Spirit in Action
Savannah Rhae - Pancreatic Cancer Journey
Savannah Rhae was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the spring of 2007, a disease that is fatal to 75% of people in the first 12 months. Savannah has done some traditional medicine, but she's also radically changed her diet and opened herself bountifully to community and to the Holy Spirit in facing this challenge.
- Broadcast on:
- 11 Jan 2009
- Audio Format:
- other
(upbeat music) ♪ Let us sing this song for the healing of the world ♪ ♪ That we may hear as one ♪ ♪ With every voice, with every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world along ♪ ♪ And our lives will feel the echo of our healing ♪ - Welcome to Spirit in Action. My name is Mark helps me. Each week, I'll be bringing you stories of people living lives of fruitful service, of peace, community, compassion, creative action, and progressive efforts. I'll be tracing the spiritual roots that support and nourish them in their service, hoping to inspire and encourage you to sink deep roots and produce sacred fruit in your own life. ♪ Let us sing this song for the dreaming of the world ♪ ♪ That we may dream as one ♪ ♪ With every voice, with every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world along ♪ - My guest for today's Spirit in Action is Savannah Ray, someone who's been my guest before on my Song of the Soul program, a deep soul. Savannah was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about 20 months ago, and the fact that she's still here to talk about her journey with pancreatic cancer now, puts her in select company. Since 75% of those diagnosed with this type of cancer are dead within the first year. Savannah Ray is one to faithfully follow her own path, and this was no exception, as she sorted her options, selecting traditional medical approaches or alternative treatments under the leading of the spirit. Actually, I interviewed Savannah just over a month ago, and since then she's had ups and downs, including some nearly fatal crises. Savannah Ray asked that we start off with a message from the pancreatic cancer awareness network, so here it is. - My name is Sandra, and I am an eight-year survivor of pancreatic cancer. - I'm doing this because I want to keep the memory of my mom alive. - I'm here in honor of my mom, and we're here to help raise awareness. - My name is Paul Grippo, and I'm a researcher at Northwestern University. I'm here 'cause I really believe we can find a cure for pancreatic cancer. Together, we can make a difference. - Make a difference! (gentle music) - Savannah, thanks so much for joining me for spirit in action. - Thanks for having me, Mark. - I want to talk all about your journey with pancreatic cancer, but what I want to start with, though, is how are you right here, right now? And I don't mean just physically, I mean, how are you in your deepest parts right now? Right now I feel hopeful, Mark. Much of this journey has been up and down and all over the place in terms of emotion. And I think that all of the emotion is good, as long as I'm feeling and expressing it. What I'm most aware of today is that I'm really blessed to be able to be sharing my story, and that this potentially could help others on their own path, whether it be helping a loved one through treatment or facing their own disease with courage or any number of ways that I'm just not aware of. So I feel really blessed to be here and to have this opportunity to share what I know and what I've learned. I don't tend to share a lot of statistics as part of spirit in action. It's just not my normal course, but I do want to mention that I read recently that basically people in the United States, before the end of our lives, one out of two of us, 50% of us, will personally have cancer. So your story and your experience with it is really important as one example of what happens when one encounters cancer. Your cancer is one of the more serious ones, the more threatening ones, the more deadly ones, as the medical world looks at these things. Could you walk us through your initial experience, how you came to know you had cancer and what happened from there? And against Vanna, I'm hoping that people, as they're listening, that they're understanding that that may be them right now, it may be the person right next to them and so that we can walk through this experience together with you. - As so many do, when I was first diagnosed, I read everything I possibly could about cancer, from mainstream to alternative to very conservative approaches. And one of the things that I settled on early on that really resonated with me is that cancer is something that is happening inside of all of us all of the time. And let me explain that a little bit. It may not be this simple, but this is how I came to understand it. That cancer is nothing more than an irregular cell that takes hold and begins to multiply quite rapidly. A strong body and a strong immune system is able to take that abnormal cell and bring it to its death, basically. Keep it under control. When a person begins to have what we call cancer, it's because the body, to some degree, has been weakened and is unable to keep up with its ability to keep these abnormal cells in check. So there's a part of me that when I hear the statistic, one out of every two people will have cancer, there's a part of me that wants to go, "Oh, God, no." And then there's a part of me that goes, "Well, yeah, that's right." And actually it's probably a little higher than that. In my personal journey, and