nutrition & cancer

Today I purchased a book that I have heard about for years. It just might be the most important book I have ever read about nutrition. It is The China Study by T. Colin Campbell. I am not finished with it but it is having that wow effect on me. I knew some of these things but not in the context in which the book describes them. Mostly what I love about it is that it is empowering knowledge. I have a degree in English Literature not biochemistry or nutrition but I have taught myself a lot in these two fields over the course of 2 years. I am not an overachiever. I am a wife determined to save her husband's life from stage IV, metastic, inoperable pancreatic cancer. Guess what...with help from 2 fabulous openminded doctors I am doing it. How? Food...nutrition. There is a lot of information out there and some of it is junk. It takes a knowledgable mind and a lot of dedication and determination to unearth the real information available. It does exist. The way we eat means everything. In our schools it should be a core class from grade school through college. It effects every aspect of our lives. Even Hippocrates knew this but it seems to be a subject disregarded in most medical schools. Most conventional doctors are totally ignorant on the topic. That is a crime in my opinion. Money can't be made on teaching people how to eat well or how to eat to reverse illness but it can be made on pills,surgeries,etc. It makes me so angry. When I asked our allopathic (conventional) oncologist if he wouldn't at least consider that the dietary changes we have made had made a difference in my husband's current state instead of the diagnosis being wrong he said he was not a dummy and could not deny what was right in front of him. Now we know that as an allopathic oncologist he can't say that he does believe that our dietary changes have made a significant difference but he as much as he could he acknowledged that they had. I have seen the suffering caused by cancer first hand with my oldest sister who passed from lung cancer. It is aweful to me now to think of it because it was so preventable and unnecessary and easy but we just did not know anything about cancer & nutrition at the time in my family. Her experience filled me with dread when we found out that my husband had cancer and I was determined that he/we would not go through that and that I was not going to lose him to this damned disease. I understand how it works now and the many factors that help it to progresss and stop it in its' tracks. We are still fighting it but we are winning and I know we will be victorious. I just want others to know they can do it too. The diet changes may seem to overwhelming or too big but in comparison to what? Chemo & radiation are pretty overwhelming and big! My husband did chemo for 14 months. He faired better than most do while on it and we agree along with one of our docs that our diet & some supplements made that possible. Basically what has happened in the course of 2 years is a stabilization of the tumors. They are still there but they have not grown or progressed since initial diagnosis. This is highly unusual for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas as it is considered an aggressive cancer. "Eating the right way not only prevents disease but also generates health and a sense of well -being, both physically and mentally."T. Colin Campbell