Hi! I’m Malea, and I’m a stage 4 breast cancer warrior, on the journey to being completely cancer free with the help of nutrition, traditional medicine, and holistic treatment. I am so glad you’re here, and thought I’d take a minute to introduce myself and let you know a little more about me and my story.
My biggest and most important roles in life are being mom to two amazing girls (10 and 12 years old), and wife to my wonderful husband. I’ve also spent the past 8 years as a health and fitness professional on a mission to help others live their healthiest lives through nutrition, exercise, and toxin free living. To say my breast cancer diagnosis came as a complete shock is an understatement. On the heels of my diagnosis, MANY people expressed their shock as well, as, according to them, I am THE healthiest person they know. Not to toot my own horn, but I am one of the healthiest people I know too! When it comes to nutrition and creating a healthy, toxin free environment, I am a research nut, and am constantly learning (and implementing!) new ways to improve my family’s health and environment.
In August of 2018, just a few months after my 40th birthday, I received the shocking diagnosis of stage 2B breast cancer, and it knocked me off my feet. I simply couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that *I*, someone SO passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and teaching others to do the same, could have this happen to me. It seemed like such a cruel twist of fate. Of course, my biggest concern was for my family…for my two sweet girls who I immediately began to fear would have to grow up without a mother. I couldn’t help it…when you receive a diagnosis like the one I had just received, your mind immediately goes to a very dark place; to the worst case scenario. I was devastated and so very scared. And then, it got worse. Not only was I face to face with the terrifying reality of having cancer at 40, but as it turned out, this aggressive cancer that had invaded my body was worse than the doctors had originally thought. It had already spread into my bones. STAGE 4. I will never ever forget hearing those words from my doctor, the way the breath was sucked out of my lungs, or the way my entire life flashed before my eyes. I will NEVER forget the heart wrenching conversation we had to have with our girls to tell them their mom had cancer. It was literally the worst moment of my life. I will never forget how defeated I felt, and how hard I searched for my inner warrior who would pull me out of my despair and start FIGHTING. I judged myself for being sad and scared. I felt sorry for myself, I felt sorry for my family, and I felt like it was all so unfair. Most of all, I felt completely HELPLESS.
But, you know what? I don’t do helpless very well. I am not a ‘sit back and let this play out’ kind of person. I am DO-er, an action taker, and a FIGHTER. So, even though I hadn’t yet found my inner warrior, who I was certain lived deep inside me, and even though I still felt sad and sorry for myself, I did what I do best…I sat down at my computer and started to research. No matter how sad and scared I was, I KNEW that I needed to arm myself with as much information as possible. I knew I would need to hit this thing from EVERY possible angle, and I knew I needed to start right away. There wasn’t a moment to waste. My life literally depended on it. Stage 4 cancer is no joke. Stage 4 cancer often means incurable. It often means that treatment is focused on extending your life as much as possible, rather than trying to CURE you. As a young, (otherwise) healthy and fit mom of 2, incurable wasn’t an option for me. “Living” with stage 4 cancer wasn’t an option either. CURING myself was the ONLY option I could see, and I knew that equipping myself with as much knowledge as possible was my first line of defense. So, I started with my computer. And, despite the fact that, at first, I was reading and researching through the tears, I became insatiable in my desire to learn about every alternative treatment I could find. I read articles by people who treated their cancer holistically, I researched cancer fighting foods, I listened to podcasts, I watched documentaries, and I began to feel like I could do this. I began to feel like I could beat this thing.
Don’t tell this to my doctor, but I am not a huge fan of western medicine. I don’t like how heavily it focuses on prescription drugs, I definitely don’t like the fact that it often overlooks nutrition as one of the best and most effective forms of medicine, and I don’t like the fact that it often shuns natural remedies. In fact, the thought of traditional cancer treatment scared me almost as much as cancer itself. I wanted to heal myself holistically, and believed it was possible. It IS possible. I did enough research to know that people are healing themselves through nutrition and natural remedies. I know that it, in our country, it is hard to find guidance in fighting cancer holistically. I also know that doesn’t always work. Neither does chemo or other traditional cancer treatments. I know that sometimes, no matter which route you choose, people die. I wanted to fight this battle holistically, but as a mom with stage 4 cancer, it felt too risky. It felt like a gamble I couldn’t afford to take. Maybe if I were younger, and didn’t have any kids. Maybe if I were older, and my kids were already grown. Maybe then I would have been brave enough to try this thing on my own. But for now, I felt like I couldn’t take that risk. I had ONE shot at this thing, and I needed to make SURE it would work. My life depended on it.
In late August, I {begrudgingly} agreed to begin traditional cancer treatment with an amazing breast cancer oncologist. I honestly cried as many tears over the thought of pumping my veins full of chemotherapy as I did over the fact that I had cancer in the first place. I mean, the last 12ish years of my life (I became fanatic about organic foods, and toxin free living when I was pregnant with my firstborn), were devoted to keeping toxins OUT of my body, and here I was agreeing to load my body FULL of toxins in order to kill cancer cells. It felt counterintuitive. It felt wrong. I tried to wiggle out of it. I tried to talk my family out of it. I tried to talk my doctor out of it. Let me tell you, I don’t often see my laid back husband lose his cool, but telling him I didn’t want to do chemo at all, and wanted to try my luck at treating this thing on my own did NOT go over well. He had been my rock. He had let me feel my emotions and had been by my side every step of the way. But that day, he lost his cool. And I don’t blame him one bit. We are a team, and we have a family to raise. He didn’t want to do it alone, and he was scared.
So, I agreed to go the traditional route, but knew that I couldn’t rely on that alone. Like I said, failure was NOT an option. “Living” with cancer was NOT an option. CURING myself, and living a long, healthy, cancer free life so that I could watch my girls grow up was the only acceptable outcome. Although I have an amazing doctor, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving this entirely in his hands. I knew I had a much better chance of winning this battle if I combined western and holistic treatments. I also knew that nutrition would be critical. And then there was mindset. I understand the power of our thoughts, and I knew that I needed to find a way out of my pity party and into a positive mindset if I had any hope of beating this thing. And that wasn’t easy…AT ALL. But I did it. I found a way to combine traditional (western) cancer treatment with holistic remedies, and a powerful positive mindset, and it’s WORKING. I am BEATING stage 4 cancer (and shocking the heck out of my oncologist), and now believe it is my calling to share this with you. Maybe you are fighting this battle too, or maybe you have a loved one who is. Maybe you want to learn some healthy tips to prevent this from happening to you. Whatever reason landed you here with me, I believe I can help by sharing my research and my story. I hope, not only to inspire people on their own cancer journeys, but to inspire and educate as many people as possible (with or without cancer) so that we can be our own health advocates, so that we can be our own warriors, and so that we can kick cancer to the curb together.
XOXO,
Malea