it really is a personal journey that no two people diagnosed with the same illness are going to have the same experience. But in my personal journey, what I've found most helpful, one of the things that I've found most helpful, is to not see cancer as the enemy. But to see it as my body's saying, "Something's not right here. You need to pay attention. You need to listen to me, me being my body, and respect me." I've really taken that to heart, that my recovery has been about learning to trust my body, and it's cues, and believing that my body is innately wise, that it was designed for health, and that my job is to simply support it in recovering my health. This is not a standard approach to dealing with cancer. There's a lot of fear around having cancer, and there are definitely times when I've been very scared, and I don't want to lessen the fact that another person may have a lot of fear in their own experience. Because I really think that wherever a person finds themselves, whenever a person finds themselves in a state of dis-ease, that wherever it is that they are is holy ground, that it's sacred, and that the most important thing is to listen, to listen deep within, and to trust whatever guidance they may receive, whether it be rational or irrational. Early on, some of my symptoms were very flu-like symptoms, and I also broke out with a irregular rash on my body, and two other things that occurred was that I had a bowel that was loose on and off, which was not typical for me. I later found out that that's a very common experience for people that are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and then another thing that I would have never linked to my experience with pancreatic cancer, but that I later learned again is very common, is that I had a knot behind my right shoulder blade that was like a large boulder. As I became more sick, there was more and more tension there to the point where my friend Steven would rub my back for me, and he would work on my shoulder for 20 minutes, and I would barely have any relief. So those are some of the early symptoms that I experienced, and I also believe that are common and unique to pancreatic cancer. - And I think you had at least one more symptom, which is rather colorful, shall we say. It's a symptom that I think probably shocked you and the people around you. - Yes, I literally turned shades of green. My symptoms began in January of 2007, and I had surgery in April, April 9th of 2007. And so during that time when I first went into the doctor, which was the end of January, till the time of my surgery, there was a blockage that created jaundice in my body. And because of this blockage, bile was being backed up in my system. As each day went on, I became more and more green and yellow, and I turned colors that you only see in very bad bruises or in frogs and trees. This, I think, was more scary for my friends than it was for me because they could see me and my health declining. Luckily, I had people around me that were supportive and also had a sense of humor about this condition and knew that it was just a matter of time before I found the help I needed. An instance that's rather funny that I often think and laugh about is my roommate, Nora, at the time, said to me, "Well, Savannah, you may be green, "but dang, your teeth sure are white." And we had a good laugh about that, and I so appreciate her sense of humor in carrying me along this very uncomfortable and, yes, colorful experience. It's not that easy being green. Having to spend each day the color of the leaves, when I think it could be nicer being red or yellow or gold, or something much more colorful like that. (gentle music) It's not easy being green. It seems you're blending with so many other ordinary things. And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water or stars in the sky. (gentle music) But green's the color of spring. And green can be cool and friendly like. And green can be big, quite delicious, or important, like a mountain, or tall like a tree. When green is all there is to be, it could make you wonder why. But why wonder why wonder I am green? And it'll do fine. It's beautiful, and I think that's what I wanna be. For those of you who didn't know that piece, that was Kermit the Frog singing, "It's Not Easy to Be Green." And Savanna Ray, who is my guest today for spirit and action, went through her green period. Some people go through a blue period, she went through a green period and dealing with pancreatic cancer. It's a story that's not done. As a matter of fact, while any of us lives, the story goes on and Savanna's sharing with us today her experience of living with pancreatic cancer. You got diagnosed with cancer, Savanna. Did your emotions immediately tank? I mean, I think most people, even though it's very unhelpful for us, we go to a point of stress and fear when we hear that dreaded word, cancer. Did you flail about and scream out, "God, why me?" What happened for you at that point? I actually didn't freak out right away. There was a point later down the road where I think I had my freak out time. I was definitely scared when the surgeon came back, I think it was three days after surgery and said the pathology report is in and the growth that we removed was cancerous. Those are scary words to hear. So I remember shedding tears. I remember my friend Deb being there and I was really thankful that she was. It was scary, but I felt so protected during that time. In fact, I remember it's what I've begun calling being