2 years…2 years ago I had a colonoscopy that changed my life. I still remember being in the post procedure daze, sitting in the hospital bed in a tiny room, Scott in the seat next to me. The nurse asked what kind of juice I wanted. OJ (of course 😉). 

The  gastroenterologist walked in before I even had my juice. It’s a daze but I remember his words vividly. “We found a tumor. We took a biopsy and we don’t know for sure, but I’ve been doing this a long time. And I’m pretty sure it’s cancer.”

2 years…a lot has changed in 2 years, and I don’t just mean the state we live in. 

The one I want to talk about today is the way we eat. Scott and I that is..,it may seem odd or like common sense, but we just eat differently. Little to no red meat. I still eat hamburgers bc I still enjoy them but they make me sick. So, I have to be in the mood to feel crappy afterwards. 

We eat eggplant in our spaghetti and on our tacos instead of ground beef. We eat a lot of fish and Sea bass for special occasions instead of filet mignon. Chicken or pork is still in the rotation. Lots of salads that are kale or spinach based. But we have been doing that for awhile. 

Little alcohol (Scott doesn’t drink, so this makes it easier in me). And the reason I try not to drink is to avoid sugar. I like a cookie or some chocolate, so I try to minimize my intake on that as well. No soda (but I stopped drinking soda before I started trying to have babies in 2011.)

And the biggest surprise from this change it is not a big deal. I don’t miss anything. In fact, when I do overeat, I get sick. It actually had me in a panic that something was wrong bc over the holidays I would get sick after to much food (or drink 😉). 

My biggest revelation is that eating good food isn’t about being thin, it’s about being healthy. Don’t get me wrong, we are not a model of healthy eating. We order pizza, get chick fil a, jimmy johns, ice cream!! Dr. Pepper is a weakness of mine. But we try to make better decisions the majority of the time.

It’s about changing habits. Habits are hard to break. Scott is the cook in the house and last night I had every intention to order pizza because he was working late. And I ended up making dinner for the kids and myself a salad. Habits…hope this is a new one I’m starting!

Nikki commentary: 

I’ve made up this term “cancer karma” it’s something I describe as, not getting too boastful about getting a clear scan or feeling good because you don’t want cancer to think you’ve got your guard down or getting to comfortable.

Some may say it’s no way to live.  But I think it just comes with the diagnosis. The question of “is it going to come back? If not here, possibly someplace else?” 
© Nicole Szymonik and This Is the Pause Button, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicole Szymonik and This Is The Pause Button with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.