September Support
“September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and Suicide Prevention Awareness Month”
Two very significant causes and quite honestly, the very reasons I started on this journey I call The Power of Food.
And September always brings me back to the beginning of my story…It was the month my daughter, Rachel, had her bone marrow transplant, September 28, 1990. Some things you never forget.
Rachel was only two years old, I was not much older, and found myself carrying her though the halls of Dana Farber Cancer Institute trying to figure out what else I could do to save her, and me too.
Before Rachel was diagnosed, I never knew cancer and childhood could be synonymous. But it is. In fact globally, 300,000 children a year are diagnosed with cancer and it appears to be rising. According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, every 3 minutes, somewhere in the world, a family hears the devastating words…”your child has cancer.”
And with the physical disease comes the emotional fallout. Lots of it…Cancer creates havoc and has the ability to turn things upside down, and not just to the body~to relationships, and to finances, but mostly, to our soul~Cancer is a life threat, and in fact, it is now considered to be a qualifying event for PTSD. So with it comes all the messy and painful impact of trauma; depression, anxiety and emotional unrest. Nothing is safe and mental health issues increase and become complex and complicated, putting too many at risk for more severe mental illness and yes, even suicide.
The only way out is to heal, and get stronger. I knew that even when I was the young mom, carrying a very sick little girl in my arms, wondering what to do next. So I looked for the best medicine and hospitals, and even better doctors. And I found all of that, but I also found more…I found the power of food.
I know it has become my mantra, however it is not something I say because it is a catchy marketing slogan. It really has become my truth, and fortunately science believes in this too.
The areas of nutrition, culinary medicine, and wellness are growing and the research has identified certain foods and nutritional patterns, as preventing disease, or in some cases, treating disease, as well as healing and recovering from disease.
Using food in the right way can be one of the best defense systems for our physical and mental health, and I believe food can save your life. I know it saved mine.