Dorothy: [00:00:00] How do you decide what goes into your body and what does it really matter to your health? Many of us don’t recognize that the medicines and the everyday products that we are taking can quietly impact our nutrition. When Sarah Cain faced cancer, she joined a cancer clinical trial and uncovered what science really says about the vitamins and the supplements that we take. In this episode, you’ll hear why early detection and listening to your body can make a difference, how nutrition, environment, and even stress affect cancer risk, and the steps that Sarah took that change her personal health story.
Subscribe to help us grow and share this episode with someone who needs to hear Sarah’s story. Your support helps us continue our mission and your donations help us serve more women. Just go to [00:01:00] therose.org.
Let’s Talk About Your Breast, a different kind of podcast presented to you by The Rose, a breast center of excellence, and a Texas treasure. You’re gonna hear frank discussions about tough topics, and you’re gonna learn why knowing about your breast could save your life.
Sarah, you were talking about the vaccine and being in this clinical trial and this vaccine for Lynch disease. Right?
Sarah: Lynch, Lynch syndrome.
Dorothy: Lynch syndrome. Tell us why you are so involved in these different levels of cancer studies and what you know about it. And why were you one of the first to sign up and be picked for this?
Sarah: Yes. Yes. Well, first of all, to understand what Lynch syndrome means, that means you can get multiple cancers at different levels, mainly your colon. Then it goes [00:02:00] into your, your stomach, like, you know, 50% chance, 80% chance colon, and then, uh, of course all your female organs and your brain and, and, uh, to, to prevent that from happening or try to reduce your level in that cancer gene you take out what you can take out so you don’t have that, that issue, but um, a lot of it is your nutrition.
Dorothy: Okay. Why so?
Sarah: Well, nutrition is so terribly important in everybody’s life, and there’s different things that people take as far as medical drugs or pharmaceutical drugs that can deplete your nutrition. So it’s very, very important to.
Dorothy: Wait, wait, go back. What does that mean exactly? So I take a blood [00:03:00] pressure pill every day.
Sarah: Okay. So for example, your blood work will tell you your story.
Dorothy: Okay.
Sarah: When you go and have your blood work done, a complete panel, you know, usually, oh, your cholesterol is high, or, uh, you have, I don’t know, say, low folate or low B12, whatever it is.
Dorothy: We all hear about eat right, exercise. Why is nutrition so important? And, and that was one of the factors why you were able to get into the vaccine.
Sarah: Absolutely.
Dorothy: Study the clinical trial.
Sarah: Absolutely. Well, there’s a criteria to get into that study.
Dorothy: Okay.
Sarah: And one is, you’ve had had cancer before. You have to be in good health. And you have to be willing, of course, to take the study.
Dorothy: Right.
Sarah: And I met all the criteria, ba, basically because of my nutrition level, my blood work was absolutely perfect. And so MD Anderson was asking [00:04:00] me, what, what are you doing? You know, inform us of what, what you’re doing, and what I’ve come to find out is that any pharmaceutical drug that you take can deplete nutrition. And so there is an assessment that you can take. For example, what pharmaceutical drugs are you taking and then you list that out. What are your ailments? Say? I don’t know, arthritis.
Dorothy: Okay.
Sarah: You list that out. What is, um your background, you, are you Caucasian, or you list that out. What, um, where do you live? Do you use hairspray? Do you dye your hair? Do you wear, wear, nail polish? All of this depletes your nutrition, and people don’t think of that. I mean, I wouldn’t have thought of thought of that.
So you take this [00:05:00] assessment based on science and they ask you general questions and you answer it and it’ll give you the reason why you should take a certain supplement because it depletes like blood pressure depletes. A statin drug is the worst thing you can ever take. Period. And that depletes so much if you’re, um. Have an ailment, say Parkinson’s disease. You absolutely have to have vitamin D. Absolutely have to. And people don’t understand that once you take this assessment or they don’t understand that it’s out there for what.
