79: The Herbal Haven & Healing Community Amidst Global Challenges | Sara Berry

Embark on a journey with me to the heart of herbal healing, where nature's apothecary offers solace and strength. Sarah Berry, from seedling to shop owner, narrates how her passion for plants took root and grew into a sanctuary for wellness in Colorado. You'll feel the soil between your fingers and the sun on your back as she recounts her transition from garden enthusiast to herbal hero, offering over 150 organic herbs and a treasure trove of natural remedies to her community.

Imagine confronting a serious illness armed with nothing but a garden's bounty. We share the intimate story of a cancer patient's quest for healing through the wisdom of herbs, finding solace in the arms of medicinal mushrooms and the roots of burdock. You'll learn how a cup of herbal tea isn't just a warm drink, but can pulse with the potential to revive and restore. This chapter is a tribute to the intuitive art of personal health and the adaptogenic wonders hidden in plain sight.

In our closing thoughts, the resilience of a Manitou Springs herbal shop comes to light, standing strong amidst the tempest of a global pandemic through the unyielding support of a community bound by a common cause—well-being. My own voyage through health challenges illuminates the power of innovative treatments like EBOO and the spirit of Healing Strong, an organization offering a guiding hand to those navigating the tumultuous seas of illness. Together, we share a message of hope and empowerment, encouraging you to join the ranks of the healed and the healers. Your feedback and stories fuel this conversation, spreading a ripple effect of health and harmony.


Sara's FB Business Page

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

very, very easy to make herbal medicine, and that's, you know, one of the gifts of herbal medicine it's inexpensive, it's accessible, it's safe, there's very few contraindications with it, so it really is just so beneficial and, again, safe for children, and that's you know. One of my favorite aspects about it, too, is that there are so many different herbs that can support the entire family.

Speaker 2: 0:27

You're listening to the I am healing strong podcast, a part of the healing strong organization, the number one network of holistic cancer support groups in the world. Each week we bring you stories of hope, real stories that will encourage you as you navigate your way on your own journey to health. Now here's your host stage four cancer thriver, jim Mann. Jim Mann.

Speaker 3: 0:54

Today we are talking about herbs, something I'm very interested in and know very little about. I've killed many herb plants, as many people have, and I understand it's very easy to grow those, but we'll find out. Today we're talking to Sarah Berry, who is brilliant when it comes to herbs, right?

Speaker 1: 1:11

Oh yeah, I'm getting there eventually.

Speaker 3: 1:14

You know something.

Speaker 1: 1:15

Yes, I know a few things. I know a few things.

Speaker 3: 1:18

And you're in a beautiful part of the country, colorado Springs. I love Colorado. I was back in Colorado Springs just a little while ago, in the late 70s.

Speaker 1: 1:28

Time flies.

Speaker 3: 1:29

Yeah, it does Seems like yesterday, but driving through there and I saw Pikes Peak and all that area, I went to Estes Park, colorado. That's where I was going.

Speaker 1: 1:38

Oh lovely.

Speaker 3: 1:39

It's first time I've ever seen real mountains because I've always lived on the East Coast. I see bumps compared to what you got there, but beautiful.

Speaker 1: 1:47

Very fortunate to live here.

Speaker 3: 1:49

Yeah, every time I talk to somebody in Colorado, I just go off from the mountains. I need to stop doing that.

Speaker 1: 1:54

Well, it's a pretty, pretty big piece of the Colorado picture. So yeah, you think Colorado, you think mountains. They go hand in hand.

Speaker 3: 2:02

And very thin air. I remember running and realizing, oh my gosh, I'm having a heart attack. But I realized, no, it's just, the oxygen is a little thinner.

Speaker 1: 2:12

Yeah, quite quite a bit. I know I love going to lower altitudes. I'm like, oh my gosh, so much oxygen.

Speaker 3: 2:19

Well, Sarah, how did you get involved with the study of herbs?

Speaker 1: 2:25

Well, so my sister actually started in with herbalism before I did, but I owned an organic gardening and landscaping company here in Colorado Springs for 17 years.

