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Kris Carr, Author of "Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips," Presents From Illness to Activist

When: August 17, 2010 at the Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

When Kris Carr was diagnosed in 2003 with a rare liver cancer (Stage IV) with metastasis to the lungs, she decided to exert control over the things there were in her power: her attitude, her diet, and her lifestyle. In the process, she has become an outspoken advocate for living your best life with cancer, promoting a message that focuses on health and wellness and motivating her audiences to become empowered participants for change.Kris chronicled her journey with cancer in the 2007 documentary, Crazy Sexy Cancer, and has written two books, Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips, and Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor: More Rebellion and Fire for Your Healing Journey. Kris has been featured on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, The TODAY Show, Good Morning America, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. At this event, she will discuss her remarkable journey and show clips from her documentary.Two medical professionals from the University of Michigan will join Kris after her presentation for a panel discussion focusing on the nutritional and psychological aspects of living life with cancer: Zora Djuric, PhD, is a Research Professor at the University of Michigan Department of Family Medicine and performs research at the Cancer Center in the U-M Medical Center. Laurel Northouse PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Mary Lou Willard French Professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan. She is also Co-Director of the Socio-Behavior Program at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.A book signing will follow and books will be on sale at the event. This event is made possible through a Partners In Research grant from the National Institutes of Health and is cosponsored by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center Community Outreach Office, Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, the UM Taubman Health Sciences Library, and the Ann Arbor YMCA LIVESTRONG Program.

Transcript

  • [00:00:29.52] JENNY HOFFMAN: Good evening. Welcome. Thank you for joining us this evening. I'm Jenny Hoffman from the Community Relations and Marketing department here at the library. This evening's event with Kris Carr, "From Illness to Activist", is made possible through Partners in Research grants from the National Institutes of Health. Therefore, we have some evaluations on your chairs with some questions to answer before and after the presentation this evening.
  • [00:01:01.10] To tell you more about the partners in research grants, I'd like to introduce the two principal co-investigators. Celeste Choate, Associate Director of the Ann Arbor District Library, and Doreen Markel, Managing Director of the Brehm Center and Associate Director for Alliances and Collaborations at the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research.
  • [00:01:27.60] CELESTE CHOATE: I don't need any applause. This is not about me. But what I want to do is take just a quick moment and tell you a little bit about our Partners in Research grant, which is what makes this event tonight possible. The Ann Arbor District Library has had the great pleasure to work with the University of Michigan's health sciences libraries and MICHR. We received a Partners in Research grant to bring together researchers and the public to learn more about what the researchers know about the public, and what they want to bring to you. And to find out what kinds of questions do the public really want answered? So it's been our great pleasure to work with MICHR. And Doreen's going to say a little bit more.
  • [00:02:08.96] DOREEN MARKEL: Thank you, Celeste. And thank you all of you for coming on such a lovely summer evening. Clinical research, or medical research in general, is the basis of which all new therapies and discoveries in medicine take place. And that research starts usually in laboratories with animals, but ultimately the research takes place because of the generosity of people who have the illnesses, or volunteers who actually serve as normal controls.
  • [00:02:36.46] So this entire grant we have with the Ann Arbor District Library with the University of Michigan is to raise awareness in the community about how important clinical research is, and how important it is to make sure that you are informed and knowledgeable members of the community. And when you have an opportunity, hopefully, if someone asks you to participate in the study, you'll give it some thought, and maybe say yes.
  • [00:02:59.37] The rate limiting step to most clinical research studies not going to fruition and getting the data needed to help us with new therapies and new discoveries is the lack of people participating in the studies. Most of our studies are going overseas to China and India. And we're finding that actually doing studies in populations whose genetics and whose environment and nutrition is different from our own gives us results sometimes that are misleading for what's needed with our population. So I'm going to sort of put in my word for clinical research, and hope that you will consider it in the future.
  • [00:03:35.11] University of Michigan has a website, UMClinicalStudies.org. It used to be called UMEngage.org. So it's the same website if you're familiar with that, where you can browse everything that's going on at the University of Michigan. The United States government has something called ClinicalTrials.gov where you can see studies going on around the country. So we need you. And we are definitely not here to sign anybody up for clinical research study. Just to educate you and make you aware by bringing various topics and information to the community. So thank you very much.
  • [00:04:15.25] JENNY HOFFMAN: Kris Carr is a bestselling author, filmmaker, and an irreverent foot soldier in the fight against disease. A survivor of Stage 4 cancer, Kris chronicles her adventure of living and thriving with cancer in the uplifting documentary, Crazy Sexy Cancer, which she wrote and directed for TLC and the Discovery Channel. Her companion book series have been deemed the must-have guides to rebuilding the body and the spirit in order to triumph over disease.
  • [00:04:47.06] Kris' wildly successful blog and social network, CrazySexyLife.com, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each month with Carr's witty anecdotes, diet advice, spiritual tools, and tips for tackling adversity. Her most recent release, Crazy Sexy Diet, will be available January in 2011, is an optimum nutrition and lifestyle gameplan for wellness warriors seeking vibrant health and happiness.
  • [00:05:19.29] Kris' TV appearances include CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, The Early Show, The Today Show, Montel, Access Hollywood, The Mike and Juliet Show, Good Morning America, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Kris leads workshops at the Omega Institute, the New York Open Center, and Kripalu. She regularly lectures around the country at medical schools, hospitals, wellness centers, corporations, and universities, such as Harvard. I'm very happy to have her join us here this evening.
  • [00:05:56.85] We're going to take a quick look at a film clip from Crazy Sexy Cancer.
  • [00:06:13.02] FILM: [ANSWERING MACHINE] Next message. [KRIS CARR] Hey, it's me. Give me a call when you get the message. No, big, big worry. But I have to go to the emergency room. Went to the doctor yesterday because I'm feeling pretty sick. It could be that I hurt myself in yoga. [UNINTELLIGIBLE] And I'll talk to you later.
  • [00:06:39.30] [MUSIC] Needle off the record. Rewind. Stop. Play. Happy Valentine's Day. You have cancer.
  • [00:06:46.47] [KRIS CARR] There is no cure for cancer I have. It's so rare. Everything is experimental. I think this one's jucier. My whole life has changed since This is my liver. Cancer, cancer, cancer, cancer, cancer, cancer, cancer, cancer.
  • [00:07:03.55] [GEORGE DIMITRI] What's weird about this is that we don't understand this at all. This is a total black box.
  • [00:07:07.52] [KRIS CARR] So with your cases of epithelioid hemangio-endothelioma, what do you guys usually do for treatment?
  • [00:07:13.18] [GEORGE DIMITRI] Do you then go after it with the shock and awe approach of traditional toxic chemotherapy?
  • [00:07:18.25] [KRIS CARR} Anti-angiogenesis inhibiters, targeted agents, low-level chemotherapy, high-level chemotherapy.
  • [00:07:23.96] [GEORGE DIMITRI] Or do I just sit tight and let the tumor make the first move?
  • [00:07:27.72] [KRIS CARR] I'm not sick. Just violent shakes. I'm not sick. I got hit by a truck. I am not sick. There is some growth. Yeah. Let's just take a little razor and just scratch them off. I feel like I'm staring my deepest fears in the face. I just don't want to die. I'll do whatever it takes. Do whatever it takes.
  • [00:07:54.92] [FILM] What chance do I really have, doctor? This is the time for action rather than pity. You need to have the will to be cured.
  • [00:08:03.27] [KRIS CARR] March 2. Slow-moving, Stage 4 cancer. They tell me to sit and wait. Wait for what? There is no Stage 5. When there are no answers, you have to find your own.
  • [00:08:18.39] [BERNIE SIEGEL] You have inspiration. You're what I call a survivor in terms of your personality.
  • [00:08:23.45] [KRIS CARR] You can't listen the people who say I have a 100% fatality rate. You can't listen to that kind of nonesense. I'm really fascinated by the term spontaneous remission.
  • [00:08:32.72] [GEORGE DIMITRI] Sometimes doctors can get too negative too fast. And talk about what we don't understand as if that's never going to happen.
  • [00:08:38.93] [JACKIE] When I first got diagnosed, I just thought this is a mistake. This is like a really evil practical joke. This can't happen to me.
  • [00:08:46.80] [SHARON] It does happen to people our age. It was almost like the universe was slapping me down. Like, you girl you're just, you're not awake.
  • [00:08:54.67] [ROBERT YOUNG] You can't solve the problem of reversing disease if you're constantly dealing with the symptom. You have to get with the cause.
  • [00:09:01.88] [DENNY WAXMAN] In many ways, to have a so-called terminal illness, that's the best place you could be. Because then it's up to you.
  • [00:09:07.88] [ROBERT YOUNG] We control the destiny of our health. We control the quality of our health. We choose that every day.
  • [00:09:18.60] [KRIS CARR] I'm trying to explore this healing process. What is it to heal? What is it to truly heal?
  • [00:09:24.54] [WOMAN 1] We are preparing a healing diet. Whole grains, beans, upward reaching leafy vegetables.
  • [00:09:32.63] [KRIS CARR] This is my pharmacy. We're going to go get some medicine. Whole Foods, baby. Rock on. the train is moving towards remission. That's just it. That's the plan. That's the goal. Where's the top?
  • [00:09:45.07] [MAN 1] Aha. Gall blatter excess. Spleen deficiency.
  • [00:09:47.92] [DENNY WAXMAN] Each organ has a meridian, a pathway of energy that shows about its functioning.
  • [00:09:52.18] [MAN 1] You said you had granola? That kind of thing? It's a baked flour. Sweet.
  • [00:09:56.73] [KRIS CARR] You can't get away with anything.
  • [00:09:58.57] [WOMAN 2] Some dramatic effects of the yoga practice can be seen in people who suffer from cancer.
  • [00:10:06.76] [ROBERT YOUNG] You got one drop of blood. Let's see what we've got here. See those are the new cells.
  • [00:10:12.12] [KRIS CARR] I'm going to get my next round of herbs. Herb. Herb. Who wants some herb? Dancing is part of my healing therapy. I dance to one song a day. It can be completely silly and outrageous.
  • [00:10:25.30] [ROBERT YOUNG] Our cells are like fish. They're only as healthy as the water they swim in.
  • [00:10:29.29] [KRIS CARR] Eat your veggies, everyone. Eat your veggies.
  • [00:10:32.85] [WOMAN 2] You're creating vibration and motion in those organs where there's static energy. Where something's not moving and disease is happening.
  • [00:10:40.31] [ROBERT YOUNG] You've made a huge change. In the right direction.
  • [00:10:43.28] [KRIS CARR] So do you think that I can reverse this?
  • [00:10:45.26] [MAN 1] Absolutely. [MUSIC] Alright.
  • [00:11:24.24] [WOMAN 2] We accept that our ailment, an assignment, an occasion to go deeper into ourselves in order to heal our bodies, feelings, or lives.
  • [00:11:37.05] [KRIS CARR] I just feel like everything I'm telling you about is just ridiculous. We're able to change our destiny and change our lives. I'm just sick of the bullshit. I'm sick of talking. I'm sick of pretending, hiding, putting on a happy face. I live in a box. On a leash. You can all fuck off. But I'm chained. There is no escape. You have a full-time job. You are always at the office of healing. I don't understand.