Dorothy: Right, right. Now, what? Where can they find that?
Sarah: Well, I can, I can tell ’em how to, you know, do this assessment through a platform that I use, leveraging. The ideal life program, which individually designed ’cause one, one size doesn’t fit all. You’re different from me. You may need something and I [00:06:00] don’t, vice versa. And um, and then the scientific results from that tells you, okay, why do I need folate, for example? Let’s just use that one.
Dorothy: Okay.
Sarah: And the scientific research will say, well, are you depressed? This will help. It doesn’t cure it. It may help. They can’t guarantee, you know, any vitamin’s gonna help, but that allows you to get the proper supplementation. It takes 90 days for cellular turnover to grab a pure vitamins pharmaceutical grade. And so I’ve been doing this for a while and I went to.
Dorothy: Wait, how long is a while?
Sarah: Oh. Five years maybe. At lose track of time. For five years. And before then my blood [00:07:00] work was never on point after then. It’s been right on point.
Dorothy: Really?
Sarah: And that’s what convinced me that I need to tell more people about this, this opportunity to be in better health and, and, uh, do the best that you can with taking vitamins, minerals, and supplements. A lot of people don’t believe in vitamins and minerals. Um, and I’m not saying that that’s not okay. You, you know, you do what you, you, uh, think is right for yourself, but I can guarantee you can’t overdose on a vitamin. So it’s in a safe zone. And they don’t give you anything more than you need.
Dorothy: That your body gets rid of it.
Sarah: Right. Exactly. And it makes you feel better and, and you have more energy and it’s, it’s a noticeable thing.
Dorothy: And the quality of the vitamin and the quality makes a big difference.
Sarah: Well, a lot of [00:08:00] vitamins have synthetic fillers. So for example, if you go to the grocery store and you’re looking at all this panel of vitamins, you’re like, what do I take? And why do I take it? I have no clue. And so that’s another reason for taking the assessment. You know, you’re getting quality, you know you’re getting what you need. You can even dive deeper and do a DNA test, a saliva test, and it will tell you exactly what you need based on what they’re reading, what, what exercise you should do, what a uh, to stay away from what’s gonna help you. Uh, I believe mine was vitamin DI was low in vitamin D at the time that I took it. And my body, DNA, has a tendency to not absorb vitamin D for some reason. And it’s, it’s just so important. And so MD Anderson was looking at that, they were asking me a ton of [00:09:00] questions and uh, because when you’re in a study, they’ve got a note everything.
Dorothy: Right.
Sarah: What are you taking? What, yeah.
Dorothy: Anything could shift the outcome.
Sarah: Yes. Anything, especially with cancer patients on chemo. I mean, you know, that is just a really tough drug on you, and so supplementation for that drug is important.
Dorothy: Of course, we always encourage people to tell their doctor, oh yeah, don’t, don’t take anything that, oh no, that. They don’t know you’re taking, but still.
Sarah: Absolutely. Yeah. Just be conscious of it. Uh, doesn’t guarantee anything, but it will guarantee that you’ll feel better. You can’t get enough food, the proper food. Let’s say you’re staying away.
Dorothy: Oh, I’m so glad you’re going talking about that because we have lost so much nutritional value in so much our food. It doesn’t matter if it’s fruit, vegetables. So much of it is, has been diminished over the years.
Sarah: It’s, it’s diminished. And you [00:10:00] can’t get the proper amount of nutrition unless you eat, you know, 10,000 pounds of something, which is not gonna happen.
Dorothy: Yeah.
Sarah: So, so, uh, your body was designed to heal itself and it’s designed to have these supplements and, and nutrition to help keep your vehicle, your earth suit, as I call it, in, in place. Um. I didn’t know the hair dies deplete nutrition, nail polish. I didn’t know that the, the spray that you spray for, um, insects in your house deplete nutrition. It’s just crazy. It’s environmental and, and of course, cancer’s not only in your food, it’s in the environment. So trying to keep yourself as safe as possible with that. And of course sunscreen is important too.
