Melyssa Lawson chose nutrition and natural therapies to heal thyroid cancer after diagnosis in 2009. Check out this really fun interview we shot at the Annie Appleseed Conference in West Palm Beach, FL.
She totally rocks it.
Clarification from Melyssa
Hey all, I can see how the whole “surprise I had my thyroid out” probably sounded random and confusing, so let me take a minute to clarify.
When I was diagnosed in 2009, the doctors told me that if all tumors were reduced to the 1cm range and my blood work was normal then I would be considered to be in the “normal/remission” category. They also said that I needed surgery, radiation, etc. which I refused.
In 2012, the ONLY reason I was given the green light to get pregnant was because I met all of the aforementioned guidelines.
After the birth of my third son, my thyroid became enlarged. I could not get it to shrink and it was starting to restrict swallowing and my airway.
I did NOT take this lightly and I spent many nights sitting on my back porch in the middle of the night agonizing over this decision. From the delivery of my third baby on Dec 4, 2012 to August 2013, I tried and tried to get that darn gland back to a happy place, but couldn’t get it down.
When I had surgery, there were still some tumors in there. When they biopsied them, some were found to be “inactive”. I also had several calcifications on the back side of my thyroid which the ultrasound didn’t pick up, again a testimony to my natural healing.
For most people who have cancerous pathology, after their thyroid is removed, their thyroglobulin skyrockets because the bed of the thyroid has been disturbed, thus making all the remaining tissue and cells very angry. They want to find a new place to multiply. That is why they wanted to scoot me off to radiation so quickly. Because of the diet I was on, and just how clean my system was, as soon as they took it out, my system took over and did its own “radiation”. I also upped my juicing and instead of having meat once a week, cut it out altogether. Today I remain strictly vegetarian, although most days my diet is vegan.
The surgeon said I wouldn’t be able to return to full-blown workouts and rigorous activity until a month after the surgery.
One week after surgery I was back at the gym in step class with absolutely no pain and my incision was barely visible. The surgeon said I would look like a truck hit me, but I had no bruising at all.
He was blown away when he saw how quickly I recovered. I attribute that to the radical diet and lifestyle change I adopted 5 yrs prior.
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This Post Has 19 Comments
What a great story Melissa, thanks for sharing! I was just wondering after you had your thyroid removed you said you take natural thyroid now. Would you mind sharing what you take?
Thanks!
I take Armour
Thank you so much for sharing your story! I can’t tell you how much you have encouraged me and challenged me to strive to do better today in my health journey. Thank you!
What I got out of this is that a lifestyle change controlled the cancer in 2009 but Melyssa had more issues in 2012 and needed surgery to remove her thyroid and cancer tumors. Her efforts didn’t cure her thyroid condition or kill all her cancer tumors. I hope visitors understand that and also understand the surgeons and oncologists aren’t waging war against you. The ones I’ve used have always had my best interests at heart whether I agreed with their treatment plan for my Stage 4 colon cancer or not.
I am familiar with Mylessa’s story and she had the thyroid removed secondary to difficulty breathing. I too had thyroid cancer and had mine removed as I could not breath unless I slept on the left side and had difficulty swallowing. the nodules were pressing on the trachea and esophagus. In this situations it is life threatening and surgery may be the best option. I had three nodules that were not seen on scan or MRI but were hidden under the first nodule. What is amazing about Mylessa is that she stuck it out and began alternative therapies trying to save the thyroid despite the risk. She was able to cure the metastasis to the lymph nodes and have one more child before removal of the thyroid. The surgeons , well they do just that surgery and have very little involvement before and after the surgery. I loved my endocrinologist and he almost had me I was a few days away from Radioactive Iodine scans and tx. After watching Mylessa’s story at last min I said no and did a CT scan instead. I am so happy I did as I found a liver mass and had I done what the MD’s wanted my poor liver and me would be dead I am sure. No they are not all out to get you and they mean well ( some of them) , but most think they know what is best and pressure you to do it their way or the highway. April RN, BSN, MSN
Hey! I have been so busy with school but have been thinking about you and wanted to know how you were doing. Are you on my green glasses girl face book page? If so I would love to exchange messages on there and keep up as I don’t often get on other sites to check messages :) Hope you are having a good week and hope to hear from ya soon
I could not find your site. will try again as I see it is green glasses girl :)
Hi Melyssa,
I had the CT scan done ( remember I stopped the Radioactive Iodine Treatment and chose to instead go for CT scan as you did). Well low and behold it showed a liver nodule/mass. Do not know if it is cancer yet, but I am so thankful I did not do the RAI scan or tx as this would have caused even more stress and damage to my liver. I started a modified Gersons diet and I am juicing again and taking supplements and seeing my natural MD. Thanks so much you have helped me more than I can say. Keep sharing your story!
