84: Two Time Cancer Thriver - A Chef's Triumph Over Cancer & Path to HealingStrong | Jill Sonlin

Discover strength, faith, and culinary passion as we're joined by Jill Sonlin, a two time cancer survivor whose life story defies the odds. Jill received an early stage breast cancer in 2017, and in 2022 received an aggressive Non Hodgkins Lymphoma diagnosis. Jill's story is one of unshakeable belief and divine intervention, with her career as a nurse evolving into a remarkable journey as a French-trained chef. Her resilience not only carried her through the darkest of times, but also ignited a fervent dedication to health, wellness, and the nourishment of others. In our heartfelt conversation, she opens up about her personal battles, her transition into the world of culinary arts, and how she utilizes her platform to spread hope and invaluable knowledge in the realm of healing.

Imagine facing the depths of illness only to be touched by a sense of peace so profound it reshapes your entire being. That is the essence of Jill's near-death experiences, which we uncover in an emotionally rich discussion. Her fight with breast cancer, the unexpected emergence of lymphoma, and the spiritual encounters that guided her through it all—Jill's narrative is a powerful reminder of the complexities of cancer treatment, but also celebrates the impact of faith in overcoming life’s most formidable challenges.

Pivoting toward the collective journey of healing, we spotlight HealingStrong, a nonprofit organization that Jill champions. HealingStrong's mission is to embolden those seeking to reclaim their health, providing a sanctuary for connection, support, and education grounded in the belief that healing is not just possible, but achievable. Through local and online groups, HealingStrong spreads the message that in togetherness and faith, we can rise above adversity. Tune in for an episode that's not just a story but a source of inspiration, teaching us all that when we stand together in community, our potential for wellness knows no bounds.


Connect with Jill:
Instagram

HealingStrong's mission is to educate, equip and empower our group leaders and group participants through their journey with cancer or other chronic illnesses, and know there is HOPE. We bring this hope through educational materials, webinars, guest speakers, conferences, community small group support and more.

Please consider supporting our mission by becoming a part of our Membership Program, as a monthly donor.

When you do, you will receive additional resources such as: webinars, access to ALL our past and most recent conference videos, downloadables and more, as a bonus.

To learn more, head to the HealingStrong Membership Program link below:

Membership Program

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I'm only alive, able to tell you this because God let me live. He's the glory of my being here, able to talk, and I think that this part of my story is the most significant aspect of my diagnosis. So I went into the white light, which I know nothing about, I just am telling you my experience Went into a bright white light and God told me to rest in the white light until I could breathe easier. And when I was in that light, I suddenly could breathe, I was at peace, I was calm.

Speaker 2: 0:34

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. 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.

Speaker 3: 1:07

I have with me a young lady who is a two-time cancer survivor just showing off there. Registered nurse, french culinary school trained chef and healthy food recipe creator and influencer on Instagram. Man, she doesn't do anything. This is Jill Sondland. How you doing, Jill?

Speaker 1: 1:20

I'm doing great, thank you.

Speaker 3: 1:22

You had me at chef. By the way, I'm no chef, I'm not a baker, I'm not a cook, but I am an eater. I'm a professional eater, so we'll get along great. And I've been skinny all my life, so I eat nonstop, which is not really healthy. Of course, I do eat a lot. It's terrible, but I have to train myself to give my stomach a break, let it rest for a little bit before I snack again. But you have survived cancer twice. And before we get into that story, are you still an active nurse?

Speaker 1: 1:57

Well, I'm coming right out of my second cancer. So no, I would say I'm actively nursing. But what I do come from a line of nurses. My grandmother was a nurse and she worked till 89 years of age. She died at 92. So I'm not until God calls me home and Jesus calls me home. I'm ready to work.

Speaker 1: 2:20

But I think, because I am a high energy kind of person, I really just have always been a lover of learning new things and just reaching for different new experiences that will make me grow. I'm ready to get back into the world, but I know that through these experiences I'm meant to just rest, take care of me and slow down. I think God is teaching me that. So I'm not actively doing any job other than kind of interesting work on my social media, which I don't really. You know, it's a small little something, but I help a lot of people, I pray for them, I, I support them. Uh, they talk to me about their problems. I always have been that person Um, and and I offer now only um in my uh, social media health and wellness as well as um, health and wellness as well as recipes. And then I also, do you know, in my slowing down.

