» CONTACT US

Menu

Blog

Being Real and Raw (4 of 4)

Yes, going through treatments is about finding the humour in things, it’s about distracting yourself with fun and laughter, it’s the pink ribbons, the fundraising runs and the “bucket list” adventures! There is a level of perspective we maintain while in treatments, recovering from surgery, and sharing our experience in the moment with others, and it’s the notion of “being POSITIVE”. It’s not uncommon to hear or speak of how powerful the mind is, or how our thoughts manifest into things. It’s become almost cliche to describe oneself as being a “positive” person. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being positive, in fact I agree the mind and our thoughts can truly steer the direction of what we create in our state of being. But I also believe there’s a place in our lives, in our cancer “journey” to be raw and real with our emotions, how we’re feeling and what we’d like to express.

Are we showing up for ourselves? Are we able to own our emotions at every step of the way? If you woke up one morning in pain and feeling defeated, did you cry and express it, or did you tell yourself to “buck up” and seize the day because you were alive? Are you sitting in the sheer ugliness of your fear, looking it straight in the face and owning that complete anxiety? Or did you brush it off as just a fleeting moment and convince yourself it was time to be “positive”? Have we shed enough tears at the loss of our former selves, of what our boobs meant to us before the mastectomy, of how good sex was before menopause and mood swings? Or have we chalked it up to “oh well” and tried to never look back?

Are we talking about the guilt we feel for living through cancer, ten years later, while watching your friend wither away in her last days? This was a thought I struggled with myself, just recently, and an even harder conversation to have. But I did and I was reminded of what my purpose was for being here. You see, feeling your feelings and having your “not so positive” thoughts doesn’t make you a negative person. It makes you real. It makes you honest with yourself. It helps you to get through the thoughts into a healthy journey of healing, of self-discovery and self-love. What makes us a positive person is embracing all parts of who we are; physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

I think being supported and surrounded by women who understand, who can truly relate to your thoughts, your feelings, your moods is so extremely powerful. The positivity is in the truth, in the real conversations we have, the ones that could go on for hours over coffee (or wine), that make us more similar than different from one another. Who you are in any given moment doesn’t take away from the person you are every day. The essence of YOU is always within. Let’s feel, let’s be real and raw, let’s have a conversation.

Written by: Lucy, ANGEL Advocate

Movement vs. Exercise – An Important Distinction (4 of 4)

I’ve had a blast sharing my story with all of you so far! I feel lighter, happier, and super inspired – I hope this energy is rubbing off on you too! In previous blogs, I talked about the importance of addressing the mental/emotional piece of cancer recovery as well as the physical piece through sound nutrition. If you haven’t read those yet I encourage you to go check them out! There is another aspect to recovery that proved to be really helpful to me and so many of my clients and that is… moving your body! Yep, that hot bod of yours needs to move girl! Helping you find the right type of movement and cultivating a daily movement practice is something I’m deeply passionate about. Daily movement has so many profound health benefits that extend far beyond breast cancer, but since we’re all breasties here, I’ll focus on how moving our bodies daily can help reduce stress and inflammation during treatment and recovery.

Back in blog 2 when I talked about body image, I shared how pre-cancer I used to exercise excessively. I had my rigorous 6 day/week routine and I would mentally beat myself up if I was too tired and missed a day. Keep in mind though, that at that point in my life I was living in a lot of emotional pain and had a very distorted relationship with my body. Getting breast cancer at 26 was a huge wakeup call in all areas of my life and the message rang loud and clear – SLOW DOWN!

I still exercised during my treatment, but instead of a rigorous 6 day/week regimen, I would go for slow walks, lift very light weights, or go for a gentle ride on a stationary bike. And on days that I was too tired, I didn’t beat myself up and make myself wrong for this. Instead, I rested and maybe ran an errand and considered that my daily movement for the day.

Slowing down this much felt AMAZING. By slowing down, I had MORE energy and I became very intrigued by yoga. I decided to try a class and I was hooked!  Four years later… still hooked! I realized how much I needed to slow down and when I tuned in and honoured that need, so much shifted for me. Being on my yoga mat, I reconnected to myself and to my body. I realized that for as long as I could remember, I was viewing myself (Lauren the person) and my body as two separate entities. Underneath any cancer diagnosis – but especially breast cancer at a young age – there is a disconnect between our mind, our body, and our highest self. The mind has subconsciously rejected a part of us and this creates a massive disconnect in the mind-body connection. Yoga helped me reconnect my mind and body as one beautiful being. In doing, so it helped me heal in a profound way – it enabled me to show up as my best self in the world. Now, I live my life in gratitude and service and I want nothing more than other survivors to experience this reconnection to themselves. It’s like returning home.