  • [00:12:16.53] August 31. Can you love your tumors? I'm learning a lot. I'm growing a lot. I'm shedding a lot. A lot of people look at me like I have 10 heads when I say it, but cancer's been my guru. It's my teacher. And it teaches me every day the hard things and the beautiful things. I think there's like a lot of people that you can heal along the way. Because people in my life have to be affected. Everybody who loves me is affected by this.
  • [00:12:47.71] [MAN 2] No, I did to you by causing you stress in high school that I don't even want a CAT scan of my insides. I don't even know if I have any.
  • [00:12:57.49] [KRIS CARR] How can you take something like illness and really transform your life?
  • [00:13:03.26] [GEORGE DIMITRI] And I think if people knew that more and knew how to deal with it, they would get to the heart of what life's all about. And whatever that is. If it's painful. If it's terribly sad. You know, getting right next to something that's really real and then working with that.
  • [00:13:19.44] [KRIS CARR] Wow. That's awesome. Well, if I ever shave my head, will you shave it for me?
  • [00:13:23.29] [SHARON] Absolutely.
  • [00:13:24.06] [KRIS CARR] You have to empower yourself. I think that's the difference between the people with the same prognosis and one lives and the other one dies and nobody knows why. It's about power of the mind. And I am not an expert. But you know, we'll see won't we? [MUSIC]
  • [00:14:17.59] Hi everybody. Aw. Good. Good. Pass out tissues. I'm fine. Thanks so much for having me here. This is my first speech in probably almost a year now. I've been on a sabbatical finishing my latest book. And I know I'm not supposed to touch this. I'm going to bring it a little closer to me. Finishing my latest book. So it's an honor to start here with you tonight.
  • [00:14:44.15] So I would love to start this evening with a little invocation. And I invite you to join me. It's really easy. All you have to do is close your eyes. Take a moment. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in. And exhale. With gratitude for all the healing wisdom that we already have inside us. May we come together with an open heart, and a childlike curiosity, in order to further explore opportunities. for health, spiritual wealth, and happiness. And so it is. And may we soar. Thank you.
  • [00:15:30.42] So some of you might have come here alone tonight. And maybe some of you came with a friend. And I would love it if you, if you don't know the person next you, just take a second and introduce yourself. Fantastic. And if you do the person, you can just check in with them.
  • [00:16:10.35] Fantastic. You guys are all brimming with excitement to meet each other. I love that. Usually it's a shy crowd. I like to do that because I think it's really great to create a crazy sexy posse. Right? Because we need support. Whether you have cancer or not. Life is beautiful and gorgeous and staggering and hard. And cancer is really hard. And doing it alone is difficult.
  • [00:16:33.62] And not only can we get support, but here's the cool thing. As we learn through our journey, as we learn ways to uplift our health and happiness, we need to pay it forward, right? Because I don't know if you've looked around. But in my mind, the health care situation is not necessarily fixed yet. So the more we can buddy up and become partners in our quest for staying well and well being, the better it is for everybody.
  • [00:17:01.51] So what I'll do is I'll just share with you. You saw the clip of my film. And I'm going to go into my story a little deeper and then tell you some of things they've been doing since Crazy Sexy Cancer exploded. And then I'm going to give you a little class. Because really it's just a Trojan horse to hire me to come and speak.
  • [00:17:20.30] Because really what I want to do is just talk about wellness. And give you tips. And then we can have this juicy panel conversation later. And I hope you ask your questions. Like really ask your questions. Even has to do with poop. That's what we're here for. OK. So does that sound good? Maybe not the poop part, but the rest of it? OK.
  • [00:17:38.59] So as you saw, February 14, 2003. Happy Valentine's Day. You have cancer. How many of you have heard those words? How many of you know somebody who've heard those words? OK. So how did you feel when you heard those words? Just throw out words. For me, it was broken, shocked, scared, pissed off. Pissed off. Determined, confused, challenged. Give me one more. Not fair. I felt all of those things and more. Because I don't want to swear. Because you already heard my f-bomb.
  • [00:18:22.64] And shockingly these words are very common. Because as we know, one in three women will die. One in two. 1,5000 people die every day of cancer. And when I heard those words, I was absolutely terrified. I was 31 years old. And I thought that I had my whole life ahead of me. And in an instant, I became a patient. I went from normal person to patient. And I had no skills and no tools whatsoever. And I had not found Mr. Right. I found a lot of Mr. Wrongs. A lot of them. They were fun though. And I didn't have kids. And I thought that I was just damaged goods, right? My life was over.
  • [00:19:02.16] But before I get into the nitty gritty details of the cancer journey, I want to tell you just a little bit about who I was before cancer so this all makes sense. So BC, Before Cancer. I moved New York when I was 19 years old to be the biggest star on the planet. OK. You remember being a teenager. I was a teenager in the '80s. And baby, we were born to run.
  • [00:19:24.29] So later, my goals became more realistic. And at thirty one, I was working as an actress and photographer. And I had a photo studio. And so I would shoot clients in between about 5 to 20 auditions a week. So Uptown, I was a young mom. Downtown, I was the prostitute with a heart of gold. And there's was a lot of changing in cabs. I worked in film and television and theater.
  • [00:19:49.31] And I taught commercials. Commercials at NYU. Commercial classes. How to book a commercial. And I did a lot of commercials myself. And that's how I basically got my health insurance, which was really important. And thank God, I didn't let it lapse. Because that would have been a problem.
  • [00:20:05.45] So two months before-- well, actually no. A month before I was diagnosed, I was in two Budweiser Super Bowl commercials. And I remember getting the call. And actually they're in the hall of fame of Budweiser Super Bowl commercials because they're that offensive. Yeah.
  • [00:20:24.68] And I remember getting the call from my agent saying, kiddo, you're the Julia Roberts of advertising. And I was like wow this is great. And as I wrote my first book, I wrote this, "In some circles, I was even considered iconic. Thousands of drunken frat boys took time out of their pepperoni pizzas and seven-layer dips to determine whether or not they'd do me."
  • [00:20:48.46] And what's funny about this is many of the products that I used to sell are no longer a part of my wellness gameplan. Sorry Budweiser. is Not that Budweiser doesn't have a few medicinal qualities from time to time, right? But it's just not recommended for daily use. But that was the problem. I had no idea what moderation meant. I thought moderation was weak.
  • [00:21:13.63] I thought that, oh well, I knew that I wasn't supposed to smoke. And I knew that smoking was unhealthy. But I didn't think I was a real smoker because I never bought a pack. Right? How many of you say, I'm not a real smoker. I just bum my cigarettes. Does any of that sound familiar to you?
  • [00:21:30.93] Right, so my diet was based on what I should eat to stay slim for my job. And had nothing to do with what I should eat to be healthy. So here's what it looked like. Fat-free foods, sugar-free foods, prepackaged convenient foods, diet foods, microwave foods, diet soda, take out, fast foods and let's not forget cocktail hour.
  • [00:21:50.49] I knew sleep was important. But I thought I would catch up on my sleep when I was dead. What else would I have to do? I had Teflon youth on my side. So I thought that fiber was boring. I thought that health, spiritual wealth, and happiness were for New Age-y people in purple color chakra pants. And I just wasn't into it.
  • [00:22:11.76] And you know what? Underneath it all, I was really unhappy. I was pretending to be somebody else, which is what I did for my job. But it was also what I did in life. Running, running, always running. Busy, busy, always busy. Can you relate to that? Yeah.
  • [00:22:30.56] So at a young age, I had a list of symptoms that I learned to live with. So here are just a few. Chest infections, bacterial infections, eczema, acid reflux. The purple pill helped that. Constipation, laxatives helped that. High cholesterol, anxiety attacks, depression, Prozac and wine help that. Allergies, irregular periods, the list goes on. I knew that something was coming. I really knew that something was coming. And I'm going to tell you two stories that I've never told anybody before. So don't tell anyone.
  • [00:23:06.35] I don't know how long it was before I was diagnosed, maybe it was about a year, maybe two years. But I remember looking in the mirror and saying to myself-- wait, have you ever had those sobering conversations in front of the mirror when nobody else is there? Maybe you're in the bathroom. And you really look at yourself. Right I'm not the only one. OK. So I had that look in the mirror, you know, that talk. And I looked in the mirror and I said, you're going to get something like cancer. Holy cow. And I may have even had cancer at the time, not knowing. Because I have a very slow-moving disease.
  • [00:23:41.47] And here's the thing. What I do know is that the universe sends you messages. Whether or not you believe in the universe doesn't matter to me. But you get messages. And sometimes it can be a gentle tap. And if you don't hear it, it becomes a push. And if you flip it the bird, it becomes a punch in the jaw. And if you keep on driving, it will run you over.
  • [00:24:03.79] And here's the second story I've never told anybody. That's exactly what happened. I was run over. I was hit by a car crossing the sidewalk. I was hit by a car. I went on to the hood of the car. And it was fine. I rolled off. I should have gone to the hospital to get an MRI. And what would they have found if I got that MRI? Cancer. Where did I go instead? Please, somebody guess. I'll give you a free book.
  • [00:24:30.67] AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]
  • [00:24:31.60] KRIS CARR: The bar. I went to the bar. And I bummed cigarettes. That's where I went. I got to give free books to everybody. Oh boy.
  • [00:24:41.40] All right. So cut to January 2003. I decided enough was enough. I really did get the message. I wanted to clean up my act. I wanted to feel better, look better, lose a few pounds. And just catch up on some sleep. And I also wanted to end yet another relationship that wasn't working. So where did I go? I went to yoga. Because yoga had always helped me. And I had nowhere else to go.
  • [00:25:00.56] And I pushed it pretty hard that day. And the next day I was pretty sore. And it was a pain that I had felt before. And I had actually gone to my GP for it before. But he was just like, you know you're like all New York city girls. Uptight and constipated. You're fine. Yeah. Got more pills and went home.
  • [00:25:20.80] This time, the pain was much worse. And even though I didn't want to go. And I put up a stink, my assistant was like go. You are doubled over in pain. You are not immortal here. Go. And so I went. And I'll never forget him giving me the exam, digging his hands into my gut and saying, well, I think it's your gallbladder. You know, we might have to remove that this weekend. But not by me. Because I'm playing golf. This is a true story. I'm not looking for the joke there.
  • [00:25:50.34] And so he said let's see what the ultrasound says. And the nurse comes in and does the ultrasound. And she had this very strange look on her face. And I said, what is it? What do you see? And she says, I'm not sure. You're gassy. And so she adjusted me. And then the look got worse. And I knew something was wrong. And she said, I can't tell you. The doctor's going to have to tell you, which is never a good sign. It's never a good sign when the doctor has to tell you. And it's also never a good sign when he starts with the word well. Well. Never good.
  • [00:26:22.21] So in walks the doctor. And he said, with that very sober voice, you have lesions all over your liver. And there's so many of them that your liver looks like Swiss cheese. And I, at the time, did not know what lesions meant. I thought that lesions meant cuts. And I wondered how I cut my liver. Though I had a few ideas.