Speaker 1: 3:28

I got a newspaper column. I'm writing a monthly newspaper column on health, which I just can't believe. How good God is, I mean I just I thank him every day. I can't believe I got to do this, I get to do this. So I'm working on that.

Speaker 1: 3:43

I write about a different health topic monthly and it's something I've always wanted to do. I used to read Dear Abby as a kid and think, oh, that would be a great job. But I grew up and I forgot all about that until I got lymphoma and this opportunity was brought to me that they were offering our local newspaper called the Doylestown Cardinal that they offered me a monthly column that I could write about any health topic each month. And I just cannot believe I'm so blessed, so kind of not working, but I'm working.

Speaker 1: 4:18

So that's kind of a combination of working as a nurse and a chef, because I put recipes in the newspaper, I put health information and even as a nurse in nursing school I won awards at graduation for communication and all that. I used to teach student nurses when I was a student. I like imparting knowledge because I feel like I've always known that knowledge is power and that sounds cliche, but knowledge helps us. It helps us in life. So it helps us experience life, helps us make good decisions and helps us enjoy life to the maximum. So, yeah, I love writing that column. It's just so awesome.

Speaker 3: 5:00

Yeah, Now how long have you been a chef?

Speaker 1: 5:04

Okay, so, if you don't mind, I'll backtrack. Yeah, now, how long have you been a chef? Okay, so, if you don't mind, I'll backtrack.

Speaker 3: 5:08

Sure.

Speaker 1: 5:09

I wanted to be a nurse my entire life, since I was a little tiny girl. Maybe when I was five, people would say, oh, what do you want to be when you grow up? I wanted to be a nurse and I did everything towards that goal and became a nurse and loved it and excelled in it and had big goals and dreams. Because I always that's just the kind of person I am. I like to look beyond even just where I'm at and grow. But then I had a child and my child had a disability. So I left working as a nurse and then I raised my family from that point on.

Speaker 1: 5:41

But I used my nursing skill set in various ways. I used to oh my gosh, I donated all of my time and money and energy to nonprofits. I love charitable organizations and I would just make all the food and make all these neat parties for them and all the way I owe money. I just love doing it. But then my children grew up and I was really sad, as many parents feel that emptiness. Oh, I felt so sad. So my kids would say Mom, you're always cooking for groups and you're hired by people to do their parties as a home cook. Why don't you go to culinary school. You always joke about that, why don't you go do it? And I'm like, no, that was like a joke. Well, I did. I went up and drove to French culinary school and went there and loved it. Loved it so much.

Speaker 1: 6:38

So then I wound up working part-time as a registered nurse and part-time as a chef, and there would be times where I might be numbing up a patient with a needle and I'd think, uh-oh, am I in my chef uniform or am I in my nursing uniform? I'd have to check, I'd take a peek down. Oh whew, I'm in my nursing shoes and not my chef shoes, because I was working one to the other every other day. It was so crazy, but I loved it and so I went to nurse. I went to chef school when I was in my mid forties, so I'm, you know, mid fifties, so I'm 10, 10 plus years into being a chef.

Speaker 1: 7:20

But I combined the two it's. It's great because I love art with food. That's what got me interested in culinary school, not just technically cooking, well, it's using art with food. That's where I thrive and I shine. I use art with food. But now I decided, after this lymphoma, I'm going to use the gifts God has given me with making just really savory, visually appealing, bad-for-you food. I'm going to use that same gift that God's given me now to lure in beautiful health and wellness in my food.

Speaker 3: 8:01

That's what I was assuming. I was going to say, I'm sure, before you got your diagnosis, the food was just very good to the taste and looked beautiful, of course. And then, once you got your diagnosis, I'm thinking it went more on the nutrition side, right?