bombarded by prayer. That I had so much energy coming towards me, so much love coming towards me from different people and places that I literally felt bombarded by prayer. And what I mean by bombarded is that I felt the walls around me that thought I could protect myself, whether it be physically or emotionally. I felt the prayer literally breaking down these walls and that the same energy that broke down these walls and left me feeling vulnerable. Once the walls were broken, also began to lift me up. It was a very, very humbling experience and a very, very powerful experience all in one. And so when I got the news, I was in the midst of this process somewhere between realizing that I was being carried by grace and feeling this intense love emanating towards me. And so yes, I was scared, but I also felt the presence of Holy Spirit and knew that I was well cared for. So the fear really passed rather quickly. - Your diagnosis came because you were in the hospital and you had an operation. I mean, this is what many people describe as the allopathic approach. You're dealing with doctors in the hospital. Did you just continue with that? I mean, a lot of people in our society don't know that there are alternatives and that that's only one selection. How long did you stay with the hospital path? And I'm not assuming you've left it yet. - All along, it's been really important for me to gather information, to look at all of my options. I consider myself very blessed because I've had some training in body work and breath work and body-centered learning that has been really supportive for me in choosing how to proceed with treatment. All along, I have chosen to use both allopathic medicine such as chemotherapy and radiation, as well as doing things such as prayer and meditation, the food I eat is a primary therapy for me. I no longer see food as something to celebrate with. I really see food as this is going to nourish my body or this is not going to nourish my body. I see the food I eat as medicine. If there's one thing I can stress to people, if you're in good health right now, then embrace that what you put into your body is affecting your health and the best thing that you can do to prevent, in my opinion, to prevent cancer is to look at the food that you eat. - I think that's an idea that isn't very popular in the United States, that most people don't want to look at our food as part of our problems, that we do expect there to be a cure. If I've got arterial sclerosis, then the problem is that I haven't gone to the doctor yet and gotten the pill to fix it. But obviously arterial sclerosis is related to our diet. I guess a lot of diseases are related to our diet. - You know, I've got to agree with you that looking at our food choices is not a popular option. In fact, in some cases, it's really scared people, some of the people that I'm close with, both family and friends, that I've chosen to approach my recovery from a nutritional standpoint. I've got to say that changing my diet has been a very emotional experience and I understand why people don't want to look at it because there's a lot of addiction wrapped up in the food we eat. It's absolutely supported in our culture. People will joke all the time about overeating or I ate too much sugar and laugh about it, like it's socially acceptable. So many of our celebrations are around food. You know, I went through a grieving period where I realized that to a degree I needed to let that go, that I needed to stop celebrating with food. And that was really scary because what happened then is that meant I needed to connect with people. I needed to look at the people that I was celebrating with and say, "What do I have in common with you?" Or, "What do I not have in common with you?" And there are times when I would, you know, sit there twitching going, "Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh," because it was really uncomfortable. There's a lot of emotion around food. And so I understand why people don't change their diet. - You evidently did change your diet. What was it like before and what is it now? What are the principles that you're following and what basis is there for them? - I have chosen to change my diet and I'm really thankful. It's been definitely one of the most challenging parts of my recovery, but also the most rewarding and the most fruitful part of my recovery. A big part of the changes I've made in my diet is that I have moved towards a plant-based diet. I eat primarily fresh fruits and vegetables, some nuts and seeds. The biggest changes I've had to make in terms of moving towards this type of diet is eliminating wheat and sugar from my diet. It have been too biggies, primarily because wheat and sugar are in most every product on the market today. And so I've really had to go to a place of starting from scratch. In fact, I'm working on a book with a working title called "Starting from Scratch" for a couple of reasons. The first reason is because everything changed after my pancreatic cancer diagnosis. And so in every area of my life, I did need to start over or start from scratch, but also the food that I'm choosing to eat now are the most basic ingredients of life. It's the fruit of the tree or the fruit of the plant. So I'm starting from scratch that way. Also, another reason for the title of the book is that my first symptoms were a rash, which I spent a fair amount of time itching and scratching. - So what are the specific protocols you're following your mainly plant-based? Does this mean you can't