I’m one week in to my three weeks at Sanoviv, the medical health retreat in Mexico, where I’ve come to become permanently cancer free after my 5 year journey with breast cancer. It’s a beautiful facility looking from steep cliffs over the Pacific Ocean, and our days are extremely full of treatments. We have our phones switched on airplane mode the whole time we are in the facility, to reduce the impact of EMF’s, so I get less than an hour every night before bed when I can check my messages, call my mum and catch up on emails.
There are many people here who have come here with much more advanced diseases than me, and I’m delighted that there have been some wonderful success stories. I befriended a young kiwi woman with 3 kids at home, who has been here to treat recurrent bowel cancer that had metastasised throughout her peritoneum and around a major blood vessel. The doctors in NZ told her it was inoperable. She’s now coming to the end of her 3 week cancer program that I’m also on and just got the results of her latest MRI taken 2 days ago – there is one remaining nodule that has shrunk 30% and shows signs of necrosis, but the rest of the cancer is GONE! Even more reassuring is that her blood cancer markers are completely back to normal.
A man here with myelodysplastic syndrome, the bone marrow cancer that killed my dad, also had a great response to the 3 week program – his best blood work since before his diagnosis in November – so he is staying an extra week for further treatment to give his body the best chance of total recovery. He is planning to come back with his wife every year to do a health reset.
People come here for Lyme Disease treatment, autoimmune issues, long covid treatment, neurodegenerative disease and regenerative treatments as well as cancer, so there is a real mix of treatments and people.
I’ve been having daily IV infusions (continuing on the great work with the IV Vitamin C infusions that my team was doing for me, plus different IV’s for chelation and some to weaken any cancer cells that might be in my body), so I spend 2-4 hours a day most days receiving IV infusions. I’ve continued with hyperbaric treatments and am receiving general and regional hyperthermia which is designed to simulate my immune system to work against any remaining cancer cells. The general hyperthermia heats my core temperature to greater than 38C to simulate a full body fever, and the regional hyperthermia heats the tissues of my breast and lymphatic tissues that supply the breast to 42C – the same temperature we aim for with ThermiVa when we are treating leaky bladder. This coming week I’ll have an immunotherapy where they infuse my own natural killer cells and T-lymphocytes that they’ve harvested and expanded from a large sample of my blood taken when I first arrived. They expose these immune cells to breast cancer cells so they know what to target and then unleash them back into my bloodstream to mop up any breast cancer cells that might be moving around my body still.
Alongside the physical treatments I have a psychologist, mind-body therapist and energy healing sessions in the ‘quiet room’, looking out over the sea. I’ve seen dolphins playing in the water almost every day I’ve been here! There is a full spa where I’ve received lymphatic massages and craniosacral therapy so far, and they have swimming pools and thalassotherapy pools with an infrared sauna and cold plunge, but I haven’t been allowed to go in the sauna or pools while my port has been accessed (they leave a needle in the chemo port on my chest all week to use for the daily IV infusions, rather than constantly inserting a needle in it daily). I have regular colon hydrotherapy, reviews with a nutritionist twice a week, a personal trainer once a week, daily fitness and meditation, and daily reviews from my doctors.
The breast with my expander boob has been tight and painful since I arrived in Mexico on 1 April, and I’ve been taking antibiotics as it’s been hot, red and swollen. We finally managed to ultrasound it when I got to Sanoviv and it showed the seroma (fluid) had collected around the implant again, but it now has 6-7 compartments. We took some fluid out of the biggest compartment, which has helped make it more comfortable, but don’t want to take the risk of introducing an infection around the implant by trying to put a needle into every compartment, so this coming week we will do a repeat ultrasound and likely take some fluid out of the expander so it reduces the pressure on the tissues. Apparently, it’s highly unusual to have such prolonged and angry seroma, so my plastic surgeon has suggested that we do surgery to explore what’s going on when I get home.
At home, the team is doing a wonderful job of keeping the clinic humming. We have now had several articles on our IV Vitamin C infusions, which we combine with LED light therapy and a neck and shoulder massage. You can also read in this newsletter about different therapies for migraines, and how to treat and prevent skin pigmentation. I’d highly recommend having a skin consultation at this time of year to review your skin products and treatments, as sometimes things change as we come into colder weather. If you’ve not yet had a skin consult with us, autumn/winter is a great time to start prepping your skin for spring and summer, as skin changes can sometimes take 6 weeks to 6 months to start seeing change. If your skin is feeling dry and flaky with the change of season, our skin team is here to help!
With Mother’s Day just around the corner you can spoil mum (or yourself!) and also get an incredible deal with our Mother’s Day Special vouchers, which give you 20% more – spend $800 and get $1000 worth of treatment!
It has been wonderful spending 3 weeks with my mum in both Mexico and Canada before coming to Sanoviv. My heart is full. I had 5 days in Zipolite staying with mum before we flew to Calgary for a week for my step-grandma Maurine’s 90th birthday – where I was the surprise guest! I met up with the Entrepreneur’s Organisation Chapter in Calgary and was even a guest speaker in their event ‘transformational leadership in turbulent times’. I got to go to my first ever ice-hockey game, which was just thrilling!
Then two more weeks with mum, working remotely, heading to the beach every morning for sunrise meditation, my first gym workouts in 6 months, beach walks at night and lots of chats and hang out time in the pool.
One of the key messages for me, currently being surrounded by so many people who are here to treat life-threatening diseases, is how important it is to spend time with family and the people you love. To cherish and appreciate them and let them know regularly how important they are to you. So please, hug and cherish the mother-figures in your life this Mother’s Day. Whatever your relationship with your mum, you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them 🥰
May is also a poignant time for me as it would have been my dad’s 75th birthday on 9 May. We re-watched the Netflix documentary about the Blue Zones with Dan Buettner, ‘How to live to 100’ and it was a great reminder of the importance of food, natural exercise, community, and holding faith. I wrote about the Blue Zones research in both of my books, and have seen the documentary before, but I highly recommend re-watching it, it’s a beautiful way to examine what’s important in our lives.
As always, I’m beyond grateful for our incredible team, and for the ongoing support from you as our cherished guest. Without you we would not be a business, so we appreciate that you choose and trust us for your treatments.
Sending love and hugs from Mexico.