Speaker 1: 8:16

Yeah, I'll tell you. Actually the food was always my art form. So even when I would make grant, like the key giving ceremonies for habitat for humanity, I would do all their key giving ceremonies and I'd make a full spread of food. But it was my chance to be art, artistic. So I would have fancy food and I just made. It was a win-win because they got a great table of food and I got to use my art.

Speaker 1: 8:45

But it's transitioning into making it healthy, but I still use it as art. So if you look on my Instagram, which is Jill's Gourmet Dreams, you'll see all of my food. Even if I'm making a muffin, even if I'm making a salad, it's going to look like a work of art because it just makes me happy. It's not for anything other than God knows, it makes me happy to just make it look pretty. But I always strive that it must look amazing, because you eat with your eyes first, obviously. So it has to make your eyes get excited and then it has to come through with taste and nutrition. I'm not going to just go eyes and taste anymore. Now it's eyes, taste and nutrition to fight off cancer and disease. So now it's a three-part goal. Everything I make.

Speaker 3: 9:44

Yeah, I was looking at your Instagram and I now wish I hadn't, because I'm very hungry. Just looking at those pictures, they look fabulous.

Speaker 1: 9:53

Don't scroll down too far, because when I would make really indulgent food before I got lymphoma, oh my gosh. I went to town. It was so much fun and I work with tons of food brands and, oh, I gave way more than I should have. I had so much fun, love it.

Speaker 3: 10:09

I did scroll down too far, thanks a lot. Well, let's go with your story. You got diagnosed, I think it was seven years ago. Tell us what happened.

Speaker 1: 10:20

Okay, so 2017, I found my own lump and, being a nurse, I had a lot of knowledge about what to look for and I was always very careful and knowledgeable about the signs and symptoms if I were to get breast cancer. But I found it myself and I found it in a very unusual spot, which is a significant thing in my story too, because a lot of women find it in the circles, and for me, I found it up by my clavicle. You know this long wound here. So my teensy, tiny little I thought it was a mosquito bite, but I got it checked just in case. And good thing I did, because I've always had really good senses, always and it's God I realize now it was always God but as a nurse, always very, very fine-tuned to little things, and it helped a lot of my patients and it helped me. So I went right in. They said it was stage one breast cancer, but because I was BRCA2 and because of the cell type which was the most aggressive, even though I caught it early, stage one I was going to need the bilateral mastectomy and I also was going to need just four doses of chemo. So and a lot of women get these three chemicals I was going to be able to skip the red devil, so that was like a big wonderful pleasure. But I did not tolerate those four doses at all. Those four doses nearly killed me. My body does not like medicine and those four doses my whole body swelled with fluid. 20 pounds of fluid head to toe for three years. Most people get their chemo and they lose weight. For me, my lymphatic system went berserk filled up with fluid and that was actually the start to me having lymphoma. So I'm most likely I got the secondary lymphoma from the primary breast cancer chemo when I was five years out of breast cancer. When you're like that's your big thing, you're waiting for the five-year point and if you're free of cancer then you're generally really low risk of it ever returning. I had just made the five-year breast cancer point and within two months, two months later, almost just overnight, I almost died from lymphoma.

Speaker 1: 12:52

I had an acute, terrible, life-threatening respiratory type of lymphoma that suddenly crushed my trachea and both of my main airway tubes, called your bronchi and my lungs. So I was almost unable to breathe for about eight days and I didn't know what happened because of course I didn't think it was cancer. I just woke up one day, the end of September 2022. I couldn't breathe. Suddenly, about 11 o'clock in the morning, I said to my husband take me to the university hospital. Something's wrong. I can't breathe. So that began the long journey of nearly dying and I kind of think I may have passed away.

Speaker 1: 13:40

I spent 13 days in University of Pennsylvania fighting for my life because these lymphoma nodules swelled around my trachea and both airway tubes to both lungs and I couldn't get air in. And I actually had. This was one of the things that's significant with me. I actually had several near-death experiences while in there and my thought is I probably my heart probably stopped because for eight days I just was not hardly breathing, and so, several different times, suddenly I found myself. I went right up into this bright white light and I have to say I know nothing about near-death situations. I never read these books, I never watched TV or anything about it. I just know what happened to me.