Speaker 1: 2:36

And my sister, anna, was my right hand gal for a lot of that and she was studying herbalism and anthropology in Denver and we were working in a garden one day and she was talking about just the joy that herbalism brought her and we had just been chatting about it, discussing it more, and had what I can only describe as a download. It was really something that came right from God to both of us in that moment and we said, hey, you know, let's put a few things together and take it to the farmer's market and see what happens. So that was 12 years ago in June, and we just were off and running. And so we, like I mentioned, started off at farmer's markets and we were in a brick and mortar building two years later and have been there ever since. So we're celebrating 10 years in brick and mortar this summer and throughout that time have grown and expanded our business. We have over 150 organic bulk herbs.

Speaker 1: 3:38

We make teas and tinctures and salves and skincare and essential we don't make essential oils, but we sell essential oils, and so throughout this time, of course, I was gleaning knowledge and by working with the public, with herbs, and learning directly from my sister and, of course, doing my own studying with it, and then I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. And that's when I really started to glean information on anti-cancer herbs, specifically so that I could bring those into my own healing regimen.

Speaker 3: 4:14

Right. So when you got diagnosed, assuming since you knew so much about herbs, you didn't even consider the chemo, or did you? Well, did they offer that? Did they say, hey, you need to have chemo.

Speaker 1: 4:26

They did, yeah. So I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, with a stage two breast cancer in 2019. And you know, again, god came through in a very real and powerful way and I can only describe it as I was compelled to figure out how this happened and how to heal myself. I, without missing a beat, before, I think, I even got the official diagnosis, I started in on juicing and heavy detoxing and doing everything that I could in my power to heal myself, including the integration of many, many herbs. I was already using herbs before, but not to the caliber that I was then and am now. And then, in 2021, I was diagnosed metastatic, with metastasis to my bones, and that was a that was a pretty dark period because things got really bad for a while, where I was actually unable to walk and I was unable to use the entire right side of my body.

Speaker 1: 5:30

I couldn't use my end metastasis in my shoulder and both sides of my pelvis, and so I was unable to use my right arm. I was on a cane. I couldn't drive my car, I couldn't walk, I couldn't get up and down stairs and managed to pull myself back from the brink, turned myself around with many, many, many things, including the use of of herbs, which are a daily for me. Right, but yeah, chemo was never. It was never something that I think I considered it, but it just never felt right to me.

Speaker 1: 6:04

And my body was so toxic from contaminated well water we lived on a 400 acre ranch and we had we weren't even drinking the water, but just from bathing in it I ended up in some pretty severe contamination and so I was so toxic that I and I say this, you know, because we never really know, we never really know but I believe that I still would have become metastatic even had I done chemo, and I think I would have been worse off, and because my defensives would have been so much more broken down. So, yeah, I thought about it for a minute and I just didn't, and I really went all in on holistic healing. I mean all in and, like I said earlier compelled is the only way that I could describe it, because I was so driven to get to the bottom of it and so driven to find the answers on how to heal.

Speaker 3: 7:00

Right, you wanted to live.

Speaker 1: 7:02

Yes, yes.

Speaker 3: 7:03

I do. Yes, sir, that's very compelling at times. Now, did you follow a certain protocol, or you just took every herb that you knew of that was anti-cancer properties, or what exactly did you do?

Speaker 1: 7:20

Yeah, I didn't really follow herb wise. I didn't follow a particularly particular protocol. I really integrated through using some different websites. Marnie Clark, breast cancer health coach, is one. She talks a lot about herbs, so I utilized her website a lot.

Speaker 1: 7:40

I have a great book on herbalism and oncology that I used quite a bit to and I still refer back to a lot Things that I knew were just a sure thing, like different types of medicinal mushrooms, burdock root, milk, thistle, echinacea.

