The doctors never told us mom had only a year to live or anything like that, but they never told us that she could beat this either. At the beginning of November 2015 my mom was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. There is some discrepancy in the stages because the tumour was 3.5cm big and the nature of stage 2. It was complicated by a blood clot too and the tumour was not operable.

It has the highest mortality rate of all the major cancers – 92% of patients die within 5 years of their diagnosis and 75% of patients die within the first year.

It is the only leading cancer killer with a 5 year survival rate still in the single digits at 8% and the survival rate has not improved in the last 40 years.

It is referred to as a silent killer – it’s difficult to detect and spreads so quickly. Vague symptoms including back/abdominal pain, jaundice and nausea usually appear after the cancer is at an advanced stage making it difficult to treat.

…..

Surgery offers the best chance for long term survival. Only 15% of patients are diagnosed early enough to be eligible for surgery. The most common form of surgery for removal of a pancreatic tumor is the whipple procedure and may be followed with chemotherapy or a combination of chemotherapy/radiation.

For the patients who are not surgical candidates, chemotherapy or a combination of chemotherapy with radiation is typically offered. Chemotherapy after surgery can lower the chances of the cancer returning. Chemotherapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer can extend life and improve the quality of life for people with the disease.

Approximately 52% of all patients are diagnosed when the disease has spread to surrounding organs leaving little hope for survival (only 2% will survive five years).

from www.pancreaticcancer.ca

Since the tumour was not operable she was only offered chemotherapy. I started doing more and more research in to the essential oils that we were already using for my family’s well being and found there was a lot of research that spoke to their anti-tumour properties. The other awesome thing I found about using the oils is that they are complimentary therapy. Using them alongside chemotherapy has no contradictions!

Mom had been put on a heavy dose of 5 different chemotherapy drugs. She was supposed to get a round of chemo every two weeks over 5-6 hours. Her body didn’t react well to chemo. Does anyone’s body, really? Chemotherapy is essentially filling your body with enough poison to kill the cancer but not the host. I totally understand people who choose not to do it at all. It is hell.

In the time she was supposed to get 13 rounds of chemo, her body only allowed her to get 8. They tried eliminating drugs and gradually took her down to only 3 drugs, but her numbers were still often low. Her numbers were too low numerous times, sometimes 2 and 3 weeks in a row. This left her tumour time to grow, untouched by chemo.

So what else did we do????       WE USED ESSENTIAL OILS!

I use and sell doTERRA, so naturally we stuck with the best essential oil company out there! I love this company and their product. I’m so thankful to them on so many levels. Here I am just documenting what we did for my mom, because so many people have asked. Oils, along with chemo therapy, worked for her and I’m so thankful. This is just our story and experience. I do believe oils can benefit everyones well-being but I am not claiming these oils will cure everyone’s cancer. I do hope with more stories like this, we will be putting more funding and research into using more natural products to prevent and treat cancer.

• Mom had just started using their LifeLong Vitality pack (http://www.doterratools.com/documents/vitality_booklet.pdf) before she got diagnosed. The LLV pack is a trio of a food nutrient complex, which is basically your multi-vitamins and minerals; a cellular vitality complex with polyphenols which are plant based natural anti-oxidants to help regulate enzyme function and stimulate cell receptors, as well as protect from free radical imbalance; and an omega complex blend from marine and land fatty acids, which protect specifically against lipid oxidation in the brain and promote a healthy cell response. These foundational supplements and formulated with potent levels of bioavailable essential nutrients and powerful metabolic factors for optimal health, energy and longevity. I have experienced much more energy and well being taking this trio.
• With the cancer diagnosis we added in a double dose of the DDR Prime supplement. (http://doterratools.com/documents/DDR_Prime_Softgels_Product_Information_Page_(CAN).pdf) It promotes cellular health. We know, at a very basic level, that cancer is an overgrowth of damaged cells.  The DDR has essential oils in it that studies have shown can stop those damaged cells from replicating, delete them and even repair them! Here are various links to articles discussing the benefits of the oils against cancer. There are also a TON of studies on pubmed.com if you are willing to look and read scientific studies!
  • Frankincense – https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/frankincense-and-cancer/,
  • Lemongrass – https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/lemongrass-essential-oil-cancer/
  • Thyme – https://naturalsociety.com/researchers-find-chamomile-essential-oil-destroys-93-breast-cancer-cells/
  • Wild Orange – https://naturalsociety.com/researchers-find-chamomile-essential-oil-destroys-93-breast-cancer-cells/
  • Summer Savory – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4142450/
  • Clove – https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/oil-of-cloves/
  • Niaouli – http://www.herbs2000.com/aromatherapy/a_niaouli.htm
• She used Frankincense in excess for it’s anti-tumour properties. Mom diluted it with a little coconut oil and rubbed it on her skin over her pancreas, ingested a drop every day and had it going aromatically from her ultrasonic diffuser constantly when home. She may have gone a little overboard with the Frankincense!
• She used various oils to support her symptoms and side effects of chemo as well. ZenGest, ginger and peppermint was used topically and aromatically for her digestive issues, specifically nausea for her, and she did not have to use her PRN nausea med very often because of it! OnGuard, lemon, and oregano oils was used to boost her immune system after chemo so she could keep the germs, infections and hospital visits to a minimum. Sleep and relaxation was a big problem for mom so she used Serenity and lavender regularly at night.
• She also ingested cannabis essential oil nightly, specifically one called Phoenix Tears. (http://www.cureyourowncancer.org/how-cannabis-oil-works.html, http://herbaldispatch.com/phoenix-tears-the-cancer-cure-the-government-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about/) It is not high inducing, though it can help with sleep too. DoTERRA does not sell this product though. We got this with a medical card through what my mom calls “The Green Store”.

