and that to me that means gluten free, plant focused, very plant centered. And so this is my seventh or eighth year I'm not great at math, but somewhere in my seventh or eighth year of after diagnosis and so my diet ebbs and flows with what my like what's going on that quarter is. I have quarterly lab work done and so I just kind of go okay, what well, I should say not just me with my naturopathic oncologist, we kind of make a plan of like what is going on this quarter and what are things you're leading into that we need to support your body around. So I had cryoablation around month 20, as I mentioned before, and then in spring of 2024. So literally this just happened.
Speaker 1:Basically, I have had major surgery, so I had a single mastectomy and then deep flap reconstruction and breast cancer reconstruction is typically not a one and done type of thing, and so I'm in my series. I like to say now I'm kind of in my messy middle of what all these surgeries are and how things are so like right now for my nutrition. My protocol is centered more around supporting my body recovering from surgery and preparing for my next surgery. So I need a lot more protein than I may have a year ago type of deal. So we just, like it ebbs and flows with what is important to my particular body in my particular case at the time, and how do we need to customize it for that end? Yeah, and I'm trying to think like there's just so many other things. I mean infrared saunas, you know doing things to help my lymphatic system, yeah, all kinds of all kinds of things that I know I'm missing. Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:So I have a little mini trampoline and I have a vibration plate also and you know, like dry brushing, any of those things, it just depends, right, Like I take the dry brush with me on trips and I'm not going to take a mini trampoline on a trip, but you know, it's just a matter of like getting on your toes, like bouncing up and down on your toes, even in a hotel room, or even, you know, at a gas station stop or whatever. So I think that's one thing is like there's always ways that we can support our body. Even if we're not at a clinic and even if we're not at our very own home, there's always something we can do to help ourselves.
Speaker 2:Okay. So how do you right now you feel like you are obviously. I mean you say it's a process, obviously, but I mean you feel like you're in the clear, so to speak, or I like how you asked that question.
Speaker 1:So one of the regular lab work that we do is the circulating tumor cell type of blood work and that has been showing that I don't have any circulating tumor cells. Yes, and they got clear margins in surgery and the surgeons like to say your kids are free. And the surgeons like to say your kids are free.
Speaker 1:Nobody wants to do a scan right now, while I'm in the middle, like I literally have another surgery coming up before the end of this year. So everybody is kind of suggesting let's not do another scan until after that surgery because I'm in the middle of, like, heightened inflammation right now from surgery, world right. I'm in the middle of like heightened inflammation right now from surgery, world Right. So, uh, in my particular case they're not so worried that I need a cancer type of scan right now in the middle of my surgeries, but I will have one at the basically like towards the beginning of next year. But again, like, I've never lived in fear and I have other things, other like the other blood work, the other, my tumor to me was always palpable and visual and that doesn't mean that cancer can't be other places. I'm very aware of that but I have always in my case had a variety of means and checking it other than just scans right so I'm up until surgery.
Speaker 1:I always said I thrived with cancer, I'm living with cancer, and now I like to say I've thrived through cancer and I'm living cancer free. Yeah, but my mindset is I am living an anti-cancer lifestyle.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I'm never going to go back to the standard American diet.
Speaker 2:Right, yes.
Speaker 1:I mean like never say never in the words of Justin Bieber never say never. But I mean that is one thing that is definitely a absolute boundary in my life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, has any of this changed Mike and the way he eats or does anything, or?
Speaker 1:Yes, great question. So he grew up in Colorado and was already juicing and stuff before I met him.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So he was a big fan and a big helper in me, you know, juicing a lot and all that type of stuff and prepping vegetables and whatnot and prepping vegetables and whatnot. So kind of the same deal, like he's ebb and flow, like he'll help me make meals and he'll eat whatever I eat at home type of deal. Now when we go out to eat somewhere we're going to choose our own entrees and his is going to look different than mine. But we are both obviously much more aware of how nutrition impacts our bodies and how nutrition impacts how we feel. But we are two separate individuals that lead individual lives and for him, as somebody that goes on the road, he has a little bit less. There's oftentimes where he has less control of what is being served to him.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, so he just tries to make wise choices in those moments. There's often times where he has less control of what is being served to him.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, so he just tries to make wise choices in those moments. Yeah, I've seen those meals backstage. That's right, they're very tasty but sometimes not that healthy. But it depends on the artist.
