From hospice to healed: Julie Mason’s endometrial cancer journey

Interactive Transcript

Speaker A Hey, everybody, it's Chris. And today is a very special interview because I'm interviewing someone who has survived cancer against the odds. And, you know, I love doing these kind of interviews, and I am pleased to say that I had a part in her survival story, and that. That gets me even more excited. I've interviewed a lot of people who've healed cancer that, you know, healed before I was even around or didn't know me at all. And so it's especially gratifying to. To meet someone and now share their story that, again, I had some part to play in their healing journey. So it's really cool. So, Julie Mason. I'll give you a quick intro of Julie. She was diagnosed with stage three endometrial cancer in 2016. So nine years ago, basically. And she was told there was no cure. She was basically told to register for hospice. She did some chemo, and then some things happened, and she changed the course of her cancer journey. And I'll let her tell her story. But anyway, Julie, it's great to see you. You look terrific. And how are you?

Speaker B Yeah, no, it's great, Chris. I mean, we were just saying before we started up now that when I was one of your first people joining Square One, if you. In February 2017, as all of us were getting enrolled and reading into everything, I never imagined that I would be one of the first people to do the impossible. And so, yeah, today feels a little bit like, well, surreal, because I always hope to be in this situation, sitting there talking to you, hoping to inspire other people. And here I am. It's really cool.

Speaker A Here you are. Well, I'm not one. I'm not really one to toot my own horn, but that is. It's really awesome because 2017, February 2017, was really. When we launched the Square One program for the first time. I had sort of put it out in a small way. I shared it with my audience in 2016. But then we decided to really put it out there and try to reach a lot more people in the world. And you were. You were out there. So what was going on with your health and your cancer situation at that time? Like, you want to talk about what your experience was leading up to that point?

Speaker B Well, like yourself, Chris, I was diagnosed at Christmas, and I think that when you've got children, that's quite. Well, it's something you'll never forget. Your first Christmas, being told you're going to die, thinking that it might be your last and getting through that initial shock. And I started the chemo even Though it's palliative because as a mother of an 11 year old, you'll take every single extra day you've got being offered. And so I was lucky having private medical insurance. Immediately after Christmas, I went straight in for some very strong chemo. They give very strong chemos for very aggressive, fast growing cancers. And that's what I was up against. Words like rare and aggressive, everything that was pretty terrifying at the time. And I did the first two infusions of six that was in that immediate January in 2017. And as natural fact, queued up to do the third on the very day that I knew you were going to air that night. And that was part of my reason to decide, hang on a minute, there might be something I can do. And I think it's the not knowing what else you can do, which is what makes people continue. And they were offering me what sounded like a structured plan and it was, that could give me something to do to get out the other side. And it takes something as small as that, an idea, a hope that you can do it. That is really what you offered Chris. And once you hope is quite a nice easy move into belief, which, which is everything. Belief that you know you can do the impossible.

Speaker A That I'm trying not to get emotional, but that is exactly why I do what I do. I mean really, the hope that, that spark of hope that I got from someone who had survived against the odds, it was so. It was such a huge thing for me in December or January 2004. And maybe again it's what I'm trying to pay forward is just to give someone the spark of hope that healing is possible, right? That healing is possible. Because most cancer patients are not told that healing is possible. Especially in your situation, you were told it's not possible, right? It's we can't cure you, your terminal. But I love what you said because as soon as you, as soon as it starts with hope, right, you get a little bit of hope that, wait a minute, maybe I can heal, maybe I can survive. Maybe this is not a death sentence for me. And then once you dig in and you start paying attention to this whole world of nutrition and natural therapies and radical remission survivors, people who've healed like you can take me out of the equation. There's a ton of these people out there, like it would continue without me. But once you start paying attention, then that hope turns into belief, right? You began to believe it was possible. Not just hope, it was possible, you began to believe it. And that belief Is what motivated you to change your life, right?

Speaker B Yeah. And I always say that I was one of the lucky ones that was told that oncology couldn't fix me. I always think it's more difficult for the people that are told that their chemo give them X percentage of chance of getting out the other end. And I think that's far, far harder. So the decision that I chose to choose quality of life over palliative chemo was pretty straightforward. And before quitting, I was being encouraged to have the third, the sixth. And I took separate advice from an inter doctor who told me the reason why they were pushing for the third was, was because that's where the real damage is done on the organs. And that's when your hair truly falls out and everything starts to rapidly head south. So that also helped me to not do it because I had a daughter who I didn't want to see me go through that decline, visually and physically. And for what I understood to be pretty crude, dying of cancer naturally is a completely different death. To go through the whole treatment. And that was very much an important part of my choice and awareness of facing death. I did that pretty early on. And I think that's really important to not fear death, because once you put that behind you, you can focus 100% on healing. All of these choices, bit by bit, I believe, supercharged my healing. And what the other really big important thing I did was I left a very difficult marriage when I was told that I was going to die. And everybody thought that I was mad to do that. But I was listening to Hay House radio at the time, which was really supportive in my journey, and I was starting to understand more about how important energy is in my healing. I mean, I was 53, and as soon as I'd had the hysterectomy, which led to feeling so much better than I'd felt for years, I thought, wow, that energy to get on the back of the diet and the exercise and all the other things that are part of your program. I knew that that was higher currency than anything else that anybody could give me. And so everything that I did was about raising my energy in what I did in the outer world, Whether that be diet and exercise, but more importantly, in my inner world, by being aware of the things that drain me and the things that gave me energy, whether that be people, but especially my thoughts. And one of the first things that happened I can remember, everybody asked, why me? That's one of the first questions we asked the oncologist, Isn't it Why me? How did I get this? What could I have done differently? And I'm one of three children. We're literally one, two, three in a row. And my brother and sister either side of me, they were the ones that were smoking, that drank a lot, dabbled in recreational drugs. I was the good girl that never did any of that, that took responsibility, followed the career path, even organic, and things dabbled on and off over the years. I was the last person in the whole family that would get cancer, or so I thought. That was a really big clue to stop and look at the. Why me? Because when I look back at my childhood, I realized that I was the sensitive, creative one that did everything to try and control the situation that we were in, in, you know, quite a dysfunctional home where there's violence and alcohol. And so the way that I handled that was very different to my brother and sister who took a more laid back approach and numbed it as they got older. Whereas I did the therapy. I did, I worked on it all. But underlying all of that, I still was running ragged with my nervous system within my career, trying to keep everything up in the air. Being a really great project manager and something had to give Chris. And I personally believe that it was being in a stressful marriage constantly, every day that was responsible for that weakness that was in my system.