So, clearly I’m on team yoga! LOL. And I really do encourage everyone to try a class if you haven’t before. Honestly though, any type of movement that brings you joy is the best type of movement for you. The most important thing is to honour where you’re at and don’t over extend yourself.

I strongly encourage daily movement as part of my practice with my clients because moving our bodies has profound health benefits that can help you recover during treatment and provide more vitality and longevity in life after breast cancer. There are several reasons for this but the main one is that when we move, we release hormones that send signals throughout our bodies that bring down inflammation. Cancer is an inflammatory disease, so anything we can do that’s anti-inflammatory is encouraged. Second, its been proven time and time again that movement is a way to bring down stress levels. When we move, we change both our physical and mental states. This releases endorphins and other hormones that bring down inflammation and stress markers in our bodies. Another huge benefit to movement for cancer prevention is that moving helps to balance blood sugar. You may not know this, but most cancers are fuelled by sugar – so much so that breast cancer cells can have 10 times more insulin receptors on them than normal, healthy breast cells. As such, balancing blood sugar and preventing large spikes and crashes is a major part of a breast cancer recovery plan. When we move, hormones that help keep blood sugar stable are released and this helps to prevent those harmful spikes and crashes. Blood sugar is also largely controlled by what/how/when we eat – nutrition plays a huge role here too!

Please note that I refer to this as developing a daily movement practice, not an exercise practice. This is an important distinction. There are some days where I am so exhausted, there’s no way I’m going to make it through the day and go to a yoga class. On days like that, I’ll run a couple errands and park my car as far from the entrance as I can and those extra steps really do add up. I want to illustrate that on days where the fatigue is intense and overwhelming, running errands is pushing yourself to your max for that day. It doesn’t mean you didn’t do a hard workout – you did the hardest thing you could at that particular time. Of course at the gym or yoga you may have moved a little more, but doing that type of movement would have overextended you, and trust me, you don’t want to do that because it will just make the fatigue worse. By saying no to the gym/yoga or whatever it is, you honoured where you were at. And friends, let me tell you – honouring where you’re at is a very powerful act of self love. The days that are full of fatigue, stress, and overwhelm… they will always be there because, well, life happens. I’ll be honest – last week I was SO tired. I had clients back to back all morning, meetings in the afternoon, and I felt overwhelmed and didn’t want to go to yoga. So instead I went to Costco, parked at the back and one hour and 4,000 steps later, I finished an errand I had been putting off (I dread going to Costco. There’s too many people and I spend too much money! LOL). I moved my body to my body’s max for that day, anymore than going to Costco would have been overdoing it. When you shift your thinking from “exercise” to “movement”, it makes the idea of developing a daily practice much more manageable and attainable.

I hope that learning some of the health benefits to moving your body daily inspires you to move a little bit more! For me, the movement activities that bring me joy are yoga and walking but I recently started taking dance classes – I’m horrible at this but it’s so much fun! I encourage you to try a new activity or go for a short walk. Just remember that there’s no wrong way to move and every step counts.

Until next time!

Written by: Lauren, Tigerlily ANGEL Advocate

Resonating with “Survivorship” (3 of 4)

I received the call from my doctor announcing my diagnosis on October 13, 2009. October happens to be Breast Cancer Awareness month. A coincidence? Perhaps not, but we’ll save that for another conversation. Needless to say the trips to doctor appointments, tests, and some shopping to prepare for what was ahead was not short of the Pink Ribbon. It was everywhere I had never seen it before! Was it always there in such magnitude and now I was just more sensitive and aware? Either way, I wasn’t very happy about it. I found myself questioning the relevance of the ribbon, companies that “supported” the pink ribbon campaign, and wondered what the pink ribbon would do for me. And then, even more poignantly came the notion of “Survivor”. What makes me a survivor? How would I be different from the person who “survived” a heart attack, or a stroke? And since I was on the topic why was cancer given the connotation of “fighting”? Fighting sounded negative and combative, was that the energy with which I wanted to walk into this experience? So I pondered it, as I had been questioning many things, for some time.

What I’ve come to conclude is that perhaps being a Survivor has less to do with outliving cancer and more to do with being Resilient. If to survive is to persevere, then I think we’ve all done a phenomenal job of being a SURVIVOR. We’ve survived chemotherapy and radiation treatments however daunting they were, we managed the many and painful side effects, we tolerated conversations however annoying and frustrating they seemed at the time, we embraced the physical changes our body underwent, we witnessed the strengthening, and sometimes weakening, of our relationships.

