Cancer. A subject that most avoid like the plague unless it’s deeply personal and imminent. Karl and I have been knocking on wood for a decade now. Gracias a dios. He survived three rounds, and I survived one, all of which spanned almost fifteen years of emotional and physical purgatory. We were lucky enough to stagger our diagnoses and treatments, allowing one of us to be the primary caregiver and keep the business running while the other suffered through the darkness and fear. Surgery, chemo, radiation, and a myriad of meds that came with an exhaustive list of side effects. Phew…in 2016, we came up for air and made a plan. We sold the business and moved to Costa Rica, leaving the meds, treatments, blood work, tests, Mayo consultations, checkups—all of it—behind. Against our respective doctors’ advice, of course. After extensive research, we made only one lifestyle change during this transition. We adopted a plant-based diet.
Fast forward to the present. Last week, against my better judgment, we consulted a doctor for the first time in ten years. My philosophy? If it ain’t broke…Karl, on the other hand, wanted a baseline for the next decade and beyond. Besides, he’d injured a knee playing pickleball, and his orthopedic surgeon, who had treated him after he’d suffered a gunshot wound inflicted during a home invasion, diagnosed him with osteopenia—most likely a result of the multiple rounds of chemo he’d gone through. Gotta love those damned side effects. Long story short, our blood work just came back perfect. The only prescription from our doctor? Walk on the beach for half an hour every day and hire a personal trainer to work out with weights. No problem! We can easily do that as we pay tribute to our plant-based diet, which we believe saved our lives. Pura vida!
Judy Richter 