Posted on

Q&A: How Is Your Lifestyle 7 Years After Cancer? Part 1: How I Eat Today

image

Hi Everyone! Life around here is overjoyed and overwhelmed all at the same time. I’m sure those of you have have had young multiple children know what I mean. Even as I’m editing this post, I have one kid climbing over the couch asking me for a plum and another yelling from her highchair. The baby will surely follow. 🙂

I’m obviously not in the season for consistent, meaningful blogging, but I sure do get antsy for some time to write.

So, when I got this email from Tia last week, I thought it would be great to answer her question as a blog post. Why haven’t I done this before? So great.

Posted on

My Home Birth Experience with Samaritan Ministries and Review of Samaritan Ministries- Alternative to Health Insurance

IMG_3004

Here’s another beautiful story of why Samaritan Ministries rocks my socks.

A few weeks ago I shared the home birth story of our third daughter, but today I’m going to explain the details of how 100% of our costs were shared by members of Samaritan Ministries.

I’ll also go into detail about what it’s like to be a member, starting with the monthly SHARE (which is comparable to a “premium” in insurance terminology,) to submitting a NEED (similar to a “claim”,) and what it’s like to go through the maternity process with Samaritan Ministries.

 

Posted on

Update on “Cassandra C.” – the Connecticut Teen Forced to Undergo Chemotherapy Against Her Will

Unbelievable. Just ridiculously UNBELIEVABLE. It’s one thing to read about it, but to watch Cassandra, who we now know is Cassandra Callender, tell her own story is just unreal.

You may have read my post on her medical kidnapping back in January, but hearing her story first hand will give you chills. Cassandra was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the same cancer I healed from naturally 7 years ago. Hers and her mother’s wish was to research and possibly pursue a holistic, natural protocol first. The state however believed the 17-year-old did not have the right to research and choose her own medical care and removed her by force from her home, sedated her with drugs, and surgically inserted a port in her without her mother’s or her consent. They handcuffed her to a hospital bed where she received months of chemotherapy, all while her mother was forbidden to see her and an armed police officer guarded her hospital room door.

It’s INSANE. As a mother of 3 girls and having successfully healed from cancer myself, I would have lost my mind over this!

You can find Cassandra’s interview with Ty Bollinger above, but also- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you want to help her in anyway, visit her GoFundMe page HERE. Even $5 or $10 would be a big hug to her. Recovering from cancer holistically is an expensive endeavor and not covered by insurance. Medical doctors will not teach you anything about nutrition, detoxification, and recovering emotionally, so Cassandra can use all of the help she can get from us- those who know the truth about healing from illness.

-Cortney 🙂

Posted on

Tips on Unmedicated Childbirth and my First Natural, 48 Hour Hospital Birth

IMG_3901

Whether I ever put much thought into it or not, I always knew I would try to have natural, unmedicated births. Growing up my mom talked openly and simply about her three natural births as my two sisters and I would probe her about what it was like. She would say something sweepingly underwhelming like:

“Sure, it hurts a lot, but then it’s over and you have a beautiful baby and you forget about the pain!”

So this is the mentality that was passed down to me when it came to pain, birth, and babies and I am incredibly grateful to my mom for raising me to see the big picture and to not fear a natural process.

When I became pregnant with my first daughter in 2009 (while I had cancer but that’s another story you should read about,) I began my search for a doctor who would be encouraging to my wishes to have an unmedicated birth with very little interventions. I didn’t know anything about midwives or midwifery at the time, but through some chance meetings with like-minded new friends, we actually found a midwife practice who would deliver our baby in a hospital setting.

My husband and I researched natural childbirth in a similar fashion to how we approached treating my cancer naturally: with serious intent. We learned the statistics of the cesarean section rates in our area. Most of our local Atlanta hospitals had c-section rates over 30% so we made sure to stay clear of those hospitals and learned that the hospital my midwife was affiliated with was friendlier towards mother-led birth decisions and birth plans.

Similarly to how we viewed the ability of the body to combat cancer when it is brought back to its optimal condition and health through nutrition, detox, and emotional healing, we believed that leaving the laboring mother’s body to move naturally and labor without intervention was the way we were designed to have children and best for mother and baby as long as there weren’t emergency complications.

Posted on

Our Home Birth Experience

Charlotte Kate

Our daughter is almost 6 weeks old and I have gotten what seems about 6 minutes of sleep since she was born. <smiles.> I have some hardcore Mommy Brain going on which of course is why (along with having two other children,) I haven’t blogged about my home birth experience yet. And oh yah, it was either write this blog post or shower, so let’s just say I’m thankful for my wonderful coconut oil deodorant.

I know all of the moms reading this will know where I’m coming from. 🙂

I’m excited to share how wonderful our home birth was and contrast it a bit with my previous two natural hospital births. I will also be blogging soon about our experience with our health insurance alternative, Samaritan Ministries and how they financially covered our home birth, maternal care, and newborn care 100%! (Update: Read that post HERE.)

Posted on

The Quest For the Cures Series Airing Again for FREE!

Banner for Free Live 11-day Docu-series Event March 30th - April 9th

I’ve gotten emails from several of you about when the “Quest for the Cures” will air again and the answer is VERY SOON! And the best part again- IT’S FREE!