Speaker 1: 14:32

I was laying in my bed, not on any medication, and it was during the day, and I went into a white light and this is really significant to my story and I'm only alive, able to tell you this, because God let me live. He's the glory of my being here, able to talk, and I think that this part of my story is the most significant aspect of my diagnosis. So I went into the white light, which I know nothing about. I just am telling you my experience. Went into a bright white light and God told me to rest in the white light until I could breathe easier. And when I was in that light I suddenly could breathe, I was at peace, I was calm and I saw what I will say was interpreted by me and I remember it vividly. It's not something I forget one day. It wasn't a dream, I wasn't sleeping, it was the afternoon, there was no medicine, but I laid in the white light because I was told lay here until you can breathe easier. And I did what I was told and I laid in that white light and God was around me on one side, in like a sparkly also I can say it's hard to say it was like a sparkly, silvery, glitter presence and I just was. I knew that was God on this side. The other side was a gold and cream, glittery form and that was Jesus. And I was told to rest until I can breathe easier.

Speaker 1: 16:05

And that very first time I was told one word. In that light. God spoke to me. I saw the word in caps and I also heard it and God told me believe. And I was in that light and I honestly tell you I said, of course God, of course I believe, because I was a born again Christian at age 11. I always was extremely faithful. I was a normal girl. I wasn't perfect my whole life, but I was very faithful, super faithful. So in that light I was like a little confused, like, of course I believe, lord, of course, and that's.

Speaker 1: 16:46

I didn't get any more response and I laid in that light until I felt I was, could breathe better, and then I suddenly was thrust back into my body and I told my husband and my two adult kids just had the weirdest experience and that white light just stayed above me a lot. I just saw a white opening, white light above me and I would say to my husband and kids oh no, I hope I'm not going to be called back in there. I see that white light Happened several times. The second time I went back in the light, god told me we are one. Now I never heard of the phrase, that phrase. I was not a Bible reader. I might have loved Jesus and been faithful, went to church a lot. I didn't read the Bible. I never had heard that phrase we are one Came back to my body and then I think a third time, I went in and wasn't told anything more, I just got my breath, went back to my body and went on.

Speaker 1: 17:48

But I told my housewing kids the whole time like, uh-oh, I see that light. And then eventually the nodes went off my lungs and I was able to breathe. There's more to the story. They started chemo and everything shrunk the nodules off my airway. But it happened overnight. Right after this situation and since my lymphoma being in quarantine, my immune system was really, really hard and immunocompromised. I was in the house for about a year plus on quarantine because I don't have a great immune system from all the chemo.

Speaker 1: 18:29

I read the Bible faithfully once or twice a day and I research. Where does it say in the Bible believe? Where does it say in the Bible we are one? And I study those phrases and you know it's so enlightening. I know now why. I know a lot, why Maybe God will reveal more. But I know now why those words were important for God to speak to me. It wasn't just believe, because I did believe in Jesus and there wasn't any parameters as what to believe. It wasn't believe I'm the Son of God or believe that I'm X, y and Z, it was believe blank.

Speaker 1: 19:11

And what I've read in the Bible all the time, god or Jesus would say because you believe in me, you are healed. Because you believe in this, god blesses you when you believe and you become one of the body of Christ, which is we are one in John 17. So there's just so many miraculous lessons I've learned and I'm just so grateful for that. I read in the Bible how God speaks to different people in the Bible at different points of time, and I think, wow, like there is absolutely a God, there's absolutely Jesus. I experienced that in the light and I've experienced being spoken to and I'm going to listen because I'm not going to do anything. That's not what God wants me to do. I'm not going to do anything. That's not what God wants me to do. So I really strongly believe and make that really just such a strong covenant in my life with God and Jesus and we are one, knowing that I'm part of the body of Christ, and I feel so, so privileged, so privileged. You know you don't get that. I would never have had that acknowledgement or knowledge, the wisdom that you gain from God and everyone gets knowledge from the Bible, it's the living word.