We are surviving each step in this journey and that is something to acknowledge and recognize. And the “fight”? Well it’s an internal one, the fight with myself. And this is a “battle” that I work on everyday. The fight to not resist my pain but allow myself to feel it, to express it, to endure it. The fight with my state of mind, the thoughts that have the potential to take me to sad and dark places, the emotions that could overcome me if I didn’t create a space to feel them.So for many months, perhaps years, in my cancer experience, I survived.

Today, I am a THRIVER! I am creating new habits, making different choices and decisions to create more of what I want my life to look like. I’m sharing the story of my survival and I hope it reassures you that you’re surviving too! I”m celebrating who I am and where I’ve been. As a SURVIVOR (wherever you are in the experience) you should celebrate too!

Join me on my next wellness retreat adventure in Mexico! (Email me at Lucy.santoro08@gmail.com for details)

Written by: Lucy, Tigerlily ANGEL Advocate

Using Food to Live Your Most Nutritious, Delicious Life! (3 of 4)

In my blog post last week, I opened up about how breast cancer treatment and recovery helped me heal a distorted relationship with my body. Recovery is about so much more than physical health; addressing the emotional wounds underneath the cancer diagnosis is just as important when creating a holistic breast cancer prevention plan. Last week, I shared my deep emotional wounds that led in part to my own diagnosis and how being faced with cancer treatment helped me acknowledge some hard truths and make radical changes in my life. I hope that post resonated with you and if you haven’t had a chance to read it, I encourage you to go check it out! This week, I want to switch gears and focus on the physical body and address the role of nutrition in recovery. Now that I’m a holistic nutritionist, nutrition is quite possibly my favourite topic of conversation!

I learned about natural medicine when I was going through my radiation treatments and I began working with a wonderful naturopathic doctor who specialized in oncology. Immediately after working together, my energy level improved and I felt like I regained some control over my life.  I absolutely loved seeing my naturopath, but I wanted to do more for myself in between our visits. I wanted to do more to take my power back and feel in control of my health, body, and life. So, I started to read voraciously; I immersed myself into books, medical journals, articles – anything I could get my hands on. The more I learned, the more I realized there was so much more to learn! I was frustrated that this life-changing information wasn’t easily accessible to the women who needed it most and I felt called to teach what I was learning to others. So, I left my career in accounting and enrolled in holistic school and never looked back!

My main goal in nutrition school was to learn what and how to eat to nourish and support my body and make it a place where cancer couldn’t survive. What I love about nutrition is that everyone can intuitively see and understand that what you eat affects your overall health and how you feel. We’ve all overeaten at a holiday meal and felt bloated afterward, we’ve all eaten something super sugary and had an energy crash a few hours later, and we’ve all missed a meal and felt that hanger and made poor eating choices. But, by the same token, we’ve also felt what it’s like to have energy, focus, and clarity when we eat well and get enough rest. We can all connect rather easily what we eat to how we feel and to our overall health. This is what empowered me to keep learning everything I could so that I could continually make my body a place where cancer couldn’t thrive and I could live without fear of recurrence. I showed up for myself everyday in the kitchen and I took my power back!

How I eat now is totally different than how I ate when I was first starting making nutritional changes. Like most things in life, this change was a process. I initially transitioned to eating a whole food/plant based vegan approach and I felt amazing eating this way! After eating this way for a couple years, I still felt great but I felt like I had only scratched the surface. When I went to nutrition school, I learned so much more about how foods react with and get processed in our bodies. I learned that we are all biochemically unique. As such, there’s no “right way” to eat to prevent a breast cancer recurrence, because each of us has our own unique body constitution that requires different nutrients in varying amounts in order to thrive. In school, we learned a lot about ancient healing modalities and one in particular that resonated with me was called Ayurvedic medicine which is the oldest form of medicine and it originated in India. According to Ayurvedic principles, I discovered that I have a body constitution that actually needs animal protein to be at my optimal level of health. I started incorporating some animal protein back into my diet and I immediately began to thrive in a way I never had before. When we eat in a way that is aligned with our highest selves – magic happens!

The point I really want to make here is this: there is absolutely no single right way to eat to prevent a breast cancer recurrence. If there was, we’d all be doing it and that information would be widely accessible and we’d all know about it! The reason why there is a ton of research supporting the anti-cancer benefits of a whole food plant based vegan approach, and a ton of research supporting the use of a ketogenic diet, and a ton of research supporting everything in between is because each of those approaches has worked for someone because we’re all different!