With using oils and minimal chemo as complimentary therapies, her blood clot and tumour shrunk enough in 6 months to have her qualify for surgery. She had a type of whipple surgery. It was hard and she was in the hospital for 3 weeks. As of May 30th, 2016 though…. SHE IS CANCER FREE! 3 months later she is still healing from such an invasive surgery but going strong!

Let me know if you have any questions or would like to experience these life giving oils yourself. I’d love to be a part of your journey with oils! You can email me at becomingkatie@hotmail.com or find me at my Facebook group Becoming Katie with Oils. If you are ready to try these oils for yourself and family you can get them in your home by clicking HERE! They have had countless benefits for my family and helping us get through cancer is just one of them!

I was so ignorant about the power that cancer holds. I was so unready. Is anyone ever ready for it?

Confusion and fear of the unknown clouded so much of my experience. Confusions from what the doctors where telling us, from the effects of cancer and “cancer killing” chemotherapy on the body, from all the conflicting emotions, from the relationships broken and strengthened, from the energy depleted and given, from the guilt and from the joy.

The doctors where giving protocols based on educated guesses at best. Pancreatic cancer is not one that many survive. Researching how to fight the cancer came up with so much more information and ideas than my mind was able to handle. My heart yearned for answers but there are so many half truths, lies feeding off desperate people and taking their money, special circumstances, and anecdotal evidence. Sifting through it all is impossible.

I was thriving in all the chaos and uncertainty though, as I do… a gift or a scar from my childhood. I was fighting the unraveling with control, knowledge and attempts at preparedness for every possible outcome. It was an exhausting, hyper alert state. It’s not just going down one road. It’s going down 18 different roads all at once and having all the emotions that go with each one, but keeping them all in check so I didn’t fall apart. It was unsustainable.

Then Mom was going to live… so it was safe to fall and feel again.

I’m choosing weakness and vulnerability now, or at least I’m trying to, and I’m starting to see strength and bravery in myself. I want to show my brokenness more and shine the strength that sits there. It’s scary and empowering.

It’s strange how just allowing yourself to feel is so healing. I’m still struggling but feeling that struggle is life-giving and so uncomfortable… Some days I feel pathetic, lazy and judged for being depressed now that Mom is getting better… She is going to live now, I should be elated. Why did the grief have to come now?

Days where I have practiced self-compassion, a skill I am very new too, I feel brave. I want my girls to know that bravery is not fearlessness, but that it is feeling that fear or sadness and still doing those hard things. So today, I’m scared, sad and wanting to give in to avoidance and numbness but I’m choosing to go forward and feel… Letting fear and grief sit and my table and mold me. It is all part of becoming a better version of myself.

This is a post I’m still wrapping my mind around. It was supposed to be a about celebration and our trip to Disneyland and morphed in to something totally different. Mom has been cancer free, officially, for 3 months now! I’m still processing the relief, the gratefulness, the guilt, and the exhaustion still. This is me tonight.

The trip was celebratory. Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. My kids, my sisters, spouses and Mom had a blast! It was a blessing and seeing Disneyland and the characters through my girls’ eyes. It was so fun to spend time as a larger family, connecting, laughing, hot tubbing, drinking and getting along! I’ll try to tell you about it again with pictures instead of words.

As fabulous as our celebration trip was, it was not restful… I still need the rest I think. Through rest, oils, yoga and a whole lot of self-compassion and care my soul is waking up again. There is a song, by Mumford and Sons, called Awake My Soul. It was on my ‘soul music’ playlist this past year. It speaks to my journey towards thankfulness through my moms cancer, to rest and a now to new realization of my being, or more appropriately, my becoming.