My brain cancer story starts in 95 with really invasive right temporal lobe surgery for a malignant brain tumour- an astocytoma/glioma. I was lucky according to the Canberra neurosurgeon that it was low grade and discovered fairly early. It was the following treatment and years of medication that really had the most impact on my life...that nearly ended in 2004.

I didn't even know what a tumour was. My parents were called and told I couldn't drive so I had to move back home with my 2 children who were under 6.  Six weeks before we'd just moved into our new home after my marriage had ended so yes really bad timing!

For the full story please see: Jane's Website 

Ten years after my operation in August 2004 I woke up in intensive care after being saved by my 15 year old daughter who had decided to not go to school that day... I'd had a medication- Tegretol / low sodium (107) related seizure. My lungs had collapsed, I stopped breathing and woke up in ICU intubated after being in a coma for 2 days.

So September 2004- within 2 weeks of stopping all medication I had what I describe as a black fog lifting out of my head and there I was…back- me back in my body and head for the first time in almost 10 years! 
I got out of bed, moved the TV back to the loungeroom and started thinking about every hospital and doctor visit I'd had since I was diagnosed. I knew exactly what I needed and why I had lost 10 years of my life on this rollercoaster I'd been unable to get off since that first diagnosis and literally being subsumed by the whole cancer hospital doctors pharmaceutical industry where people come a far last.

Obviously what I was feeling for the first time in years was some rage, indignation and anger-no not bitterness or regret but just a fight back/take control feeling that was empowering and made me want to be a survivor rather than a victim…

As my brain started clearing and rational thought and logic kicked back in I started thinking about the 3 previous admissions to hospital for low sodium and how absolutely zero was said to me about food/sodium/nutrition. 
I dragged out all the books I had on nutrition and healthy food, some going back to when I was a 17 vegetarian- making alfalfa sprouts, wholemeal bread and torturing my family with lentil casserole... and I started researching first sodium then making a list of all the healthiest foods I should be eating under vitamin and mineral sections. Any food that was listed in a few sections I started eating-eg oats/celery carrot and apple juices/ vegetables/leafy greens/ wholegrains/ beans, nuts and seeds. I knew I needed healing- and food was definitely the best place to start. The main thing that was missing from 10 years of doctors, specialists, scans, blood tests and hospital.

I started eating more nutrient rich whole food, threw out any packaged processed food from the cupboard and fridge (really didn't have a lot of food at all- I seemed to exist on eggs tomato coffee milk cheese pasta toast and biscuits in those days...white and brown food!) and started drinking lots of water with lemon juice, cooked oats with apple, nuts and seeds every morning, ate salad wraps for lunch, made lots of vege bean soup and then started walking…round the block for 5-10 minutes then increasing it daily to 40-60 minutes around where I was living.

I had an initial detox that seemed to last a few horrible months combined with giving up coffee withdrawal- my usual morning before coma in 2004 was wake up take the tablets then make strong espresso in the bialetti to try and stay awake and maintain basic functions. 
I'd drink a huge mug of espresso with milk and about 10 or more nutrasweet tablets….I decided to go completely dairy and egg free a short time after giving up coffee.

SO this is what brings me finally to green smoothies- wanting to feel even more better and increase energy at the end of 2007 after  going back to study in 06 then going back to teaching in 07. I felt there was much more I could do- on my mind/body/health balance and what I was eating, why I was craving certain bad stuff and stress/energy levels etc. I'd settled into an easy cook the same foods and freeze them cycle and was eating zero raw and no leafy greens- I didn't even know what kale was!

So the research began again-the first raw online site I went to had a demo on green smoothie making! Straight away I knew this was doable and what I needed-I"d had some major molar damage from the radiotherapy/anticonvulsants so chewing lots of hard stuff and leafy greens was out... the recipe used celery/cucumber/ baby spinach/lemon/ banana/ apple/ ginger. I still have the bookmark I scribbled this recipe down on- Green Drink.

Wow I can only describe the feeling of that first week blending and drinking a green smoothie for breakfast as pure energy coursing through my veins and body. I wanted to drink more during the day whenever I was hungry. I wanted to tell EVERYONE I met how amazing this could make you feel!! SO I discovered greens, green smoothies and thousands of people around the world feeling the same as I was.

I stopped wanting to eat anything sugary or stodgy and was inadvertently eating more fresh raw food-15 kgs melted away and I craved real fresh raw food for the first time in my life- it was so incredible I wanted to share this with everyone. 
I stuck to baby spinach in that first year, read more resources, then started this blog, printed green smoothie info cards to give people and started researching all the different greens and going to Farmer's Markets and talking to growers about greens!

I was inspired by the testimonials I read online of the changes in health people were experiencing and the list of health benefits eg- it was like this huge secret with so many health benefits that all these people out there knew and wanted to pass along to others.

My story explains my passion for healthy plant based whole foods and why I am critical of mainstream medicines complete disregard and ignorance of nutrition and whole body wellness and disease prevention…and their myopic sole reliance on just medication for every illness. 
I've always said "There are more ways to enter a house than through the front door!"