Where juicing began for me xx

So for those of you who don't know me ..... I'm Julie , mum to Benzo, wife to Michael !! Through friends and family I've been persuaded into doing a blog.... Don't quite know what I'm doing but sure I'll give it a go! I suppose the best place to start is my background and why I got into juicing and how it has changed me and how I've seen it change those around me. Growing up I was a bit of a messer ( still am!) grew up in a house full of people ,5 sisters one brother and my lovely Mummy and Daddy. Mum always cooked everything fresh and from scratch.... I always managed to skip the veggies!! My fave food was white bread with bovril, pasta with cheese , cheese toasties basically carbs , carbs and more Carbs! As I got older beer became one of my faves too!! A very healthy diet!!!!! I loved a good party and was out Thursday - Sunday whenever I could. Still love a good party and if I could I'd still be out as much but I'm quite fond of my couch now too!!!
Nearly ten years ago now , on Paddys day in town whilst at the bar for a shot of tequila I met my lovely Hubby Michael . We've Been through quite a lot in the past ten years together  , we've had some lovely times like the day our gorgeous Benzo was born and our lovely wedding day we've also had some difficult times  , the beginning of the most difficult was the day I was diagnosed With Cancer .....

Benzo decided to  take his time coming into the world and ten days over due , quite a long labour and with the use of some rather large utensils Ben came kicking and screaming into this world and we were instantly in love .  And as I'd already been working with kids for as long as I could remember the hard part was over sure all I had to do now was take him for lovely walks and show him off to friends and family I was already a pro....... how totally and completely wrong I was!!!!! Ben was not a fan of sleeping or eating he was a fan of crying and vomiting and screaming and never sleeping !!!! One day rolled into another and before long I was a walking zombie who felt like a failure.  No matter what I tried nothing worked he just would not sleep and I was losing my mind..... During this time I had started to feel unwell but put it down to sheer  exhaustion. I decided to go to the doctor but I was mostly displaying signs of first time mum and was told as much and sent home.  four trips to the doc later a big and sudden weight loss ( that I was delighted about!)  I was told she would send me for an ultra sound but she didn't expect to find much and that maybe I should stop carrying Ben so much as that  may be causing my chest pain..... I thought I was losing my mind. So much so that when the nurse who was doing the ultra sound quietly said I need to get the doctor, I was relieved , I wasn't losing my mind after all she had found something. I presumed ulcers or some strange bug!!  I was given an endoscope on that day too and was told not to worry they would get me out of pain. Even after the doc phoned from the airport the next day to tell me he had referred me to another consultant but that I would be looked after ....I was still thinking ulcers!!!
                 It was a Friday evening when myself and my mum ( Michael had a work thing on that I insisted he still did as I still thought not much of the appointment!) so we sat in the office and I was floored when he said he had found two tumours, he didn't use the C word but the look on my mums face told me it was serious. He wanted to admit me there and then but I insisted on going home to my baby who was then only one he allowed me home as long as I returned on Sunday to be admitted ..... All I could think was I don't want to leave my baby. We drove home in silent tears . We were greeted at the door by Michael all my sisters and my brother , I went straight upstairs to put Ben to bed and try get my head round what was going on , all I could hear downstairs was the sound of worry. Sunday was the hardest day leaving my baby it tore my heart in two. A week later they sent me for further tests in another hospital and found a third Tumor , the big C word was being used regularly now, but they just weren't sure which type it was I had!!! And while they figured it out I was still away from my baby in a hospital bed filling myself with pain relief medication and still not knowing what lay ahead . . Weeks went by I think eight in total when they said I could go down to Wexford with my family for the weekend . I was delighted we all went, all my sisters , mum and dad, Michael, and Ben . I had a lovely day with all my family around me. I was wrecked early evening so lay chatting on the bed to my sisters then popped a few tablets and fell asleep. Next morning I woke with the head of a very large elephant!!! I was terrified this was it I thought. My tumor in my chest had grown over night and was causing me some serious problems, I felt as though I was suffocating . I was taken by my big sis Joan back up to hospital.  I was an emergency case and the next 24 hours were critical, At this time all I could think was, God what I wouldn't give for normality and the boring day to day reality of work, weekly food shopping, waking to my baby at night....all the things I took for granted. I wasn't giving up. And that is when my HERO professor John Crown took over . I was diagnosed with non Hodgkin's lymphoma and chemo started immediately. I was relieved something was finally being done , they were gonna try to fix me rather than waiting around for possible surgery that they weren't even sure they could do! And after my first chemo as an in patient I was going to get to go home and only return every two weeks as an outpatient for my treatment which meant being home with my Benzo, Michael , my Mum and all those I love, things were starting to look up. Chemo one came and went and I thought this is not so bad ... Chemo two was a bit harder day 3-7 the hardest , the steroids for me were the hardest part of treatment , I hated how they made me feel. Around this time I had to have a blood transfusion, during my treatment a few things got in the way of my chemo, I developed a clot on my lung following a mediastinosocopy (after this one I woke with a chest drain HELL) eventually I had to have a second mediastinoscopy  both of which I hated. After each chemo I session I felt a little worse. Then I went in for chemo three and they took my bloods but they were too low, so instead of being in for chemo and home again, they admitted me and put me in a room by myself ..... This was probably the lowest I'd felt since my diagnosis... I was sick of it all,  feeling wrecked , feeling down , feeling sick, feeling on edge , missing normality .... Feeling all the horrible feelings !!!! It's then I met a lovely lady, who was also in for treatment (I made some lovely friends during my time in hospital all of us with different types of cancer and all of us going through the same hell, unfortunately some of them didn't make it through). This lady told me about "ABC"... I can still hear her talking to me!! "ABC" she said "Apple, Beetroot, Carrot juice, take it twice a day and your bloods will improve"... I thought ' Jesus I'm sick of people giving me advice'!! Later when my mum was in I mentioned it to her ..... That was it for the rest of the week twice a day that juice was pumped into me in pint form twice a day !!!! And when I returned for my bloods to see if I was well enough for chemo .... My bloods were so much better and I was given my third and hardest chemo!! But I was happy to be well enough to get it!!!

       This is when juicing for me began.....I decided to start this blog to share any tips I have that helped to get me through treatment but mostly on how I built myself back up through a healthy diet, juicing and lots of exercise. Its working for me and, as of this month, I am now 7 years cancer free!!