Speaker A It makes a lot of sense and it's certainly not the first time I've heard someone, you know, have that revelation of what around them is, is sort of sapping their energy. Not only their, their personal attitudes and beliefs and actions. Right. And habits and coping mechanisms, but also, you know, it's true. I mean, we really sometimes can end up in very toxic relationships that are, you know, and I'm certainly not one to tell people, oh, like just run out and get a divorce. Right. I mean, that's, it's such a huge thing to do that. But I've just seen it. I've seen cancer patients in incredibly abusive and emotionally toxic relationships where their partner, and I don't know your ex husband at all.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A But where their partner was just unsupportive or demeaning or just constantly criticizing them and negative and just, you could just see it. I'm just, you know, you just see, like, man, this person is just sucking the life out of their partner. And it's a very hard thing to do to leave a relationship.

Speaker B Yeah. And I, I took my marriage vows seriously. It's something that I never thought that I'd entertain until I was facing my death. And when you grow up in a dysfunctional family, a lot of things become normalized. And I found myself in a relationship where I wasn't being hit or, you know, it wasn't violence like that. It's far more subtle, which is harder. But I just knew it comes back to energy where you place your focus. I knew that I could not stay somewhere where there's constant bickering and arguments, whether it be lack of compatibility or anything else. You know, I don't put the blame anywhere, but I made that really difficult choice, especially with a young child, that made it even trickier. But she was my motivation for needing to survive. I knew that I had to do everything. I left no stone unturned to survive, and it was that simple. So to lots of people, my decision looked crazy all the way along my journey. And it took me nine months to become clear. And then suddenly, I'm not the crazy one anymore. People start to ask, then, what did you do?

Speaker A That's what happens. It's funny how that works, right? And first, everyone thinks you're insane when you do something that they don't understand. But if you're successful, then people sort of start knocking on your door asking for help. And that's certainly what happened to me. When I started sharing my story, I was quickly overwhelmed with people wanting advice and help and encouragement and resources. And obviously, my life took a completely different path once I put my story out there in 2010. I just thought, well, this will be helpful. I should share this. I know there's people that need some encouragement and need to know they have options. That was as much as I thought about it. I didn't have some grand vision or plan. It was just like, I know I can be helpful and this seems important and I should do something. I shouldn't just move on with my life and not share what I've been through and learned. And, yeah, and look what it turned into. It turned into this big thing, you know, that. That completely took over my life. And my life is so much better and richer, you know, because of cancer. Because of. Not only because of cancer, but because then I made the decision to focus, turn my focus outward and try to be an encouragement and a help and a resource for other people. And I know you're doing that now, too, which I love. I'm so glad. And that's one of the things that I encourage folks in our community, is to think about. It's kind of hard to think about when you have cancer because you're just thinking about getting through the Day but is to really let yourself think about or imagine what your life will be like after you get well. And how do you want to serve others? And how can you be a help to others and encouragement to others and because people will look to you for light. And, and so that's, that's what's happening now. People are looking to you. You're a light and an inspiration to people that are in the dark.

Speaker B Yeah, no, it's. It's a privilege, isn't it? And nobody tells you that when you come out the other side that you'll discover a level of happiness that you didn't know even existed. You thought you knew what happiness was, but when you come out the other side, it's a whole new level and you can never go back to the work that you used to do. The world's a very different place when you've learned how to be in the moment, seeing the small stuff and your values change and shift maybe. And yeah, you literally are born again.

Speaker A Dare I say, Chris, it's a new lease on life. It really is, you know? Yeah, it's like, wow, okay, I didn't die. Now what do I do? What do I do? You know, I don't want to keep doing the same old stuff. And the funny thing is, is I did keep doing the same stuff for six and a half years. So like six and a half years after my diagnosis, I started Crispy Cancer, the blog. But I mean, for that whole time I was just back in real estate, just working, being a dad, you know, I was playing music. I mean, you know, I was doing. I didn't want to think about cancer at all. I just, you know, I didn't want anything to do with it. I wanted to get so far away from it, you know, because it was such a scary experience. You know, the first two years especially were just so scary, terrifying, intense. But anyway, it was nagging at me and I knew I had to do something. You know, I was like, I can't run from this. This is important. Okay.

