A story of Hope by Heather Von St James: How she fought Malignant pleural mesothelioma

Hello Everyone,

Today I'm sharing a story from a reader about Cancer. Normally my blog consists of food, but she approached me and wanted to get her story out there. So I hope this helps raise awareness of this nasty disease. Thank you so much Heather for asking me to do this....I hope this helps in some way <3



My Victory Over Cancer

Heather Von StJames Facebook Page
Heathers Blog

If my seven-year-old daughter ever hears the word cancer, she remembers that because of her, I am alive. As a matter of fact, acknowledging that she saved my life is almost as common as saying that she wants something to eat or that she does not feel well. Whenever people wonder how much truth there is behind
this statement coming from such a young girl, I am the first to say that my daughter is completely right.


My husband Cameron and I did not have kids as soon as we were married; as a matter of fact, we waited seven years before we began thinking about kids. By this time, I was already 35 years old, and I had begun to become nervous about having kids at my age. After only three months, I received the amazing news that we would be having our first baby! Just like any mom, I was ecstatic and nervous. I often thought about what type of mom I would be, but most importantly, I wanted to be a good mom.

Overall, I was lucky in that my pregnancy was very smooth. The only issue we had was that Lily ended up being breech, so I had to opt for an emergency Csection. Even throughout the C-section, I continued to keep a positive attitude. When I finally had the opportunity to hold Lily, I realized that I would always give her love, protection, and happiness. I wanted to teach her, direct her, and love her. During this time, nothing else in the world mattered, but unfortunately, I was about to experience the worst storm I could ever imagine.

Lily was only 3 ½ months old when I was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma. However, the most shattering part of my diagnosis was the fact that I could only have 15 more months without immediate aggressive treatment. I am so lucky to have had my husband at this moment. Because I was in such
a state of shock, I could not process or make the decision of where to go for my treatment. Fortunately, Cameron made the decision to go to Boston to see one of the best mesothelioma doctors in the field. I had surgery, which involved the removal of my left lung, the lining of my heart, and the lining of my diaphragm.

My recovery period consisted of 18 more days in the hospital. In addition to this recovery period, I also spent two weeks at an outpatient facility and two months at my parents’ home in South Dakota. After the recovery period, I returned to Minnesota and began chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

I am no different from any other mother; I simply made the needed sacrifices to be with my daughter and watch her grow up. I had to sacrifice the entire sixth month of Lily’s life, which was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. On the other side, from that I gained the courage to face a life-threatening surgery and other treatment procedures.

Mesothelioma is a devastating disease, and it kills almost 95% of the people diagnosed. However, motherhood gave me the strength I needed to fight this disease. When Lily notes that she saved my life, she could not be more correct.

Weekly Menu

Good Morning :-) I'm super excited about my menu this week :-) Some new recipes will be happening for you, and I'm trying a few recipes out :-)  If you are wondering why I only have three meals is because that is how our week works. I make a menu for Monday-Wednesday. Thursday night we run errands and just eat something quick, Friday-Sunday we eat whatever, and sometimes eat over at Js parents house. This is what works best for us.

Honey Lime Chipolte Chicken topped with cucumber, tomato, basil salad. Then for sides we are having homemade tortilla chips and zucchini oven fries (new recipe coming next week)

Hamburgers on the grill and onion strings

Grilled Turkey Paninis(new recipe coming next week)

Lunch:
My four year old and I have a love of basil and tomatoes. So I was scrolling through and found the Bachelor Kitchen  He made Roasted Caprese Skewers. I fell in love with them and so did my daughter. So we are trying them next week..

Baking:
I'm hoping to do some baking this next week, we will see if it happens :-)

Mint Chocolate Cheesecake

Mint Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust

2 C. Crushed Thin Mints

1/4 C Melted Butter

Cheesecake:

1 package of Andes Mints

2 8oz boxes of cream cheese

1/2 C Sugar

1/4 C Flour

1 C Sour Cream

3 Eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla

1/4 Tsp Mint Extract

Mint leaves

Crust Directions:

Crush your mint cookies, add in your melted butter mix it well. Press into the bottom of a greased spring form pan. Bake for 10 minutes . Take out of the oven. 