Speaker 1: 8:02

So I mean there's so many, there's so many, and most herbs are many, many herbs at least the ones that we work with in shop have some form of anti-cancer property to them. So it wasn't really that I was doing anything in a particular protocol per se, but what I did do, and I still do, is pulse different herbs. So each day I'll use something different and typically I'll drink tea. That's my favorite way, because I really feel like drinking tea is a very nourishing act in itself, and so drinking tea it helps to maintain hydration. It's just a really great way to get a variety of herbs into the body and, like I said, it's just a great way to sit down for the cup of tea and read a book or just sit quietly and reflect or whatever. So, and my kids love tea. It's great for the whole family, so that's a wonderful aspect of it too.

Speaker 3: 9:05

Yeah, I've been drinking mushroom coffee. That's pretty cool, isn't?

Speaker 1: 9:09

it. Yeah, oh, I love mushroom coffee. Yeah, it's wonderful. All those adaptogenic properties again and the anti-cancer properties. So giving you a little bit of energy it can help keep your blood sugar balanced. Lots of wonderful things that come with mushrooms.

Speaker 3: 9:26

Yeah, that's why I'm glowing. You can probably tell right away.

Speaker 1: 9:28

I can see you are glowing, yes.

Speaker 3: 9:30

Thank you, it's beautiful. What are some of your favorite herbs? I know you've talked about some already, but like make the top of your list.

Speaker 1: 9:39

Well gosh, you know there are so many, but I do play favorites. So if I had to choose my all-time favorite herb and I did mention it earlier it would be birdock root, and birdock root is it's been around for a long time and it actually grows all over the place. You would probably find it, you know, if you were to maybe go out on a trail near a creek or something, there's a real good chance that you would see it growing. But it's just wonderful and it's something that's called a tonic herb, meaning that it is both food and medicine, so it's very, very safe to take. It has anti-tumor activity to it. It has a substance in it that it's capable of reducing cell mutation as well, so it can down-regulate the cancer cells, and it's also used in the Hoxie formula.

Speaker 1: 10:37

So maybe some people have heard of that particular tea blend that's used sometimes in the cancer world and it's extremely detoxing to the liver and it's blood purifying as well. So it's one that I use in a tea blend that contains dandelion root, yellow-dock root, oregon grape root and then, of course, the birdock root and milk thistle. Did I say that already? I don't remember. Anyway, it's just a great detoxifying, anti-cancer blend and it's going to help to increase the detoxification of the liver and the kidneys and then, like I mentioned, has the ability to provide some blood purification as well. And so one thing that I've discovered in my walk with cancer is that many times when we are dealing with a cancer diagnosis is that our detox pathways are not functioning as they should, and so these are all wonderful herbs that can help to open up those detox pathways and allow a greater functioning of those systems in the body to help us just stay well and, hopefully, stay ahead of things.

Speaker 3: 11:50

My brain hurts already which?

Speaker 1: 11:52

doesn't take much.

Speaker 3: 11:55

I realize. But there's this shop in downtown Greenville's got all these herbs and spices and stuff. I go in there just to smell the place because it smells fantastic. But I'm like man, there's so many things I don't know what to choose from. I always get the dandelion root just because I think it's kind of funny. Hell growing up with dandelions. Everywhere there were a weed, there were the enemy, and now they're very healthy. It's like God knew what he was doing.

Speaker 1: 12:20

He did. And yes, it's just and I mean, dandelion is such, it's old, reliable, that's one I think that is just so valuable and, like you said, it's we've been taught that it's this little weed. We need to get it out of our grass and support these monocultures that aren't doing anything for us. But dandelion is just incredibly beneficial. It's super nutritious. You can use the entire thing. You can eat the flower petals, you can eat the leaves, you can use the root, the whole darn thing, and they are loaded with the vitamins. Again, super nutrient, dense, detoxifying to the kidneys. They act as a diuretic, so really valuable. And you can, in the springtime, when the leaves are young and tender, you can just pinch those off and throw them in a salad.

Speaker 1: 13:12

That's a great way to do it and if you are interested in trying to harvest the root yourself, you wait until typically after the first frost, trusting you have frost in your area, and then you can pull that root out when it's gathered all of the energy throughout the growing season and dry it out and brew it into a tea or grind it up and take it into a capsule, or go to your local herbs store if you don't want to go, do all of that.

Speaker 3: 13:39

Yeah, sounds like a lot of work.