Speaker B You know, I think that I made the connection with my way of being was bad for me, with my work. Unfortunately, I had my own business before I was diagnosed, which was about to move into new premises and expand and things. And unfortunately I hadn't signed the lease on the new building. Everything was in boxes. And so when I was registered at hospice, suddenly there was not going to be any more business and I let go. And. And to be frank, that whole year in front of me was a full time job. Luckily, I Had private health insurance, critical life insurance. Well, I had a lot of insurances which I think self employed people tend to do, don't we, to cover all eventualities. And yeah, and I made the most of them to just dive deep. And I can see that that was a privilege. But I look back now and I realize actually the things that we do do that matter the most don't cost a lot of money. Probably if we choose where to put our money, it has to be the nutrition and whatever supplements you can afford. The things I did spend money on were admittedly some emotional release. I did work with emotional freedom technique, EFT tapping. I worked with somebody to ensure that I was releasing the bad stuff as I was building up my positive outlook. Because I think lots of people say, oh, you've got to think positive and it's not that easy. You have to let go of the constant fears that do keep arising, whether it be before each scan, maybe somebody says something to upset you, to process the letting go of emotions, to keep yourself operating from a place whereby the serotonin, dopamine, all the happy hormones that we know boost our immunity are essential. And so when you're sad, you've got to feel sad and let it out so that you can move into a happy place more quickly. So that, that was a really very conscious thing that I was doing was ensuring that my immune system was as strong as it could be. Not just with the nutrition, but on absolutely every single level that I could. I was 100% focused and I had to look back now at other people in this situation and I, I do see how resilient and focused I was at any cost. I was accused of being selfish.

Speaker A Me too.

Speaker B And the lioness, the mother, there's no time to die just came out of me. Nothing was going to get in the way. So yeah, that was my reason for doing it. Maybe if I wasn't a mother, to be perfectly frank, it would have been easier to just believe it and get everything was on offer at the wonderful hospice going and just resign myself to the fact that would have been so much easier.

Speaker A Well, I love what you said. You have what I call the beat cancer mindset.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A You were determined to live and there is a little bit of selfishness involved. And it's not selfishness for your own personal gratification.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A This is a different kind of selfishness which is if I don't take care of myself, if I don't prioritize my own health and my life, I'm not going to be around to take care of anybody else, right? So your selfishness, like mine, was motivated by the fact that you had a much larger intention, a much bigger goal, a bigger purpose, right? Which wasn't all about you, but you had to heal in order to raise your child, right? In order to survive, you had to survive first. So same with me. I didn't have any children yet, but my wife got pregnant a few months after I was diagnosed. And that was a whole nother motivator for me. But even before that, like, I wanted to live because I love my wife and I didn't want her to see, I didn't want her to bury me. I mean, I just thought how. Just how horrible an experience for any person to bury their spouse, you know, like. And so. And my parents, I'm an only child. Like, I couldn't bear the thought of them burying me. So it was really. I had three people to live for. In the beginning, it was mom and dad and my wife. And like you, it's like I found that reason to live. I got very clear. I want to live. I want to live for these people. And I can't make any excuses, right? I have to just be willing to change my whole life. And, you know, this is the common, common mentality that beat cancer mindset that I see over and over and over in every person who's healed against the odds, right? They all just get really clear about what they want to do, which is live and why they want to live. And so, you know, and I love how you. When you talked about stress and fear, I mean, fear is creeping in every day, throughout the day, every day, right? And the best times of your day or when you're busy and you forget, if you forget about cancer, right? That's the best time when you're busy, but eventually, at some point during the day, you remember, and then here comes the fear.

Speaker B And what I was, I think, very good at very quickly is routine. And there's a reason why mothers teach their babies routine. With the routine comes security. And I realized what that gave me every day. That routine was incredibly comforting. So there was. I found myself living alone in a flat, which I refer to as my sanctuary, giving the whole thing a new status of, you know, it was somewhere where I went to heal, had a space in one of the rooms where it's quite sunny, where I'd sit regularly to just get back in touch with myself, to be in tune. And so for me, meditation, prayerful type meditation, which, you know, it's heart coherence, really. I Now know, as I dip into on a regular basis and then longer sessions in the afternoon. So coming back to myself, feeling my body getting out of my head and just in a stillness was really important. So having a routine in the morning when I got up in stillness, feeling my senses, being aware that I was still breathing, you know, another day I'm alive, you know, getting really, really basic in my feelings and not my head and tapping into that all day. But I'm aware that surrender was one of the starting points of this, the surrender to something higher than myself. Because for you, it's God for me, you know, whilst I went to a Church of England school and to pray was quite a natural thing to do, I still struggled with the concept of what the Bible was. But I did feel, I knew there was something outside of myself that was larger than myself that I did commune with. I might not use the same words, but releasing everything, saying as you do in the program, handing the responsibility of healing over as if it's already done and just getting on, are not harping on about, please, please heal me, forget it. All that does is drag you down. Surrender as if it's already done and work and focus in getting there.

Speaker A That's good. Sitting quietly and being at peace.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A Just being at peace with yourself, in your spirit is. It's just a wonderful practice. And also, practically speaking, you know, when you have worries and fears, if you write them down, there's a practice called expressive writing that some people may find this useful and there's a book about it. But if you write down your worries and fears each day, like, I'm worried about this, I'm afraid of that. Like this is, you know, and then you just tear it up and throw it away or you burn it, you just get rid of it.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A You don't keep a journal of your worries, but you write them down. It gets them out of your head. And then you just get whatever you're worried about on paper and then destroy it.

