By Betty Akeredolu-Anyanwu
“I stopped Coca Cola and all such drinks, stopped bread, eba, amala, pounded yam, akpu (fu-fu), no ‘swallow’, since year 2000. Starchy food and sugar fuel growth of cancer.”
My experience with Cancer is a mixed grill of triumph, and later of grief. Having defeated cancer 27 years ago, and just over a year ago on December 26, 2023, I lost my husband, Aketi, to prostrate cancer.
For this conversation, I will tell my story to inform, inspire and empower the public to take action against cancer as an individual or as a community.
To begin with, the major thing that saved me from untimely de@th at the age of 44 was my mindset or belief. I didn’t believe that my cancer was caused by anybody, let alone by spiritual attack. So, I didn’t go to Church or spiritualist. I went to University College (UCH), Ibadan.
My educational status, also, enabled me to figure out that cancer is medical issue, nothing more. I was right! Doctors at UCH handled my case, and if I may add, I presented early at Stage 1 of the disease. No lymph node was affected, I got to know the implication as I began to read voraciously some medical publications on breast cancer such as Cochran publications, etc.
As I read more and attended international conferences, I understood that my longevity, after cancer diagnosis, depended on my lifestyle.
Looking at my children then, and how young they were, I was determined to do everything in my power to live in order to raise them. If stopping drinking coke and other minerals, swallowing eba, pounded yam, amala and akpu (foo-foo) would prolong my life, knowing that starchy food and sugar fuel the growth of cancer, so be it.
That was exactly what I did. I stopped drinking minerals, no swallow, and no bread since 2000! My foods includes the following: veggies, smoothies, green tea, lemon and ginger tea, beans, moimoi, fish, chicken, snail, occasional rice and zobo drink.
Today, I’m proudly a 27-year breast cancer survivor, thriving, and still counting.
Akeredolu-Anyanwu, PhD, founder, BRECAN, was, until the passing of her husband, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, in 2023, the First Lady of Ondo State. She posted this piece to mark the 2025 World Cancer Day
Discover more from The Source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
