Breast Cancer Healed With Raw Vegan Diet (Janette Murray-Wakelin)

Janette Murray-Wakelin heals from breast cancer with a raw vegan diet and other alternative therapies

Janette Murray-Wakelin was diagnosed with a highly aggressive carcinoma of the breast in 2001 and was given only six months to live. The tumor was three centimeters and the cancer had spread into her chest wall as well as the lymph nodes. It was recommended that she undergo conventional chemotherapy and radiation treatments, which doctors said may possibly extend her life by an additional six months.

Janette was 52 at the time, the mother of two and a grandmother, and says that she was not willing to accept this prognosis. “I had lived a very healthy lifestyle, being vegetarian for 25 years and vegan for the previous 15 years,” Janette explains. “I have also been extremely physically active all my life, so I was quite shocked with the diagnosis. However, the power of intention is far greater than that of fear, and I had every intention of staying around for a very long time!”

Janette discovered the tumor with the help of her little grandson Kieran. She says. “I had been carrying him all day as we walked around a local festival and he had fallen asleep in my arms,” she remembers. “When we finally got home and I put him down, I noticed some pain in the breast area where he had been holding on to me. It was then that I discovered the lump.”

The following day she had an ultrasound and biopsy, which led to the diagnosis. “My intuitive response to the recommended treatment was that it did not make sense to compromise the body’s system further,” Janette explains. “It seemed obvious to me that I should be helping the body to rejuvenate and rebuild, thereby reversing the problem. My instinct told me that treating the symptoms would not address the cause. I was also convinced that I was not meant to die of cancer, so I treated the diagnosis as a challenge. It seemed to me that this was just a message from my body that there was a problem I needed to deal with.”

Janette had always lived a relatively healthy lifestyle, and it was hard to think back on what may have caused her illness. However two experiences then came to her mind. She remembers. “I was painting the boat when the scaffolding collapsed under me. It happened so fast that I was still holding the can of paint when I hit the ground! I was completely covered in marine paint that has toxic ‘anti-fouling’ properties. It was in my hair, my eyes, nose, ears and mouth. I ingested quite a bit and my skin was covered in paint. It took three months before my normal skin color came back and since the skin is the largest organ of the body, over-exposure for me was inevitable!” Additionally she says that after four years sailing in the South Pacific, the family embarked on a new adventure for a further four years; living and working on a cargo ship on the inland waterways throughout Europe. “This adventure is another story in itself,” Janette says, “but during that time I was also exposed to toxic fall-out from the Chernobyl disaster. Looking back over my life and remembering those two times when I was over-exposed to toxins, I realized that my body must have been highly compromised.” Whether it was one incident or the other, or perhaps the combination of the two, Janette felt that the toxic load may have predisposed her to cancer. “I could think of no other explanation, but once I had established the likely cause, I felt more empowered to do something about it,” she says. “I was no longer guessing, taking a gamble on treatment, nor in fear of the outcome. I knew that I could take control of the situation myself, doing 100% the best I could for my body.”

The family’s initial reaction to the diagnosis was to research all they could about breast cancer and the possible causes and the treatments that were recommended, as well as looking into natural holistic therapies and making lifestyle changes that would be most likely to result in a positive outcome. “We needed to know all the possibilities so that I could make an informed choice as to the best course of action to take,” she says. “I knew that it made sense to do everything I could to give the body the tools it needed to take me on my journey to optimum health. Our extensive research not only gave us the knowledge to do just that, but also the confidence to know that I had made the right choice.”

The alternative therapies that Janette used:

With the help of a naturopathic physician, Janette established a regime that would support mind, body and spirit. These therapies included

intravenous immune therapy
with the use of an Infrared Sauna System
increased the amount of oxygen to her body with ozone treatments
conscious breathing
aerobic exercise
visualization; meditation; positive thinking and spiritual awareness
optimal nutrition through juicing fresh vegetables, juicing wheatgrass and a diet of living food nutrition.