Speaker 1: 20:34

Well, for me, going in that light, that just changed me. I've been saying since I got home from the hospital I look the same, but I am not the same. I am not only renewed, as you might read in the Bible. I am completely different in everything. God has changed me for the better in so many ways. I love my new life, even though it's not perfect. I'm not perfectly healthy, I don't have perfect health, I have a lot of concerns regarding health and other life things. But I've never been happier, never been at more peace, and I just feel so fortunate to have had that moment in the light.

Speaker 3: 21:17

Yeah, that's definitely unique to you. That's something that no one else could share with you, and you probably felt like, ah, I want to tell more people, but they're going to think I'm crazy. Did you ever get that feeling?

Speaker 1: 21:30

Well, my gosh, jim, you are so right. Like, first of all, I thought it was crazy because I'm human. I'm human, like what was that? I didn't think it was crazy per se, I knew for sure. God let you know, there's no misunderstanding when God speaks to you, you know. But I thought, oh my gosh, like what does God want me to do with this? And so I would ask separate people like what do you think I should do with this, you know? And they would say, oh, you know. They would just say, oh, it's, you know. It's good that that happened.

Speaker 1: 22:05

Nobody knows what to do with it, and I don't even know what to do with it. But you know what? I prayed a lot about it and I trust God's going to do with it what he wants, and even if it's nothing, but that's why it was really important that I told you about that, and it doesn't matter if nothing happens, but it's definitely. I tell a lot of people that I know may or may not be believers. I'll say, okay, let me just tell you. You don't have to hear my whole story. But there is a God and there is Jesus. Jesus is a son, and they know me so well that they trust me. I've always been really just everybody's confidant and such, and I'll say you know what I'm telling you believe Jesus is real, god is real, I experienced it and so.

Speaker 3: 22:56

Yeah, it definitely changed you as a person. You're closer to God. You read the Bible.

Speaker 3: 23:03

I mean I had several incidents in my story where God just did something unique to me. That made me realize okay, he does know me intimately, he knows what my journey is, he knew it before it happened. He's let me know, he's going to be there with me through it. It didn't catch him off guard. It sounds like that's pretty much something that you felt, also like God saying hey, we got you, we take care of you, nothing to worry about.

Speaker 1: 23:32

Yeah, I really feel like I probably my heart probably stopped from the distress of not being able to breathe for eight days. They couldn't intubate me because I was too high a risk, so I just had to be strangled, slowly suffocating for eight days. It was horrible, it was just awful, and I know my heart must have stopped and that's why I went in that light and God gave me life again. All that makes sense to me, at least as a human trying to figure it out. But, yeah, god speaks to each of us and I think the word believe is such an important word because it's always connected in the Bible to Jesus and something good, you know, whether it's healing or protection or conquering something.

Speaker 1: 24:24

And I think to myself why did God tell me to believe? I already believe in him and Jesus, but now I see that maybe he wanted me to believe that he can do all things, maybe he wanted me to believe in his power over what I was going through. Because I was like, of course, I believe, I believe it all, like I'm not a rebel, I'm not a rebel child of god or anybody else and not a rebel person. So, um, I was like, oh yeah, he saw my heart. I believe, of course I believe. I believe in it all and I think he gave me life because of that.

Speaker 1: 25:02

No, I never try to propose my future. Now I'm only one year out and I just give my life to God and I just tell him every day, every day you give me, thank you so much. I know what it's like to be in that light. I know what it's like to be so close to death, and every day I just am so thankful for it at a heightened level, even a year and four months later. Every day and every single thing is so much more special, and I never was one who didn't think little things were special, but now I'm even more so.

Speaker 3: 25:42

But how did you come across Healing Strong?

Speaker 1: 25:44

I believe Chris Work.

Speaker 3: 25:48

Yes, it usually is.

Speaker 1: 25:50

Surprise, surprise.

Speaker 3: 25:52

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 25:52

So with my breast cancer chemo that's another interesting story because I did not listen to my intuition and I believe my intuition has always been the Holy Spirit speaking to me and I was a good, faithful Christian. Back with breast cancer, but I didn't have a lot of knowledge. Right, you gain knowledge as you grow in your faith, but I don't know that I was growing so much. So when I had breast cancer, they told me I was going to need chemo and I was hysterical about it because something inside me was like no, do not do chemo. Now this is weird because I was a nurse. I took care of cancer patients. I gave medicine. I had no prior objection to chemo or medication or treatments or radiation. My own grandmother, who I loved dearly, had chemo radiation. I had no bias or negativity against it.