have meat at all? - No, it doesn't mean I can't have meat. It means that I'm choosing not to eat meat. And I'm really glad that you asked that question because one of the tenants that the nutritional counselor that I work with through the Center for the Advancement of Cancer Education, one of the things that she stressed early on is that these changes savannah are not about being perfect. It's about making better choices. And for me, not eating meat is a better choice. Because a third of my pancreas was removed as part of the surgery, my body does not produce a pancreatic enzymes which are necessary to break down a heavy food such as animal flesh. So it really is in my best interest not to eat this particular food because then my body's energy does not have to go towards breaking down the food. It can go towards rebuilding my health. So for me, it's about maximizing my energy and using my body's energy wisely. I'll also say that I've chosen through this experience not only eat a plant-based diet but to also eat foods that are grown sustainably or to eat primarily organic foods. I really believe that this has made a big difference because again, my body doesn't have to process the chemicals and hormones and such that are in the foods that I eat. My body's energy can just go towards breaking down the food and bringing the nutrients to my body so that my body can do the job that it's designed to do. - You spoke there, Savannah, about some of the concepts, you know, letting your body work on what it needs to work on. Are these tenants that are put forward by the Center for the Advancement of Cancer Education or are these Savannah Ray concepts? Where did these originate from? - Well, a primary mission of the Center for the Advancement of Cancer Education is to educate both institutions and people about building the immune system and the importance of having a strong, vibrant immune system in terms of working to reestablish health in the body. And so certainly they're an advocate for using natural methods to boost the immune system. My personal approach has been very body-based partially because of some of my own training and background. I do have a background in body work, more specifically, Neo-Rikeian body work, which tends to be very body-based. Rike and Freud were cohorts. Cohorts, cohorts, cohorts. And they split off. And Rike became more body-based. That is, he began to see that the body has wisdom all of its own. And so some of my early training has been around learning to listen to my own body and to trust my body's cues. In this case, it really served me well that it was beginning of January 2007 that I began having symptoms. By the end of the month, I went, "Mm, something's not right here." I was in seeing my nurse practitioner for some tests within three months I was having surgery. At first, I thought that was a long time. And a friend of mine said, "You narrowed things down in three months." She said, "You're way ahead of the game." Oftentimes, people symptoms go on for years before they finally break down and go to the doctor. So I find this philosophy of being in terms of learning to trust my body has really served me well. And it's part of the message that I want to get out today that it doesn't matter what the diagnosis is or even if there is a diagnosis that every person has a set of tools that they carry around with them every day. It's the body and the body knows. We simply need to raise our awareness in listening to the cues that it gives us. You know, sometimes we hear people say women's intuition or I had a gut feeling. Those gut feelings are exactly what we need to tune into. And the main thing about listening to the body is that the body is not rational. And we live in a world that adores the head and rational thinking. And don't get me wrong, I think that there's a place for that in making decisions. But sometimes what's best for me as an individual does not make sense from the standpoint of another person. But choosing which route to take in terms of recovery is a really personal decision. And I know without a doubt that I'm still here a year and a half later when other people that were diagnosed at the same time as I have passed. And I believe that one of the differences is that I have these skills which have taught me to trust my body instead of seeing it as an enemy. - One of the things I'm aware of, Savannah, is that part of your care for yourself has included surrounding yourself in community. That community has been a real important part of that. And one of the techniques you've used for that, I know because I've been part of it, is the caring bridge. There's a site out there that listeners may or may not have heard of called caringbridge.org. And if you go there you can find entries for Savannah Ray and you can sign up to be on her caringbridge list. Right now if you go to caringbridge and you look at Savannah Ray's page, you'll find out that she's raising money to go get some naturopathic help at a retreat center that's in Hawaii, has this very specific aid that can help deal with what stage Savannah finds herself at right now. So if you want to go to their site, you can go to caringbridge.org if you know how to type Savannah Ray, we'll let Savannah say how to spell her name. But you can also get there directly from my site which is northernspiritradio.org. And look at Savannah Ray's interview here on spirit in action, followed over to caringbridge. But Savannah, how do you spell Savannah Ray? - Savannah is spelled S-A-V-A-N-N-A-H. Ray is