Speaker 1: 13:41

It can be.

Speaker 3: 13:42

To take herbs. Obviously, tea is probably the main way of doing it because it's just direct right there, but I mean you also put it in juicing and smoothies and stuff like that, or yeah you can.

Speaker 1: 13:57

As a matter of fact, I frequently buy dandelion leaf from the health food store and I'll put that into my smoothie, but there are other ways. There's actually many mechanisms of delivery for herbs. Tea is my personal favorite, but tinctures are another very common way to take herbs and in our shop we use 190-proof organic cane alcohol as our menstrual to make our tinctures. So for me I tend to stay away from those, just because alcohol can be endocrine disrupting, although you can kind of burn the alcohol off in hot water. But there's also glycerite tinctures or vinegar tinctures, and those are non-alcohol tinctures and so those are great.

Speaker 1: 14:43

For kids or, like myself, I buy it from another company called Vimmergy, where it's just sublingual. You put it right under the tongue. That's a great way to get herbs into the system, or even essential oils. So breathing in the oils or putting oils directly onto the skin with a carrier, that's another way to get them into the system. So breathing them in, applying them topically, are all great ways and, like I mentioned, we do salves too. So that's essentially just oil and beeswax and then a mixture of herbs and that's great for a variety of different issues skin issues from eczema and psoriasis, to sunburns, to varicose veins, you know on and on.

Speaker 1: 15:29

So really, the mode of application with herbs is pretty vast.

Speaker 3: 15:34

Now is there a herb that grows back hair loss? Yes, actually there is.

Speaker 1: 15:40

I know I keep telling my husband I'm like, would ya? But yeah, he won't do it. Yeah, no, rosemary is wonderful, actually to help to stimulate the follicles of the scalp, for hair growth. And rosemary is also wonderful when smelled or even taken internally to stimulate memory and brain function. So wonderful, wonderful to use it colonnarily or medicinally.

Speaker 3: 16:07

Well, I just bought rosemary.

Speaker 1: 16:09

Perfect.

Speaker 3: 16:10

I wanna have an afro here soon.

Speaker 1: 16:12

Yes, you will. It's, yeah, it'll be glorious.

Speaker 3: 16:17

Like a lion's mane.

Speaker 1: 16:19

Man, I can't wait.

Speaker 3: 16:21

Do you take that? You rub it on your head, or do you just take it in tea or whatever?

Speaker 1: 16:25

Exactly. Yeah, at our shop we actually make a hair growth serum and it's a blend of some different oils, and rosemary specifically, and you just kinda massage it into the scalp, into those follicles, and watch the magic unfold.

Speaker 3: 16:42

Man, that's gonna be a new day for me Now for people like myself. I've tried to grow some herbs and I'm which is weird I've worked at a greenhouse for like six years. You think I would be really good with plants, but it was just betting plants. That didn't count. What's the best way? And I found a lot of people on Instagram. In fact, I just found a new person I forgot what it was called, but they show you how simple it is to grow herbs and have them on hand. What's the easiest and best way to do that? In the kitchen or out on the back porch?

Speaker 1: 17:19

I find outside is best. I mean, definitely you can do it inside. I think it would help to have a grow light and I think one of the things that's really important is making sure that you have proper airflow too, because they can be prone to little insects and pests and that sort of thing. But one of the biggest mistakes I think people make is overwatering, and most herbs kind of prefer dry feet. So I think that watering and letting them dry out ever so slightly before you water again is the key to a lot of herbs and making sure that they're not waterlogged. But yeah, sometimes I think people love their plants too much and that can be detrimental. So yeah, just slightly on the drier side with herbs.

Speaker 3: 18:04

Okay, and you need to harvest them Once they grow. You need to harvest them on a regular basis, at all times.

Speaker 1: 18:09

Yeah, yeah. So I think once the kind of tender, newer growth comes in in the springtime, it's a good idea, before it goes to flower, to harvest it then, and then you can dry it and store it in the glass jar and it'll typically last for about a year in a cool, dark place. It'll maintain its medicinal properties and tincturing is really easy to do too. So it's something that I always encourage with people. You know some herbs that are really easy to grow that are great for the whole family would be like lemon balm, which is very calming, it's anti-anxiety, it's a wonderful antiviral, great for children. So that's a really easy one to grow.

