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This memorial page is dedicated to my precious Sydney Bean. Sydney was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma when she was four. Her prognosis was excellent, she went through chemotherapy fine, and appeared to be a healthy girl off therapy for almost a year and a half. However, at the age of six, she relapsed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. After another two years of treatment, we lost Sydney at the age of eight. Since losing her to this horrible disease, I often wonder what I might have done differently, as any parent would. During the course of her illness, we tried many supplementary approaches to healing her cancer. And although miracle cures do occur, I believe the key is adopting a lifestyle that prevents disease before it has a chance to take hold. After having lost the battle, I now try to use any preventive measures I can to hopefully keep my other two children from ever having to go through what their sister did. I vacillate between believing that our path is chosen before we come here, to thinking that we DO have choices that affect our fate. There's no way to know for sure, but I believe that Sydney's disease was caused by our use of pesticides. I wouldn't say that we used them any more than many families do, but we did use an exterminator for a time, and bug bombs once or twice. We now learn that these toxins linger in our homes for lengthy periods of time, as our babies crawl on the carpets in which they settle. Some may say that a definite link hasn't been proven between pesticides and cancer, but many studies and articles have been done that say otherwise. We have never used pesticides in the home we are now in, and we never will - period. I'll squish the hundreds of ants that we usually get in our home in the summertime, everyday if I have to, before I will use bug spray. Ants can be particularly difficult to get rid of, so I do resort to ant baits, but I would strongly recommend staying away from anything that is sprayed into the air. I have found that the baits work very well, and although they may give off some toxic properties, they couldn’t compare to spraying and bombing. There are a number of safe, natural ways to get rid of insects. Pesticides aren’t the only problem we have to deal with. It's all the chemicals. I now try to give my family as much organic and preservative-free food as we can afford. We are not by any means on a completely organic diet - it can get quite expensive. But when we look at the labels on our food anymore, we don't recognize the majority of the ingredients in it. I don't know if it's true, but I had to laugh when I came across something that said margarine is only one ion away from being plastic. One of my food labels read, "There's too much stuff in our stuff." If we can avoid all that "stuff" as much as we possibly can, it can only help.The same thing goes with our cleaners with all the harsh chemicals, and the soaps, shampoos, and detergents we use. The list is endless, and sometimes it just feels like there's not much we can do about it, except tolerate it. It's pretty ridiculous when we have to send our kids out while cleaning the bathrooms, because we don't want them breathing the same fumes we’re gagging on. But I've since discovered that there are many household products available that are much safer for our families. Since Sydney's passing, I try to share with others what I've learned in hopes of keeping other families from going through what we did. I realize how easy it is to become complacent, especially in our busy lives. In whatever manner you may have come upon this site, I wish you and your family a lifetime of health and happiness. Cherish each day with the ones you love, for none of us know how long we will be here. "I Have a Dream" movie of Sydney August 2000 |