She increased the amount of exercise that she was already doing by adding yoga and running. “With yoga I was able to reunite with myself. I came to know my inner self and to love myself unconditionally. My running became more meditative. I chose to run on trails in the mountains or barefoot in the sand along the beach. I could feel again the sense of freedom that I remembered when I ran as a child.”

She had daily sessions in the infrared sauna to maximize the detoxification process. She says. “I could feel my body ridding itself of toxins while enjoying the feeling of complete relaxation during the sessions,” she remembers. “At the same time, my nutritional intake took a huge leap. I started juicing. It made sense that I could consume more nutrients by juicing because I just wouldn’t be able to eat that amount of food. If it takes 4 cups of carrots to produce 1 cup of juice, and I could drink 4 cups of juice per day, I knew I was way ahead of the game,” she said. “I think I was close to consuming a truckload of carrots every week during those six months! My hands turned carrot-colored, but I didn’t care! I was alive and running!”

She also started drinking wheatgrass: “When I learned that one ounce of wheatgrass juice has the equivalent nutritional value of 2lbs of green leafy vegetables – more than most people eat in a week – I never hesitated.” Apart from having all the vitamins and most of the minerals the body needs to be healthy, wheatgrass juice also has all the amino acids making it a complete protein. Like all greens, wheatgrass is also very high in chlorophyll, which is like giving an oxygen infusion to the body. When taken, the juice goes directly to the bloodstream, oxygenating the blood and the whole body.

“I knew from the research that we had done that this was a crucial factor in stopping the mutation of cancer cells,” Janette explains. “Cancer cannot survive in an oxygenated environment, therefore the more oxygen I could pump into my body through exercise, conscious breathing and drinking wheatgrass, the better!”

Although Janette had been vegetarian and vegan for most of her life she decided that if she was going to “give it 100%.” In order to do this she eliminated all cooked food, thereby getting the maximum amount of nutrients from all of the foods that she consumed. “I couldn’t believe the difference in the way I felt within only one week of changing to 100% raw food,” she remembers. “The first thing I noticed was that my clarity of mind was intensely heightened. I no longer had to think about decision making. Everything became very clear; there was no hesitation. I lost 15lb within the first month of eating 100% raw food, which took me just below my recommended weight. The following month my weight came back up a few pounds and has not changed since,” she says. “I also found I had much more energy than before and that it lasted longer. It was especially evident during my long training runs and my physical performance level increased,” she says. “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that consuming 100% raw food made a huge difference to my recovery time and to my overall healing.”

It is interesting that although the lifestyle changes Janette made were minimal as her diet and lifestyle were already very healthy, but she had previously eaten most of her foods cooked. She says that the positive results of going raw vegan had a profound effect on her healing. “I really only had to stop eating the odd muffin, a sandwich now and then, eliminate the pasta and cooking my vegetables!” she laughs. “I had already eliminated meat and dairy and I had never eaten processed or junk food, so the change to 100% raw food for me was not that big, but the change to my overall health was huge. Not only did I immediately experience clarity of mind, increased energy, specific injury healing and a feeling of well-being, but I actually cured myself of cancer!”

Within the six months she received a clean bill of health. There was no longer any sign of cancer cells in her body. At that point, she came off the immune therapy regime, but has continued with all other aspects of her raw lifestyle. Janette is quick to mention that those crucial six months were also filled with love, laughter and lots of support from her family and friends. “I am blessed with a loving family who rallied around me and helped with the research, with physical and mental support, and most of all, with their unwavering conviction that the path I had chosen was mine to choose. I believe having unconditional support is also paramount in healing the body.”

Janette is the author of the book Raw Can Cure Cancer: 100% Raw Courage: A Journey to Optimum Health, and to inspire and raise awareness of lifestyle choices, to promote kindness and compassion for all living beings and to raise environmental awareness for a sustainable future, Janette and Alan ran around Australia, 15,700km, 366 marathons in 366 days. Please visit their website for more information.