Speaker B The best time for doing that is at night when you can't sleep.

Speaker A Yeah. Before bed.

Speaker B Because the brain does. By writing it down, you let the brain know, don't worry, we've got this, I'll deal with it tomorrow. It's amazing how it doesn't keep coming back and looping when the brain knows it's in the book.

Speaker A That's right. It gets it out of your head and there is a physical, emotional, mental, physical, spiritual, kind of all intertwined response that your stress will come down and it gives you relief. It's just, it's well documented and that's something that, you know, I think is, can be very helpful for folks that are really struggling with worries and fears. It's like, just write it down, tear it up and move on with your day. And the other thing you mentioned that I wanted to touch on too, is you created this routine for yourself. And I think when you take control of your life, when you make big changes and you create a new healthy routine that you know is healthy, right? You know, I'm doing healthy stuff now, right? You get the serotonin and the dopamine, right. You get these reward chemicals, they are produced in your brain and your body and you just start to feel better, you start to feel more positive, you start to feel more optimistic, you start to feel blissful and joyful and at peace when you take action to help yourself like it really is. Again, this is another well documented phenomenon is just taking action actually alleviates fear and worry and anxiety and gives you joy and happiness along the process. And so I know there are probably people listening or watching that are struggling with getting started and they feel discouraged and depressed and hopeless and they haven't really started yet. And I'm just telling you, just get going, just start because you will feel better once you start. Is that what you experienced?

Speaker B Yeah. And of course, you know, square one. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen and the headset of approaching that can either raise and lift you or really drag you down. It is a lot of work. So for me it was a matter of, oh, good, right? It's 11 o'. Clock. I'm going to go into the kitchen and start juicing. What's in the fridge? Ah, okay. That, that. And it became a creative exercise trying to find all the different colours. It doesn't have to be scientific. It can just be something playful and interesting that is part of a routine. It doesn't have to be work. It can be something that is good for me and that it's healing and that can be fun.

Speaker A I think it's really important that to enjoy the process, right, to not look at it as drudgery or, you know, look, look back like Lot's wife, you know, looking back on Sodom and wishing you could go back to your old life, but your old life just got torched. You know, it's like you can't go back to it, right? So you gotta, you gotta like, keep your eyes ahead and move, move forward and get away from it. And yeah, you find you will just find excitement and joy and Peace and encouragement and you'll feel better. Like, all these things just start cascading in a positive way, right? You start this positive momentum. Like, I just talk about the spiral. Like, people, they. They spiral downward often, right? They get in a negative circle of bad choices and negative people, and they just are in a negative spiral and your health goes down. But once you interrupt that cycle, you can start to spiral up, right?

Speaker B When you make different choices, it's really noticeable. The 90 days we talk about, you know, get through that 90 days, once you're there, not only if you. Well, in my case, I lost the weight that I needed to. So I not only felt physically lighter, I could feel the lightness in my connection. There's an easier spiritual connection that comes from eating this way. And I really do believe that that's part of why the coincidences, the serendipity starts to happen within the healing program when we eat this way. I mean, we know, don't we, that, you know, our body creates chemicals that make us start to feel this way through the nutrition. And once you're past that 90 days, you really start to enjoy the ride and it motivates you to keep on doing it.

Speaker A Yeah. And the hardest part is just getting started, right? That's the hardest part, is just starting. Because it feels. Changing your life, for some people, it feels impossible, right? I've heard people say, man, I just can't give up. Fill in the blank, right? I can't give up beer, I can't give up meat. I can't give up cigarettes, right? Whatever it is, like, I can't get away from this person, right? I can't quit my job in the chemical factory. It's like it feels hard, it feels impossible. But you have the power to change your whole life. You can change anything in your life. And it's scary, right? Change is scary. People don't like change, right? They don't like the unknown. They like comfort, they like familiarity, they like routine. And so this is why I often say, like, let's start your healing adventure, because it really is an adventure when you start changing what you eat and you change who you hang around with and you maybe move or, you know, it. Like you. You moved a new apartment, you ended a relationship. I mean, it's like it's a whole new world for you.

Speaker B Well, my only other option was death. You know, there was no chemo or immunotherapy or anything that was going to cure me. It was that black and white. I was so lucky, Chris, because maybe if they Told me that all the rounds of chemo that, you know, I'd get myself through, you know, going through all that, just two was bad enough. Every two out of each three weeks, I was bedridden. I had a really hard time with Carbo Taxol.

Speaker A It was a blessing. I would even just say it was a. It's a blessing to be told the truth.

Speaker B Yes. I was a really good oncologist. Yeah.

Speaker A Because a lot of patients aren't told the truth because the doctors are uncomfortable broaching the subject of death. They're uncomfortable telling patients they're terminal. I talk about this in my first book, Crispy Cancer, but there was a study they did with terminal cancer patients, and they surveyed them, and these patients were all terminal.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A There was no cure. And they surveyed them, and basically two thirds of them, or almost, almost three quarters of them, actually believed the treatments they were going to get would cure them.

Speaker B Yeah.