Speaker 1: 18:54

It's in the mint family and that can be harvested a few times a year and it's so easily made tea and tincture with that. If you're interested in making tincture at home, you can take your selected herbal blend or single note herb and put it in a mason jar and just pour vodka over the top of it and stick it in a dark cabinet for about six weeks and it draws the medicinal properties out, and then drain it out through cheesecloth and then just store it and there you have it. So very, very easy to make herbal medicine and that's, you know, one of the gifts of herbal medicine. It's inexpensive, it's accessible, it's safe, there's very few contraindications with it, so it really is just so beneficial and, again, safe for children, and that's you know. One of my favorite aspects about it, too, is that there are so many different herbs that can support the entire family across the board, you know, not just for cancer, but again that are wonderful for anxiety and depression, blood pressure, blood sugar, heart health.

Speaker 1: 20:04

It's, you know, just any head to toe tops to box is what I always say Hair loss, right, okay, yes yes, so there's an herb for just about everything, and you know, and with natural healing and with holistic healing, I think one thing we all know, for those of us who have been on this road for a while, is it takes some time and that these efforts are cumulative, unlike, you know, say, an allopathic treatment, which it's hard and it's fast and it's gonna carpet bomb you Versus some of these more holistic treatments, which they're gonna take time to work. And so you know I've heard it said multiple times throughout this last almost five years that I've been on this road healing takes time, it takes time, and so I think it's so important to be patient with all of these Holistic therapies that we choose for ourselves, because, as you know, jim, we didn't get sick overnight and it's gonna take a while to kind of get things back and to homeostasis again.

Speaker 3: 21:10

Right, okay, why I have? I noticed. In my garage today I got two really big pots so I could set those up outside above the waterline of my dogs, if you know what I'm saying. I Don't want them to water the herbs, but Is it best to start them, like with seeds, or just where should he get the herbs to start with to begin with?

Speaker 1: 21:36

Well, you know, it really kind of depends on your level of green thumb and a span, your climate. So for you in South Carolina you're obviously gonna have a much longer growing season than we do here in Colorado. Our average last frost is it's well into May, like it often snows on Mother's Day here, so you never know. But I'm a big fan of starts because of that. So just going to the nursery and buying maybe like a little two-inch starter but there's others that are really easy to start from seed to, like borage for instance, is very easy to start from seed. Things like lemon balm would probably be pretty easy to start from seed, but echinacea is easy from seed.

Speaker 1: 22:17

But I I'm a big fan maybe just because of, you know, wanting to get things moving a little bit faster I tend to to purchase Herb starts and then, once they get going I mean you know, herbs in the garden are very prolific, very easy to grow, oftentimes deer resistant, they're very xeric, so they can handle dry conditions as well Once they get going they're pretty self-contained, they're pretty self-sufficient and don't necessarily need a whole lot of auxiliary water. Even so, I mean, it depends. You know, there's some, some variations here, of course, but, generally speaking Speaking, a lot of these herbs are pretty darn hardy and and you can easily grow a medicine garden in your own, in your own garden, so I always encourage it. I have a huge medicine garden myself, in addition to, of course, what I get from my shop. How was your shop doing?

Speaker 1: 23:14

anyway, it's doing well. You know we, like I said, we've been going on 12 years now and it's we're kind of getting out of our slow season. We we rely heavily on tourism. Where we are, we're in a tiny little town called Manitou Springs, right at the foot of Pikes Peak, and you know we are, we're just moving along. God's got us and I talked to my sister about it all the time. We just he's carried us through Many years and some ups and downs.

Speaker 1: 23:48

We absolutely shined through COVID, which was just incredible, because I think that was a time when people were awakening to the need to support their health in ways that maybe they hadn't before. So we really experienced a renaissance over the last few years, really experienced a renaissance over COVID and Probably had our top sales years in 2020 through 2022. So that was unlike a lot of small businesses. We were really blessed with that and yeah, it's just it's. It's really neat where we are too, because so many people have never seen anything like it. You walk in and we have this huge wall of bulk herbs with a sliding ladder going across it and it smells so good. Like you?

