Determined to Heal

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With Dr. Pedro Cervantes at Gerson Institute’s “Clinica Nutrición Y Vida” in Tijuana

In 2012, the age-standardised incidence rate was 49 cases per 100,000 persons (60 for males and 39 for females). Unfortunately, Australia has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world. On average, 30 Australians will be diagnosed with melanoma every day and more than 1,200 will die from the disease each year. In 2016, it was estimated that 13,283 new cases of melanoma skin cancer will be diagnosed in Australia (7,847 males and 5,436 females).

However for Angie Cooper of Perth Australia she beat those odds and this is her personal blog post!!! ☮🙏🏼 😇♥️✨🌠✨💗💚💫💙

Hello Ken: My story of survival and the will to live began in June 2012 when a call at home took me by complete surprise. When the Doctor at the other end of the phone line told me straight …. “that I had cancer and it was bad. The reason that I was in complete shocked was I had only a couple of months before …been to see a dermatologist who looked at a very small sore on my arm he dismissed it so I was not concerned, within a couple of months it started to bleed so I went to my local doctor and had a biopsy done, I truly never worried about the results as I felt it must have been something I had picked up from a recent holiday overseas.

After the phone call and within a couple of hours I was sitting in the doctor’s office. The Doctor again informed me that it was a very aggressive form of Melanoma called nodular melanoma. It was quite deep and that I would need surgery, more biopsies, scans were needed to determine my odds of surviving this disease. To be honest I never thought this would happen to me but then again who does and now at the age of 46 my life is threatened.

My mind was full of uncertainties and questions; I have 3 children who I did not Want to leave without a Mum, the youngest being 13 at the time of diagnosis. The hardest thing for me was to tell my children and family. With an experience only a few years earlier that I had lost one of my closest friends. She died of Melanoma this very same disease at only 42 years of age and I felt I was heading down this same path. I went totally into a state of shock and my world had been turned upside down, my whole body was numb and my legs were like Jelly. I physically struggled to get out of bed …. I would lay there unable to sleep and when I did I would wake up. There was only one thing on my mind and that was that I am dying …. I have cancer.

I even contemplated and spoke of writing letters to my children as I would struggle to find the words what would I say in these letters to my kids. Things like sorry I won’t be here to see you graduate, get married and have children of your own as it tore my heart in two. I was dealing with the very real reality that I would not be around to watch them grow up. Now a decision had to be made do I give up or do whatever I possibly could to beat the illness. As days turned in to weeks. I had scans, biopsies and surgery, it would take two weeks to find out if the cancer had entered my blood stream.

Two weeks later the surgeon rang to confirm the cancer had already spread and was now in my blood stream and my chance of surviving 5 years was 67% as I was diagnosed as stage 3. I was offered a type of chemo called interferon and through pure fear decided to do this even though they felt I should have started earlier and at best it would give me an extra 5% chance of survival. I was prepared to do absolutely anything to give myself a better chance of survival.

I endured 4 weeks of treatment which unfortunately damaged my liver and sent me to the hospital, I had no energy and could barely stand up I was vomiting blood losing my hair and my weight was plummeting, the treatment itself causes terrible depression and anxiety and loss of appetite. I was put on a drip for a few days again and I thought this was going to be the end. But watching my Son crying at my bedside and the look of fear in his eyes. I knew I could not give up so with sheer determination. I had to find the courage and strength to keep fighting.

I returned to treatment at half dosages and finished a further 3 weeks of intravenous treatments, it was a depressing place to be in with so many sick people, I would drive myself to the hospital and home each day. On completion of my treatment my oncologist requested another pet scan to see if there were any new tumours. Something suspicious was found and I now had to have another biopsy, my daughter really wanted to support me and be there for me so I let her come to this appointment. As the lump was close to my heart they had to insert a large needle through my chest, as this went on for about 40 minutes but unfortunately … due to the location of the lump … they could not reach it so I would need to book an MRI scan.

Two weeks later I attended another scan but again after about an hour they said the imaging machine was not good enough to determine what we were dealing with … I was admitted into another hospital with a newer machine and this meant another three weeks of waiting. Finally after what seemed to be an eternity and I was given the all clear and it appeared to be a pericardial cyst.

This wonderful news was short lived and only one month after treatment ended in December. I found a lump in my leg, I queried this with my local Doctor. As he felt the lump and dismissed it as nothing to worry about. Two months later I returned to my oncologists to commence another round of chemo, I mentioned the lump to him and he felt it should be looked at and ordered another biopsy … which confirmed the cancer had mestastized and now the oncologist deemed me a terminal cancer patient with aggressive melanoma. He said there was nothing more he could do for me and that 3 monthly scans and cutting Tumours as they returned were the only option to give me some more time.