  • [00:26:48.47] Enter the specialists, right. It always starts with the GP. Then it goes the next specialist. And hopefully you don't get the oncologist. Well, the next specialist was a gastroenterologist who gave me a breast exam. Wrong place. But he was cute. There's so much humor in my story thankfully because it makes me still laugh to this day. And so next stop was a biopsy. And how many doctors are in the room, like MDs or oncologists? None? Oh my gosh. It's a free for all.
  • [00:27:24.64] So what happened was they said that it would just tickle. How many people have had a biopsy? Right. How long is the needle? Is it this long? Or is it that long? It's that long. It doesn't just tickle. So next stop after that was a full body scan where they found that there was tumors in both of my lungs. And naturally, the final stop is who? The ongologist. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma. EHE for short. So panic. The room started to spin. Why me? How could this be happening to me? I was good. I followed the rules. I tipped 20% percent. I said please and thank you. I was a Democrat and a Bud girl. But my age, political party, or credentials didn't matter because cancer doesn't discriminate.
  • [00:28:21.63] So back to happy Valentine's Day. You have cancer. A rare Stage 4 cancer with no treatment options. No surgery, no radiation, no chemotherapy. No cure. So I finally got the rest that I was looking for. The rest and the wake up call. Hey, Kris. How are ya? This is your gut wisdom. That little inner voice. Are you ready to make a change? How many of you know that voice? Throw out a couple of things that that voice might have said lately. Time to exercise and sleep more. Slow down. Pay attention to what you eat. Quit saying yes. Start saying what? No. I like that one.
  • [00:29:13.00] So that's when Crazy Sexy Cancer was born. I picked up the pen and I started writing. I picked up the camera and I started filming. I had no idea what I was doing, guys. It came together over four years. But I didn't want to be the victim. I wanted to be the author. I didn't want to be the patient. I was going to be a filmmaker. I needed to have something to ground me.
  • [00:29:31.56] And people often ask me why I call it crazy sexy cancer. So we're going to take care of that right now. First and foremost, it was the title of mass emails that I would send my friends. Because you know you answer the same questions over and over. You're reliving the trauma over and over again. So it just, bam. Get it all done in one newsletter. Crazy sexy cancer update.
  • [00:29:52.93] And also let them know that I still have my sense of humor. That I was still there as the same person that they hung out with. I hadn't changed. I was still feisty. And I still wanted to smash stigmas. All of them. And then I decided, well if you like smash stigmas, let's redefine cancer. For you. Might not be for you. Might not be for you. Whoever. But for me, this is what worked.
  • [00:30:12.87] Crazy equals out of the box, forward-thinking, the kind of mentality that people have when they say, oh, that'll never happen. That great idea, right? Sexy. Whole, empowered, vibrant. And cancer, as I said, teacher.
  • [00:30:31.85] And that was it. That's when it started. I sold my apartment. I quit my job. And I hit the road. Because I realized that nobody was going to give me permission to live. Nobody was going to. That permission was my birthright. And I had to go for it. So I did. And the very first thing that I did and first thing that cancer taught me was to not settle. So build a world-class team and ask for help. Enlist my friends. My friends who became the captain of Google. Like the University of Google. With the good news and the bad news. They would filter it through. A lot of you shaking your head and looking like, you were that person for me. Or you are that person for me.
  • [00:31:12.81] And the next stop was the therapist. And the nutritionists And the naturopath. And the body workers and energy workers and the doctors. And I found that it was really important for me to find the best doctor for my disease. Because the first person that I had talked to suggested to get a triple organ transplant. Yes. And I might not be of a genius. But I know that that was a stupid idea. And the next person I talked to suggested that I had 10 years to live. And not knowing enough about my disease because it is so rare, to just give me a shelf life could have really just totally devastated me.
  • [00:31:49.91] And I'll never forget being at the elevator of this hospital. This very, very wonderful, powerful, well-established, great hospital and hearing that news and feeling so deflated. And I was at the elevator with my dad. And I didn't want to see me sobbing. And so it's kind of like no expression in the water's just pouring.
  • [00:32:08.97] And I hit the elevator button. And it was like I had a lightning flash. And I said illness is a business. And you're going to be a businesswoman. And guess what? Businesswomen are the boss.
  • [00:32:20.85] So guess what else? You're going to start your own company. And you're going to be the CEO. And it's called Save My Ass Technologies, Inc. And the doctors would work for me. The wonderful doctors that I love would work for me.
  • [00:32:35.76] And so I looked for a second in command. I searched under every rock, every week. They said that they wouldn't see me. I would camp outside in front of the hospital. And I finally found him at Dana-Farber, thankfully. And the greatest thing that my doctor told me was not only is my disease slow-moving, but he said that I have time. So what I did with that time-- He'll also said, let's watch and wait. So I said, how about we watch and live. And I'm going to live. I'm going to learn how to live a healthy life with a Stage 4 cancer, which is what I'm still doing today.
  • [00:33:17.66] The next stop on this journey was Whole Foods, my pharmacy, as I said. And I had no idea what I was doing. I had read someplace that leafy greens were good for you. So I got all of them. But I didn't realize that they go back after a few days. My refrigerator stunk. Kale. Kale. I love kale now. But before, it looked like a scary weed. And I didn't know what would kill me first, the damn kale or the cancer. I got books. I got powders. I got potions. I got supplements. You name it. If it looked healthy, it was in my cart.
  • [00:33:51.84] And then, traveling. I hit the road. All across the country. Interviewing experts and healers and gurus. And I got every certification possible. Certifications that I do not need. Some I do. Some I don't. Because I'm a Virgo. So you have to do it. I got to know everything. And I even lived in a monastery, which I would never do again. Five minutes of meditation, glorious. Five hours, not so much. Not so much.
  • [00:34:20.20] But I had to deal with the monkey mind. You know what the monkey mind is? Those scary voices. Scary voice that say, you'll never get a promotion. You will never meet Mr. Right. You will always be this. You will always have cancer. And you're going to die a horrible death from it. Those voices. So that monastery wasn't such a bad idea at the time.
  • [00:34:40.76] And I explored countless other healing modalities in my search for the best diet and lifestyle possible. So that I could participate in my health and my well-being. And I firmly believe that I found what I was looking for. And we're going to talk all about that later.
  • [00:34:54.19] So if I couldn't be cured, could I still be healthy? Could I redefined wellness to include somebody like me? And instead of calling it cancer, which is a really scary word, right? I decided to call it imbalance. And if I could find the source of that imbalance or just hover around that imbalance or find the neighbor of that imbalance, maybe, just maybe, I could participate in my well-being. And that's when the joy came back. That's when the terror started to turned down.
  • [00:35:27.79] And I realized that this would be a battle. It was going to be the greatest adventure of my life. And it continues to be that. And it was an adventure made much brighter by creativity. Because creativity, for me, helped me with the fear of the unknown. It also kept me rooted in the here and now.
  • [00:35:46.18] And the truth of matters is none of us know how long we have to live. Life is a terminal condition. We are all going to die. And it's about the quality to me. It's not about the quantity. And again that when and I decided nothing was going to hold me back. I mean what did I have to lose? I already had Stage 4 cancer? How much worse could it get?
  • [00:36:06.43] So all of the fear that I had that used to hold me back in my career was gone. People said there's no way you're going to sell a show to a network called Crazy Sexy Cancer about cancer. And I did. And they said there's no way you're going to be on The Oprah Winfrey Show. There's just no way. And I remember writing in my journal, here's the deal, Oprah. Save a seat for me. I want to sit on that white couch. I am coming. And I did. And that was the kind of chutzpah that I never had before. That started to come because somebody said, oh, by the way, you're going to die.
  • [00:36:41.57] So something else happened. And it might sound like I'm bragging now. But there were some good things. And I just want to share. Because out of shit can come flowers, right? So the guy who helped me film that, I ended up marrying. Not to give away the end of the story. It's a good film. See it. Married him. The editor and the filmmaker that helped me shoot it. And I realized in that moment that I wasn't damaged goods.
  • [00:37:05.67] And today, even though I still have cancer, we're exporting our parenting options. So I don't know. It's crazy silly family. You can't call it sexy. You got to call it silly.
  • [00:37:15.84] So anyway. Is it possible to live a full life with cancer? Absolutely. And in many ways, my life is so much better now. And there was a time, especially when I look at that trailer, when I wanted it to go away. I would do anything to make it go away. I thought at the end of the film, the credits will roll, and they'll say, oh, by the way, she healed herself. It didn't happen that way. But better things happened. Which is kind of still blowing me away. So anyway. I want to make sure I'm good on my time.
  • [00:37:47.84] Are you ready for some tips? Some wellness tips? Because really that's what we're here for. Now, these are things that helped me. And these are things that I write about, certainly in the previous two books but also in Crazy Sexy Diet. Which will come out in January. And they're really basic things. It's kind of simple. I think we've just complicated it all.
  • [00:38:09.83] So making the connection between what we eat and how we feel. Making the connection between what we drink and how that makes us feel. And even more important than both of those things, making the connection between what we think and how that makes us feel. Because how many people do you know who do not have any cancer in their body, but they have more tumors, right, stinkin' thinkin' between their right and left ear than so many of us in this room?
  • [00:38:45.48] So what that translates down to me. And if you could put this advice on a little like Chinese cookie. You know one of those. Fortune cookies. Yes. Don't eat those, by the way. Get the fortune. Put it aside. Is create an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle. Does that make sense to you? You've heard that before. That's it. Because information is the root of most, if not all, chronic disease. And inflammation is stress, obviously. The stress that comes at us. But it's also the stress that we put in us, be it eat, drink, or think.
  • [00:39:27.83] And so, getting back to nature, getting back to the garden, getting back to real foods. Michael Pollan says it so beautifully. He says, eat food, mostly plants. Not too much. Thank you. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. It's genius. So that makes me think that if it's made in a laboratory, it takes a laboratory to digest. If it has a shelf life longer than you, don't eat it. It's common sense. but we again we've complicated so many things.
  • [00:40:04.51] One minute something's in. The next minute, it's out. Another minute, this is in. A minute, out. And then it's vilified. So what I learned was pretty simple. It's reduce or eliminate processed sugars, refined starches, animal products, including dairy, which these products are very high in saturated fat. Alcohol, sorry. My old me. Caffeine and of course, cigs. Cigarettes.
  • [00:40:32.75] And so a part of this journey for me was just endless amounts of education and reading, reading, and reading. Voraciously reading. One of the books that I highly recommend, and I'm going to recommend a bunch for you tonight. One of the books that I love is a book called The China Study. Have you ever head of that book? Great. It's by Colin Campbell. What Colin says is genius. He says decreasing the amount of animal products that you consume by less than 10% of our daily intake. And he was able to determine that more than 10% actually increased increases tumor growth. He was able to modulate tumors in his studies.
  • [00:41:10.40] So to me, that meant I'm going vegan. This is great. Now here's the deal. Not everybody has to go vegan. And not everybody has to be a vegetarian. That's not what I'm trying to get at. What I'm trying to say is we're eating way too much of these products. Three times a day, every day in enormous quantities. And too much of these products in our diet is one of the reasons why we're getting sicker and sicker. Does that make sense?