Speaker 1: 26:51

But for some reason, I would say with my breast cancer I was literally crying. I got like three different opinions and they all said I needed chemo. And I would cry and I would say you have no idea, you're making me go against my morals. And they would be like your morals. I can't explain it, but my morals are saying do not do this. And I would say to everybody doctors, nurses, my husband, my kids. I don't want to do it because I feel like I'm going against my moral code. I feel like I'm being forced to drunk drive in a playground full of kids.

Speaker 1: 27:27

I was totally going against what something inside was telling me not to do. And that doesn't mean it's not a good thing for some. I took it with lymphoma and it saved my life. But I'm just saying with breast cancer and for me God was speaking and saying don't, but everybody said I had to do it. So I did it and guess what? I was one of the sickest little early stage one cancer girls and I was really sick for three years and then I got lymphoma from that chemo. So I think about that often. Like you know what? I have always had good instincts I'm trusting God. Now I'm just. Those instincts are all about trusting God and I needed it for lymphoma and it saved my life. So I'm not I'm not saying anything harsh against chemo. It actually can cure some cancers and it's necessary and needed. But just with my breast cancer, early stage one, something was saying not to, but with lymphoma, thank God God used that to get me through.

Speaker 3: 28:37

So you did a little research, came across Chris Wark probably, and then he talks about healing strong.

Speaker 1: 28:43

Yep Uh-huh and was following him, was on his website a lot. I ordered his square one back seven years ago. It was a lot of money for me back then but I was like I need this to my husband. My husband's so wonderful, he's like let's get it. And so I got it and watched it over and over again, got familiar with it and I would say that I did a lot of the things. Not all of the things because I was really, once I got out of the first three years of the fluid, the lymphatic fluid on my body being just not leaving me. After that I really really focused on healthy eating, exercise and all of those things and I got really healthy. So I did a lot of what Chris's square one says, but not like now. Now, with the second lymphoma, oh, I'm just all over it like you can't believe. And then some.

Speaker 3: 29:43

Yeah, and it helps to be a chef and a nurse.

Speaker 1: 29:46

It helps to be a chef. But you know what I'll tell you. That's funny. You say that because I love playing with food. Food are my paints, they are my music, my musical notes. I come from a very creative family. We're all good cooks, we have singers and drawers and just a lot of creative people and writers. But for me my food was my art form. I didn't play an instrument and I wasn't writing anything, but food was my instrument.

Speaker 1: 30:16

When I first got well enough to cook after lymphoma, it took me a little while to figure out how to make a bowl full of vegetables look fancy, delicious, magazine cover worthy and to my liking, because it has to please me. And then I just put it out and it doesn't matter. At that point I just post what makes me happy. But it took a while. But you know what I'm getting the hang of it. I have to say I'm really getting excited. I got all kinds. Now I'm feeling good, the brain's working good, I'm getting creative ideas, how to make carrots and celery look like I don't know, the cover of Gourmet Magazine. It's such a challenge I love and I thrive on.

Speaker 3: 31:05

Yeah, I'm definitely going to follow you so I can salivate over all these pictures. Do you put recipes on there also?

Speaker 1: 31:14

I do put recipes on there yeah often.

Speaker 1: 31:18

All right, and I will more. I have to get more technological, though. I do a lot of um, tell me in your comments if you want the recipe, and so a lot of the fancy influencers. You know they have all the technological advances that, like. All you have to do is type in their comments, oh, I want the recipe. And then instantly something puts it into my dms. Well, for me, I don't know how to do that, so guess what I write? Oh, if you, if you're interested, just write recipe in the comments. Well, I just have to. I go one by one and I I have like a, a screenshot of a recipe, and it takes me hours. But and then the other thing about my Instagram, which has made me a little bit more, I think, successful.