Uh. I just think is really got my attention and I’ve really, uh, tried to stay diligent with my, [00:11:00] my supplements and, and cholesterol, for example, I. I’ll use myself as an, as an example here, uh, I have a high cholesterol, a little bit of high cholesterol. Now, you wouldn’t think that I eat right. I exercise. Exercise is so important, but it’s another genetic thing. And so I refuse to take a statin drug. Well, there’s different vitamins that lower your cholesterol, and that’s what I do on the natural way, and I’m good. But I just don’t want to take a statin drug. Because I, now, I’m not saying people shouldn’t, if that’s what you want to do, I’m talking about me personally.
Dorothy: Right.
Sarah: Take that statin drug. Your doctor wants you on it. You better take it, but you better supplement behind that so you can get the nutrition that it’s depleting from your body.
Dorothy: Before we continue this episode, I have to let you know about something that is happening throughout this month of July. Our Anonymous [00:12:00] Donor is at it again and she wants to match your donation up to a hundred thousand dollars. So think about it, $20 is now $40, a hundred dollars is now $200, and if you’re feeling really generous, a thousand dollars is now $2000. Just think about all the women that we could help with your donation and our anonymous donors match. Please go to therose.org. It’s easy to make your donation there, and as our donor said, every dollar counts. Now back to the podcast.
And all of this information that you’ve absorbed over these last few years. You’ve, you’ve seen a lot of different types of cancers in your friends. Yourself, your husband?
Sarah: I have.
Dorothy: What is a common factor you’re noticing?
Sarah: Early detection. Look at the signs your body will tell you and you need to be aware.
Dorothy: Okay. Most people don’t. Don’t think that’s [00:13:00] true.
Sarah: Well. It’s.
Dorothy: I mean, okay, so today I feel kind of bad. Give us some symptoms or signs.
Sarah: Okay.
Dorothy: Yeah.
Sarah: Okay. I will. I’m gonna use my husband.
Dorothy: Okay.
Sarah: As an example, it is so important for men. He had bladder cancer. So important for men to ask because they won’t do it unless you ask that you want a microscopic blood analysis of your urine. It’s only $50 more. They don’t offer that unless you say you’re gonna go have a urine test. You ask for that. Or they’re not gonna do it.
Dorothy: Is that male and female or?
Sarah: Yes.
Dorothy: Especially male.
Sarah: Male and female.
Dorothy: Okay. Say that again.
Sarah: A microscopic blood analysis of your urine.
Dorothy: Okay.
Sarah: That’s early detection.
Dorothy: And what will that give you that a regular urine test won’t?
Sarah: That will tell you you got blood in your urine and there’s a reason you have blood in your urine because you’re not supposed to have blood in your [00:14:00] urine.
Dorothy: Right.
Sarah: So we need to dive deeper to see why. Could be simple, could be something. That’s not so simple. And so my husband, uh, just went to the doctor and I’m guessing at this a year or less before then did the blood analysis without, excuse me, the urine analysis without the microscopic blood analysis. Oh, you’re fine, you’re fine. And then. I’m gonna say if, if my calculations are correct, eight months, maybe later. We’re at the gym, it’s heavy leg day, you know, we’ve gotta get those legs in and he’s doing this, I’m gonna do this.
And he starts bleeding and his urine. But before then, let me back up. I left a very important step out when he would urinate, he’d see little red [00:15:00] specks like crystals, you know? And it’s like, wow, that’s something in the toilet. I feel fine. Everything’s good. Flush it, you know? And then he’d a couple, it might be a month or two later, eh.
Dorothy: It wasn’t every day.
Sarah: No, it wasn’t every day. And then the leg day happened, and then that evening it was like pouring a glass, a bottle of red wine in the toilet, and we’re like.
Dorothy: Oh my gosh.