Speaker A Because their doctors didn't tell them the truth.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A And then the researchers took it a step further and they went and surveyed the doctors and said, why do your patients not understand that they're terminal, that they're incurable? And the answer from the doctors, the most frequent answer was, was what I just said is that they were uncomfortable having that conversation, which is, you know, that's. In my opinion, that's borderline malpractice.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A If a patient is not clear, it's not clearly disclosed to a patient whether or not a treatment has a chance of curing them or not, I mean, that changes the whole conversation.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A And so, yes, I'm so glad that your doctor told you the truth, because then that empowered you.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A And some people, when they hear stage four terminal, they think, well, that's it. It's a death sentence. It's the end of the world, end of my life, it's over. And they just accept that I'm going to die and that's it. And many of them do. But there are a small number of people like yourself, that get that kind of a diagnosis. And they say, well, I'm not ready to die. I don't want to die. I'm going to have to figure this out.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A I'm going to have to take control of my own life and my health and figure out how to live, because I'm not giving up. Isn't that why it was you call it? I mean, you consider yourself lucky or blessed that you were told the truth.

Speaker B It's not always easy asking or thinking this straight when you're in shock of being told that it's terminal. You very much have to start trying to get your head around things. And I was really glad that I did ask the oncologist how many extra days would continuing the chemo actually give me? And this is where I really am really grateful that she told me the truth. She said, julia, I'm sorry, but there's no studies done on women your age, your height, doing what you're doing to tell you that answer. And I said, I'm not asking. How many days were we talking? Weeks, months, Years? You must be able to give me some indication. And she literally couldn't. And thank God she was honest. It made it easy for me, the truth. In my case, it helped me. It didn't harm me.

Speaker A Well, the truth is painful, right? Sometimes. But also, we know the truth will set you free.

Speaker B Yeah.

Speaker A And the truth did. It did set you free from the belief, from a false belief or a false hope that treatment might cure you or might give you more life.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A Because you know when they say we don't even know, you're like, well, okay, they can't even guarantee me anything. There's no guarantees. Now. In some cases, there are studies for some types of cancer, and treatment can extend life, you know, compared to no treatment. Usually it's not. If you dig in. It's usually not much, you know, in terminal situations or stage three advanced cancers. But what a great question to ask. And I even have folks in my community I'm sure know about this. But if you're new to me or just finding us somehow, I have a guide called 20 Questions for your oncologist, and it's a free download. You can find it on any page of chrisbeatcancer.com there's a link to it on every page of my website, and that has the most important questions that you need to ask your doctor. And you don't have to ask them all, but go through the guide because it will. It will give you questions to ask that you didn't think of, and that will help you get clarity on the type of treatment, how effective it is, whether it's not as likely to cure you or how much life it will. How much it'll extend your life or not. Like, there are some really important questions that cancer patients don't ask because they don't think to ask them. And when you get those answers, you will have so much information and power to make a wise decision, to make the best decision for you. So that's just a little plug for that, folks, like anybody, if you have Cancer or somebody you know has cancer. Please just go download it. It's free. Go through the guide. There's an audio portion to it and a downloadable thing where I explain the questions, explain what they mean, explain the type of answers you might get, what those answers mean. So I think it'll help you a lot. But, you know, you did that and I like you, Julie, I just happened to ask a couple questions off the top of my head. I didn't go in there with the big strategy, just happen to say, hey, you know, are there any alternative therapies available? Like, you just think, that's a pretty. You know, it's not. It's not the kind of question that someone's going to, wow, how'd you. How'd you think of that? But anyway, but just asking that question, it completely changed the. It's like the tone of our conversation. My oncologist at that time got very defensive, became very condescending, told me if I didn't do chemo, I was insane. Like, all from me just asking this sort of innocent question, like, is there anything else besides chemo? So you'd be shocked at just asking one, one good question, how much it can change your entire situation. So, anyway, I love that. I'm so glad you did. What do you say to cancer patients that come to you and ask for advice?

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A Then when they say, what should I do? Or what do I need to know? What are the most important things that you tell someone when they're first diagnosed? If they want to know. Right. If they want your advice, what do you tell them?

