Resetting My Cancer Clock

June, 2015, and I have just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Let me back up. A year earlier, my primary care physician found a lump at a routine physical exam. It was diagnosed as cystic, and I was to follow up in one year. I do not have a family history of breast cancer, so I was not concerned.

Back to June, 2015. After a biopsy and a great recommendation, I had my first visit at The Ghosh Center. Dr. Ghosh gave me a ton of information at this visit, along with instructions that I needed to change my diet.

Now, I am a nurse, so I was surprised. First, to learn that most breast cancer patients have no family history, and second, to hear that diet could make a difference in my survival. I met with Leesa, who is a health coach with The Ghosh Center, while I was receiving my chemotherapy. I understood why I needed chemotherapy to fight cancer, but I was not clear on how nutrition would play into my treatment.

Leesa explained that Dr. Ghosh recommends a low-sugar, no-soy diet. She also recommended some very easy changes in my diet, most of which I could easily make. I learned that low-fat also means high-sugar. I also learned that soy is hidden in a number of products. I was given a number of recipes and information sheets.

Throughout the years, I have changed my diet to what was current, but what may not have been the best for my health. I had changed to a low-fat diet to only find that I was not losing weight, but gaining weight. My favorite smoothie was using soy milk and soy protein powder. Leesa changed the way I look at food, and I feel better.

I feel that with chemotherapy my cancer clock has been reset, and now it is up to me. You see, my plan is to live until I am 125. The staff at The Ghosh Center are all very special to me. They treat their patients as if they are members of their family. I have put my life in their hands, and they are all committed to excellent individualized care. I have completed chemotherapy, and now my life is in my hands. I feel I have the tools to live a long and healthy life.

-Denise Masterson

“My cancer clock has been reset...and I feel I have the tools to live a long and healthy life.”