Boomers can’t live active and healthy lifestyles if we can’t defeat the diseases that try to stand in our way. That’s why we like what Meg Wolff, the author of Becoming Whole, wrote from Maine. Although BoomerCafé cannot confirm the general benefits of the solution she found, we believe it’s
worth telling her Story of Recovery.

In the spring of 1998, when I was 40 years old, I discovered a lump in my right breast which was later diagnosed as “invasive lobular and ductal carcinoma stage 3B.” Simple translation: breast cancer. I was devastated as I had already had a bone cancer experience 7 years earlier and had lost my left leg because of it.

At the time my oncologist was recommending a stem cell transplant, which I later declined after second and third opinions. I had a right mastectomy, and five lymph nodes showed positive; in one node the cancer had spread beyond the node. I was thinking about having the other breast removed after all the treatment (chemo and radiation), but a specialist in Boston told me (with a long sad face) that the cancer would probably return within a year.

Tamoxifin was recommended which I tried for one month, but decided to discontinue because of the side effects.

About a month after the surgery, I asked my surgeon if she knew any MDs that practiced conventional/alternative medicine. She said she didn’t, but gave me the name of a Naturopathic doctor, who told me “some women with breast cancer have been helped by the macrobiotic diet.” I thought, “ahhh” and remembered reading a book 15 years earlier about a man who cured his cancer using the macrobiotic diet.

Macrobiotics is a way of eating that is comprised of organic whole grains, beans, lots of fresh vegetables, sea vegetables, and small amounts of fish. It is low in fat and high in fiber.

Thus, my healing journey began. I found a macrobiotics/whole foods cooking teacher in my area and began her classes, which I continued for the next year and a half. Someone I met in one of her classes referred me to another woman who had cured her breast cancer through a macrobiotic diet and without chemothreapy. I called her. She had gone to a doctor who told her, “You can heal your cancer through the macrobiotic diet and you also need to heal your anger.” She did both, and stayed with the macrobiotics for 12 years and later went on to study metaphysics. She told me that I could do it, too!

About nine months after I started eating this way, I met another woman at my cooking class who I first noticed from across the room. She appeared to be in her 60s with long shiny brown hair, which she tossed over her shoulder. As she smiled, her face lit up and she said, “I feel so good since I’ve been on this healing diet.” After the class I introduced myself to her and found out that she met with a macrobiotic counselor from Boston who had helped adjust the diet specifically for her condition, which had also been breast cancer. So, I began to meet with this experienced counselor every two to four months, and continued to do so for the next two years.

Many things started to improve in my life, including my health. I began sleeping through the night, after taking medication for anxiety and insomnia for five years. I had also been taking medication for a heart arrhythmia which I eventually weaned myself off with the approval of my doctor.

I lost weight, my skin got clear, and the sinus problem and headaches I had lived with for years finally cleared up. My thinking became sharper and my memory improved. I had been plagued with ulcerative colitis for four years, and that cleared up completely. It seemed like every few months I’d report to my friends new good changes to my health. I felt as though I had changed my destiny. It was empowering. Against all odds, I was actually doing something that was improving my health. I felt alive, and many friends and a few strangers remarked that I was starting to “glow”.

I began reading and studying every book about macrobiotics that I could find. I learned about the Kushi Institute, a non-profit educational organization, which I later went to study. I attended my first Kushi Institute Macrobiotic Conference, which is held every summer. And while studying there I sat in on a “Way to Health Program,” a week of intensive study to learn cooking theory for people with illnesses. The program was inspiring to me.

Through studying the macrobiotic approach to cancer, I was able to understand the causes of illness. I felt that it was a common sense approach and that it answered many questions that no one else could answer about cancer. Best of all, I could take responsibility for my health and change my condition.

I was able to let go of fear. I went from terminal illness to vibrant health. As my health bloomed, I also saw many positive changes in my family’s health as they gradually embraced this way of eating. This also extended out to my sister and her family who started eating this way. Her small son was cured of reflux, which he had had since birth. Her husband’s cholesterol went down to normal and they both lost weight.

Today, medical tests show that I am completely cancer free and in exceptionally good health. I now teach macrobiotic cooking classes and the macrobiotic way of life. I also started an informational website with the stories of other women I met who have also used Macrobiotics as part or even all of their healing from breast cancer. The address is: www.macrobreastcancersurvivors.com

Food changes the quality of our blood, the condition of our cells, the overall health of our bodies and minds. Through the practice of Macrobiotics, you have the power to restore your health and bring joy back to your life.

I’ll end with some suggested reference material if you want to learn more:

- Fat and cooked red meats increase the risk of breast cancer. Journal of National Cancer Institute. 2003

- Women with breast cancer survive longer when they drastically reduce or eliminate red meat and increase vegetable intake. Breast Cancer Treatment. 1998

- Overweight dramatically increases the risk of most common cancers including breast, prostate and uterus. New England Journal of Medicine. April. 2003.

- Women with breast cancer who reduce calorie intake especially from fat live longer. Breast Cancer Treatment. Feb. 1999

- An isoflavone called genistine found in soybeans or soybean products, such as miso, shoyu, and tamari blocks blood vessels from growing to tumors. Cancer Investigations. 2003

- The National Cancer Institute’s Committee for Alternative and Complementary Medicine voted unanimously 25 Feb. 2002 to fund research on the Macrobiotic diet as a therapeutic approach to cancer after hearing dramatic testimony and meticulously documented case histories of people who used Macrobiotics to overcome their advanced cancers.

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