Speaker 1: 32:06

I love communicating with people. I like the one-on-one. I want to help people. I always have, even back when I first started this with breast cancer, like seven, eight years ago. So my DMs, I'll be like here's a recipe, here's a couple of tricks. So my DMs, I'll be like here's a recipe, here's a couple of tricks. If you have any problems, give me, text me and add this in. This tastes great. I know I'm hours answering these DMs, but I like giving people real help. I love it.

Speaker 3: 32:34

Yeah, I was going to say otherwise, just find a seven-year-old and they'll do all the technical stuff for you. Exactly. Well, how can people get a hold of you? I guess the Instagram is probably the best way, right?

Speaker 1: 32:46

Instagram and the DMs is the best way. I also have my Instagram email, jill, at jillscoremadreamscom, and they can also check out my health column in Doyle Sound, Cardinal, and I call it the happy Hometown to a Vibrant Community, and so that's the main title, but then I have a subtitle of a different health topic each month. So that's really helpful, like important health topics, not just random. Something that's really important. You know eating too much sugar and how that affects all of us, not just cancer patients. Sugar, how white sugar and white flour are actually. They're seductive poisons. I call them Right. You have one bite and you just want to keep gobbling it up and it just sets your body on a vicious cycle of high glucose and cravings and going off your diet. So your weight loss is messed up, your diabetes is at higher risk cancer. Those articles are really a part of my heart. They're going to be important issues to everybody, not just generic health topic.

Speaker 3: 34:03

Okay.

Speaker 1: 34:04

Oh, there was one other thing, if you have time really quick. So after my lymphoma 13 days I was discharged and I was super, super ill but alive, and I was really weak, but alive, and I was really weak. So two weeks bedridden, not able to breathe, I lost 14 pounds and I lost a lot of muscle and fat in my body. I couldn't even walk the steps to get up to bed. My husband had to carry me and I'm normally a strong girl.

Speaker 1: 34:36

But after a day or two being in my bed upstairs, I used to love listening to music. So I said to my husband can you give me my phone? I want to listen to something good and just get my mind happy again. So I went into my phone and I had a habit of if a song was important, if something moved me in music, I would put it on repeat. And I thought to myself laying in that bed just looking terrible.

Speaker 1: 35:03

After this experience I thought, all right, what do I want to listen to? I thought I'm sure there's probably something really good that I was listening on repeat. I'm just going to go there. So I go into my phone, I go to the last song that was in my phone that I had been listening to on repeat for a week before I had this experience and it is called Great Are you Lord, by Casting Crowns, and that's a significant song, because I was like, oh, I forget what that song was. Let me play it. I played it and don't you know that song?

Speaker 1: 35:39

All the words pertain to my experience. It talks about the choruses it's your breath in my lungs, we pour out our praise to you. And it talks about the bones and just how God breathes life into our bones and how God is the breath in all our lungs. And I was just sitting there thinking how ironic. I couldn't breathe.

Speaker 1: 36:06

Then I could breathe, and the last song on my playlist that I listened to nonstop for a week was this song Great Are you Lord, talking about you're the breath in my lungs. And God really was the breath in my lungs and still remains the breath in my lungs. And God really was the breath in my lungs and still remains the breath in my lungs. And to this day, I exercise at most every day. I love nature and I always make time to go, and not only does that remind me that I can breathe easy, because I remember vividly of not being able to take a deep breath, or any breath, but I thank God for that air that he put in my lungs, because it's God breathing lungs and life into me. So listen to that song. It's pretty significant if you know my story. I just it's ironic.

Speaker 3: 36:51

Yeah, it was great meeting you and I'm going to be all over your Instagram.

Speaker 1: 36:54

Thank you, I will follow back.

Speaker 3: 36:56

All right, and when you make a, if you do the recipe, make it so that like a fourth grader can understand it.

Speaker 1: 37:02

That'll be me, will do, will do, I will do that.

Speaker 3: 37:06

All right, thank you very much.

Speaker 2: 37:08

Thank you, have a good day. 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: 37:43

It costs nothing to be a part of a local or online group. You can do that by going to our website at healingstrongorg 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 at 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.