The 11-part series will begin March 30th and air one episode each night until April 9th. Each episode will be available to stream for 24 hours after they originally air. After that, they will be available for purchase for a special promotional sale price through the link in this email.

I wrote a blog post last summer about Ty Bollinger traveling to Atlanta to interview me for the episode that included many other natural/ holistic cancer survivors other than myself (you can see me in Episode 11.) He compiled the entire series of interviews into 11 parts:

Episode 1 – Modern Medicine & The Cancer Pandemic
Episode 2 – Your First Line Of Defense
Episode 3 – Eliminate These “Dirty Dozen” To Prevent Cancer
Episode 4 – Your Secret Fountain Of Youth
Episode 5 – Nature’s Pharmacy
Episode 6 – Clean Foods & The Cancer Diet
Episode 7 – Diagnostic “Do’s & Dont’s” – Proven Treatment Protocols Part 1
Episode 8 – Proven Treatment Protocols Part 2
Episode 9 – Proven Treatment Protocols Part 3
Episode 10 – Doctor’s Orders
Episode 11 – How To Survive & Thrive

All you have to do is sign up by clicking THIS LINK and the information on how to view the series will be sent to your email.

There is nothing else like the Quest for the Cures out there. I wish all of this information (interviews with 28 doctors, 10 scientists, and 9 natural survivors,) would have been all in one resource like this when I was diagnosed almost 7 years ago. It would of saved us a ton of time and stress trying to find reputable sources for WHY and HOW alternative and natural cancer treatment works. It would also have been great to show my concerned family and friends!

I hope you’ll SIGN UP and share with your loved ones. You never know how it could change someone’s viewpoint or even save someone’s life.

-Cortney

Posted on

My Non-Toxic Cleaning Routine

Non-Toxic Cleaning RoutineI’m due to have a baby tomorrow. And well, I’m still pregnant. Yesterday my nesting instincts really kicked in and what started as me only cleaning the toilets resulted in me cleaning the ENTIRE house. I have barely been able to keep the kitchen clean this entire pregnancy and today I was able to mop, dust, scrub, vacuum, and polish practically everything in my two-story house. There is surely a baby on the way soon!

When you’re treating your cancer naturally, it is essential that you detox not only your body, but also the chemicals you keep in your house and clean with. When I began treating my cancer naturally 6 years ago, I did this immediately knowing the strong ties that chemical exposure has to a lymphoma diagnosis. And although I started with buying “green” cleaning supplies from Whole Foods, I now make all of my cleaning supplies at home. Here’s a rundown of my non-toxic cleaning routine.

Posted on

A Natural Hodgkin Survivor’s Take on the Connecticut Teen Forced Into Chemotherapy

Homepage screenshot from the hospital holding Cassandra against her will, injecting her with multiple rounds of toxic chemical treatment that she doesn't want and feels violated for having forced into her. Notice the message... I'm sure Cassandra and her entire family couldn't agree more.

Screenshot from the hospital holding Cassandra against her will, forcing her to receive chemotherapy she doesn’t want. Notice the message, “It’s the Trip Home that Truly Heals.” I’m sure Cassandra and her entire family couldn’t agree more.

Recently there has been a firestorm around the case of “Cassandra C.”, the 17-year-old who was taken from her mother and home and forced by a state ruling to undergo chemotherapy for her Hodgkin’s lymphoma that she didn’t want.

You can read some of Cassandra’s version of the story HERE, which includes the details of her being taken from her mother and strapped down to receive her unwanted chemotherapy treatments. As a mother of soon to be three daughters and a natural Hodgkin’s survivor of 6 years now, this particular statement from her brought me to tears:

“After a week, they decided to force chemotherapy on me. I should have had the right to say no, but I didn’t. I was strapped to a bed by my wrists and ankles and sedated. I woke up in the recovery room with a port surgically placed in my chest. I was outraged and felt completely violated.”

So much of this story has sickened me, but if you think of the hard facts of what happened here- an almost legal (Cassandra will be 18 in September) American citizen being removed from her home and care of her mother, forced to receive a toxic substance into her body, and then of course what most don’t think about- be given the bill for tens of thousands of dollars for pharmaceutical treatment she didn’t even want in the first place- it doesn’t even seem like America does it?

Posted on

One Year Update on My Experience with Samaritan Ministries (Non-Obamacare Healthcare Coverage/ Sharing)

samaritanministries

Update: 12/2018: Our 5 Year experience with Samaritan Ministries can be found HERE. This post is extremely thorough with detailed needs and sharing experience.

Update 4/1/15: You can read about our most recent homebirth experience with Samaritan Ministries HERE.

Last year I wrote a post about Christian healthcare sharing ministries and had no idea that it would become my most popular post on Green Drink Diaries. Apparently more people are looking for alternatives to the federally mandated “Obamacare” than I originally thought!

Today I’m going to go back over some basics of Samaritan Ministries, the Christian healthcare sharing ministry we decided was best for us and also tell about our experience. Americans have only until February 15th, 2015 to make their decisions regarding federally-supplemented health insurance for 2015, so it’s perfect timing for research into other options as well.

For my full run-down on how Christian healthcare share ministries works a a whole concept, click HERE.

For my side-by-side comparison of the largest and most popular 3 Christian healthcare share ministries (Medi-Share, Christian Healthcare Ministries, and Samaritan Ministries) click HERE.

OK, now onto my review of Samaritan Ministries after one year of membership….