I prayed and prayed like I have never done before, I slept with Rosary beads and a cross either in my hand or under my pillow every night, I started to say the Rosary every single day this all from a person who only occasionally remembered to pray at all. I asked for answers, guidance and the strength to carry on. I also researched stories of people whom had been given the same news as I had and had found a way to survive. I believed that if I could find one person who had reversed their diagnosis … then so could I.

After much reading and what I truly believe were messages from above. I was guided to an all-natural therapy called the Gerson Therapy, I travelled to Mexico with my Mum and stayed for 3 weeks to learn what I needed to do when I returned home, I would follow this treatment for at least 2 years. The therapy alone kept me housebound for the best part of 18 months until I regained my weight and my strength, I was about 7 kilos (15 pounds) lighter than I am now at 46 kilos (101 lbs) at 5ft7”. At this stage I had no strength and was now suffering from anxiety and depression and life for me at this time was really hard.

The therapy involves making 13 fresh organic fruit and vegetable juices a day every hour on the hour and my diet consisted of only organic fresh produce.

With the proper amount of coffee enemas to prevent poisoning the liver. I cut from my diet all sugar and processed foods. This I would stick to religiously for the two years. This therapy is very involved and there is a lot more to the therapy. However it really is about returning to nature and only putting into your body foods which will feed and nourish it and to kick start the immune to help it heal. Our diets are so important in all parts of our lives to keep us happy and healthy. Therefore feeding our body real food … like fruits and vegetables is vital for our health, our bodies are amazing and given the right environment they can heal themselves. Unfortunately it is too easy to eat unhealthy with so many processed and easy to access foods.

At this time I was so blessed to have people that truly cared, I had a lot of people many of them I do not know praying for me and also sending messages of support. I will always be grateful for this. I also received a lot of healing energy from the many healing masses I attended; I also received Reike energy healing from a close friend and also a lady I have never met who lives in America.

Any illness regardless of what form it comes in is hard on any family and my family was no different. My family went from having no worries in the world to living daily with a constant reminder that life would never be the same and the constant battle I was facing was not going to go away anytime soon. Everyone reacts in different ways some cry, some scream and others hold this terrible news deep inside. I know for myself that I did keep a lot of feelings to myself although at times the depression and anxiety got too much. AS I could not hide the tears and feelings of complete fear and despair.

There are so many lessons I have learned along the way the last few years and the way I view the world now is very different. June 24th this year will be 4 years from my first diagnosis and on April 15th of this year I reached 3 years of having no evidence of disease. I continue to thrive in my life while also living with a terminal cancer diagnosis. I would not say that emotionally I am completely healed from this turn of events in my life but I continue to fight and live to the best of my ability.

I believe I will now enjoy watching my youngest son who is now 17 graduate from year 12 at the end of the year. I will also see my daughter get married one day. I have been on two more holidays with my family and for my 50th Birthday in October I overcame my fear of flying and went skydiving from 14000ft …with my eldest son ….who was born on my29th Birthday and turned 21 the same day.

Some of the Lessons I have learnt are really simple things. I now think about how everything I do and say can affect the people around me. I know how words alone can either lift a person’s spirit or cause irreversible damage. I know I was judged when I was at my lowest, one example is I even had a stranger at the shop tell me I needed to try his sample of food as I was too skinny. Not only was I dealing with my illness depression and anxiety but now I was also dealing with being judged and left wondering what others were saying about me, I walked away feeling crushed.

I am far from perfect and I too used to judge others but now I know more than ever that maybe a person has a reason for being the way they are. I view everyone as individual and everyone has a story. I have known for a long time … that I was the really skinny anorexic looking person. Whom was sad, unsociable and would Walk the other way when I saw someone I knew walking towards me. Because for me at this time it was easier to deal with my life. People didn’t know that though and would make judgment. I looked fine on the outside but on the inside I couldn’t deal with life.

Throughout all our lives we are all met with challenges some big and some small but Regardless of what these might be … we should never give up and work towards a good outcome. We are so blessed to be born and to be given a life in an Amazing country and that we shouldn’t waste it for a second. Being true to yourself, while being strong and only make decisions that you know will make for a better world for us all. Don’t take life for granted be appreciative and grateful for what you do have instead of what you don’t Life is short and we only get one chance to live an awesome and amazing life. You will get out of life what you invest in it.

I do believe Things happen for a reason and although the past few years have been hard and my illness has affected so many people I have to take from it the positives, I believe my kids are better people and appreciate their health and life more they are better human beings. I am also much closer to my parents and I have experienced unconditional love My family are more aware of what they eat and they have also learnt that Mum is strong and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for them, now that they have also experienced the unconditional love I talk of. My perspective on living has changed and now I only want to give back and help others.

I do not know what else life has in store but for now I am healed happy and ready to live my life. I do know that I am going to be grateful every day I wake up whether it is raining or the Sun is shining because Life is good when you’re grateful to be alive 🙂

Preview The four basic components of The Gerson Therapy