  • [00:41:36.21] And people often ask me like, what about protein? What about calcium? I'm going to die. I'm going to become anemic. What are you saying, Kris? And sadly, as I said, that's the biggest myth going. So diets that are high in these products are part of the reason why we're sick, as I said. And the truth is that we can get all the nutrients that we need from a varied plant-based diet. And you think about it. It's pretty obvious.
  • [00:42:00.21] Like again, we just look to nature. The strongest in nature eat what? They eat grass and leaves. Absolutely. Animals wean. Do you see an adult cow drinking from an adult cow? Like, hey Bessie. I could do some milk. They don't do that. Do you see another species drinking from a different species? Like a bunny and a giraffe? That would be difficult. But do you see it? No, you don't see that. So we need to wean.
  • [00:42:32.59] But I think what's happened is that we've been so polluted by the dairy industry that we believe that we have to have these products, otherwise we're going to get brittle bones and osteoporosis and all this stuff. But studies show that the countries that have the highest amount of rates of hip fracture also consume the most dairy products.
  • [00:42:50.91] So how does that work? Well, dairy creates inflammation in the body. It creates allergies. It creates mucus. It lowers the pH of the body. The body will do anything to maintain proper balance. So what does it? It pulls buffer minerals that create neutral salts that neutralize those acids. And those minerals are potassium, magnesium, and what's the gold star? Calcium So it's not exactly like getting, we need to get so much calcium. It's that we have to learn how to keep our calcium.
  • [00:43:22.96] So here's another tip for you. Choosing low-glycemic desserts. So desserts that aren't going to just wig out your pancreas and shoot insulin like a crack head. Because that's what these desserts are most of the time. The things that we choose. The things that are packaged and marketed to us are like crack.
  • [00:43:40.23] How many of you-- well, before I say that. You know, the more insulin that we-- If we talk about insulin, we have to talk about glucose. The more glucose in our bloodstream, the more insulin our body has to make. So how many of you have read David Servan-Schreiber's Anticancer book? It's another fantastic book. And I'm just going to read a quick little section that he says. He says, "the secretion of insulin is accompanied by another molecule called IGF, insulin-like growth factor, whose role is to stimulate cell growth. Furthermore, insulin and IGF have another effect in common. They promote the factors of inflammation that also stimulate cell growth and act as fertilizer for tumors."
  • [00:44:24.50] So in my opinion, some people agree with this. some people don't. Sugar feeds cancer. Especially high-glycemic. And if you have any question about that, how many of you get a PET scan. Right. So what's injected into your body? Glucose. And what happens? It's like a Christmas. It's like a disco. Super disco for the cancer cells.
  • [00:44:49.39] So some of this can feel overwhelming. And I really believe that slow and steady wins the race. I did not know all of this all at once. I transitioned over time. I made a lot of progress. And then I made a lot of mistakes. And my research continues. And my self-experimentation continues. But basically, if it's not real and it wasn't made by mother earth, it's not on my plate.
  • [00:45:12.79] And again, nothing happens overnight. So transition, transition. I like to add things before I even reduce things. So adding something like a green juice before I take away my taco. And then over time, you kind of gravitate towards the green juice and less towards the taco because you know how it's going to make you feel.
  • [00:45:30.74] So if you're interested, a lot of times during the Q and As people ask me what does a day in the life look like for me? Do you want to know what I eat? OK. It's pretty simple. So as I said, I'm focusing on reducing inflammation in the body. I believe in balancing the pH with the acid-alkaline balance. And I don't have too much time to go into that. But we can certainly talk about it later. Or there's great resources online. Good books.
  • [00:45:57.65] But I like to follow what I call an 80/20 diet. Or even a 60/40 diet. So imagine your plate is like a big circle, which plates usually are. Or a pizza pie. And about 80% is what? Vegetables. Or 60% is vegetables. And so the remaining 20%, or the remaining 40%, that's where you would have your more dense proteins, your grains, or beans. Things like that. And what that does is that stacks the odds in your favor. Making your body, making your diet a more alkaline diet.
  • [00:46:31.53] And here's the other thing that we know. Disease doesn't really like oxygen. Disease loves an anaerobic condition. So we want to create an aerobic condition. And that's one of the things that reduces inflammation in the body.
  • [00:46:43.96] So somebody said that their inner voice told them to drink more water. Who said that? Lots of people. Great. So here's the thing about drinking more water. It's the source of life. 70% of our bodies are made of water. 80% of our brain is water. And if you don't filter your water, your body will. It's that simple.
  • [00:47:05.87] Here's another one. Chew. Because your stomach doesn't have teeth. I was shocked to find this information out. But apparently good sources tell me it's true. Another thing that somebody mentioned earlier reminded me to say, ooh, we were talking about the Michael Pollan quote. So leaving the dinner table a little bit hungry so that you're not stuffed. So 80/20 or 60/40 isn't just about making sure you have all these wonderful alkaline vegetables on your plate. It's also about leaving space. And that space can be filled with creativity. It can be filled with God It can be filled with sex. It can be filled with lots of things. But you need to leave space.
  • [00:47:50.58] So earlier I also made a joke about poop. I'm going to come back. You are what you eat. But you are also what you do not poop. Gross. Right? Nobody talks about poop. But we have to do it. Because if you're not eliminating properly, then your digestion is suffering. So there's a balance of good bacteria, bad bacteria. More than likely you have a bacterial overgrowth. And so much of your immune system, I think, like 70%. And don't quote me on that. But a large amount of, percentage of your immune system is actually located in your gut. So can you imagine what's going on in there? If you're just clogged and you're really sluggish, you're not helping your body out. Certainly not helping your immune system.
  • [00:48:35.35] So another one is move. We hear it all the time that we have to exercise. But here's why we have to exercise. Your body, your lymph system. Your lymph system moves the waste. Unlike your heart, your lymph system doesn't have a pump. It relies on you to do what? Move. You have to shake your ass. To hula. Who likes to hula? Fantastic. You like to hula too? Big burly guy likes to hula. Love him.
  • [00:49:05.73] OK. And so I'm just going to skip ahead. Because I make sure I don't take it too much of the time for the panel. But I'm going to give you a very quick demo on meditation. Because I think it is probably the key to reducing the amount of acidity and stress and inflammation that we have here.
  • [00:49:24.57] So I like to start my day, I think of myself as a spiritual marathon runner. And would I just start my day by just jumping out and sprinting out the door? No. I start by creating a daily practice. And that can be five minutes. It can be 20 minutes. It doesn't have to be all the time. Sometimes I blow it off. And if I blow it off too often, I feel it. I really do feel it. And it can be journaling, meditating, listening to a guided relaxation CD. There's something I love to do called the Emotional Freedom Technique.
  • [00:49:55.58] And how many of you meditate on regular basis? OK. how many of you have never meditated before? Thank you for being honest. how many of you don't want to meditate and want to leave right now? Me too. Let's go.
  • [00:50:13.95] I'm going to give you two minutes. And here's what it is. It's very simple. And this is what meditation does. It helps with what I talked about earlier, which is that monkey mind. Be it cancer. Be it any other problem in your life. Being able to wrangle the fear and make sense of your thoughts is how you can create your future. And creating your future means you're following your destiny.
  • [00:50:34.06] So I use a kitchen timer because I want it to be over. And if that time isn't there, more than likely I'll say this, is it over? Is it over now? Is it over now? I'm wondering when it's going to be over. So the kitchen timer basically anchors me. And I know that when it dings, it's over. It's OK. Now you can go.
  • [00:50:53.65] And this is what you do. This is a basic zen meditation. You count your breath. So the inhale would be one, exhale would be two. Inhale three, exhale four. All the way to 10. When you get to 10, you start over again. If you start thinking about your laundry list of things you have to do, or the bills that you haven't paid, you must start over again. You must go back to one. OK. So close your eyes. And we'll only do like one or two minutes. I promise it'll be easy. Unless I forget to look at my watch. Kidding.
  • [00:51:26.26] Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in. And exhale. Take another deep breath in. And exhale. And just begin to empty your mind. Focus on your breath. Inhale is one. Exhale is two. And take yourself all the way to 10. And inhale. And exhale. And when you're ready just open your eyes. So how many of you got to 10? How many of you got to two? How many think that you'll continue to try this technique? And if you did do this on a daily basis, do you think maybe your life would be better? Sure. Sure. I'm not positive. But maybe.
  • [00:53:24.51] Another tip for you is sleeping. So getting eight hours of sleep. Snooze, snooze. Nap, nap. And what's really important is that we stop eating by a certain time. We got to close up shop. Close it up. 7:00, 8:00 o'clock. Because what happens is digestion takes a lot of energy. And when your body is focusing on digestion, it's not focusing on the metabolic process of repair.
  • [00:53:54.88] So back to the immune system. Back to feeling better, looking better. If you're not going to do it for cancer, do it because you just want to feel better. And if you don't really care about feeling better, do it because you hate cellulite. Some people think that's the big C. Cancer's the little c. I used to think that way. And things changed.
  • [00:54:19.70] So since all of this took place, we launched CrazySexyLife.com. So literally the first night that the film aired, my husband and I, then my boyfriend and I, no, he was my husband. My husband and I were sitting on the sofa. And we got probably got 20,000, 30,000 emails in the commercial break. And so we were in our little apartment in Brooklyn. And we took our laptops and we went, oh shit. Now what? We have a mission. And we are the parents of it.
  • [00:54:54.70] So we created CrazySexyLife.com because so many other people reached out and said, I don't have cancer but I have crazy sexy fill in the blank. Crazy sexy divorce. Crazy sexy depression. Crazy sexy sucky job. Whatever it was. Diabetes. And I really like what you're saying. I like how you're approaching this. And I want to do the same.
  • [00:55:13.56] So if you're interested there's a lot of information on the website. Also we manage about 70 of the top health writers in this country. So every day we have new content with different factoids about how you can better your life. And last year I did an experiment because I was working on my book. And I thought, wouldn't it be great to have a cleanse in my book. I wonder if some people in my community would like to try this cleanse that I'm creating. So I just put out there on like Facebook and Twitter. And you've got to be careful. Because about 700 people said yes.
  • [00:55:49.31] And then we created the 21-day cleanse, which was originally 28-day cleanse. And what I did was I focused on everything but food. So once you get the tools, once you know what the diet looks like. You know about 80/20. You know about low-glycemic. All these things that we just briefly touched upon. I focused on a dharma talk every day. On prayer. On affirmation. On meditation. On God pod maintenance. On a cooking tip.
  • [00:56:16.82] But really it was more about what's eating you. And less about the food. What are the underlying emotional currencies that are bringing you to a place where you feel like you need to numb out? And so much of it has to do with stress. So much of it has to do with pain, with fear, with anxiety, with all of that stuff that keeps us in this loop of self-deprivation. And I think, hopefully, that it will continue to be successful.