Speaker 1:Sometimes they insist on doing something super healthy and we appreciate those artists.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do. Now did you hear about Healing Strong through Chris Wark you?
Speaker 1:know. I mean I would probably say there was some correlation in the beginning years of when I found out that. That's where I originally heard about it. But also I've been around Annie Appleseed, her complementary and alternative therapies for cancer conference, and there's been lovely, lovely people. It's such a lovely community there and there's been lovely, lovely people from healing strong that I've met through um the annie appleseed conference and um I've been aware of you, know your podcast and been aware of the different offerings that Healing Strong has had over the years. So probably originally the Chris Work days.
Speaker 2:What you're saying is this podcast has changed your life.
Speaker 1:Changed my life. Changing my life right now.
Speaker 2:Yes, thanks for playing along.
Speaker 1:Well, I am serious, though. I think there is. You know, as people who are in the healing strong world will know, there is a difference in a spiritually minded support group, yeah than other types of support groups, and this definitely fills a special need yeah, that's true, very true, very well put.
Speaker 2:uh, where do you see things going from here? Just kind of continue with, obviously, your routine of eating properly, vegetarian and checking the blood, doing all that stuff, I mean yeah.
Speaker 1:So even in the midst of like the quarterly blood work as a part of that, I come back to Kansas. I no longer live in Kansas, I live in Nashville, but I come back to Kansas to Reardon Clinic because that has been my healing home and my family is here, etc. And so I come here and I do again customized specific to where I am in my case at the time, some specific rounds of therapies here. So, like this week that I'm here at the time, some specific rounds of therapies here. So, like this week that I'm here, I'm doing several days in a row of I'll have IVC one day I'll have basically it's like a, it's MAH, it's a blood ozone, so they'll run ozone through my blood and put my blood back in me and more IVC, et cetera. So I'm doing a cycle of that here. This summer when I came, it was to do a cycle round of mistletoe therapy because I had come out of my surgery and so we were trying to support my immune system coming out of surgery. So we did a mistletoe not shots but IVs round then. And so I am pretty particular about coming back here to my, if you will, my healing home base and keeping up with some therapies.
Speaker 1:But also, as probably many of your listeners will understand, I am years and years into this journey. I have not had metastasis yet, praise the Lord. And I don't want to say yet I don't mean like I'm expecting to have it, I don't mean it that way I haven't had metastasis, but I have lived with cancer for years and years and years, and so I've lived this. I've had over 400 IVs and all of these whatever things that I do right, um, and all of these whatever things that I do right. And so there comes a point where we understand that resources are limited and we understand that time and energy are limited and we understand that, like, my whole entire life doesn't need to be cancer or cancer focused, or cancer life, um, so, um. So I'm, I'm at a season, if you will, that I am.
Speaker 1:My priorities are, yes, nutrition, anti-cancer nutrition and making sure I am checking in with what my healing home base is and the therapies that can support my body as much as possible. But that you know it used to be weekly in my intensive days and it's not weekly anymore, it's sometimes it's monthly. Right now, sometimes it's quarterly. And then, yeah, checking in with what are those core, basic things that we can do in our homes that help us support our bodies. And minds, you know, I mean, I think our mind and spirit are just as much a part of this. And minds, you know, I mean, I think our mind and spirit are just as much a part of this.
