Life gave me lemons.. and now I use them in the recipes that help me fight my cancer
SUPERMUM ON HOW HEALTHY DIET HELPED HER AFTER BEING TOLD DISEASE WAS INCURABLE
Blogger’s precious pledge after diagnosis Superfood supermum Kirsty Wightman knows better than most how eating well can transform your life.
It’s three years since the mother of two was told the disease which had struck her was incurable. Diagnosed with secondary breast cancer while seven months pregnant with her younger child, she vowed to do everything she could to make precious memories with her family. After changing her diet, she is in no doubt her healthy eating regime is helping her keep fit and feel better. Now Kirsty has launched her own healthy eat ing blog shar ing the recipes she believes are keeping her strong. Kirsty, of Edinburgh, said: “I was 27 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and no one knows what caused my disease or can tell me why I was diagnosed at such a young age. “But I do believe the reason I’m feeling so well almost three years after my diagnosis might be partly because of the changes I’ve made to my diet and lifestyle. “I wasn’t unhealthy but now I’m focusing on what I eat and doing my best to eat well as much as possible. “I only started my healthy eating push a few months ago and at my last hospital appointment I was told I must be doing something right as, for once, my blood tests were normal.
“For someone in my condition to have perfect bloods isn’t usual, so I’m over the moon. And I believe my new diet may have helped make the difference.”
Kirsty – mum to Kyle, four, and Kaci, two – first found a lump in her breast when she was just two months pregnant with her daughter.
At the time, she was living on an army base in Bielefeld, Germany, where soldier husband Ray, a member of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was posted.
A doctor at the base referred her to the local hospital for a scan. She was relieved when medics told her the lump was not suspicious and instead was related to her pregnancy.
But in June 2015, after returning to the UK suffering terrible pain, a biopsy on the lump revealed she had breast cancer that had spread to her liver and bones. Doctors told her she
needed to deliver her unborn baby and the following day she gave birth to Kaci by Caesarean section despite being just 31 weeks pregnant.
Kirsty began immediate treatment for her cancer, including undergoing emergency surgery to repair a broken bone in her back.
She said: “I was told at the time of my diagnosis that the cancer I had in both my breast and bones was aggressive.
“Those early days and weeks were hard and you feel as if you’re in a very dark hole. But then treatment started and things started to pick up.
“My cancer had been so aggressive while I was pregnant – but thankfully, when I started treatment, things started to slow down.”
Kirsty now uses her Facebook page Cancer Fighting Foods to regularly post recipes she believes have helped her body heal and repair during her on- going chemotherapy treatment. Her favourite recipes include roasted red pepper and tomato soup, sweet and tangy side salad, butternut squash roast and green smoothie.
She said: “I’m often up during the night but use that time to go online and do my research into different foods and recipes.
“Some of the ingredients I have needed to order online but the recipes are all very simple to follow. And as well as being healthy, they taste great.”
Kirsty said that since her cancer diagnosis she has been overwhelmed with the support she has received from friends andd ffamily. l
She has also been supported by the charity Breast Cancer Care Scotland and in 2016 appeared as a model in their annual fashion show.
Now she is encouraging any other women or men touched by breast cancer to apply to take part in this year’s show.
She said: “Taking part in the show was a really incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“Before stepping on to the catwalk for the first time, I was so nervous I remember thinking, ‘ What have I got myself into?’
“But it made me feel fabulous and I made the most amazing friends. Everyone supports each other and has great fun.
“I would urge anyone who has had a breast cancer diagnosis to go for it and apply.”