  • [00:56:46.14] I'm going to read just one or two testimonials to you. And I'm going to start with the one that I think is a little easier. Rheumatoid arthritis. This wonderful woman named Vicky. She writes, "I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis 11 years ago and was put on several medications for it. The medications relieve the pain. But after being on them for several years, I began to realize that all those drugs were not good for my body.
  • [00:57:09.22] I began to seek out sources for the new lifestyle I would need to pursue in order to achieve freedom from both the drugs and arthritis. And that's when I found Crazy Sexy Life. And I've been hooked on Crazy Sexy Life ever since."
  • [00:57:21.24] She says my name. But I'm trying to downplay it. "Her energy, enthusiasm, and devotion to helping others inspires." La la la. And she says that she was leaning into a raw vegan diet and lifestyle. And after converting to almost 100% vegetarian diet and incorporating more yoga and acupuncture in her life, she was off all of her meds. And the part of this testimonial that she didn't write that we heard was she had never picked up her child because of the arthritis. And it was simply changing her diet and lifestyle, she was able to hold her child.
  • [00:57:56.43] Now, does that work all the time? No. Is medicine great? Absolutely. Yes. We should participate in these things. If I had a chance, I would. But I'm also going to do my part to meet my doctor halfway to tkae care of myself. Because I'm in his office for one hour once a year. What about the rest of the time? What am I going to do?
  • [00:58:18.38] So I'll give you one more. This wonderful woman named Maria. She's 28 years old. And she was running for Division 1 at her university. And she says she began experiencing some unusual pain in both of her legs. and then three years later, she found out that she could no longer stand. And she was diagnosed with something called reflex sympathetic dystrophy. And at that point, the pain had spread from both her feet to almost every inch of her body. And she was staring a wheelchair in the face.
  • [00:58:47.25] "In my desperation for the pain to end, I signed up for an experimental five-day in-patient infusion. And a day before I headed into NYC to have the experimental procedure done, I went to Best Buy to find a neat documentary to watch in the hospital." Neat. "And that's when I came across Crazy Sexy Cancer. And I watched Kris battle her illness with a mostly raw, vegetarian lifestyle. And I decided I would try it too."
  • [00:59:11.67] "And the procedure did not work, sadly. And when I was discharged, my parents bought me a juicer. And I have never looked back. I took matters into my own hands and changed my diet, incorporating meditation, prayer, and other spiritual practices, including yoga. And a year after my diagnosis, I am healthier than ever before even with" with, she didn't have to get rid of it "the disease. And with this lifestyle, as a supplement to my pain medications, I have evaded a wheelchair. And I have received a 4.0 GPA in my first year of graduate school for social work."
  • [00:59:43.83] So I have an amazing one on Crohn's disease and a beautiful one on cancer. And I just want to end by saying that, when I tell these stories I'm not, and I'm suggesting that we take responsibility, I want to make it very clear that I'm not saying it's your fault. Or that you should feel guilty. Because that's the furthest thing from the truth.
  • [01:00:02.03] I will never know what made me sick. I won't. And I know that it's not my fault. But I want to be a team player on team Kris. And I want to stop participating, if I was participating, in the further advancement of my disease. Because what we know for sure is that our genes are not our destiny. And that should make us all smile. Because statistics can be really grim. So your genes are not your destiny.
  • [01:00:28.39] And the truth is that 5% to ten 10% of all cancers are genetic. The rest are a result of diet, lifestyle, and what we can control, the environment. Which is another reason why we have to keep it in good shape, people. So these choices really matter. And then when we think about that, we start to make bigger connections. And we see that there's an inner and outer global warming taking place. And as we get sicker, our planet gets sicker. And as our planet get sicker, we get sicker.
  • [01:00:57.90] And like the planet, I have rivers and streams. I have soil. I have terrain. And I can't poison it. I can't poison it on the outside. And I can't poison it on the inside.
  • [01:01:10.23] So I hope that I get to see you all again. Perhaps at Crazy Sexy Life or on my social network. And I want to end by telling you that I just had my seven year scan two weeks ago. And I am still stable. Thank you. Very exciting. And this is a long journey for me. It's about going the distance. And if there's anything I could have done for you tonight was just to inspire you that no matter what is going on, that you have options. And that this is what cancer looks like, it can look like. I really love you. Thank you.
  • [01:02:03.09] We'll tell you anything you want to know.
  • [01:02:06.65] DOREEN MARKEL: That was just wonderful. Another round of applause for Kris. We have the pleasure this evening of not only having Kris Carr with us but also two faculty members from the University of Michigan who have expertise to share with you this evening on our panel. We have Dr. Zora Djuric who has a degree in biochemistry from Texas A&M University and a PhD degree in toxicology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She is a faculty member, or she was a faculty member, at Wayne State University and at the Karmanos Cancer Institute for 18 years.
  • [01:02:48.52] She moved to the University of Michigan six years ago. And she now has a joint appointment in the Department of Family Medicine and the Nutrition program. Her research emphasis is on cancer prevention, biomarkers of risk, and lifestyle factors that can affect cancer risk. So a perfect addition to our panel. Welcome Zora.
  • [01:03:15.01] And our third panelist is Dr. Laurel Northouse. Dr. Laurel Northouse is Mary Lou Willard French Professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan. She is also the co-director of the Socio-Behavioral Program. She is a nationally and internationally recognized expert on cancer and the family. Her research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the National Institute for Nursing Research, and, most recently, the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving. Welcome Laurel.
  • [01:03:51.32] So we have had many of these events covering every kind of disease known to man. Unfortunately, there are many diseases. And we have found that the question and answer period is the most exciting. Probably hard to beat, though, the comments from Kris. Because I think of all of our speakers, you've won the prize for being the most compelling and entertaining.
  • [01:04:11.86] So because we are videotaping this, and what we've learned is that the community response to watching the videotapes is enormous. Many, many more people watch the video online through the Ann Arbor District Library website than are in the room. So we want to make sure that that ends up being a really rewarding experience for our online viewers as well. So for that reason, please raise your hand and microphones will come to you. Because otherwise, the person just sort of sees your mouth going and doesn't hear what you're saying on the video.
  • [01:04:41.10] And we will take questions until the questions run out or 9:00 comes along. Yep. So if you want to add Zora and Laurel to what I commented on you and sort of what types of questions the audience should direct in your way. Go ahead. Zora.
  • [01:04:57.93] ZORA DJURIC: Well, my research is mainly on cancer prevention. Not so much on treatment. I'm interested in dietary patterns because I think a lot of little things can add up to work together. And I'm interested in energy balance because eating more isn't going to help you. everything has to be in balance.
  • [01:05:21.69] And my studies are clinical research. And they're not drugs. They're dietary patterns. And we look to see whether or not diets that we think are good will result in good biochemical changes so that we can, over a relatively short period of time determine if it is good. So we don't have to wait a long time to see who gets cancer and who doesn't.
  • [01:05:51.64] I'm really thrilled to be here. I think it's wonderful to have this many people interested in lifestyle and prevention. And wonderful to have somebody famous inspire the rest of us who struggle with husbands who know where the grocery store is. And my own plan is to tell him that it moved. In our environment, you have to get a little creative sometimes. So I think this is wonderful.
  • [01:06:24.78] KRIS CARR: You know who I am.
  • [01:06:29.08] LAUREL NORTHOUSE: So I'm Lauren Northouse. And I've been studying the impact of cancer on survivors and their family members for about 30 years. Probably what's unique about our research is that we are equally interested in the family, or the posse as Kris would say, and the survivor. Over these many years, we've learned a lot.
  • [01:06:51.14] First of all, I'd just like to thank any of you here in the audience who may have helped us with our research. We just took a look at how many families helped us over these past several years. And I think there are were 1,000 families in Southeastern Michigan that was a cancer survivor and one of their family members, whoever they call their family caregiver, who helped us with the studies. And of these, about 2/3 of them received our family intervention, which I'll talk about in just a minute.
  • [01:07:18.64] But one thing we've learned from the research is that the family member often reports as much distress as the survivor. Those of you who are family members might not be surprised by that. But even though the cancer's not in the family caregiver's body, it is in their lives and affects their quality of life as well.
  • [01:07:36.68] We also know that caregivers and survivors often feel unprepared for this cancer journey. And as Kris mentioned, she herself became very prepared in her journey. But many family members are not prepared. And so we're trying to find ways to help them feel more confident in their ability to manage the cancer, the toxic effects of treatment, and the stress that also accompanies the illness.
  • [01:08:01.77] And another thing we've learned in our research is that, quite often, survivors and family members can have problems communicating about the illness. And this may be a question you might want to ask me about during the question and answer.
  • [01:08:12.86] Some of the things that we found is often the family member and the survivor will have different styles of talking about the cancer. Sometimes the, let's say, the survivor may want to be very open and talk about things, even about the cancer returning. And the family member will say, I don't think it's a good thing to talk about this. This may be create negative thoughts. And we shouldn't discuss it.
  • [01:08:33.68] So we see the different styles in family members. The other thing we see is sometimes both of the survivors and the family members clam up. They don't want to talk about it. They just want to sort of brush it aside and not deal with it. And the other thing we find is they often want to protect themselves. They don't want to worry the other person by saying they have worries and concerns.
  • [01:08:54.10] And the other thing we see in terms of communications is quite often families don't know how to talk about serious issues like advanced directives or what to tell their children about cancer. So we developed this program, it's called The FOCUS Program, to help survivors and family members. And so I'm just going to tell you just a little bit about the program.
  • [01:09:15.72] It has the name FOCUS because each of those letters in the acronym stand for one aspect of our program. So the F in FOCUS stands for family support. And what we do is, in most of our studies, we have a new method we're trying, which I'll tell you about in just a minute. But in most all of our studies, a master's prepared nurse would go to the survivor's home and meet with a survivor and the family member. And over about three or four visits would talk with them about some of the things I'll mention to you.
  • [01:09:45.17] So one, F is for family support. We encourage family members and survivors to work together as a team. And this team concept is really important. Because none of us are in this by ourselves. And the more we can work as a team rather than sort of struggle against each other, the easier it is to deal with the demands of cancer. And the part of the S is also trying to be supportive to one another, not using criticism, and also trying to manage open communication. So that's the F.
  • [01:10:13.51] The O has to do with optimism or optimistic thinking, which as Kris is a perfect example about, even though you have Stage 4 cancer, you can have fun and laugh and be hopeful. So we try to encourage family to set short-term goals about things that are important to them. And to try to focus on things that are going well in their life, in addition to managing the cancer. We encourage them to try to find meaning in their illness by doing things that help them gain something from the cancer experience. That's O.
  • [01:10:46.01] C has to do with coping. And in our program, we teach both the survivor and family member how to actively cope with the illness, rather than use passive strategies like avoidance or putting your head in the sand pretending it's not there. We also encourage healthy lifestyle, exactly what Kris is talking about in terms of using exercise, trying to eat healthy, and so forth.
  • [01:11:07.69] And one thing I'll say for the family members out there. Quite often the family members focus on the survivor and say, you need to eat well, you need to get your rest, you need to get your sleep. And then what happens to the family member is they get worn out. Because they're not taking care of themselves. And so we really talk equally to the survivor and the family member to take care of yourself as well. And for the family member, take care of yourself so you can continue to be a good support person to the family member with cancer.