I know, it’s super frustrating right! We just want to know what to do so we can live our best lives and the information can be SO confusing! This is where the advice of a nutrition expert comes into play. The whole purpose of my job is to find the best way for you to eat. I help the women I work with identify the way to eat that is going to make them feel energized, alive, safe, and supported in her body. For me, this looks like a whole food paleo approach. I have clients that thrive on whole food plant based vegan, I also have clients that thrive on the keto diet. It really all depends on the person. My job is to ask the right questions and guide you to eat in a way that is going to serve your highest self and help you show up as the best version of you – for yourself and for your loved ones.

There are some commonalities among any beneficial anti-cancer nutrition plan. The goal of any plan should be to bring down inflammation, reduce acidity, boost immunity, and balance blood sugar. When any of these things are out of balance, it creates an internal environment where cancer can grow and spread. Regardless of whatever nutrition plan you choose to follow, all sound anti cancer nutrition plans will include copious amounts of vegetables (especially dark leafy greens), will avoid dairy, gluten, and processed foods, will reduce sugar intake, avoid processed meats, and be as whole and organic as possible.

What we eat is so important because it sets the foundation for our internal environment. When our internal environments are functioning optimally, it takes the stress off of our immune system and liver so we can fight off cancer cells and detox more effectively. Whether you are actively in treatment or well into thrivership, proper nutrition is essential. It really is the foundation of good health and preventive medicine. During treatment, the right nutrition plan can help alleviate side effects and boost the effectiveness of conventional treatment. After treatment, the right nutrition plan is an integral and essential part in recovery and thrivership. In both my own life and those of my clients, I use nutrition to help get your energy back, manage stress, balance hormones, adjust to life after cancer, and live your best life!

If you are confused about what to eat and would like support in this area, I encourage you to reach out to me. Changing the way I ate had the most powerful and profound impact on my overall health and wellbeing after breast cancer. It provided me with an outlet to take care of myself, show up for myself, and take my power back. I want nothing more in this world other than for you to reclaim your health, vitality, and live your best life after cancer. I absolutely love what I do, and it would be an honour and privilege to be a part of your healing journey.

Until next time!

Written by: Lauren, Tigerlily ANGEL Advocate

Digging Deep – 2 of 4

Why me?

When I stop to think of my life and how it seemed at the time of diagnosis I can identify areas where I was unhappy or unsatisfied. I can admit that I was a people pleaser and the “importance” of self-nurturing was at the tail end of this alleged priority list of life. So I know that I was already in a place of questioning my beliefs, curious about the values I held on to and wondering how I could shift things a bit to make improvements. But what if that’s not the case? What if you’re happy with your life, content with the routine and relationships, going about your business and a diagnosis comes seemingly out of nowhere?
Then what?

Well, I think something like cancer is one of those occasions in life that forces us to look candidly in the mirror. Can we see our way from outside in? How does the reflection make us feel? If the inside of us were visible on the outside of us for all to witness, what would that image include? Cancer was an opportunity for me to stretch myself beyond what I knew, outside of what was comfortable. Was I really fulfilled in that friendship? Had I reached my full career potential? Were my spiritual beliefs based on someone else’s learnings or was the conviction strong enough on my own? Did I know enough about other people, cultures, beliefs to have a well-rounded perspective or was I afraid of what I didn’t know? Were the plans or goals I had for my life based on my own authentic view of who I was and what I wanted or did I easily buy into societal pressures without question? At any given point I seemed to have had more questions than answers and so I kept asking.

I continued to dig deep to explore what possible answers were hidden within ME. I participated in a healing journey workshop series offered at a cancer support centre near home and was fully engaged in the practice, the reading and the discussions. I continued reading books that weren’t previously on my reading list, I engaged in conversations with friends who could support my curiosity, and really I just sat with it. I sat with the “junk” of questions in my head, the emotions of all these new unknowns, the uncertainty of what was meant for my life and the wonder of how I would ever feel like ME again.

It certainly has become a lifelong experience. Along the way, I made decisions about my body that would change my “plan” to have children, I was drawn more to spirituality than to the religion I had been raised knowing, I let go of friendships I thought I wanted, that I longed for during treatment, and tried to embrace some solitude. I engaged in the practices of meditation, journaling, reiki that more and more become the “remedies” I turn to when I’m feeling off balance. I continue to be curious and seek to explore answers in conversations, in reading and really just listening to myself I think the gift of curiosity, the gift of question and conversation, the gift of learning, and shifting perspective is meant to be explored.

So why not now?