Sarah: Woo. Well, at this point, through my connections, I got him into MD Anderson two days later and they did, um, you know, they checked it out and found that it, it was cancer in his bladder and it was stage four and it was that close. I don’t know if you’re filming this, but it was that close to breaking through. The wall and metastasizing.
Dorothy: Oh my [00:16:00] gosh.
Sarah: So I said to, to Richard, God wants you here. You better figure it out of why he wants you here. And so with that being said, um, they had to take his bladder out, his complete bladder. Now this is the difference from different stages of cancer. If you have uh, a cancer in your, your uterine and it, you know, is a stage one. They can put chemo in your bladder and, you know, pretty much cure it. Cure it or treat it, I’m not quite sure on the stages, but at this point he had to have his whole bladder out. Well, because of technology, he has what we call a neobladder, which he was a candidate for that, which means. He doesn’t wear a bag, he doesn’t have to do any of that, but he, they’ve reconstructed a bladder out of his [00:17:00] intestines.
Dorothy: Oh my goodness.
Sarah: Reconnected. Everything that works just like a bladder.
Dorothy: Amazing.
Sarah: Isn’t that amazing?
Dorothy: Yes.
Sarah: So that’s, that’s very important, um, to know there is things out there that, that people can do to help you.
But the early detection. It is so vitally important, and I’m gonna use Kathy Edwards on this one. She had the signs, you know, a doctor, I don’t know who it was, I wouldn’t name it if I did, told her she didn’t ever have to come back for female evaluations ’cause she had a hysterectomy and all of this, you know, and so she never went to the doctor, but she had signs of bloating. She had signs of, you know, not going to the bathroom like she should and just slough it off until it got so bad that, um, [00:18:00] she had this vicious cancer. Very aggressive, very aggressive.
Dorothy: But now Sarah, most of us would do that. I know I, and I know we’re not, this is not.
Sarah: I know.
Dorothy: Being critical, but I think what you’re saying is we do know our bodies and when we see a shift, no matter how small, we better pay attention.
Sarah: Pay attention. Again, information’s power. Even if you’re embarrassed to say, oh, I don’t want to go into the doctor ’cause it’s probably nothing. Well, you don’t know. Go. Yeah. Here, here’s the thing that I keep telling people. The doctors work for you. You don’t work for the doctors, and so you navigate that. You tell ’em, this is what I’m feeling. If they slough it off, go to the next level. And I’ve done that before. I’ve fired doctors before because.
Dorothy: Which [00:19:00] isn’t easy to do.
Sarah: Yeah. But, but.
Dorothy: You can do it.
Sarah: I can do it, yes. Because they’re working for me. And so, um, and just get to the bottom of it, you know, and I know that there’s insurance issues and there’s no, I know there’s different things, but pay attention a little bit to your body. You know, breathe and just try to visualize your body inside. That’s what I do, you know, try to see and feel every little thing that’s going on. You know, can you dream up something? Probably. But still, you know, little signs like that. Like a lump in the breast. That’s a sign that’s not supposed to be there. A big sign. Yeah. No. And so, um, and that’s easy to do yourself.
Dorothy: Go back to the nutrition just a minute. What else do we need to know?
Sarah: It’s, [00:20:00] well.
Dorothy: I know you’ve talked about don’t do processed foods. You’ve talked about no matter how much food or how good we think it is, or how organic, it’s still not gonna have enough nutritions.
Sarah: That’s right.
Dorothy: Nutrition for us.
Sarah: That’s right. That’s right.
Dorothy: Supplements are and vitamins are very important.