Speaker B Yeah, I think it's an important thing to ask. It's one thing talking to people in the Square One community, which is a completely different audience to just a friend of a friend who lives around the corner that might come to me that is not aware and open to everything that we know, people really believe that all of the answers are still, you know, within the medical paradigm. And so there's nothing that I can say, what I did, that will really convince them. I mean, my own mother, who. She died a couple of years ago, but the year before that she went for a breast exam and she was diagnosed with dcis. Is that what it's called? You know, the very early pre. Cancerous. But the way that she took it on board was that, oh, my God, she had cancer like me and that she was going to die. Her headset was at the other extreme, and there's nothing I could say that was, hang on a minute, Mum, you know, you're you're in your early 80s. It might not be cancer that kills you. You know, it could take another 10 years. You know, you don't have to. There was nothing I could say that could get through. Cancer's still a scary word to that particular generation of people in particular, even though she knew and she saw. I think I did. Sometimes people just aren't open and receptive to wanting to hear what we have to say. But to come back to an audience that is receptive, on the other hand, the first thing you have to do is listen to find out where they are. Because that whole cancer journey of its different stages, from the very shock at the beginning, which usually lasts for about five months, I don't know whether you agree with that. There's a limited ability to really hear what anybody has to say. So in that first immediate part, it's very much a matter of listening and guiding. Then as people come out of the shock and they start to be more in charge, it's addressing how much in charge they want to be and how they see things. And so for me, the most exciting part, to be perfectly frank, is to have the gift of somebody who's terminal in the same way that I was, and to be able to walk them through the stage that I did, which. Which is mindset, really, to gain belief. And. And then I teach tools how to go about through their day that will basically keep their immunity through their thoughts and feelings and again, restoring their gut. That whole gut, heart, brain connection really excites me because once you've got all of those three things working together, you're a Ferrari. You know, anybody can heal it really isn't rocket science. We're built to heal. Cancer isn't a disease like Covid. Cancer is our body saying, I'm not happy. Help me. And when you help it, when you talk to it as a child almost, and you're there for it and you hear it and you give it what it needs. It's beautiful. It's stunning. And so for me, I didn't fight anything. I went inwards and I loved myself. And I even said to dear neighbor who would meet at church, I used to take Esme to Sunday school. And when she saw me, she was in tears with the idea she knew our terminal. And I said, don't worry, don't worry. I'm going to heal this through love. And I meant it as I looked at her, and she knew what I meant, Christian. And that's what I really did. I know it sounds corny. What does that Mean, but the vibration of love is so high. Pure, pure, blissful love, starting with yourself, radiating outwards. It's as simple as that. That's what healing is.

Speaker A I love your confidence. Love does heal. Love is healing.

Speaker B I don't know why I said that. It just came out of my mouth because it was her, and I knew she'd get. Came from out of me, through me, that statement. And it felt good and it sounded right, and it was the start of my journey.

Speaker A Yeah, that's good. That's really insightful, too. It's. I think, you know, for me, I was able to sort of snap out of it quickly, out of the funk, and the information came to me at the right time, when I was ready after surgery. But I'd only been diagnosed for. It only been three weeks, you know, like about three weeks, between three and four weeks. And all of a sudden, I was on a different path. But I totally agree with you that for some people, yeah, it takes them a lot longer to kind of get through the shock, the PTSD of a diagnosis. You know, typically they're. They're rushed into treatment. They're. Then they're, you know, everything's just happening to them, and they're just a passenger on the chemo train or whatever.

Speaker C Right?

Speaker A Let's just call it the treatment train. And then finally, you know, there's a moment where they kind of get their wits about them, and they, maybe they think, you know, I don't like this. I don't like the path I'm on. You know, like, I don't like where this is going. You know, they have enough appointments with doctors, and I'm not. I have some dear friends that are doctors. Many, many dear friends. But, you know, they have enough hospital visits or doctor visits and interactions with the medical system that they really start to loathe it, right? They see, you know, they get past this idealized version of medicine that Hollywood, right, and television has created, and they see the real deal, like what it's like to be a patient.

Speaker B And.

Speaker A And it stinks, right? Like, typically, the patient experience is awful, and you're, you know, you're treated like cattle. The care is lousy. You know, you realize, oh, these people are just like anybody else. They're, They're. They're overworked, they're making mistakes. They say things that are rude and inconsiderate. You know, like, it's, you know, and then once I feel like once you start to see the cracks, you know, then patients start to wake up and go, I'm losing. Gradually I'm losing faith in the medical system, right? And that's when you become more empowered, hopefully. Hopefully you don't just lose faith into despair, which some people do, but hopefully. And what you're trying to do. What I'm trying to do is to just. To reach people, right? To reach them. And hopefully, you know, just through social media or whatever, like just pop into. Pop onto their screen, right? Pop into their life at the right moment where they're just sort of ready and receptive to start thinking about their life and their situation and their disease in a different way.

Speaker B And quite often that's after they finish treatment, isn't it, Chris? When they've had so much cocooning through the system and then they're completely alone. And that's when the real journey starts.

Speaker A In many ways, we try to catch people early. I mean, the best thing is to catch someone who hasn't even been diagnosed, right? To get someone who's prevention minded, who's what I call cancer conscious. They're aware that cancer is a threat. They're aware that there are diet and lifestyle factors that are contributing to cancer, and they're ready to make some changes in their life to reduce their risk. That's my ideal target audience, right? I want to reach people at that stage. But of course, yeah, there are people who are newly diagnosed that find me. There are people who've been diagnosed for a while and been through a lot of treatment that find me and are finding you. And we just try to love on them and serve them and encourage them at whatever stage they're in, whether they're doing conventional treatment and they're too afraid to stop, that's okay. There's so much you can do. And I think, you know, you understand this. I say it a lot is healing happens at home. And there's so much you can do to help yourself heal at home, right? You can go to the cancer clinic, you can get the treatments they want to give you, but then you got to go home. And it's what you're doing at home in between those office visits or those treatments can make all the difference between survival and death. And it's how you eat, it's exercise, it's how you think, right? It's your relationships. So many things you can do. And you said this earlier, and I'm so glad you did, is most of the things that are the most helpful, most effective, most most powerful things you can do for yourself cost you little to nothing, right?

Speaker B I mean, and some of that is the Words. We speak.

Speaker A Yes.

Speaker B When we meet somebody who want, you know, who is open to talking about, you know, the cancer diagnosis, I never took ownership of the cancer in my body. I never talked of it like that. I talk about the diagnosis of cancer. I'd never talk about my cancer. I never took that whole identity on. And so just choosing the sentences that we speak and the words behind them, the conversation goes in a very different direction.