Written by: Lucy Santoro, Tigerlily ANGEL Advocate

Learning to Love Your Body as Part of Recovery – 2 of 4

Thank you all so much for following along as I share my story here with the Tigerlily family. It’s such an honor to be affiliated with this organization whose mission is to educate, empower, and support women as they journey through breast cancer treatment and to live their best life going forward. By sharing my story, I hope to inspire and empower you to do exactly that. This requires me to step out of my comfort zone and to be brave and vulnerable as I talk about difficult topics like body image and body acceptance. One of my favorite authors and speakers – Brené Brown – often speaks about courage and vulnerability and how one cannot exist without the other. I couldn’t agree more with this symbiotic ideology and when you think about it and apply it to cancer, it couldn’t be more true. We have no choice but to be brave as we are thrust into unknown territory and this fear of the unknown makes us feel vulnerable. But we rise to the occasion. We fight. We stay strong for ourselves and our loved ones. We put on a brave face and walk with courage into treatment sessions but feel vulnerable at the same time. Being vulnerable truly is a courageous act. I’m going to be vulnerable and share some very personal things in this blog post, and although I’m scared to be so vulnerable, I know sharing it will be cathartic.

I can say with 100% certainty that losing my hair left me feeling the most vulnerable I have ever been. Losing it left me feeling powerless, empty, and bare. But, in some strange way, losing my hair was the best thing that ever happened to me. When I lost my hair, I also lost my self-doubt, negative self image, and my insecurities. I gained perspective, self- confidence, and a whole lot of self- love. Breast cancer recovery is about so much more than physical health and our emotional wellbeing doesn’t get enough attention. For me personally and in my coaching practice with my clients, I’m discovering more and more that body image and body acceptance are key pieces of the puzzle that’s overlooked by the medical system. I used to struggle with my body image and talking about that struggle to such a large audience is something that still terrifies me.  It’s a risk I’m willing to take because I know that my story will resonate with so many of you reading it and I choose to own the vulnerability, act with courage, and share my story.

If you’re wondering how a woman could possibly think losing her hair was the best thing that ever happened to her… let me back up a bit and give you some context. I grew up with very thick, frizzy hair, that could not be tamed. Do you remember when the Con-Air straightener was brand new? That thing could not handle my hair at all! My grade 9 yearbook picture was seriously 90% hair, 10% face! I compared myself to my friends and classmates and I felt embarrassed and inferior. I was teased and felt I couldn’t measure up to my friends who I thought were so much prettier than I was because they didn’t have wild frizzy hair. I became very self-conscious about my hair and overall appearance. In grade 7 I applied to a TV talk show program that gave hair makeovers! I was desperate for a change and felt helpless, embarrassed, and insecure. Later on in life when higher quality hair straighteners became available and I learned how to take care of my hair, I wasn’t able to bounce back and see myself in a positive light. Too many years of a negative self-image had left its mark. I became my own worst enemy.

How did this play out? I continued to have a grossly distorted view of myself and I obsessed over my perceived flaws. Self-esteem and body-esteem became one and the same. Because I thought being unattractive was outside of my control, I took extreme measures in an attempt to control the things I could. I would exercise excessively and feel guilty for eating something “bad.” I would think I was fat if I ate one unhealthy meal and would have to over exercise to compensate for this. I couldn’t go out for dinner or brunch with friends spontaneously because I had to plan my workouts around them. I couldn’t be out in a bathing suit unless I exercised first. I was trapped in a negative cycle of body shaming. A negative body-image can lead to eating disorders and I was not spared. I began to binge at night on all the things I deemed “forbidden”.  I’m cringing as I write this because I can’t believe the prison that I was trapped in! It was a painful prison entirely of my own making that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

            Let me try to explain this pain. Imagine you have this deep-rooted belief that you are not good enough exactly as you are. Objectively you know this isn’t true, but you can’t change how you feel. So you try and control everything that you can, but in the process you wind up damaging your body by eating excessive amounts of processed and refined foods. Because you feel guilty for overindulging, you end up punishing yourself physically at the gym and mentally and emotionally with negative self-talk. This vicious cycle of physical and mental abuse continued for about eight years. Something had to give. My body had had enough.  

            It was right around this time that I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m convinced that the negative relationship I had with myself and my body was a contributing factor in my diagnosis. At the time of my diagnosis I knew nothing about natural medicine. I had never even heard of a naturopathic doctor! Given that I knew of no other options, I followed the advice of my oncologist which was to undergo chemotherapy. It’s really interesting to me because knowing what I know now about natural medicine and my particular diagnosis, I would not have put my body through chemotherapy or radiation. Hindsight is twenty-twenty. However, I’m so grateful that I didn’t know about natural options because honestly, losing my hair from chemo was truly the best thing that ever happened to me. 