Sarah: Very, very important. And the right kind of vitamins, and I’m sure there’s some out on the shelf that you can get, but make sure you do your homework, look in it, and and see what’s in it. You know, there’s like. Um, and I’m going to get back to that, but there’s these, and I’m not gonna name company, but there’s these, um, protein shakes that you can get in different places that have 56 different types of synthetic fillers in it. Now your body cannot digest it. It’s inflammation. Inflammation causes cancer. I actually, [00:21:00] it’s an autoimmune disease is what cancer is. And. It can’t, it can’t, uh, fight it because it’s so much inflammation in, in all of that. Now, moderation’s one thing. We’re all gonna have a pizza. I know I do. Every once in a while. And the cleaner you eat, the more your body’s gonna say, Uhuh, that didn’t feel good. It’s amazing. It takes about 21 days to get there, and that’s hard to get to the 21 days.
But your, your body will tell you that, that doesn’t feel good. Have you ever eaten something and then you feel sluggish? That’s your body talking to you going, oh no, I don’t want that. But, but it tasted good and I understand that, so, um. And it’s just people aren’t aware of it. I, I think, is, is become aware and be diligent in [00:22:00] what you’re eating.
And also another thing that’s good to hear, keep your body going and be healthy is eating every three hours. You know, people are gonna think, oh, I don’t know about this, but it’s true when you wake up, drink some water. And eat something 30 minutes, at least within 30 minutes before getting up. I don’t care if it’s a couple of egg whites, not, not a pancake.
You know, something that’s nutrition, protein, and then every 30 minutes, eat something small. Your body’s gonna appreciate it. You’re gonna feel better. Every thir, every three hours.
Dorothy: Three hours.
Sarah: Excuse me. Okay? Every three hours.
Dorothy: Something small.
Sarah: Like a handful of nuts, you know, um, a piece of chicken and lettuce or whatever it is. And it’s just so important. And of course, sleep, sleep is [00:23:00] so important is you, we’ve all took, took, excuse me, throughout the years, um, seven to eight hours, eight hours is perfect of sleep. ’cause that’s when your body heals itself. And the right supplementation at night helps you heal. I mean, have you ever thought, okay, here’s a bunch of vitamins, I’m gonna take ’em all at once.
Uhuh, there’s some vitamins that fight with other vitamins, and there’s vitamins that work better in the morning and some that work better in the evening.
Dorothy: Hmm.
Sarah: Isn’t that, isn’t that something? Heart attacks and stuff like that usually happens in the morning. I was told I don’t know that. And so there’s certain things that you do for that.
Dorothy: Hmm.
Sarah: And so it’s a science, it’s all based on science in like 30 years of research. And scientist, um, you know, I find are different from medical, um, doctors. ’cause medical doctors are schooled in [00:24:00] this arena, which is good. I’m not saying it’s bad. And then nutritional scientists are schooled in the proper nutrition, so they can only go as far as the talk. That’s, that’s what I find.
Dorothy: So medicines can deplete our nutrition. Our even vitamins that should are taken at the wrong time.
Sarah: Vitamins taken at the wrong time. And if you have.
Dorothy: Some of the products we use, I mean there, it sounds like this truly is a, a, a learning journey to even start to understand all this.
Sarah: It, it really is a learning journey, which, you know, I can send you a site to, to go to and you, it’s a free assessment. So if anything else, it’s information. A lot of this, speaking of nutrition and, and cancer, younger women in their twenties and thirties, they’re finding or getting breast cancer. And [00:25:00] they’re like, what is going on? And what I’ve been told, of course there’s could be a lot of factors.
Dorothy: Right.
Sarah: But again, it’s what you’re eating. Environmental stress. Stress can cause inflammation that can cause cancer. And that’s and when I asked my doctor, when she says, well, what did you do different? Well, I was stressed ’cause my husband had cancer. And I was moving at the same time and all that to Matagorda, which I’ll tell you why we moved there, it’s my body was inflamed. So staying calm. As you possibly can. Uh, driving in Houston is not probably a smart thing all the time, but that’s another story anyway. And just try trying to stay as calm as you can and, um.
Dorothy: Doing the yogic things, that yoga, breathing, all of those things that can calm us down.
