Cancer treatment

Sean had major bowel surgery to remove all of his large intestine, followed by a six month program of fortnightly chemotherapy. Under the expert guidance of the local Andrew Love Cancer centre, in Geelong, a team we are very thankful for, only five minutes from home. He is now finished with treatment and whilst not fully in remission yet, his latest scans were clear, so we count ourselves lucky, as we know many others do not share the same positive outcome.

Bowel cancer is now the deadliest cancer for Australians aged 25-54, with early onset bowel cancer rates increasing dramatically, and yet the national screening age is still 45+. Please do the test, don’t let it sit at home. You can also request one from your GP. There is no doubt that the testing regime saved Seans’ life, as he had no obvious symptoms.

Through Sean’s treatment we met regularly with oncologists, nurses, nutritionists and doctors. All the chemicals going into his body made us think about what else we put in that might be harming it, and about what we can do to reduce that, live as naturally as possible after the chemo finished. We asked them for their opinions and got advice on foods and lifestyle changes where we could.

Sri Lanka

We were lucky enough to book an overseas trip not long after Sean’s chemo was done. Once the oncologist told us it was safe, and with a small fortune paid out in travel insurance, just in case, we headed off to Sri Lanka! What was interesting was that whilst we were there, eating curries and local herbs and spices and fresh food, Sean’s symptoms dramatically reduced. And both of us saw a change in our digestion - for the better.

Diet changes

So when we got home, and things got worse again, we started thinking, what is it in Australian food that makes him feel worse, and longer term, what is that doing to our bodies. Now, we know part of that was the release of stress and the holiday vibe! But there was definite changes whilst away that we felt again when we returned. So we looked at the sort of foods we eat, and read around the subject a bit.

That led us to a more plant based diet, which we are still figuring out to be honest. Very little red meat, lots of beans and pulses and more fish, that was easy to do, but getting the variety we need in protein and iron is an ongoing challenge!

Reducing plastic use

The second thing it led to, was the research around plastics and the harm they might be doing, without us knowing. Both the nurses and doctors we chatted to agreed that there is more being heard in health updates about microplastics and potential dangers. But it wasn’t widely known. Either way, we figured there was no harm with starting to remove plastic from our home.

And then we watched the recent Netflix show “The Plastic Detox”, and we realised there are more people out there who will want to do this, remove plastics, for lots of reasons, not just health, but for fertility and for our planet.

So that’s where this website comes in!

Sharing the research we found, putting it all in one space for others, and eventually, suggesting some products we use.

Welcome - we are glad you’re here.