健康素食抗癌 | FYCD Vancouver

A healthy vegetarian diet and a firm belief helped me succeed in fighting cancer

Sister Zhang came over with a smile, holding a plate of beautiful and delicate jelly cake that looked like a work of art. This was another vegetarian creation that she spent an entire night making. It made the eyes of people around her light up, and it was so beautiful that people were reluctant to eat it... You couldn't tell that this healthy and cheerful lady in front of you had a close call with death many years ago. The doctor estimated that she would relapse in two years. Now, she has successfully fought cancer for 10 years.

Q: In what year did you become ill? How did you discover it?

A: I had a full body checkup at Wenlai Hospital in December 2009. The ultrasound showed a small tumor like a bunch of grapes growing on the heart's large blood vessels. The doctor said it was in a very dangerous place and could not be biopsied. I did not take it as a serious problem. One month later, I felt a little problem with breathing and thought it was asthma, but the spray did not work, so I did not think of anything else and left it alone.

During the 2010 Lunar New Year, I went on a trip abroad with fellow initiates and two relatives. I felt very tired, and my breathing became increasingly difficult. I also lost my appetite. I went home for an X-ray and found that my left lung was filled with water. I was hospitalized for observation.

I stayed in Wenlai Hospital for three weeks. My bone marrow examination diagnosed me with blood cancer. The doctor recommended chemotherapy. Considering that the hospital did not have a blood transfusion machine, the risk of infection was very high. The doctor wrote me a note and gave me all the test reports, and recommended that I return to Canada for treatment. Later, I faxed all the information to my family doctor, and the doctor immediately sent the report and his proposal to send my child to the cancer center, and the cancer center immediately accepted me.

Q: How did you adjust mentally when you found out you had leukemia? How was your physical condition?

A: I was in a wheelchair and went back to Vancouver. My daughter picked me up. I had water in my lungs and it was hard to breathe. I had difficulty moving. I was mentally devastated. I was thinking every day if I would not live past 55. Wouldn't that be too young? I didn't want to be that young.

Just go!

Q: Can you share with us the chemotherapy process?

A: I went to see a doctor at the cancer center a week after returning to Vancouver. I had everything rechecked. Seven or eight hundred cc of thick yellow liquid was extracted from my lungs. After that, I felt really comfortable breathing. A few days later, I had my bone marrow extracted again. This was the second time. The pain of extracting the bone marrow was indescribable. The result was confirmed to be terminal (stage 4) lymphoma, which had spread to the bone marrow, spleen, pelvic cavity and lungs.

I was scheduled to have eight chemotherapy courses, one every three weeks. The first chemotherapy was a full dose, just a last-ditch effort, and I almost died... The drug was too strong and caused tooth inflammation and a high fever. My wife immediately called the cancer center and I was immediately sent to the hospital. BCCA asked Richmond hospital to isolate me and give me a strong immune-boosting injection. I started losing my hair two weeks after chemotherapy.

In the second chemotherapy, they adjusted the drugs and there were no serious side effects. I am grateful for the great compassion of the immortals, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

I had a CT scan three weeks after the third course of treatment and the tumor shrank. I continued to complete eight courses of treatment until October 2010.

Afterwards, the hospital gave me another two years of maintenance treatment (a kind of medicine to maintain the effect for two years). The doctor said that this chemotherapy will not cure the disease, but only prolong my life. I asked the doctor how long I could live, and he said that everyone's physical condition is different, one year, two years, three years, or even 10 years, 20 years, and I have to rely on my own maintenance.

Q: What is the post-chemotherapy examination process? Are there any precautions?

A: I go back for a checkup every six months. During the checkup last December, the doctor said that I should come back after one year, but I insisted on having a checkup every six months. The doctor estimated that I would have a relapse two years after chemotherapy, but I am very healthy now, so he suggested that I come back after one year. In fact, the cancer cells are still in my body, but they are sleeping soundly now, so don't disturb them.

I would like to remind you that you should never cut your skin during chemotherapy, otherwise it will be difficult to stop bleeding. This is because chemotherapy will reduce the number of platelets and make it difficult for the blood to coagulate. If you accidentally touch or bump into any part of your body, your skin will easily turn black and blue.

Q: I heard that you successfully fought cancer by following a healthy vegetarian diet. Can you share with us your diet during chemotherapy?