Speaker A I did the same. I never. I didn't take ownership of it. I sort of rejected it in a way.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A I mean, I've been diagnosed. I'm not putting my head in the sand.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A But, yeah, I never called it my cancer either.

Speaker B No, it's something simple as that.

Speaker A But, yeah, it's like, yeah, this is a temporary illness I'm trying to heal.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A And. And I agree with you. It's like, it's not something you fight. Cancer doesn't need to be fought, but it does need to be healed. And those are two very different approaches.

Speaker C Right?

Speaker A Fighting and healing. Those are. They're polar opposites just in terms of the way you approach something. You know, you think about fighting is war. You know, healing is love.

Speaker B And that's where the Square one. You know that your Facebook group, there's. I know that you say there's nothing like it, and that is absolutely true. And I'm not just saying that as a moderator, that the love that is there, the support on absolutely every single thing you can think of that is magical.

Speaker A It has turned into something way better than I thought it would be. I was. I honestly didn't even want to start a Facebook group because I thought, oh, man, this is going to be a lot to manage. And I. You know, we've all been in Facebook groups and you know how crazy they can be, right? It doesn't even matter what the topic is, right? Just people arguing and being rude and posting stuff that doesn't apply to anything. You know, it just. It's just can turn into a circus. But anyway, I started the Facebook, the Square One Facebook group as sort of an experiment. I'm like, we'll try it. I'm hesitant. I have reservations about this. This could be very messy for members of the Square One program. And, yeah, it's just turned into the most wonderful thing. I mean, it's so. There's so much love and encouragement and support in the Facebook group. And thanks to you and our other moderators and people, we've really been able to just create this atmosphere and expectations that you, like, you can't come in there and be a jerk or whatever. We don't let people get away with being rude to each other. Yeah. We were able to set it up in a way and create a culture in that group that is just immediately understood. Like, this is for supporting people. If you don't have something supportive to say or helpful to say, zip it. Like, we will delete your comment. There's. It's not. It is not a free speech zone. It really isn't. It's like, it's an encouragement zone. And it's not just say whatever you want to anybody.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A But anyway, we. We do it out of love. We. We operate a very loving, totalitarian Facebook support group. I'm joking, but half joking. But, yeah, it's true. It's the best. And I say this all the time, and I feel like people don't believe me until they join our program. But I think the Facebook support group's the best part. I really do. I think it's the best part of the whole program is our support group. You know, I mean, obviously, I'm teaching what I've learned. People get a lot of value out of that. You know, they're just learning things they've never learned about health and disease and cancer and nutrition and exercise and rest and forgiveness. Like, you know, all these things that I've learned, I teach. And I know they're valuable, but it. But we also need community so much.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A And the community is what helps people do it. The community and the support is what helps people actually make the changes, change their diet, forgive people who've hurt them, stay on track.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A That's what I feel like. I don't know. I just don't think the program would work as well if we didn't have that support community.

Speaker B Well, it would just be like other things out there that are just modules of information. And the last thing you need, really, with cancer is more words thrown at you. You need to be moving and being supported and guided. And that's what the Facebook group does do, let's face it. But of course, you do have to still go through the course, though. Otherwise you're just flotsam on an ocean trying to do this.

Speaker A That's right. And there's a real tricky balance. You know, I think I'm still trying to balance. Let's use the word balance again. But not overloading people with information.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A Because information overload is a real thing and it can paralyze you. And I really have tried my best to teach the essentials.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A Enough to. With Enough science with enough evidence to be convincing to get someone to take that first step or take those steps to change their life without just feeling overloaded with, I can't do it all. It's too much, you know, and so that really. Yeah, it's just tricky because there's a lot of people out there in the health space or the cancer space that will just sort of like fire hose their audiences with a million opinions and therapies and gadgets and gizmos and lotions and potions. And they don't even talk about the basics. They're not even talking about the fundamentals. They're just really promoting stuff they can sell, right? Promoting stuff they can make a commission on to cancer patients. And that, to me, has always been. I've always had a big problem with people that do that. And, you know, is they're just salespeople. They're not helping someone change their life. They're not empowering that person to change their life. They're just trying to sell them some quick fix, you know, sort of hyped.

Speaker C Up.

Speaker A Whatever it is. And the truth is, like I said, the most powerful things is like what you eat, how you think, how you act and react, right? How you treat others, exercising and taking care of your body. I mean, these are the things you.

Speaker C Need to do, right?

Speaker A And I don't make money when you exercise. I don't make money when you. When you juice carrots or when you make a big salad. You know, there's no money in that for me. But those are the important things.

Speaker B And the thing is, our body has the capacity to make its own pharmaceuticals. You know, this is now being proven in, you know, the work of people like Joe Dispenza. Dr. Joe Dispenza. That another huge part of what I did. He's got scientists now working with him that prove that when we connect to something outside of ourselves, our body has the capacity to create things in the blood that weren't even there before. It comes from somewhere magic. And, you know, the oncologists aren't trained in this stuff. They're trained in dealing with the material world. And the bodies are so much more magical and capable to do things that. Okay, we can't explain why, but you and I are here, Chris, because you don't need to know why it is possible. And if you're dedicated and you're focused, it doesn't have to cost a lot of money. It just requires dedication to the cause.

