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5 Essential Questions to Ask Before Starting Cancer Treatment

I hear it all the time when cancer survivors ask me about beating cancer without chemotherapy or radiation.

“I didn’t know that there were any other options, so I just followed my doctor’s recommendation.”

Sometimes this comes from caretakers who have already lost their loved ones to cancer or perhaps to the cancer treatment itself.

The 5 questions I discuss today should be pondered by EVERY individual given a cancer diagnosis. It does not matter how old or young, male or female, aggressive cancer or slow-progressing. An informed decision must be made, and these questions will help you make it.

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The “He-Man” Smoothie Will Give You the Power!

A few weeks ago my husband bought “Best of He-Man: Volumes 1 and 2” from Target. We had gone in to buy sponges and paper towels. That’s how Target works though, right? I even threw yoga socks into the cart and tried to bribe him. “I will put my yoga socks back if you put the He-Man DVD’s back.” My attempt at reverse-psychology was not successful.

He-Man is now my daughter’s favorite thing to do with her dad. They are now the dynamic duo that has set a new 21st century record for He-Man watching.

After I finally got over my initial parenting worries of He-Man: 1. Not being educational, 2. Having a false representation of what men and women are supposed to look and dress like (cone bras anyone?) and 3. Being a waste of time for my husband, I Let He-Man inspire me. He’s “the most powerful man in the universe”, right? If He-Man knew the cancer-fighting, nutritional density, powerhouse of antioxidants that IS the green smoothie, Skelator would never have stood a chance!

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Green Drink Commitments- March

 

“March Madness” has begun at my school. If anyone has had children in public schools under “No Child Left Behind,” then you know what I mean: STANDARDIZED TESTING! And the crunch to prepare 25 children to show what they learned throughout 8 months of a school year- on ONE test.

“No Child Left Behind”  could have also been named “No Teacher Left Behind,” because that’s how I feel today. BE-HIND…and overwhelmed.

Yesterday afternoon I realized it was time to change the month on my board today- I have a laminated “MARCH” with a smiley and rainbow coming off of it into a pot of gold- which also has a smiley face on it. I wish March made me feel smiley! I really will write about my commitments today…eventually.

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Green Drink Commitments- February

So, just in case anyone is noticing- it’s February! Where did January go??!! I feel like I just finished Green Drink Commitments 2012 series and here it is the second month of this opportunistic year!

Just in case you were wanting in on the action- it’s never too late to make a “Commitment”. In my 4th grade classroom, we make and break commitments all of the time. That’s the point. You keep it at the forefront of your day, but if you mess up (or “whoops” as I call it,) there’s tomorrow to start fresh with clarity. The KEY is to remind yourself of your commitment(s) daily so that you are convicted of stagnance or complacency.

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Green Drink Commitments 2012- A Vibrant Mind!

 

When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, one of the first questions I had was “WHY did I get this?”

As my husband and I learned more about alternative approaches to healing from cancer, we began to hypothesize its cause. There was the obvious- yes, it ran in my family, but genes weren’t an absolute in a cancer diagnosis. It was very clear after studying the anti-cancer diet, that the food I had put in my body my whole life was a major factor in my developing cancer. But what I had been feeding my MIND was equally suspicious.

This last post in our Green Drink Commitments series will get you thinking about HOW YOU THINK and WHAT YOU BELIEVE. Are your thought patterns helpful or hurtful in achieving your goals?

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Green Drink Commitments 2012- Give, Save, Live!

It was one of the most profound yet simple phrases I had ever heard:

“Give First, Save Next, Live on the Rest.”

My pastor, Andy Stanley of Buckhead Church in Atlanta said this one Sunday a few years ago and it changed me forever. It wasn’t new information. Before we were married my husband and I attended pre-marital counseling and felt strongly about getting on the same page financially. We read Dave Ramsey’s “The Total Money Makeover” and applied his philosophy of debt-free living the best we could before cancer came into our lives.

But it was the simplicity of Andy’s phrase. You could own it. It could be your motto, a phrase that defines the way you manage your finances. It didn’t just strike my mind, but my heart too.

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Green Drink Commitments 2012- Invest in People!

 

I don’t know about any of you, but I just don’t seem to have enough time for the PEOPLE I Love.

That means friends and potential friendships get put on the back burner- upstaged by work, children, and maintaining a holistic, cancer-fighting lifestyle. I have struggled with forming close friendships since graduating from the convenience of college fellowship when I lived with my closest friends.

This year is different though.