A: I started to drink vegetable juice on an empty stomach every morning the day after I returned to Canada from Brunei. The darker the color of the vegetables, the more antioxidants they contain, and the better the anti-cancer effect. During chemotherapy, I drank vegetable juice as soon as I woke up in the morning, and drank a cup of five-element vegetable soup (carrots, white radish, shiitake mushrooms, burdock, radish leaves) and sprouted brown rice tea half an hour later, and had breakfast half an hour later.

Patients undergoing chemotherapy need adequate nutrition. Most patients lose their appetite during chemotherapy, and even have many different side effects. I am lucky that I don't have a sore mouth (ulcers), dizziness or vomiting. Before chemotherapy, I used baking soda and water to rinse my mouth to avoid mouth ulcers, so eating is not a problem. My side effect is that my body muscles will feel sore three to five days after chemotherapy. After a week, I took good care of my body and prepared for the next chemotherapy. During this period, when I had nothing to do, I looked for vegetarian recipes on the Internet and learned to make bread, buns, and pastries to give to others to keep a happy mood.

Although I had no appetite, I still insisted on swallowing food every two hours to ensure adequate nutrition and immunity before the next chemotherapy. I ate whatever I wanted. The doctor said that research showed that there was nothing that I couldn't eat, and I just needed to eat a balanced amount of food. I also ate a lot of blueberries rich in antioxidants during chemotherapy.

Q: What do you put in your vegetable juice?

A: Here are some pictures of vegetable juice ingredients shared by Sister Zhang:

Grasp the following principles:

Grow your own vegetables, local produce, fresh, and a variety of
Dark vegetables, lots of colors, lots of ginger
Juice and eat raw
Wash with vinegar and soda
Eat lots of blueberries
Drink on an empty stomach and eat breakfast half an hour later
Oatmeal, flaxseeds, walnut, Brazil nut, 6 each
Eat what you like
Drink the juice slowly and chew it
I also eat Korean red ginseng to help me replenish my energy and strengthen my immunity.

Q: I heard that your strong faith gave you a lot of strength during your fight against cancer. Can you share your experience?

A: I started seeking the truth in 1969 when I was 14 years old. When I was young, I went to the temple with my mother almost every day to kowtow and listen to the teachings. I also helped sweep the floor and other non-action practices. After finishing high school and getting married, I stopped going to the temple. On the one hand, my mother and family immigrated to Canada, and on the other hand, I was busy with business. But I never forgot the Three Treasures and often used them. After I got sick, I used the Three Treasures to pray for the mercy and protection of the immortals and Buddhas, and I also started to learn to recite the sutras. When reciting the sutras, I completely relaxed and immersed myself in the sutras. Soon I could recite several sutras by heart.

I immigrated to Vancouver in 1993, but I didn’t know there was a Yi-Kuan Tao Buddhist temple here. In 2003, I met Master Zhang, who took fellow practitioners to the temple. He told me that there was a big-bellied Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and Jigong Living Buddha in the temple. I thought they were the same immortals and Buddhas as in our temple, so I encouraged him to go, and he soon became a Taoist. Master Zhang also encouraged his students to go with him, but they gave up because they were not familiar with it.

Master Zhang once said that you must attend a Dharma Assembly after seeking the truth, otherwise you will have to attend it again after a hundred years. But without a physical body, floating around like in space, how difficult that is. As soon as I finished all the treatments, I immediately attended the Dharma Assembly, fearing that it would be too late. After that, I continued to attend the research class and have already completed the fourth year of the moral practice class.

Two years after the treatment, on March 13, 2013, I decided to start learning to eat vegetarian food, and went to the Buddhist temple to help with cooking and learn vegetarian cooking. Five years later, I made a vow to eat pure food (2018 altar master class). It's good to eat vegetarian food, it's very energetic! The doctor estimated that my cancer would relapse in two years, and now it has been ten years, and I am still very healthy. The classics are also very helpful to me. When I recite the scriptures, I will concentrate on the scriptures and can completely relax.

I am truly grateful to God and my teachers, and to the immortals, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas for giving me the opportunity to be reborn, which allows me more opportunities to perform meritorious deeds.

We are very grateful to Sister Zhang for selflessly sharing her personal experience with everyone. We hope that everyone can be healthy and safe, and full of joy!