R-H-A-E. - So again, go to caringbridge.org, take a look there and follow a link that will allow you to help Savannah do her restorative retreat in Hawaii shortly. I think we want to send her off there pretty soon. But Savannah, how important has it been to you to involve community in this? To be a public person as you're dealing with your health, a lot of people, when they're sick, they hide it away, they don't want the world to see 'em. - My community involvement in this has made all the difference. Early on, I realized that when a person is diagnosed with a seemingly terminal illness, it doesn't just affect that person, that it affects all of those people that love the person, in this case, me. When I got that, when I really got that, I was still in the hospital. And I had quite a bit of time in the hospital to reflect upon things. I was in there 17 days after my surgery recovering. When I really got that, I made a conscious decision that I was going to be as open and honest as I possibly could through this experience. And I really had no idea what that meant, but I knew that it would involve allowing myself to be vulnerable and to let people see all of what it looks like and feels like to be walking through the recovery process and facing disease down. I'm really glad that I made that decision. (gentle music) (singing in foreign language) ♪ Embrace the chaos ♪ ♪ Embrace the chaos ♪ ♪ When it calls your name ♪ ♪ You know it may sound your healing ♪ ♪ Makes for some healing they are ♪ ♪ In one of the same ♪ ♪ I'm super down your armor ♪ ♪ And release your ancient cry ♪ ♪ Let go of the need to know why ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Embrace the chaos ♪ ♪ Embrace the chaos ♪ ♪ When it calls your name ♪ ♪ You may send your healing ♪ ♪ Bakes for some healing they are ♪ ♪ One of the same ♪ ♪ Super down your armor ♪ ♪ Man release your ancient cry ♪ ♪ Let go of the need to know why ♪ ♪ It's softly around you ♪ ♪ And release it's separate name ♪ ♪ Recognize it as a one second ♪ ♪ All around you it's just one of the same ♪ ♪ You and I are just one of the same ♪ ♪ You and I are just one of the same ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ I'm Mark Helps meat of Northern Spirit Radio, and that was Embrace the Chaos by Poppy Multer. Poppy is an impressive artist from my region, the Chippewa Valley here in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, very much in tune with what Savannah Ray, my guest for today's spirit and action is talking about. Confronted with pancreatic cancer, Savannah chose to open to truth and community, and she's sharing a bit of her journey with pancreatic cancer with us today, and her decision to go public with her experience. - In retrospect, I don't know really if it was my decision. I mean, I'm a teacher by nature, and I've said before that I could no more not teach than I could control the next breath that comes into my body, that it's that much a part of me. And so I want people to learn from this experience, whether it be about pancreatic cancer and becoming aware of the symptoms, or whether it be about their own life and how they can become more honest and open and supportive and loving people. - It has been really inspirational for me, Savannah, to see you throughout this. A lot of people, as I said, I think going to seclusion, they retreat like a wounded animal, I guess I'd say. And one of the visions that I carry with me of you is you're dancing for the summer solstice celebration. Now, this is when you're supposedly, you're a person with a terminal illness that there's no cure for. I mean, that's what the doctors say about it. Of course, doctors don't know what causes cancer and they don't know what cures it. So I guess that they could say that about any cancer, but you're out there and you're performing. You're the sun, you're bringing life and light to the planet. I've heard you say already in this interview, this is a spiritual thing for you. You're leaning on spirit, you're turning to spirit and you're following those intuitions. Why don't you give us some words of wisdom about your view of it versus what the doctors tell us to think? - Wow, that's a loaded request. Well, you know, I think the most significant aspect of this for me has been knowing that I'm never alone through this. But there are times that I feel alone, but that presence of God is within me and therefore always guiding me. In fact, it's the air I breathe and it's what makes my heart beat. That force is so mighty and powerful that it stirs a great mystery in me. What I realize is that this is not my life. This is God's life and that this breath that breathes me and this force that beats my heart is expressing through me and that this is an awesome gift. I don't understand why I got pancreatic cancer and really I think to a degree, it's really a futile question that it's not so much about why, but it's about how? How is it that I want to live my life? And I wanna live big. I wanna dance on the labyrinth for summer solstice and dress in vibrant colors and eat good, healthy food and laugh and cry with friends and make this life that's been gifted to me meaningful. I feel very blessed to be living that through this experience. When I visited with Dr. Baylick, that's the practitioner, the naturopath in Hawaii that I'll be working with. When I was in the midst of the phone interview and health history with her, she asked me, what has cancer taught you? I thought, what a beautiful question. It was actually one of the things that really