Sarah: And it really does. And I can tell you [00:26:00] that’s where I failed. I didn’t fail, but I didn’t see the value. That’s, that’s what it is. People don’t see the value in taking supplements and getting tested and all these things is, I didn’t slow down enough. And I, and I know that, and we all do that.
Dorothy: That’s, that’s, yes. And it seems to plague women more than most, most folks. I, yes. I have learned to take that three minute pause.
Sarah: Yes. Good.
Dorothy: Three times a day.
Sarah: Perfect.
Dorothy: I thought, oh, three minutes. I can do this. Three minutes long time.
Sarah: Yeah.
Dorothy: To do nothing, to sit there and contemplate.
Sarah: Yes.
Dorothy: Yes. But. It, it has been a difference.
Sarah: Well, it fires up your engine again. Sure.
Dorothy: Alright, so what other reasons do young women, I understand what you’re saying about stress. Do you think that and nutrition are the number one?
Sarah: Well, I’m, I’m sure there’s a lot of other factors like your environment In, in different things, but, uh, um, [00:27:00] again, it’s, it’s, it’s the synthetic fillers in our food, in the, in the processed foods. And it can affect. You know, people with ADHD and, and.
Dorothy: So many things.
Sarah: So, so many things.
Dorothy: But were worth it to go and do the study, learn it.
Sarah: Absolutely.
Dorothy: Find out what makes us feel good.
Sarah: Absolutely. And what I find is people in their twenties, we were all full throttle, straight ahead, nothing hurts. Everything’s perfect. Life is good. There’s never the end of the road.
Dorothy: Invincible.
Sarah: Invincible that they don’t think about that. But what I encourage people to do is put yourself first, and I use the airplane analogy. Put the oxygen mask on you first before you can help others. And so that’s the same with your body and everything you do. Exercise is so important. [00:28:00] Exercise is re reduces inflammation and, and of course helps you keep stronger when you’re older and.
Dorothy: Oh yeah.
Sarah: And all of that. So, um.
Dorothy: Well, Sarah, you’re just a wealth of information.
Sarah: Thank you.
Dorothy: That is one thing I’ve learned more today then I have in a long time.
Sarah: Well, thank you.
Dorothy: So, and thank you. And if you allow, we’ll share the assessment and that would be.
Sarah: Absolutely.
Dorothy: That would be so great.
Sarah: Absolutely.
Dorothy: Give us something else to know about. Give us more information, as you say. And more power.
Sarah: Information is power. And you can react on information.
Dorothy: That’s right.
Sarah: And, and you’re the navigator. You’re the pilot. I’d say, you know.
Dorothy: It’s your body, it’s your, no one’s gonna raise their hand and say, take me when it’s time.
Sarah: It’s your earth suit.
Dorothy: That’s right.
Sarah: Take care of it. You only got one. That’s it. So.
Dorothy: Oh, thank you again for being with us.
Sarah: Thank you. Oh, thank you for the opportunity. I really appreciate and you look great. I love seeing [00:29:00] you again. Thank you.
Dorothy: So do you. Oh my gosh, yes. It’s been great.
Sarah: And thank you for being in women’s lives and other people’s lives. We need people like you to have them aware that there is availability.
Dorothy: Yes.
Sarah: I’m here to help. I’m here for your new genetic testing. I’m here for the, the breast, you know, colon cancer can go to your breast.
Dorothy: Oh yeah.
Sarah: Just different things like that.
Dorothy: We need to know.
Sarah: Absolutely, yes.
Dorothy: Thank you again.
Sarah: You’re welcome. Thank you.
Post-Credits: Thank you for joining us today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. This podcast is produced by Speke Podcasting and brought to you by The Rose. Visit therose.org to learn more about our organization. Subscribe to our podcast, share episodes with friends, and join the conversation on social media using #LetsTalkAboutYourBreasts. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Consider supporting The Rose. Your gift can make the difference to a person. And [00:30:00] remember, self care is not selfish. It’s essential.