Speaker 1: 24:34

talked about earlier in our conversation, and People come in and they're absolutely enchanted and so curious and so excited. And what's even better is when they try our products and Come back to us and say, oh my gosh, I can't believe it. It actually worked, you know. So it's it's. But I always say, you know, it's not us, it's the herbs. We're, we're just representing what God has placed here. That's all it's. You know it's not us, it's the herbs. So, um, you know, we're hoping for many more years of Of supporting our community and beyond with herbal medicine.

Speaker 3: 25:14

Okay, well, how did you come across healing strong?

Speaker 1: 25:18

so when I was first diagnosed, I Was turned on to square one by another girlfriend of mine who had breast cancer. Yes and um. I believe chris work mentioned it, probably just in his facebook group at some point.

Speaker 1: 25:36

At that point we did not have a healing strong group in color to springs, but I I was on the hunt, I was definitely working for it and so in January of 2020, we had our our first Healing strong color to springs meeting, um, and so we met in January and February and then boom cobin, so we did meet monthly on zoom, and then, um, you know, the group kind of limped along and now we have a new group leader, um, who has really done a good job at promoting and getting new members into the group and spreading the word.

Speaker 1: 26:19

And you know, these things they just take time. They take time, um. So, yeah, so I have been with our local group since, since it started in 2020, and um, it's just invaluable and I tell people about it all the time because it really truly outlines everything that we need to embark on this holistic healing journey. And the faith piece is so valuable and so important because when we're when we're living with a cancer diagnosis, and particularly when we're dealing with more advanced disease, it's a real spiritual journey. It's very spiritual, and so to gather with others who are like-minded in that sense where there is a strong faith presence as well as either.

Speaker 1: 27:18

you know, maybe some people have been more holistically minded for a long time, maybe some people are just for now dipping their toe into it, but again, to to see this movement growing is so beautiful. It's just such a gift to know, you know, that these groups are popping up now internationally, aren't? They Start popping up in some other countries, and that that level of support exists. Because for myself, you know, I had a large body of support when I made it known that I was going to treat myself holistically, but still, you know, I was an outlier. Still, there were not, and I still don't think most people are.

Speaker 1: 28:06

but there's a growing movement of people who are, and it's really so important to be able to gather with these people, with you know, people like ourselves who are on this, on this path and on this track, and because there's a lot of comfort in knowing that we're not alone.

Speaker 3: 28:25

Right, and how are you doing on your journey?

Speaker 1: 28:27

I'm doing pretty well. So I, like I said earlier, I had a pretty big dip back in 2021 and ended up going to a clinic in Sedona, arizona, which was fantastic.

Speaker 1: 28:42

Left there, just completely rejuvenated, back on track, back to gardening. I was swimming in the ocean on the Oregon coast by late that summer, just, I mean, really turned me around and had had a scan in 2022 that showed no evidence of disease, and so I had been going, still going forward, all my juicing supplements. You know everything that those journey entails. So I then had another scan the day after Christmas this year that showed some slight progression. So I honestly went into a little bit of an existential crisis for a few weeks where I was just like my gosh, you know why. But I'm coming back out of it and I'm excited to have this opportunity to talk to you because I actually started a treatment here in town three weeks ago called EBU, e-b-o-o.

Speaker 1: 29:42

It's and this, I think, is going to be huge coming up in the alternative healing realms.

Speaker 1: 29:50

It's extracorporeal blood ozonation and oxygenation, and so extracorporeal meaning outside of the body, and it's essentially like a blood dialysis.