In a bowl mix the cream cheese till creamy, then add flour and sugar. Mix well, add eggs, sour cream,vanilla and mint extract. Pour the filling in the spring form pan. Stack Andes mints about 8 or so of them. And slice them. Sprinkle on top of the cheesecake.. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes. Take it out and put it on a cooling rack. Wait 20 minutes then loosen it from the spring form pan. In the double boiler, or microwave melt the rest of your Andes mints. When its melted let it cool for a second. Then pour it in a zip lock bag and cut the small end off. Drizzle over the whole cheesecake. Put it in the fridge and let it cool. Eat and enjoy  

Weekly Menu

Chicken Fajitas and Spanish Rice

Hawaiian Pizza and Cheesy Bread sticks

BBQ Chicken, deep fried potato skins, corn

Baking:
Not sure of my baking this week.....so stay tuned

Weekly Menu

I've been delayed in the menu planning, but I finally have one this morning LOL :-) This week has been off kilter.

Homemade Chili( not my recipe but one that is really good)

Steak and french fries

Grilled Chicken Salad

Baking: I don't know what or if I'm baking yet....no plans yet.

Grandma Crane's Persimmon Cookies

Growing up my Grandma Crane made Persimmon Pudding and Cookies. I grew up with them, they were the best. My mom can make them, but even she agrees no one makes them better then Grandma. The picture above is my Grandma and Grandad. My Grandad recently passed away. I have fond memories of their house, and of them.We had a lot of family dinners there...and they lived close enough we could bike there. Grandma always had cookies in a jar on her table. We always knew where to find them. They hold a special place in my heart, and so do my Grandparents. So when my mom brought me a bag of frozen persimmon pulp, I decided to dedicate a blog post to my Grandma Crane and her persimmon cookies. I can't find persimmons anywhere around here, and if I did I do not have a thing to help make the pulp. So here ya go, my Grandma Cranes Persimmon cookies :-)

Grandma Crane's Persimmon Cookies

1/2 C Butter

1. C Sugar

1 Egg Beaten

2 C. Flour

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 C. Persimmon Pulp

 (It's the persimmon mostly found in IL and Ind. To get pulp you have to mash it up)

1 TSP Cinnamon

Dash of salt

1/2 C. Raisins (Optional)

Cream together the Butter and sugar, add your beaten egg, pulp. Mix well. Add flour, baking soda, dash of salt and cinnamon. Add raisins if your using them.. Then add by drop fulls on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 till done.

Tuscan Pork Loin

Tuscan Pork Loin

We are always on the look out for different dinner ideas....so I came up with this :-) This is Tuscan Pork Loin :-) It's a 2 day thing so make sure you have time. :-)

Tuscan Rub

1 Jar of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Jar of McCormick Tuscan Gourmet Seasonings

1 Pork Loin

In a bowl pour a cup of olive oil  in a bowl. Then add 4 T of the seasoning. Sit it out for most of the day. You can cover it with aluminum foil. Set it aside.

At the end of the day, take your pork loin and put it on a sheet of Plastic wrap. Take a basting brush and brush on the oil/Tuscan spice mixture. Make sure the bottom, top and sides are heavily coated with the spices. Wrap it up with the plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight. 

The next day, place it in a baking dish. Sprinkle some more of the Tuscan seasoning if you like. Then sprinkle with a pinch of course sea salt. Cover the pan with aluminum. Bake for 3 1/2 Hours  and then take the aluminum foil off and let it bake for an hour more. Take the baster and suck up some of the juice and pour it over the top of the pork loin. You'll want to do this a lot through the baking. Bake at 350 for 4 1/2 total hours if you have a large one. If you have a meat thermometer  please make sure it's at 145 internal. Take it out and let it rest. Slice and enjoy