  • [01:11:34.83] So that brings us to U, which has to do with uncertainty in the F-O-C-U-S. And as you all know, who have been dealing with cancer, even with family members. Cancer is filled with uncertainty. We just aren't sure what's going to happen. And while that happens for people who don't have cancer as well, I think it gets heightened in people who are dealing with cancer.
  • [01:11:54.48] So in our program, we try to help people deal with uncertainty by getting information, learning how to talk with their health providers, and bring in lists so they get their questions answered. And we also talk with them about how do you live with uncertainty? Because uncertainty's always going to be there. So how can you make friends with uncertainty so that it doesn't become overwhelming and you start ruminating about not sure what's going to happen tomorrow.
  • [01:12:19.44] And fear of recurrence is part of uncertainty. And as you probably know, fear of recurrence is probably one of the most common concerns that cancer survivors have. And the research says it's normal. And some survivors think that maybe they're worrying too much, or they're a hypochondriac. That's not the case. And in our program, we talk with people about how it's normal to feel uncertain in their lives. And to have fears about the cancer returning.
  • [01:12:45.45] And finally, symptom management. We talk with family members and survivors. How you deal with a lot of these symptoms? We a fact sheets that we prepare and so forth. So that's our program. We've tested in three large randomized trials for these families that I just mentioned to you. And with positive outcomes, especially for the family caregiver. Because they're often alone trying to figure out how to be a good caregiver. And they don't know exactly what that means.
  • [01:13:10.63] If any of you are interested in learning more about our FOCUS program, I just wanted to mention to you that we've just started the FOCUS program in the Wellness Community. How many of you know what the Wellness Community is? OK. It's a wonderful supportive organization run by professionals, primarily master's prepared social workers. And it's located on Hogback Road here in Ann Arbor.
  • [01:13:32.25] There's many of the wellness communities and Gilda's House, you've probably heard of that as well. They've now partnered together in these support programs that are throughout the country. And they offer free psycho-social care. And they are just starting a FOCUS program. So they've taken our program, and they've modified it, and are offering it in a group setting for survivors and for family members to kind of talk through some of the F-O-C-U-S that I just mentioned to you.
  • [01:13:59.24] And if any of you are interested in that program, I've got some fliers. Please stop up afterwards. And I'd be happy to give that to you.
  • [01:14:06.09] I also want to tell you one other new program we've started. And that's we're trying to take the FOCUS program and move it to an internet-based program. Some family members and survivors, they don't always want to come back to-- well, they don't want people coming to their home because they feel they need to clean it up and so forth. But anyhow, we're trying this internet program as well. So I can see my time is up.
  • [01:14:27.70] DOREEN MARKEL: Thank you very much. So if you have questions that you'd like to direct via the microphone, Jenny and I are going to be walking around with microphones. And then we have cards as well. So I'll start over here. We're going to alternate back and forth. OK. First question.
  • [01:14:39.29] AUDIENCE: Yeah. I've got two questions. I guess they couldn't be more dissimilar. What do you think of the macrobiotic diet. And Kris, I just wondered, are you still active in your acting career?
  • [01:14:51.43] KRIS CARR: Did you want me to answer both of those questions? OK. Yeah, sure. I started with the macrobiotic diet. And I think it was a great diet to get me off the standard American diet. But after awhile, I think that-- the diet is all cooked. So we need to have some raw foods. We need to have the enzymes. Enzymes are killed after a certain temperature. And also fresh juices and water and things like that.
  • [01:15:16.42] So I think that you can take some great components of macrobiotics, like how to make delicious beans that don't hurt your belly, and new grains instead of the processed grains that we're so used to in this country. But then adding some more of the fresh stuff.
  • [01:15:30.67] And then, no, I don't act anymore. I gave that up. I'm busy being me.
  • [01:15:38.34] AUDIENCE: My name's Jan Kemp. And I just wanted to share one more resource. It's in the community. And I don't know, there are some people, I think, that are here that may have already taken the classes. But I'm an instructor for a program called The Cancer Project. And The Cancer Project teaches people-- shares information about plant-based diets.
  • [01:15:54.99] And I teach nutrition education and cooking instructions specifically for plant-based diet. And I have classes starting again in September. And if people are interested in those classes, they can find out the schedules at CancerProject.org/classes. And I have classes at Whole Foods market, your pharmacy, starting in September. And then up in Brighton in October. And then back at Whole Foods market in November.
  • [01:16:26.30] AUDIENCE: I'd like to say, I'm a student of Jan's. And it's a good program. And you learn a lot. And you take away a wonderful cookbook, which will help you the rest of your life. I had two questions. And they're for either end of the table. The first one is, I wonder if you could say a little about what you found out from your so far about how to eat. That's number one question.
  • [01:16:53.85] And then I'll get the other one, so you're thinking about it. You know, you spoke about families and support. If you're alone in the world, what do you have to offer some of us quote singles who don't have an A-Team? Thank you.
  • [01:17:12.47] LAUREL NORTHOUSE: OK. Zora wants me to go first. So there are many people who are survivors and who don't have a close posse around them. So your question is, what do I have to say for them? I think one thing we know from our research and others, is that peer support is extremely important. It doesn't always have to be a family member. And if you can band together with other cancer survivors, I think they're-- you can provide one another tremendous support.
  • [01:17:40.24] And I would also like to say, there are resources out there. One that I didn't mention is called CancerCare.org. This is a large organization in New York. It's a nonprofit, free psycho-social care. But it's really reputable. And they have 60 oncology social workers on their staff. And you can call them up. Their 800 number, look 'em, know Google 'em. CancerCare.org. CancerCare, all one word, dot org. And they also have online support groups.
  • [01:18:09.78] So I think for someone who may feel like they're dealing alone with their cancer, I really encourage you to go to that website, find out what kind of online support groups they have. Or else just have one to one conversation with their well-prepared social workers.
  • [01:18:28.72] ZORA DJURIC: So what, well it's similar to the diets that Kim was talking about. In my research, we use diets that would be anti-inflammatory. And a lot of it is changing the kinds of fats they we eat. You may have heard about Western diets and how the fats have changed over the years as we've become industrialized. And one way to change the fats that you eat to a better balance is to eat less of them. And then you can add back some of the better fats, like the monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, avocados, and hazelnuts. Those kinds of foods are high in [UNINTELLIGIBLE].
  • [01:19:17.08] And also more Omega-3 fatty acids and less Omega-6 fatty acids. Because they're metabolized actually by the same enzymes that aspirin affects. I mean, aspirin's an anti-inflammatory drug because it inhibits the enzymes that metabolize fatty acids. So you can change those enzymes just by changing the kinds of fats that you eat.
  • [01:19:43.16] The other thing you can do is eat a very large variety of fruits and vegetables. Because all the different kinds of flavors and colors that you see are due to different kinds of chemical compounds that have-- or just there's so much-- every day there is new paper. Well we found this in rutabaga.
  • [01:20:05.35] It's always a little things that have-- their antioxidants may affect some of these same inhibits, some of these same enzymes to have it help with the anti-inflammtory effects. Just a large variety. And herbs and spices have a lot of great compounds in them. So you end shopping in the produce department a lot.
  • [01:20:31.74] AUDIENCE: Hi. I have two questions, one for Kris, and one for Laurel. Laurel, I think we might have a situation that's different from anybody else in this room. And if there is anybody else that has this, I feel incredibly horrible for them. I lost my mother to a rare cancer when she was 44. I was diagnosed with cervical cancer when I was 38. None of it prepared me for the diagnosis of a very rare adult cancer in my daughter when she was 15. I am the caregiver, the survivor. She is a survivor with a mother who is a survivor. Any help?
  • [01:21:11.58] LAUREL NORTHOUSE: Wow.
  • [01:21:12.68] AUDIENCE: We pretty much do everything together. Because the rest of the family, they really don't know how to treat-- they don't-- Everybody walks on eggshells. They're not quite sure which boundary they can cross. And if they say something, if it's right that day or it's wrong that day.
  • [01:21:32.15] LAUREL NORTHOUSE: Well, the one thing I would say first of all is to compliment you for both being here. Because it's obviously a sign of strength that you two are able to communicate with one another, support one another. Even though you have very difficult things going on right now in your life. And you are here to learn more about it. So my suggestion to you is keep that strong bond that you both have.
  • [01:21:53.75] If you find at times it feels overwhelming in terms of which are going through, I would encourage you to even seek out some counseling, some support from-- if you find family and friends aren't very supportive, sometimes, try to--
  • [01:22:06.85] AUDIENCE: They are. They just don't--
  • [01:22:08.22] LAUREL NORTHOUSE: They don't get it.
  • [01:22:10.01] AUDIENCE: I even think they get it, but they don't get it. If that makes sense.
  • [01:22:12.74] LAUREL NORTHOUSE: I think you used the word eggshells. Yeah. And I think that's the problem. People sometimes don't know how to talk about it. And they don't want to say the wrong thing because they don't want to upset you or whatever. It sometimes helps if you can take the lead and say, you know, this is what's going on with me. You might want to know. We're doing fine. This is it. If you can kind of help them.
  • [01:22:36.96] I know it sounds like, why should you have to help them? You're the one dealing with the illness. But do you know what I'm saying? If you can kind of help them to let them know you're comfortable talking about it, that you two are doing well together, or maybe you aren't doing well together. But try to be open with them, and kind of model for them that you are willing to talk about it.
  • [01:22:52.85] But they still might not get it. They still might not be as supportive as you need. And you might want to look for other sources of support. But I would say right now, the two of you are a wonderful team. And I think that's what you really got going for you.
  • [01:23:05.85] AUDIENCE: For the next part of that question, we're not a very good team here. Kris, for lack of a better word, we call it green goo. Is there any way to make it taste better? Because she wanted to quit after about three weeks. So we did.
  • [01:23:22.09] KRIS CARR: Yes. Let's make it better. So--
  • [01:23:24.04] AUDIENCE: Don't make it better. I don't--
  • [01:23:27.17] KRIS CARR: What are you making? Tell me what you're making.
  • [01:23:29.12] AUDIENCE: We took one of the conglomerations of kale and spinach and celery and some apples. And it was horrible. Tried for three weeks.
  • [01:23:44.76] KRIS CARR: Let's change that experience. Let's just rewrite that script.
  • [01:23:48.53] AUDIENCE: We're really looking forward to the diet.
  • [01:23:52.32] It was a really bad first experience. And after that, it was just really hard to like--
  • [01:23:56.18] KRIS CARR: Make it better. OK. I'm going to give you a juice recipe. So cucumber and celery are the base. Because cucumber is just-- first of all it's loaded with many healing properties and B vitamins and all that stuff. But it's really juicy. And it's really sweet. And celery is high in minerals. Also pretty palatable. Kale is very strong. Kale, remember, kale, weed, my whole story up there?
  • [01:24:24.58] I would start with something like Romaine, which is a lot easier on the belly. And maybe one piece of fruit, like pear. So cucumbers, celery, Romaine, and pear. And see how that feels. If you can do more cucumber, because cucumber's really sweet. I don't like to do too much sugar, cause I really want to get the chlorophyll flooding the body. Blood of the plant heals the blood of the body.