Speaker A Yeah, that's right. It requires dedication and focus, determination. You Know, it requires some character strength more than anything, and that belief that healing is possible. And so that's why I love your story. I'm so glad that you're alive and thriving and now you're helping other people. And, you know, I say this all the time. I mean, I'm like a broken record. I just say the same things over and over again, Right? But, you know, I've interviewed. I don't even know. We're approaching 100 people who've healed cancer against the odds. Okay. I haven't counted in a while, but if you'll tune in and watch these interviews, which are free. They're on ChrisBeakCancer.com, they're on the podcast, they're on my YouTube channel. You can find them if you will. Watch the interviews with people like Julie who have healed against the odds. It doesn't take very many for you to really believe that healing is possible, right? I mean, you see, you watch one person tell their story of how they healed, it's like, huh, okay. Watch another person, you're like, okay, well, let's watch a third. Watch a fourth. It's like, do you not believe it's possible now? People have done it. And so that, to me, I mean, that's why I do it, right? That's how I'm interviewing you, because I love to share healing stories, right? Whether I'm a part of that person's healing journey or not, it doesn't matter to me. What matters is the value of your accomplishment and how much hope and encouragement that gives to somebody that needs it. And so, folks, if you want hope and encouragement, it's out there for you. You know, I'm one person who's trying to help. There's a lot of others out there doing it, too. But just pay attention to the healing stories. Listen to successful people. You've probably heard me use this analogy, the Everest analogy. But, like, you know, if you. Healing cancer is like climbing Mount Everest. It's hard, right? It's hard. It's dangerous. You could die in the process. But there are people who've done it. And if you pay attention to those people and learn from them and let them be your guides, you give yourself the best chance of success, right? Follow the people who've done it, right? Imitate successful people. This is a principle across all walks of life. You want to be successful. Imitate successful people. And so Julie is one, and there are so many out there who have healed. And we're just sharing those stories because we want you to understand that you can heal people just like you have done it. I'm not special. Neither is Julie. No offense.

Speaker C Right.

Speaker A We are just regular people who found a. Who got very clear that we wanted to live. We changed our lives. We were determined to get well. And we just created a routine, a daily routine for ourselves that we repeated day after day after day. A healing routine. Anybody can do this, right, Julie?

Speaker B And you know, your strength is the diet side, Chris. The science I think you've gone into, you know, it's remarkable. For me, my love is helping people deal with their central nervous system when it's out of whack with a fear, getting them back on track, teaching them how to do that to soothe their central nervous system and start believing and become creative with imagining a future where they are alive. That's what I love doing.

Speaker A That's good. Imagine a future where you are alive. That's so great.

Speaker C Love that.

Speaker A Well, Julie, how can people connect with you?

Speaker B Well, I do have a YouTube channel which is called cancersoothe. So that's s double T H e always have a website which I'm creating at the Moment, which is www.CancerSooth.com. and you can contact me directly at supportancersoothe.

Speaker A We will send people Cancer Soothe. Cancer soothe S O T O O T H E on YouTube.

Speaker B Fighting. Soothing.

Speaker A Yep, that's right. Soothing, healing. I love it. And then cancers.com so. But yeah, reach out. If you feel like Julie, what she's saying and communicating resonates with you. Reach out, connect with her. I know she does coaching. She's got a lot to share. Obviously, she's. She has just as much wisdom as anyone who's healed. And I'm just so glad, Julie, again, I'm glad that you've decided to make this part of your life's work and your life's mission to help other people in this process. Because it's. Hey, it's scary, it's confusing, it's discouraging. People are struggling with despair and hopelessness and fear. And, you know, we're just trying to build an army, right? We're just trying to build an army of loving, caring people, survivors that can help, you know, help others. Just be, like I said, just being a light in the dark for somebody is huge.

Speaker B And thank you, Chris, because without you on many levels, I don't think I would be here. You gave me a great structure. Everybody needs a structure to get going. And yours was the first program out there and still is, I'm sure the best program to give us structure to move forward in baby steps. And it works. I'm here. It works.

Speaker A You know, it works. If you do it, if you will work it, it will help you. And that is the promise that I make to everyone is like the square one program. It will only help you. It will not hurt you. It will only help. And yeah. So you can find out more about that@chrisbeakcancer.com coaching if you don't know about the square one program, but again, it's a coaching program, I don't get credit, right. For Julie's survival. Julie did the work, right. Julie gets the gold medal. Julie's coach doesn't get the gold medal. Okay. Like, that's why I call it a coaching program. I'm just coaching. I'm just encouraging, right? You have to do the work, but you can. You're capable. You're able. Like, you can do it. I'm. I'm the person to say you can do this. And I know Julie is that now for people. So, you know, I just. I just love so much that a part of your story. It's so rewarding and fulfilling to me to know that, yeah, that it was this. It's just the timing was perfect right when you were looking. The information I put out there was right there, and it just intersected at that moment in your life when it was serendipitous, I guess we could say. And so anyway, folks, thanks for watching so much. Please share this with people you care about. Julie is just another shining example of how cancer can be healed. It does not have to be a death sentence. You can take control of your life and your health, and you will be surprised at how much power you have to transform your life. If you're willing to change, if you're willing to change, if you're willing to read and research and try new things, step out of your comfort zone. Step out into the unknown and start your healing adventure. Incredible stuff can happen in your life. So God bless you all. Thanks for watching and I'll see you on the next one.

From hospice to healed: Julie Mason’s endometrial cancer journey

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