Speaker 1:And so, like having an anti-cancer mindset and a hope filled, my mindset has always been God designed our bodies to heal yeah and so that's the mindset that I live in, even in my, like, hard surgery recovery days, because, man, these surgeries are so hard, you know, and I kind of I always kind of go, um well, okay. So I don't know that listeners are going to be able to see this, but I have marks on my um, on the top of my hand, where they drew my blood for my surgeries, and I go. That's just a reminder to me that my hand is healing over and that body was designed to heal, like even in any little things or like a bug bite. Oh, my bug bites are healing because my body is designed to heal, and if my body can do those little things, it can do the big things too. I just need to help give it those healthy inputs, you know.
Speaker 2:That's a good point, because some people don't believe that our bodies can heal from cancer. But when you cut yourself, it doesn't stay cut for the rest of your life. I mean it heals without you really doing anything other than keeping it clean. So, yeah, it's pretty simple when you think about it. God knew what he was doing when he made it.
Speaker 1:God knew what he was doing. Imagine that, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, who knew that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and can we also just say that God is the only one that knows our end date?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:There's no doctor that knows our end date. There's no surgeon that knows our end date. There's no family member that knows our end date. There's no surgeon that knows our end date. There's no family member that knows our end date. You know, God is the only only one, and so I'm going to live every day to my fullest at this point.
Speaker 2:Yes, you know, that's true. You know we could just be totally healed of cancer and go out and have a tree fall on us. It's totally up to Him, yep, or where we walk also. Well, Jenny, thank you so much for doing this, and I felt like I've met a new Nashville friend.
Speaker 3:Next, time I'm in.
Speaker 2:Nashville and you and Mike can get together and we'll get some coffee somewhere.
Speaker 1:Thank you. I would love that I know the spots that have unsweetened like nut milks. So I'll let you know those?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I need that. I need that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:And the ones that have, you know, the healthy organic matcha.
Speaker 2:Ah, okay.
Speaker 1:I do want to mention that, as a part of what cancer instigated in me, as a part of my learning was, I ended up doing a culinary nutrition program and I ended up also doing a cancer coaching program because I have felt like, if I am going to go through this, I want to use it for other people's benefits.
Speaker 1:And so that's why I started my shrink the mutant website and that's why I started sharing. My instagram is shrink the mutant and that's why I started sharing on there years ago. Um is so that other people could see what these various holistic therapies are and that cancer is a word, not a sentence, and that you can thrive through cancer. So that's the mutant shrink the mutant Yep. So it's um. If I'm going to have cancer, I'm going to use it for good.
Speaker 2:Excellent. Is that shrink the mutantcom or?
Speaker 1:it is shrink the mutantcom and shrink the mutant on Instagram. Yeah, and I named it shrink the mutant because cancer is our own mutated cells and I needed to work on shrinking the tumor.
Speaker 2:Plus it's funny.
Speaker 1:And it's funny All right?
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much. I won't take up any more of your time because I know you're a busy woman.
Speaker 1:I'm about to, I'm going to. After we get off this call, I'm actually going to the clinic to get my next therapy. No joke. Well, there you go.
Speaker 2:Yep, all right. Well, you have, and I'll see you next time I'm in Nashville.
Speaker 3:I love it. You've been listening to the I Am Healing Strong podcast, a part of the Healing Strong organization. We hope you found encouragement in this episode, as well as the confidence to take control of your healing journey, knowing that God will guide you on this path. Healing Strong is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect, support and educate individuals facing cancer and other diseases through strategies that help to rebuild the body, renew the soul and refresh the spirit. It costs nothing to be a part of a local or online group. You can do that by going to our website at healingstrongorg and finding a group near you or an online group, or start your own, your choice.
Speaker 3:While you're there, take a look around at all the free resources. Though the resources and groups are free, we encourage you to join our membership program at $25 or $75 a month. This helps us to be able to reach more people with hope and encouragement, and that also comes with some extra perks as well. So check it out. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give us a five-star rating, leave an encouraging comment and help us spread the word. We'll see you next week with another story on the I Am Healing Strong podcast.