  • [01:24:47.14] And also making green smoothies. Because green smoothies, you can put the good fats like avocado. You could do cucumber, avocado. You could also use Romaine instead of doing kale. If you're a more advanced practitioner, you can go to kale.
  • [01:25:03.56] You could do, stevia. Stevia is a great sweetener for cancer patients. Cinnamon.
  • [01:25:12.18] AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] to help with steroid puff?
  • [01:25:23.89] KRIS CARR: To help with steroid puff. I mean, steroid puff is tough until the steroid is gone, you know.
  • [01:25:29.79] AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]
  • [01:25:30.60] KRIS CARR: Right. Well certainly, by reducing the amount of salt that you consume. Buy balancing the oils and not eating the transfats, saturated fats, reducing the animal products, the dairy. Went through that whole story. Anything that creates inflammation and mucus in the body is going to create-- Inflammation is what? Swelling. So that can decrease the puff. And water. But I think you look fantastic. Yeah.
  • [01:26:04.91] AUDIENCE: I just have a comment to all cancer people in here. I say, go to a forum, be it Kris's, be it your disease. Almost every disease has its own forum. Spill your guts. Be anonymous. And you will find help. I've done it so-- for my amputation, it's made me survive. For cancer, I thank Kris. It's just an amazing thing to help you. If you're feeling all by yourself.
  • [01:26:32.06] KRIS CARR: So a forum or a social network, right?
  • [01:26:34.97] AUDIENCE: Yes. Anything where you can express. And you don't have to use your name. I mean, I didn't use my name on Kris's site until I felt comfortable. And then I would sign my name at the end. Cause I could be anonymous. I still don't put my face on it. Because I don't want people to know me. I want to be anonymous.
  • [01:26:52.03] But my question to the entire panel is, and it's really kind of a hard question to ask. How do we educate doctors?
  • [01:27:07.93] ZORA DJURIC: There is something for consumer demand. Because hospitals are actually a business. And if patients demand naturopathic doctors who are trained in alternative and complementary medicine, it'll follow. I see it slowly changing. But it's going to be a long process to put that education into medical schools.
  • [01:27:33.61] AUDIENCE: How do we get them to even realize that diet at least can help people feel better? I mean, I don't know. It's my frustration.
  • [01:27:43.77] ZORA DJURIC: Yeah. That's hard.
  • [01:27:49.00] DOREEN MARKEL: Any other comments?
  • [01:27:50.08] KRIS CARR: We send them light and love. And we do it anyway. Because they don't get training. And they don't get nutrition training in medical school. And you know, what can we do but just-- I think that's the perfect answer. And I don't think we can not do that. We vote with our forks every single day.
  • [01:28:05.30] ZORA DJURIC: There is change. In my own department, family medicine, we have an integrated medicine clinic that has a naturopath and medical doctors who have additional training in nutrition. And they're are viable business. They have patients who come to them. So if that continues to grow, I think there's a chance. It'll take a while, I suspect.
  • [01:28:35.26] DOREEN MARKEL: I have a question I'm going to read. There are two questions for Kris. Have you noticed any health changes since giving up TV for 30 days? And the other question is for Kris. Have you talked to the doctors who gave you a shelf life? And what do they have to say?
  • [01:28:53.91] KRIS CARR: I did a no TV challenge on Twitter for 30 days. And I just broke it to watch True Blood. Because I love that show. Yes, I have seen many changes.
  • [01:29:10.08] And I actually have not seen the doctor who gave me the expiration date. Although we've been at conferences. And I sort of circle around him. And he doesn't remember who I am. Or maybe he does, and maybe regrets saying that to me.
  • [01:29:24.24] But again, these are all statistics. And so I think the best thing that I could do is just OK, file it in some cabinet somewhere. Deal with that cabinet later, though, people. Because that cabinet can become a whole other thing. And just keep doing what I'm doing.
  • [01:29:43.33] AUDIENCE: Thank you so much for that talk. That was wonderful. Actually, my question is for Zora. I've heard for some conflicting ideas about soy products and estrogen content and stuff like that. I know a lot of people substitute milk products with soy products. And I'm just wondering your thoughts on that.
  • [01:30:05.75] ZORA DJURIC: Well, soy foods are great, especially low-fat soy foods. Because soy oil is a Omega-6 fat. And when you eat soy foods, like tofu, that's a great source of protein. And it's hard to get too much isoflavones, unlike when you have a supplement where you really probably take a pharmacologic dose that may be harmful.
  • [01:30:38.22] Some of the beneficial effects of soy isoflavones are in Asian populations that have a very different kind of background diet than we do. So to add isoflavones a higher-fat diet that has different kinds of fats, you get a completely different effect than when you add isoflavones to a very low-fat diet that's full of fruits and vegetables.
  • [01:31:01.21] The other the important thing about that isoflavones and protection is there may be critical periods of life, for example, in utero exposures, that can protect you. And so for people to all of a sudden start taking in late in life at very high doses, it could actually be harmful. But certainly the foods, I think you'd be fine. And can be a great source of protein and other nutrients.
  • [01:31:32.79] DOREEN MARKEL: OK. Here's a question right here.
  • [01:31:36.21] AUDIENCE: I had a question regarding the diet. So I guess it would be directed at Zora. How would you incorporate a preventative diet like that into a household with small and growing children? Because like, I don't know how comfortable I would be cutting out dairy products with a small child, or also through pregnancy.
  • [01:31:55.70] ZORA DJURIC: Well, very young children should have milk. Wouldn't you agree?
  • [01:32:02.43] KRIS CARR: Yeah. I would think breast milk would probably be better than--
  • [01:32:05.15] ZORA DJURIC: I think--
  • [01:32:06.14] KRIS CARR: --cow's milk.
  • [01:32:06.91] ZORA DJURIC: --her point was mainly weaned. But with my kids, some what they got is fruit and vegetables. They liked it. I don't know. They had to get excited about broccoli. It was trees. I don't know. The yams were a tiger on their plate. I don't know why.
  • [01:32:36.14] It did become a problem when they started going to the neighbors and getting Twinkies. And they are very sweet and addictive. They do eat some bad foods. I think, overall, if I look at my kids, they still eat better than their peers.
  • [01:32:52.00] But you're right. It's hard to eliminate all the things you'd like to in our environment. I don't know how-- All you can do is offer the food. And show how much you enjoy it. And a of time, young kids will pick up on what their parents are doing. It's not really so much what you tell them. But when they see other people around them enjoying a certain thing, oh, I'd like some of that. You know?
  • [01:33:22.27] AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]
  • [01:33:29.53] ZORA DJURIC: Well, yeah. Well--
  • [01:33:32.65] DOREEN MARKEL: Can you just repeat that question?
  • [01:33:34.08] ZORA DJURIC: 25. I think that the American Academy of Pediatricians has recommended that the fat needs of a child can be met with diets in the 20%, 25% range. I'm not talking about a 11% fat diet. But more moderate fat. The thing is, you can give them good fats. It doesn't have to be Twinkies.
  • [01:34:15.32] I don't know what else you're asking. Are you talking about children younger than two or older than two? Or?
  • [01:34:23.28] DOREEN MARKEL: I think she's just saying, she just wonders like, we're so brought up that milk for children to grow and develop, and meat for protein. Can we eliminate all of that? Do we have to eliminate all of that? Or should we just be in moderation?
  • [01:34:43.24] AUDIENCE: Especially referring to brain development.
  • [01:34:46.98] ZORA DJURIC: What do you think?
  • [01:34:48.25] KRIS CARR: Well, I think that you can get protein from other sources. And it's not-- you know, if you're afraid, that's such an honest and wonderful thing to say. Because we've been taught that we need milk. We've been taught that we need meat. And I think that the truth is that we need less of it.
  • [01:35:04.48] And that there's a lot of protein found in leafy greens. There's a lot of calcium found in leafy greens. But also in nuts, in seeds. Sesame seeds are high in calcium. Hemp seeds are high in protein. Hemp milk is wonderful.
  • [01:35:17.44] I think that breast feeding is probably the best thing that you can do for your child. And then, after a certain point, when you wean them, do they need cow milk? I'm not a mother. But I personally don't think that's necessary. But I think that you can find this information out there.
  • [01:35:31.56] There's a great book called Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis. And she'll lay it out for you so that you really understand where you can get the protein in the amount of grams. And all of the stuff that you need so don't have to feel strapped to a diet they can be toxic in high quantities. I don't know if that helps you at all.
  • [01:35:56.18] AUDIENCE: I just wrote a book called The Healthy Way to be Sick.
  • [01:36:00.10] KRIS CARR: Oh, I like that.
  • [01:36:01.26] AUDIENCE: And I feel like, even though a nutrition and what you eat is incredibly important, how you use your own mind and the wisdom of your body is really, really valuable. Because it's the way you interpret things that cause stress. And if you could create conscious habits so that you could control stress before you interpret things wrong--
  • [01:36:30.20] KRIS CARR: Speak into the microphone.
  • [01:36:31.10] AUDIENCE: Oh, I'm sorry. So you could interpret things differently. You could control a lot of stress. And like this one lady said, when you don't have family around you, you can get incredible support from your own inner wisdom if you learn how to tap that.
  • [01:36:59.11] KRIS CARR: That's wonderful.
  • [01:37:02.15] DOREEN MARKEL: The book is not published yet. Oh, it's an eBook. And we can talk more later. Absolutely.
  • [01:37:07.54] JENNY HOFFMAN: OK. Here's another question right.
  • [01:37:10.27] AUDIENCE: Hi. This question is for Kris and Zora. Can you share your thoughts on the Eat Right for Your Blood Type diet? If you've done any research.
  • [01:37:18.47] KRIS CARR: Eat Right for Your Blood Type. What do you think about it?
  • [01:37:20.08] ZORA DJURIC: I'm sorry. I didn't read that book.
  • [01:37:27.51] KRIS CARR: I personally don't believe in it. I think that the great Goddess didn't have us come down here with calculators so that we could figure out how much calories we should be counting. And I don't think that you should have to know your blood type in order to get you know your nutrition needs met.
  • [01:37:45.80] I know that a lot of people are behind that book and whatnot. But the people that I follow, Colin Campbell, Cancer Project, PCRM, Dean Ornish, Mark Hyman, wonderful, wonderful doctors. I don't necessarily think they would put it behind that book. But I speak for them. And this is being filmed. So sorry, Mark, if you do. Wherever the camera is.
  • [01:38:10.65] DOREEN MARKEL: I have a comment here. Evie's Kitchen by Shazzie is another great book on nutrition for kids. And of course, I have to say being in the public library, looking for information on diet, nutrition, health, any of those things, the library staff will be happy to help you find what you're looking for. Whether it's online in a database that we subscribe to you on your behalf, or books, or whatever it is. So please make sure you avail yourself of our services.
  • [01:38:41.12] AUDIENCE: Hi. My question's for Kris. I know you don't act anymore. But you do travel a lot. So how do you basically stick to eating healthy while traveling? Because I'm also a performing artist. And that's the big problem for me, basically. Especially with groups of people and they all want to go to Denny's or whatnot. It's like, I don't really want to go there.