When I lost my hair, I saw the real me for the first time in years. I saw a beautiful woman who was just scared to be herself. I saw a courageous woman who was just scared to be confident. I saw a brave woman who was stuck in her own shadow. Looking into the mirror and seeing myself this way was beautiful and empowering. It’s like I saw myself with a new set of eyes. So what was the next step? I took action and started to show up for myself.

            Acknowledging and owning the pain and the struggle was a critical first step in my recovery. After this true healing really began. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of self-care here. And I’m not talking about getting a massage once a month – I’m talking about cultivating a daily practice that suits and honours your needs on an individual and daily basis. That means resting when you need it. That means moving your body when you need it. That means saying no to obligations you don’t want to actually go to. That means saying yes to things outside your comfort zone. That means nourishing your body with whole, nutrient dense foods. The list goes on and on and on. The point is that when you prioritize YOU and you honour and take care of YOUR needs, you are sending a powerful message to yourself that you are here, you matter, and you are taking ownership of your life. When you prioritize your own needs, you actually create more space in your life to better serve others and you are more present with the people in your life who matter the most to you.

            Life after breast cancer has many challenges. For me personally it was about letting go and accepting myself. I see this all the time in my coaching practice as well. Finding it difficult to accept the changes that conventional treatment may have caused to your body and feeling insecure is a very common feeling and there is no shame in this. I mean our boobs tried to kill us – so its only natural to have a little resentment toward your body! However, true healing begins when we shift this thought and begin to look at our bodies with unconditional love and complete reverence. Maybe the idea of viewing your scars/implants/prosthetics with love sounds insane right now, but trust me – this is possible. You can learn to love your new (and beautiful) body with softer eyes, a less critical mind, and a more loving and open heart.

            Where am I now? After healing from the unhealthy relationship I had with food and body image, I became a holistic nutritionist. Instead of using food as a means of punishment and restriction, I use it as nourishment and preventive medicine. Instead of punishing my body with excessive exercise, I partner with my body and make choices with food and movement that honour my highest self. My body is now my ally and advocate, not my enemy. Instead of looking at my body with resentment and anger, I view my body with love and complete reverence for all that she does for me. Instead of living in pain, I am living my most nutritious, delicious life and I coach others to do the same!

Until next time!

Lauren, ANGEL Advocate

I’m not just Lucy with cancer. My cancer diagnosis is just a chapter. 1 of 4

Hmmm, how do I share the story of a diagnosis that happened ten years ago? Well, for starters I was way too young and breast cancer wasn’t in my family history at all. I was diagnosed in October 2009. Wow, TEN years ago!

Here’s what I have come to realize over the years…
? There’s no point in asking “Why Me?”, because truthfully, why anybody? I know that my diagnosis isn’t a punishment for something I may have or haven’t done. Honestly I don’t know why. Perhaps there’s a scientific reason, or maybe not even. I’m not sure I need to know at this point. But I will say that although I don’t know the grand purpose for being diagnosed with cancer, I’m confident there is one.
? Some memories, the ones of physical pain or emotional betrayal just seem etched in my brain and not easily forgotten. Yes, there’s mindful healing and forgiveness that can take place, but sometimes it just what it is. It’s not controlling my life and that’s okay.
? Being angry or emotional doesn’t mean I’m not a “positive person”. It simply means in a given moment I’m angry, or I’m sad. I read once that emotions are much like laughter – when something is funny we laugh, but we don’t laugh forever. So when I’m upset, I sit with it and find comfort in knowing it won’t last long. My emotions don’t change the essence of who I am.
? We often identify post cancer treatments, surgeries, life after a cancer diagnosis as the “new normal”. But isn’t change in general a new normal? It’s not always easy to embrace alterations in our lifestyle or the way our bodies look, or a shift in our careers or how our idea of “fun” evolves, but isn’t it possible that some change, whether forced or chosen, can be a good thing?
? It’s not all bad. Yes, the treatments were horrible and the side effects linger longer than I’d like them to, but in this entire process, over the years, I’ve found support, I’ve made new friends, I’ve evolved in my own personal and spiritual growth and really gotten to know myself better.
? I’m not just Lucy with cancer. My cancer diagnosis is a chapter (perhaps several) in the story book of my life. My life didn’t go according to my “plan” (or fantasy), but I’m taking the life I do have and striving to make it the best I can.
? I share my story so you can feel empowered to share yours. I share the difficult parts to reassure you that you’re not alone. Although you may feel that way sometimes, trust me, someone on their journey can relate to your age, your lifestyle, your family, your work, your fears….you are not alone.
? There may not be a “cure” just yet, but it’s been 10 years and I’m still here! And I want to celebrate that! I’m inviting you on a wellness retreat with me, so that you too may celebrate all of the steps that have brought you to this point. Come join me! (Email me for more details: Lucy.santoro08@gmail.com)