confirmed for me that I'd found the right practitioner because I've never thought that cancer is something that I need to fight, but that it's a cue for me to listen more deeply than I ever have. And so when she asked me that question about what has cancer taught you, I remember saying that it's taught me that there's way more love in the world than I ever realized and that there are a lot of people that love me and have come forward to support me in this experience and support me in just amazing ways. Everything from sending cards or flowers to bringing me food when I've been too weak to prepare my own or sending me a silly email about... There was one person recently who said, do you remember singing opera on the chairlift as a kid when we were downhill skiing? It was perfect. It was enough to break me out of my experience and go, wow, I haven't thought about that in years and realign me with what's beautiful and right in the world. Being diagnosed with cancer has not been an easy path, but it's been a good path and it's deep in my faith and taught me that I really can trust myself and this indwelling spirit that guides me and provides for me. - And I want to remind listeners that one of the ways you can support Savannah is to go to the website caringbridge.org, go to Savannah Ray, and there's a link that will allow you to donate if you want to help support her, making this trip to the retreat center, the naturopathic retreat center in Hawaii that she was just speaking about. Some people may be rather skeptical about the effect of prayer or of community support, of love, those kind of things on cancer and I just interviewed just a few weeks ago a person who's compiled a thick book. He's got a thick and a thin book. The thick book is about 350 pages. His name is Jonathan Chamberlain. The book is Cancer, Total Recovery Guide. In the book, he details and brings out both the anecdotal stories and the studies related to mental health, praying, community support, how all those things are related to health and cancer. So I do encourage, if you're listening, just go to my site, nertonspiritradio.org and listen to the interview with Jonathan Chamberlain. You'll have your eyes opened about some of the possibilities. And the thing is that I believe that the best doctors that we have also recognize this key human component, this component of, some people die simply because they don't move forward, that they shut down and retreat and cancer takes over. And Savannah Ray, who's with me here today, is not one of those people. Because I did the song of the soul interview with you two years ago, I'm very aware, Savannah, of your deep prayer life. What kind of prayerful approach have you used in terms of health or just well-being in general as you've sat with cancer for the last year and a half? - Well, I personally enjoy sitting in the silence and I don't have any particular prayer that I follow. I often do read the daily word before I go into the silence. Primarily, for me, it's a matter of becoming centered, becoming still and knowing that the presence of God is guiding me. I'll often go into prayer with a question or something on my mind. And I allow it to fall to the back of my mind and let God become the forefront of my mind. And sometimes I will end my prayer time with an answer to my question. And more times than not, there is no answer. But I do believe that an answer will come. And so it's become important to become steadfast, to not take any action until I know what is being asked of me to do. And sometimes it's to do nothing at all. And that's been very, very challenging for me. ♪ In this world I walk alone ♪ ♪ With no place to call my home ♪ ♪ But there's one who holds my hand ♪ ♪ The rocket roars through barren lands ♪ ♪ The waste of the road is deep ♪ ♪ Please become my eyes to see ♪ ♪ The strength to climb ♪ ♪ My grace to bear ♪ ♪ The Savior lives inside me there ♪ ♪ In your love I find reliefs ♪ ♪ Of heaven from my unbelief ♪ ♪ Take my life and let me be ♪ ♪ A living prayer my God to thee ♪ ♪ In these trials of life I find ♪ ♪ Another voice inside my mind ♪ ♪ He comforts me and bids me live ♪ ♪ Inside the love the Father gives ♪ ♪ In your love I find reliefs ♪ ♪ Of heaven from my unbelief ♪ ♪ Take my life and let me be ♪ ♪ A living prayer my God to thee ♪ ♪ Take my life and let me be ♪ ♪ A living prayer my God to thee ♪ ♪ That beautiful song was a living prayer ♪ ♪ By Allison Krauss and Union Station ♪ ♪ I'm Mark Helpsmeet and this is Spirit in Action ♪ ♪ Which is a Northern spirit radio production ♪ ♪ Listen or subscribe with iTunes ♪ ♪ From my Northern spirit radio.org site ♪ ♪ And please, please, please post a comment on our site ♪ ♪ So we can get to know you ♪ ♪ And everyone can benefit from your feedback ♪ ♪ As Fanaree is speaking with us today ♪ ♪ About her journey with pancreatic cancer ♪ ♪ She's clearly doing many things right ♪ ♪ Because this cancer so often and quickly fatal ♪ ♪ 75% of those diagnosed live no more than a year ♪ ♪ And it's now 20 months for savanaree in counting ♪ ♪ She said surgery and some other traditional treatment ♪ ♪ But she's also radically changed her diet ♪ ♪ And she's drawn great strength from community ♪ ♪ And from the Holy Spirit in prayer ♪ You said Savannah that it hasn't always been easy to turn the decisions over to the spirit. What did you mean by that? - I believe it was a year ago, October, that I wanted to go out to Austin, Texas to another retreat center because I was ready to change my diet and I was gonna change my diet