  • [01:39:02.29] KRIS CARR: That's a great question. How do I stay healthy on the road? That is when I use green powders, like Amazing Grass or Green Vibrance or things like that that I'll bring in individual packets and mix them in my water, and make sure I have that. Because I can't make my green juice always.
  • [01:39:18.20] But I also have, there's iPhone apps where, if you have an iPhone, you can figure out where the vegetarian-friendly restaurants are. Ethnic restaurants are always so great because you can always get hummus and veggies and a great salad. Or you can get sushi with brown rice and avocado. Your favorite, avocado. We can go later. I'm starving.
  • [01:39:41.22] And you can get what else? I also, when I'm really being on it, I bring this little thing called the Magic Bullet, which is a small blender. It literally is this big. That I can you know go to the grocery store. I make a quick little smoothie for myself. And what else?
  • [01:39:59.58] Here's the deal is you get really good at learning how to eat healthy at crappy places. So saying, I will have the salad. I'll make this a bigger portion. See this thing over here? I want that. You just have to be fussy, or to be a fussy person that they don't like. But you do it with grace and a big smile on your face. So I'll have that salad that's really big. And this thing over there. And that.
  • [01:40:22.31] Because I think what's really hard is if you travel a lot, especially sleep, making sure you're hydrated, not drinking as much, drinking alcohol as much, and getting your sleep. Because you can just get so worn down by travel. So maybe there's a few tips for you. Yeah? Good. You're welcome.
  • [01:40:41.11] AUDIENCE: I have a question for the three of you. And I think in general, the audience, we all have either a relative who has cancer or we have a problem. And my question is, how can we help the younger generations so that they change their lifestyle so that they're not where we at right now? How can we change the world that way? Because at this point, yes, we can change our lives and make it a bit better for us. But how can we do that for the younger generations?
  • [01:41:19.97] ZORA DJURIC: That's a toughie. How do you change the whole environment that we live in? And to make it healthier? Well, I guess this is a start. I have seen in my own lifetime, I mean, when I was a little girl, the produce department was itty bitty. And now it's a big part of the store. So I have seen change. And I have seen demand for organic foods. I've seen demand for all kinds of stuff we didn't even have when I was a little girl.
  • [01:42:03.02] But it's not a quick change. I don't know. I wish I had the answer for you.
  • [01:42:10.70] KRIS CARR: Just quickly, I just think that you can be the change you want to see. So the more we walk the walk and talk the talk, the more you're able to shine the light.
  • [01:42:19.35] And also, what you said earlier is that when the demand goes up, then these foods become more mainstream. Like Burger King will have something healthy on the menu. McDonald's will have something healthy on the menu. And things sort of change from there. But we can't just sit back and wait for somebody else to do it. Cause we have to do it. And I do think it is a slow process.
  • [01:42:39.10] LAUREL NORTHOUSE: I think the other thing is just try to prepare healthy foods in a appetizing way. A new menu. Something like that so they entice some interest in trying something new.
  • [01:42:52.67] KRIS CARR: That's great.
  • [01:42:54.15] AUDIENCE: I actually have hopefully three really short questions. And I guess the-- and anyone on the panel, please, if you have an answer. The first one is that I'm constantly trying to come up with healthy solutions for my own cancer issue with my husband. And the latest one we have is using the healthy oils more, flax oil in particular. And there's one type of protocol called the Budwig, I think. Where it's supposed to be more easily assimilated in cottage cheese. Have any of you heard of that? OK. That's one question. And you can just answer any or all of these if you wouldn't mind.
  • [01:43:27.97] The second one is about the glycemic index and whether or not it's true that, if you are going to have the sugar, that if you have a protein with it, it's not as bad, i.e. Snickers bar.
  • [01:43:39.09] And then the third question is for everyone too. And this is just a personal little thing I'm curious about from all of you. And this is as for a person who might have cancer, what do you think would be the worst for them, caffeine, sugar, or medical marijuana? Or best for them?
  • [01:43:59.26] KRIS CARR: What would be best?
  • [01:44:10.77] Do you know about the Budwig diet?
  • [01:44:12.58] ZORA DJURIC: No, I never heard of that.
  • [01:44:14.86] KRIS CARR: So the Budwig diet is basically cottage cheese and flax seed oil and something else?
  • [01:44:19.68] AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]
  • [01:44:20.89] KRIS CARR: Right Here's why that wouldn't work for me. Cottage cheese is dairy. So dairy creates inflammation. Inflammation creates mucus. It lowers acidity of the body. We know that disease likes to live in an acidic environment. And that we want to live in an oxygen-rich environment. So I would say, why not just have the flaxseed oil and a salad?
  • [01:44:41.50] AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]
  • [01:44:43.19] ZORA DJURIC: And some beans.
  • [01:44:44.31] KRIS CARR: And some beans.
  • [01:44:47.56] AUDIENCE: I've been diluting organic flaxseed oil into our salad dressing. I mean, diluting the salad dressing with, I mean, you know, just put like a teaspoon or a couple teaspoons.
  • [01:45:02.74] KRIS CARR: There you asked a couple of questions. The second one was about the low-glycemic diet.
  • [01:45:07.35] AUDIENCE: With protein. Is it better-- That's what, if I have cravings for sugar--
  • [01:45:12.45] KRIS CARR: Get the microphone.
  • [01:45:15.12] AUDIENCE: If one has cravings for sugar, and they mix the sugar with some type of nut protein, it's digested perhaps in a way so that the glycemic index, you don't spike the, whatever, glucose levels. I don't know exactly how--
  • [01:45:29.47] KRIS CARR: You mentioned Snickers bars.
  • [01:45:30.67] AUDIENCE: And I mentioned Snickers bars.
  • [01:45:31.90] KRIS CARR: And don't want to mention brands. This is being filmed. but that's like gasoline the fire there, right? Because it's filled with so many things. I mean, I don't know, I'm just guessing. I don't have a package in front of me. But would you say transfats? Would you say high-fructose corn syrup?
  • [01:45:47.51] ZORA DJURIC: I don't eat those. I don't know. what I do is I just bring fruit with me to work. And so when I'm feeling kind of sluggish around 3:00, I grab that. And it keeps me away from the machine that takes those quarters.
  • [01:46:09.25] KRIS CARR: You are walking the walk. Good for you. There's better chocolates. For example, dark chocolate is going to be better quality, you know, things like that.
  • [01:46:17.58] AUDIENCE: That's what we try to focus on, the organic dark chocolate.
  • [01:46:22.07] ZORA DJURIC: With a pear. No that's good. Sliced pears with a little bit of dark chocolate syrup on it. I mean if you really got to do sugar.
  • [01:46:33.59] AUDIENCE: That sounds really good. Thank you.
  • [01:46:35.68] JENNY HOFFMAN: I have the last question over here. And then we need time to spend time talking with our panelists, for any of you that want to stay, and signing books. And for you to fill out your surveys. We use that within our research to see how effective our talk has been tonight. And the last question.
  • [01:46:50.89] AUDIENCE: Thank you very much for your discussion and talk today. All of you. From the clip, you could see that there were times that were very negative and a lot of hard feelings coming out. And I'm wondering, for people who do have like, long-term diagnosis that they're working through, even short-term, with those feelings that can come up daily, what type of outlet did you use? And resources maybe that any of you could-- Especially when those times hit and they're hard. To bring you out of that space.
  • [01:47:30.38] KRIS CARR: You wanna start there?
  • [01:47:34.91] LAUREL NORTHOUSE: Well, I think what you're pointing out is there can be hard times. And even though it would be nice to be up all the time, that's probably not realistic. And so to accept that sometimes, you will feel down. You just hope it doesn't last too long. And see if you can try to move through it.
  • [01:47:52.98] I didn't mention a couple of resources that we have at the University of Michigan Cancer Center. One, we have the skills lab, which is just new to learn about chemo and so forth. But we also have a psycho-oncology clinic, which has really wonderful counselors to help people deal with probably some of these dark times. If they can't find a way to get out of it.
  • [01:48:14.22] And we also have a symptom-management clinic if the symptoms are really getting people down. I don't know what to do about it. We have those kinds of resources as well.
  • [01:48:24.30] KRIS CARR: I'm just going to answer her real quick. And then you so can.
  • [01:48:27.79] AUDIENCE: I'd rather hear what you say.
  • [01:48:29.83] KRIS CARR: I doubt it. So I think one of the things, and maybe you agree, is that you have to go through the feelings, and feeling the feelings. And sometimes people want you to put on a happy face. And they want it to go away. And you want cancer, or whatever your thing is, to go away. And maybe it's not going away. And to really allow yourself the space to grieve. To grieve your former self, to be angry, to be frustrated, to drop the f-bomb whatever it is. Because that gets it out. Remember earlier, I was talking about cubbies. So if we store something, we hold it deeply inside us. That sort of breeds a whole other discomfort, and maybe a whole other metaphoric cancer.
  • [01:49:09.33] And one of the things that I found to be very effective is a technique, it's a new technique to me, so I'm definitely not an expert on this. But something called Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT. Has anybody ever heard of EFT? And has anybody tried it and seen results perhaps? You tried it and liked it? You might want to look into it. It's basically like psychological acupressure. It uses the acupuncture points with talk therapy, and also changing your mind. So to changing it to the positive or an affirmation.
  • [01:49:40.90] So the first point-- I won't go through the whole thing-- but the first point is the karate chop point. And these all correspond with points in Chinese medicine, meridian points. So even though you said you get down or depressed, even though I feel so depressed, even though I feel hopeless, even though I think that I will never be able to change my life, I love and accept how I feel. Even though I'm terrified, I have no idea what's going to happen, and I feel completely out of control, I love and accept myself anyway. And you do this three times on this point. Even though I'm so lost, I feel broken, I accept how I feel and I accept all parts of myself, even the parts of myself that I don't love right now.
  • [01:50:34.82] And then the reminder points are all these other points that can learn very easy. You rate it from 1 to 10 before you begin. And what's amazing is when you do a round of EFT-- or at least I've found this, maybe be you might like to look into it-- when you do a round, you can feel it go down, as if your cleaning out those cubbies that I'm talking about. And that 10, which is a place that none of us should live in, we should not live at that level of stress, can go to a 7. Another round, you can take it down to a 4.
  • [01:51:05.02] And I've seen people with my own eyes-- a woman who stuttered, at the end of one session with EFT, she was not stuttering on the stage at this training that I did. And just a lot of miraculous things.
  • [01:51:19.21] So you can imagine that we hold these things in our body. And what does that to us? It all comes back to stress and inflammation to me. So there's great resources. TheTappingSolution.com is a cool place. The person I took a class from was a woman named Carol Look. She's a genius. She moves mountains. She moved my mountains. And there was a lot of tears on the floor underneath that mountain when she moved it. But it felt good. And it was a clearing and cleaning.
  • [01:51:52.67] DOREEN MARKEL: We have one very last comment. No? No? No. OK. Zora, Kris, and Laurel, thank you all very much for a wonderful evening.
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August 17, 2010 at the Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

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