Written by Lucy Santoro, Tigerlily ANGEL Advocate

Turning Pain Into Purpose: One Breast Cancer Thriver’s Story 1 of 4

Hello there, lovely! I’m Lauren – a breast cancer survivor turned holistic nutritionist. I founded my company Nutritious Delicious Life to bring attention and awareness to the tremendous power that making holistic lifestyle changes can have on a woman’s breast cancer risk. For years, I immersed myself in research learning everything I could to prevent my own breast cancer recurrence. When I emerged from behind my mountain of books, I was frustrated that this life-saving information wasn’t easily accessible to the women it could help the most. Ever since being diagnosed with breast cancer at 26 and discovering the healing benefits of holistic health, it’s been my mission to connect, inspire, and empower other breast cancer survivors to live their most nutritious, delicious lives. Now, nearly 5 years after diagnosis, my life is radically different in the best possible way. I’m a health coach and I work closely with breast cancer survivors to transform them into thrivers! First and foremost you need to know that you are not alone in your pain, struggles, worries, or fears. Rather, you are part of a community who understands, loves, embraces, and supports you. Whether you are newly diagnosed or well into survivorship, I hope that reading my story today provides you with information as well as inspiration. I’ll be sharing a blog post each week with the Tigerlily community on topics that help me live my best life after cancer and my hope is that they inspire you to do the same. I can’t wait for us to get to know each other!

Let’s start at the very beginning. I was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 26 (I’m 31 now!) At that time, I was living a life that was everything but holistic. I was a chartered accountant and the hours I worked invariably took a toll on me and I was stressed out and burnt out. I was eating what I thought was healthy according to mainstream media, but really eating this way wreaked havoc on my already stressed hormone levels. I was also exercising excessively and destroying my body at the gym. On the surface, I was living a “healthy lifestyle” but deep down I was in a lot of pain. I had a really negative self-image and nothing I did was ever good enough. I created impossible standards to live by, and I would punish myself for not being able to reach them. In spite of all this, I was still very aware of my body. For this, I am eternally grateful, because I felt the lump in my breast when it was still very small; otherwise I may not have detected the lump until it was much too late.

One morning, while showering, I felt a small lump in my right breast. It’s interesting because I was such a stress case about everything in my life at this time – I stressed about my career, I stressed about not being able to find a “good guy” to settle down with, I stressed about money… I was a straight up emotional basket case who stressed about everything, but for some reason I didn’t stress about the lump in my breast! The conversation in my head went something like: “Ok, if it’s still there next week I’ll go to the doctor, but there’s no way this can be anything serious!” A week later, I went to my doctor, who sent me for an ultrasound; the ultrasound came back “suspicious”.  You’re probably all familiar with these steps and how exhausting and unsettling it is going for tests and waiting for the results! I continued to tell myself that everything was going to be fine and that there’s no way this could be anything serious.

Because the ultrasound was suspicious I was sent for a biopsy. It was while I was laying on the table in the hospital waiting for my biopsy procedure that the thought of having cancer overwhelmed me. I could feel it with every fiber of my being. I couldn’t deny the thoughts anymore and I just broke down crying. I cried during the entire biopsy (which took forever!); then I went into work and pretended like everything was fine. When I came home from work I bawled again. All. Night. Long. It was a very emotional and frightening time for me and I didn’t share any of this with my family or friends. I didn’t want to worry anyone or burden them until I knew the results of the biopsy. That’s actually a huge regret of mine and something I’ve spent the last 5 years working on – I’ve learned the value and power of leaning on others for support, and asking for and accepting help when I need it. Can you guys relate?!

Well you can probably guess what happened next. The biopsy confirmed I had cancer and thus began the seemingly endless emotional roller coaster ride of doctor appointments and treatments. I chose to have a lumpectomy and after my surgery, I learned that my cancer was grade 3 and very aggressive. My oncology team recommended I have 8 rounds of dose-dense chemotherapy followed by radiation, and hormone treatment on tamoxifen for 10 years. And THIS is where my story gets interesting!