and move on it. And here we go, I had decided to do that. And then I took it to prayer and I got a big fat, sit your butt down. You're not going anywhere. And I remember kicking and screaming and going, "But this is for my health." Certainly you don't understand Holy Spirit. I remember telling my friend Lori this and we had a good laugh and she was going to help me with the fundraiser at that time and we put a halt to it because I knew that Holy Spirit dictates the direction of my life. So I didn't understand it then, but I do now because once I found Dr. Baylick filled out the paperwork and had the phone interview with her, I had that knowing that not only is this the right place for me to go, but she is the right practitioner to work with me. It feels like a blessing and a coming together of both what's right to do intellectually, but also what's right to do in terms of my heart and what feels good to me and supports my belief system. I really look forward to being in Hawaii during this cold season because I know that when my body's in a warm climate, again, it doesn't have to use my energy to stay warm, but that my energy can go towards healing. I know that this experience will be healing on all levels, my body, my mind, my spirit and my soul. - You can certainly contact Savannah Ray directly, but you can also help support that trip for her healing. The center she's going to is the minding your body, a naturopathic retreat center, and you can help her by making a donation. One way you can do that is follow the link that you'll find on hercaringbridge.org page. Look for Savannah Ray and you can, of course, again, find that from northernspiritradio.org. My website, I'll have a link directly to her Caring Bridge site as well. Savannah, you've talked about a lot of the resources you've availed yourself of, doctors and naturopaths and friends and prayer. Your specific sort of cancer is pancreatic cancer, and I imagine there's some specialized resources about that that you've been able to track down. For our listeners who want to know about pancreatic cancer, is there a place that you can direct them to, for the best information about that type of cancer? - Yes, there is, Mark. The organization that I've found to be most helpful, especially early on when I was trying to sort through what does all of this mean, and where do I go from here? The organization that I've found most helpful is called pancan.org, that's P-A-N-C-A-N.org, and it stands for pancreatic cancer action network. And I strongly encourage any family that's faced with this illness to check out this resource. They have a great information packet that they'll send to you free of charge. And also for any people that are personally facing this disease, there's a portion called PALS, where they will link you with other survivors of pancreatic cancer. I just, I can't recommend the organization enough. Again, it's pancan.org. And the other organization that I really wanna stress is the Center for the Advancement of Cancer Education, and their website is www.beatcancer.org. And again, their purpose is to educate people about ways to boost the immune system in treating cancer. Their website is www.beatcancer.org. - And I assume that beat is B-E-A-T, as opposed to the kind of cancer that that root plant gets, the beats there. It's beatcancer.org, B-E-A-T. Savannah, thanks for these resources. I'm sure that our listeners gonna find them valuable. I'm gonna find them valuable, because odds are for one out of two of us to come down with cancer. If we've got the knowledge ahead of time, it makes it much less stressful and much more hopeful. Watching you dance, watching you go up and down as you've confronted your cancer and watching you engage both with your health and with spirit on this has been truly inspirational. We're going to stay in touch. - Thank you so much, Mark. I really appreciate the work you do here in helping to educate folks and getting the word out. And I also wanna thank the people listening that will donate to my trip to Hawaii and to all the people that have supported me through this. Like I've said, I would not be here without my community. There's a personal image that I carry with me and that's of geese flying south and hearing their honking. And I've read that their honking is to encourage one another along that the reason they fly in a V is so that they can lift one another up. That has certainly been my experience with all of the people and all of the support that I've received. I just so appreciate every person that I've come in contact with. And I thank you so much. (children laughing) (children laughing) That was Savannah Ray, a fine and inspirational, a deep spirit. Today's Spirit in Action. - The theme music for this program is Turning of the World, performed by Sarah Thompson. This Spirit in Action program is an effort of Northern Spirit Radio. You can listen to our programs and find links and information about us and our guests on our website, northernspiritradio.org. Thank you for listening. I am your host, Mark Helpsmeet, and I welcome your comments and stories of those leading lives of spiritual fruit. May you find deep roots to support you and grow steadily toward the light. This is Spirit in Action. (upbeat music) ♪ With every voice ♪ ♪ With every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world ♪ ♪ All along ♪ ♪ With every voice ♪ ♪ With every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world along ♪ ♪ And our lives will feel the echo of our healing ♪ [MUSIC PLAYING]