Hi.
My name is Meg Wolff. I'm 50 years old and live in Cape
Elizabeth, Maine. My husband Tom and I have a son and daughter:
Francis, age 21, and Cammie, 17.
I've survived cancer - twice. In the process,
I had my leg amputated and a breast removed. I've learned
a lot because of these experiences, and I feel obligated
to share what I think could benefit other people. I've written
two books in hopes of sparing people some of the pain I
endured by offering them the life-saving information I'm
so grateful to have learned (and maybe wish I'd learned
sooner!)
Here's a summary of my story:
I was diagnosed with bone cancer and consequently
had to have my leg removed when I was 33. We were living
in Oregon, and Francis was 4 and Cammie was 7 months old.
Seven years later, at 40, I was diagnosed with invasive
breast cancer. I went through a mastectomy, chemotherapy
and radiation, and doctors still told me to "make my
peace with God," and reconcile with the fact that cancer
would most likely be back within a year.
I'll forever be grateful for learning at just
that time that some women with breast cancer had been helped
by eating a macrobiotic diet. I didn't know what the diet
involved, but at that point, I was willing to try just about
anything that offered hope. I wanted to live.
So I started gathering every bit of information
I could about macrobiotics. The diet sounds much more mysterious
at first than it actually is. Allow me to simplify: It's
essentially a diet based on delicious whole grains, vegetables
and beans. Some people on a macro diet do eat meat, but
I do not. I also don't eat dairy or processed sugar and
junk foods. I wholeheartedly embraced this common-sense
way of eating … much to the heartache of many family
members and friends, who sadly thought I had really lost
it by believing that changing my diet was going to save
my life.
I don't know how to explain this, but their
concern and fears didn't deter me one bit. I took local
cooking classes; had a fantastic macrobiotic counselor,
Warren Kramer, who got me on the right track … and
I had wonderful support from Tom. And in very short order,
I started feeling - and looking - much better. So I've never
looked back. I believe macrobiotics changed my body's chemistry
and made it inhospitable to cancer.
Nine years later, I'm healthier than most
people I know. And I'm very happy and grateful. So really,
then, how could I gain this knowledge and not spread it
around??
I wrote a memoir that describes my journey
back to health - and the recovery of my marriage and happiness
(Becoming Whole: The Story of My Complete Recovery From
Breast Cancer). Becoming Whole also contains healing menu
plans, many easy-to-follow macrobiotic recipes and an extensive
directory of helpful Web sites, reading materials and macrobiotic
professionals. I then took a leap of faith and published
my second book (Breast Cancer Exposed: The Connection Between
Food and Survival), which shows through Joyce Tenneson's
photographs, the results of my mastectomy, and succinctly
explains the diet that I credit with saving my life.
I believe that dramatically improving my diet
was a life-saving decision. I want to share this information
because I believe millions of people's health and lives
could be better for understanding the vital link between
diet and health.
And so, I now spend a lot of time sharing
my story and recommendations through a variety of speaking
engagements. My Web site, www.megwolff.com,
contains lots of helpful information and resources, and
I hope it's a source of support, especially for people going
through breast cancer and for their caregivers. And I've
also been building a community of people interested in improving
their diet and lifestyle through my blog: www.becoming-whole.com.
If you'd like to learn more, please visit
these sites or e-mail me directly at meg@megwolff.com.
And best of luck on your own journeys to excellent health.
Let me know if I can help!
Love, Meg