Speaker 1: 30:01

It's not a true dialysis, but basically what it does is it draws blood from one arm and then up through a filter, mixes it with ozone and oxygen through a black light and in through the other arm. So it's like a double IV situation and it floods the body with ozone and oxygen. And so when I started this treatment three weeks ago, I was starting to limp again and having quite a bit of pain in my pelvis area again, and I have had two of these treatments. My limp is gone, the pain is gone. I have definitely improved energy, improved clarity. So it's, you know, unfortunately it's one of those ones that's very expensive and I'm grateful because my sisters sponsored me, we'll say, in getting this treatment. But I'm such a huge believer in ozone and oxygen and so I feel where, a few weeks, you know, after, for a few weeks, after getting those scan results around the first of the year, you know it was hard news, it was really hard news, it was not what I wanted to hear.

Speaker 1: 31:18

But I'm back to a place now of surrender and just trusting. Just trusting. You know this, this cancer, it's bigger than me. It's bigger than anything I can handle. I've done everything I can.

Speaker 2: 31:31

I have done everything I can.

Speaker 1: 31:34

I mean, I just have dedicated the last almost five years of my life to healing and I'm burned out, you know, on the whole process of it. But I can feel God carrying me. I can feel God carrying me and I still. I have a great quality of life. I hike every day. I hike almost every day, three miles a day. I have school age kids that I chase after and hang out and keep up with my house and you know friends and walk in the dogs and all of it. So you know my blood is great. There's really no evidence of disease present in my labs.

Speaker 1: 32:15

I suspect this eboo is really going to really powerfully turn things around. I'm very grateful for it and I'm very hopeful for it. So I'm doing well. I really am. I've been metastatic diagnosed omicromas three years and, yeah, I'm feeling good. I really am so feeling grateful, thankful for every day that's given to me and, yeah, like I said, just just really trying to live in this place of surrender and trusting that God loves me and has a future and hope for me and I'm just gonna let him do the heavy lifting.

Speaker 3: 32:58

Yeah, he doesn't even do scans. He knows what's going on, I understand.

Speaker 1: 33:03

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 33:05

Well, that sounds encouraging.

Speaker 1: 33:07

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 33:09

Well, how can people get a hold of you if they want to find out, like about your shop, or more of your story, or?

Speaker 1: 33:16

Social media is really a great place to find me directly and I'm happy to accept friend requests. I talk to people about cancer Frequently all the time. So just Sarah Barry, colorado, that's s a, r, a, b e r r y, and, and. And then, of course, my shop is Anna's apothecary and I'll go ahead and spell it a anas apo, th e, c a r y at gmailcom, and we also have a website, anna's apothecary Dot com, so you can email, you can reach us through social media on Instagram, tick tock or Facebook, or reach me directly, so on, on my own personal Facebook page and any of those venues will will get to me eventually.

Speaker 3: 34:08

All right. Well, Sarah, it's been great. I'm gonna go into the garage and get those pots out and see what I can start Doing with my own herbs and and get that rosemary start putting on my head. So what are you gonna do?

Speaker 1: 34:18

with that. Yeah, oh you're so lucky at springtime there we still have a ways to go. Oh yeah, we're expecting snow tomorrow, so oh, daffodils here.

Speaker 3: 34:30

Love the snow waiting. We haven't had snow for two years. Where I'm living, oh, boy yeah.

Speaker 1: 34:36

We don't get much actually here on the front range, so it's not not like deeper in the mountains. Okay, it's a treat when we do get it here. But yeah, thank you so much, jim. It's been an absolute honor to have this opportunity, so thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 34:50

You've been listening to the I am healing strong podcast. A part of the healing strong organization. We hope you found encouragement in this episode, as well as the confidence to take control of your healing journey, knowing that God will guide you on this path. Healing strong is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect, support and educate individuals facing cancer and other diseases through Strategies that help to rebuild the body, renew the soul and refresh the spirit.

Speaker 2: 35:24

It costs nothing to be a part of a local or online group. You can do that by going to our website at healing strong or and finding a group near you or an online group, or Start your own, your choice. While you're there, take a look around at all the free resources. Though the resources and groups are free, we encourage you to join our membership program 25 or $75 a month. This helps us to be able to reach more people with hope and encouragement, and that also comes with some extra perks as well. So check it out. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give us a five star rating, leave an encouraging comment and help us spread the word. We'll see you next week with another story on the I am healing strong podcast.