During chemotherapy, I was confronted with some pretty hard truths. Let’s just say for now that losing my hair and seeing myself so bare for the first time was both eye-opening and humbling. I lost my hair, but I also lost my insecurities, negative self- image, and self-doubt. I gained perspective, self-confidence, and a whole lot of self- love. This was such a turning point in my life that I’ll explain fully in a separate blog  – stay tuned for next week!

Just before starting radiation, I learned about naturopathic medicine. I had never heard of a naturopathic doctor before and couldn’t wrap my head around using vitamins, minerals, herbs, and plants to protect my body from cancer let alone using them as a form of complementary treatment. I was very intrigued though by this branch of medicine and I started working with a naturopath. I’ll be the first to admit it; I was skeptical at first. This was all new territory to me and it took me some time to acknowledge this form of medicine as legitimate and accept that it could work. But my energy level improved significantly (I even rode my bike to some of my radiation treatments) and my very fair skin didn’t burn at all from the radiation. I couldn’t deny these results and this propelled me to learn more and more about natural medicine which employs non-toxic natural therapies to treat people. I eventually took myself off of tamoxifen and I now manage my entire prevention strategy completely naturally.

I wanted to be able to do more for myself when I wasn’t seeing my naturopath and this is what brought me to nutrition. I wanted to feel like I had some control over my health and the way I chose to take that power back was to show up for myself in the kitchen. I learned what foods could harm me and which ones could help me. The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn and I realized my true calling in life. I left my career in accounting, moved to a new city where I didn’t know anyone, and enrolled in holistic nutrition school.

Now, I lead the cancer nutrition program at a leading naturopathic clinic that specializes in oncology. I have my dream job where I get to be of service everyday, doing what I love. My practice isn’t just about nutrition. As important as the food we eat is to our overall health, THRIVERship is about so much more than physical health. I can’t wait to dive deep into some of these topics in future blog posts. But for now, I hope you gained some insight into who I am as a person and your take away from reading this blog is feeling lighter, happier, and inspired.

Until next time!

Lauren, Tigerlily ANGEL Advocate

NEW STUDY ON TAMOXIFEN RESISTANCE IN ER+ BREAST CANCER

The drug tamoxifen is a popular treatment option for ER+ breast cancer, but patients can often develop resistance to the drug. New research published in the journal Nature, however, suggests an important discovery for women receiving this therapy. The study, published on April 17 in the journal Nature, focused on how ER+ breast cancer cells are affected by the amino acid leucine, a nutrient that is found abundantly in meats, poultry, and fish.    

The researchers tested the effects of high or low leucine levels in ER+ breast cancer cells, and found that the cells divided less often when they had less leucine. They also found that a certain protein known as SLC7A5, responsible for taking leucine into a cell, interferes with the effects of tamoxifen on cancer cells. On experiments in mice, the researchers used an inhibitor to deactivate the SLC7A5 protein, and found that ER+ tumors in the mice became smaller.     

These results suggest two important implications. Firstly, the findings may point the way to a treatment to overcome tamoxifen resistance, as the SLC7A5 protein may be a promising target. Secondly, switching from a high-leucine, meat-based diet to a reduced-leucine, plant-based diet may be advantageous to women who have been diagnosed with ER+ breast cancer. Further research is currently being conducted in this second area to determine if this diet modification should be recommended.

Read more on the study . 

Check out our TNBC Guide book (5 of 5)

Getting diagnosed with breast cancer is a lot to handle. Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is a type of breast cancer that is diagnosed in two U.S. women every hour, adding up to over 17,000 U.S. women per year. TNBC develops in the breast because of the presence of abnormal or cancer cells that look and behave differently from the normal cells in the breast. TNBC is “triple negative” because these cancer cells lack three types of proteins that are known to help other cancer cells grow. These proteins are called receptors, and they are usually located on the surface of or inside of cells: estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth fact receptor 2 (HER2). There are several drugs that are targeted to block ER, PR and HER2 so that the cancer cells won’t grow. Since TNBC cells do not have any of the receptors, these types of treatment do not work. However, if caught early, TNBC can often be treated successfully with the common treatments of chemotherapy, radiation and/or surgery.

You have some important decisions to make! Learning that you have triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) adds an additional layer of questions about your treatment plan and survivorship.   Our TNBC Guidebook will help you understand what TNBC is; risk factors; treatment options; and empower you to use your voice to engage your healthcare team.

Visit https://www.tigerlilyfoundation.org/breast-cancer-toolkit/educational-guidebooks/ to download and read our guidebook today!

Load More