health.

Myasthenia Gravis.

This auto immune condition was diagnosed in 2006. At worst, it affects my ability to swallow, walk, talk, or use my limbs. I had an enlarged thymus gland with a benign tumour which was removed in 2007 via keyhole surgery.

Until the cancer diagnosis the Myasthenia was well managed with azathioprine. Post cancer diagnosis, I came off the azathioprine and relied only on IVIG (white blood cell transfusions). I also believe being in ketosis strengthened my body as I had tried twice (in the past 10 years) to come off the medication and both times had been unsuccessful.

Pregnancy.

My first pregnancy was in 2016 (36 years old) and I miscarried at 11 weeks.

My next pregnancy was soon after and while it started off well, by the third trimester I was having real difficulty with my breathing. I thought many of my complaints were normal for expectant mothers and that I was just being dramatic. I had gotten used to sleeping sitting up, and thought the majority of my problems were due to the complications of the disease. One week away from inducement, I had such a sharp pain when breathing it was no longer bearable. My midwife told me it wasn’t normal so I went into the Taupo emergency department to have it checked out. Originally, the doctor was going to send me home saying the baby was pushing on my diaphragm but her heart-rate was abnormally high and my midwife wouldn’t let me leave. I was transferred to Rotorua Hospital and as soon as I was admitted Pepe’s heart rate went back to normal. I remember thinking at the time that maybe I was over-reacting but now I think Pepe was just making sure her mama was safe. The next day I had an x-ray and I can still see the doctors faces of shock as they came in and described the ‘shadow’ they found throughout the left hand side of my chest.

It was arranged that I would have a caesarean but after further consultation the doctors decided I should be transferred to Waikato Hospital as they had larger specialist teams and the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

We expected to go straight into theatre but when we arrived were told the specialists wanted to assess the situation. I was told it was tumours by three doctors in white jackets. I fainted. It was meant to be the most beautiful moment in my life and in a matter of days had turned into the most frightening.

We had about 15 people in the theatre for the caesarean. Aneathesists, surgeons, nurses, a team on standby in case the tumour leaked, another team for my heart, and a team for Pepe. The cesarean was great. We were blessed by incredibly gifted people and Pepe was taken immediately to NICU with sticky lungs. I had a bit of a hard time that night with some pins and needles in my chest. Vernon was called as the on-call doctor thought something was happening with my heart. As it turned out I had a reaction to one of the painkillers. This was to become a common theme though – everyone always would get side-tracked by the tumours…

My pregnancy was a miracle. Our baby is a miracle. It blows my mind to think of what she grew through. And she was so looked after in NICU. That place was a sanctuary for me after the news and during my recovery.

Cancer.

Several large left lung masses were diagnosed as stage 4A (type AB) cancer. It was thought that maybe a piece of the benign tumour was left there from 2007. We know that there was no tumour in 2014 (as that was when I had a xray taken) so sometime between 2014 and 2017, the tumours had grown at a rapid rate.

We asked my oncologist not to give me a ‘due date’ as we knew that words have power and I could have quite easily started to believe it. I needed to believe that I was going to live. And nobody knows our time but the father.

Operating was not an option as the cancer took up too much of my chest so I prepared for non-curative chemotherapy. I purchased new outfits and almost cut my hair before I lost it. But there were some huge issues that just didn’t sit right with me. The hope was that chemo would give me a bit longer, but it would drastically impact my quality of life. The side effects from the chemo drugs I was offered included: tinnitus, vomiting, numbness, lowered immune system, weakness, shivers, hair-loss, nail loss, heart palpitations, ulcers, and pain. And we were only looking at a few more months to add onto my life expectancy (within the year). I didn’t think that was a good option when I had two teenagers and a newborn baby at home… I needed to live and was determined to find an alternative treatment.

A few weeks after my oncologist appointment, I had a routine appointment with Dr Phillips for the Myasthenia Gravis. This was heaven-sent as Dr Phillips was probably the only neurologist in New Zealand who was doing ketogenic trials in neurological disorders. When we told him about my diagnosis, he suggested we consider the ketogenic diet and fasting, and introduced us to Deborah Murtagh (nutritionist).

Fasting.

The thought of fasting was extreme but after extensive research into all options, I felt this path was the one I was meant to take. We were fortunate to have had Dr. Matthew Phillips and Deborah Murtagh as they were regular fasters and really believed that healing was possible.

Fasting needed to go hand-in-hand with being on a ketogenic diet. The idea was to starve the cancer cells of its fuel source (glucose). For more information go to wanderingsolace.com/archives - Dr. Phillips has completed some incredible research on ketosis, fasting, and much more. Deborah Murtagh also has a lot of information on her website deborahmurtagh.com and live feeds on her facebook page.

My first fast lasted 12 days and it was horrific.

My immune system went into super-boost which is what we wanted for the cancer, but it exasperated the Myasthenia so badly I ended up in hospital. I came off the azathioprine and we began to manage the myasthenia with IVIG.

During the first year, I was fasting for 7 days every second month, and each fast became easier. I would have only water during the first 3 days, and whenever the myasthenia gave me trouble (usually by day 5), would introduce bone broth and coffee to help alleviate the symptoms. The side-effects of the fasts were muscle aches, moodiness, shivers, and fatigue.

After a year – we were winning. I was still alive and the tumours had not grown.

By the second year I was doing a 7 day water fast every month. My body was getting stronger, I had no myasthenia symptoms during my fasts, and my weight ranged from a steady 54kg (pre-fast) to 50kg (post). The hardest thing I found with fasting was the mental battle. As soon as I couldn’t have food I was constantly obsessing, and I found the build-up to a fast was worse than the actual fast. The physical side-effects have lessened over the years but shivers, dizziness and aches still appear during the first few days.

The latest CT scan has shown the cluster of tumours to have shrunk to a small speck. This is a miraculous outcome and is without the use of any radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immuno-therapy, or conventional cancer treatments.

keto.

The ketogenic diet is now a way of life for us. It took me a while to get used to it as I had 37 years on a high sugar, highly processed diet. I loved everything sweet and my idea of 'healthy eating' was gluten-free or toasted muesli (both still full of sugar and carbs). For the last few years, our family have gone through a complete lifestyle change and I put the following guide together to help others on their journey.