Taking Prolamine Iodine has fixed my thyroid, my goiter is gone. It took less than a year for it to go away. I had that goiter for over 20 years. I no longer take Synthroid.
I feel great.
When I first noted my nodule I bought iodine and started drops. My entire right thyroid was hard as a rock too. With in 24 hours the entire right side of the thyroid softened. My endocrinologist said it had nothing to do with iodine!
Very inspiring story. What courage you have! Thankyou for sharing and thankyou Chris for having these video interviews.
Did you have pain? What did you do for it? What thyroid supp. are you taking? ALOHA Great job!
Chris you rock, I love your videos and your ideas about life .. a huge help for everyone!!!!! GRATITUDE Hermano!!!
Very inspiring story. My 28 Year old daughter has been doing the same thing as you have since being diagnosed with possible thyroid cancer 4 months after the birth of her 1 st child. You ended up doing surgery after your cancer had disappeared. WHY?
I have gotten asked this so many times and I wish I had a redo video to explain. After the birth of my 3rd son my thyroid became Very enlarged. I tried for 8 mo to get it back to a manageable size but to no avail. It had begun to restrict my airway and swallowing, which are key parts of survival :) that is why I had it removed. Kind of ironic considering I healed cancer but then had pregnancy hormones blow my thyroid up to ginormous proportions! Enlarged thyroid during pregnancies is actually quite common and unfortunately some peoples just don’t go back to pre pregnancy size after. Hope this clears things up
Thanks for clarifying, this was an important point. I had the same thing happen during pregnancy.
I also want to add that I would have NEVER removed a valuable body part had it not been life or death :)
Melissa, thank you for sharing your story. I’m trilled for you, celebrating in my mind. I’m so great-full that you did this video. Your story is amazing, primarily that you were so brave to go it alone. We really are alone but when people cheer you on it doesn’t seem so lonely. You must be an amazing mother. WOOT WOO!!!
Hi Chris. I know this is an older post but I’m wondering if there is a way I could get in touch with Melyssa other than Facebook? I don’t have an account and really don’t want one;)
I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer 2.5 years ago. Since then I have read this and watched it several times. I have gone from all vegan (which did not work for me, my thyroid got so swollen), to vegetarian, to now Budwig with huge green cancer smoothies throughout the day, and cooked veggies, and meat like wild caught salmon or organic chicken for supper. No gluten. No sugar accept some honey in my green tea every morning. I found my body needed healthy clean fats and some meat and I also found that I can not eat ALL vegetables. Some cause my thyroid to swell. So I’ve had to personalize my cancer smoothies with raw veggies that I didn’t react to. I used to juice but not anymore. I have five children and I homeschool, so I really gotta squeeze in efficient doable cancer foods for myself so I have enough time for everything else. I also sit under an infared light as well do coffee enemas the days I can. Grounding, sweating, sunshine. Whatever I can fit in my between raising and schooling my kids. My question for Melyssa is, I’ve had my fifth baby recently. I’m 12 wks postpartum, had a lovely healthy homebirth, healed very quickly (I attribute this to my diet, therapies and supplements). However, my thyroid has swollen noticeably. I’m not one to rush to the dr, but I cannot get this thing down. I don’t know if it’s stress, postpartum hormones… I know having babies is very hard on most women’s thyroids… I am seriously debating surgery and then, like Melyssa, “mop” up my body with my cancer diet. I do have questions. Such as how is she feeling now? What medication did she decide on to “replace” her thyroid hormones? I’m reading about natural dessicated thyroid, but I can’t get a dr to consider listening to me and dosing me on it. We live in Canada btw, so when I see a dr it’s not a visit that holds much freedom or choice for the patient. I can’t “shop” around for a better dr here. I’m so sorry for how long winded this is. But boy have I had a Journey these past few years. I’ve put my family through so much, I’ve had my mother and brother lecture me about my choice for alternative treatment (those fights alone have exhausted me and I’ve cut ties for the sake of my healing) I’ve spent a small fortune WAY outside of our income level, to fund my “treatments”. My husband backs me all the way, but boy am I exhausted from taking my health into my own hands. I love it. But I’m just mentally exhausted and would LOVE to speak to a real live person who is and was in a similar situation that I’m in. Is there a way you could put me in touch with her? Thank you so much Chris. I love your blog and message and story. You’re one of the first sources I found after my diagnosis. Thank you so much for putting this valuable information out there.
Sincerely, Ashley
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