Fun, facts, food and Fonzie (the dog): the Annie Appleseed Conference

My friend Fonzie, who I met at the conference. If he could talk: "Where's the organic dog food?"

I’m back home from the Annie Appleseed conference and, as promised, I will share what I learned. There is way too much for me to share on a post or even multiple posts, but I’ll do my best to boil down the highlights as I saw them. 

The best part of the conference? The fabulous people I met, whom I would definitely call Miracle Survivors. The last night, Ashley and I had dinner with Darlene from Florida, Julie from Seattle and Eleanor from Nebraska – all Stage IV breast cancer survivors who have definitely beat the odds. Joining us was Ken, an amazing patient advocate and survivor himself from New York, and Leonard, who is not a survivor but seems to devote all of his free time to investigating alternative and complimentary practices to share with survivors.

They all shared some great information, including the brand to use for coffee enemas, as well as a lot of laughs. It was a great way to end the conference! I was really happy for my friend Ashley, who was able to connect with another inflammatory breast cancer survivor.

Ken, who is a real bulldog when it comes to standing up for his patients, told me about some tests to consider if I get another biopsy. These “Target Now” tests could help determine the type of targeted drugs I should receive http://carislifesciences.com/target-now-complete.

 Some of us shared the frustration of “spinning the chemo wheel” to determine a drug regimen, so something like this might be helpful.

Another highlight was the food – yes I love to eat! Everything was organic and sugar-free so I could relax and know I was being good to my body. I met Anita, the woman who helped plan the meals, who like me loves to eat and cook, and she promised to share some recipes with me. She’s an artist too and a really lovely lady.

He explained why sugar feeds cancer and recommended a list of antioxidants, vitamins and botanicals, stressing CoQ10 and Vitamin D (especially for breast cancer) and tumeric (which targets 100 cancer pathways). His Web site is www.themidwaycenter.com.

My other favorite speaker was Ellen Kamhi, Phd, RN,a little Jewish woman known as the Natural Nurse. She reminded me of one of my aunts, except she trades matzoh balls for dandelion root, kale and the occasional organic chicken she raises and slaughters herself (yes, in her Deerfield Beach retirement complex!)

Ellen was much easier to follow than some other presenters. She had some good recommendations, such as eating kale every day (powerful antioxidants), and what to avoid in supplements – don’t buy if it contains benzoates; it’s a carcinogen. Again, it was more information than I can share, but you can read more about her at www.naturalnurse.com.

On a personal note, I went for my PET scan today and I have a feeling it’s going to turn out well. I’ll share more on tomorrow’s post!