A woman has hailed a vegan diet and other holistic treatments for keeping her alive in an ongoing ten year battle with ovarian cancer.
Jasmine Kerr, 28, from St George, Bristol, was first diagnosed with borderline ovarian tumours – tumours with potential to become cancerous – ten years ago after experiencing severe bloating and abdominal pain.
Due to the risk of these abnormal cells becoming malignant doctors had to remove the majority of her reproductive system forcing her into early menopause at 17-years-old.
Over the next ten years Jasmine had more tumours removed and in December 2019 was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer – stage 3 low grade serous carcinoma – and was given just one year to live.
But now Jasmine says she is defying doctors predictions by cutting meat, dairy and other animal products from her diet and even believes she will be cancer free in a year with the progress she is making.
Jasmine Kerr, 28, pictured, from St George, Bristol, claims cutting down on animal products in her diet and holistic treatments have been keeping her alive, after she was told she had one year to live in December 2019 following a ten-year-long battle with ovarian cancer
Jasmine said: ‘After years of severe abdominal pain I was diagnosed with a rare form of slow-growth ovarian cancer in December 2019 and given one year to live.
‘At first I was in shock but then I just wanted to fight it – I’m ecstatic I’m still here and have a new purpose in life to campaign for alternative treatment methods.
‘I did my own research and found out that cancer is an autoimmune disease that is hormone driven and fuelled by the hormones in meat and dairy foods as well as the energy from sugar.
‘I used to eat a lot of meat and dairy foods but I completely cut these out of my diet to starve the cancerous cells, except for eggs for a bit of protein because I started losing too much weight.
A scan from June 2020 showed the cancerous cells present in Jasmine’s body. The woman completely overhauled her diet in 2019 to help with treatment
Jasmine’s battle against cancer started when she was just a teen (pictured in hospital at the time) and she had most of her reproductive system removed in 2011, when she was just 17
‘I also engage in spiritual practices like reiki energy healing because I believe that cancer comes from stress and trauma because stress releases bad chemicals into the body.
‘I used to work three jobs and never had any time to relax and I have childhood trauma from my mum getting seriously ill from breast cancer when I was only 12-years-old, forcing me to grow up very quickly.
‘My mum’s side of the family carry a gene that makes them cancer prone but testing showed that it wasn’t passed on to me.
‘Ovarian cancer causes elevated levels of the protein CA-125 in the blood and since my diagnosis in December 2019 and starting my own holistic treatment my levels have dropped from 156 to 27 this week, which is within the normal range.
A letter laying out Jasmine’s ovarian cancer diagnosis and the several treatments she’s received over the past ten years
‘I believe that at the rate of progress I’m making I’ll be cancer free in a year and my body will heal itself.’
Low grade serous carcinoma is the fourth most common type of ovarian cancer that disproportionately affects younger women.
The symptoms, including abdominal pain and bloating, are so vague that it is often misdiagnosed or found when it is already medically incurable.
By the time Jasmine was diagnosed her cancer was stage three and deemed incurable, with doctors giving her just one year to live.
Jasmine said: ‘At 17-years-old I started experiencing severe bloating and went from being a size six to looking eight months pregnant.
‘Doctors thought it was just indigestion but I pushed for scans that revealed the tumours and went straight into surgery to remove them.
Pictured: Jasmine. Her type of cancer is usually diagnosed late into its development, anbd by the time doctors caught it, she was already a stage three patient and given one year to live
Jasmine showing her scars from several surgeries performed in hope to stop cancerous cells from developing around her ovaries
In order to keep the cancer in check, Jasmine is relaying on more holistic treatments (pictured: her meds and supplements). Her type of cancer is less responsive to chemo than the most common form of ovarian cancer
After doing some research on the link between her cancer progression and her hormone levels, Jasmine has banned animal products from her diet (pictured: her all-green food shop)
‘It was very traumatising finding out I would never be able to have kids when I woke up from surgery. But I just wanted to believe I would be okay and get on with life.
‘I was told there was very little chance of it coming back and monitored with MRIs but four years later I had to have more tumours removed.
‘My symptoms kept coming back and got worse – I had severe pain where I couldn’t even stand up and saw blood when I went to the toilet so I knew something wasn’t right because I hadn’t had a period since before my first surgery.
‘The cancer had spread like paint splatters all over my abdomen – most women don’t live past eight years so statistically I have a maximum of six years left.’
Jasmine receiving intravenous treatment for her cancer in hospital. She said she was focusing on a healthy lifestyle to get better
Jasmine in hospital. She was offered chemotherapy to try and suppress the cancer for as long as possible but refused and decided to pursue natural treatments since her type of cancer is resistant to chemotherapy.
All of Jasmine’s medication and supplements. She is undergoing private and self-funded hormone therapy at the Care Oncology Clinic in London, which looks at cancer from a metabolic approach
Jasmine in hospital. The survivor said it was ‘traumatising’ to hear she wouldn’t ever be able to have kids aged 17
Jasmine’s surgery scars. The vegan fighter says she hopes her healthy lifestyle and hormone therapy will help get rid of her cancer within the year
Not willing to accept this prognosis, Jasmine has committed to her journey of holistic healing and hopes to beat the cancer within the next year.
She was offered chemotherapy to try and suppress the cancer for as long as possible, but refused and decided to pursue natural treatments since her type of cancer is resistant to chemotherapy.
Jasmine focuses on a healthy lifestyle including a plant-based diet, exercise, supplements, spiritual work and cannabis oils to soothe her pain and nausea.
She is also undergoing private and self-funded hormone therapy at the Care Oncology Clinic in London, which looks at cancer from a metabolic approach.
Jasmine said: ‘The drugs from the clinic are expensive but it’s worth it based on the progress I’ve seen so far.
‘There needs to be more options like this and more research into this type of ovarian cancer in the UK.
‘I’m an ambassador for the New Zealand charity Cure Our Ovarian Cancer which funds life-saving research and we’ve lost six ambassadors last year alone because of how severe the cancer is.’
To help fund Jasmine’s treatment visit: Crowdfunding to Support Jasmine’s Incurable, Inoperable, rare stage 3 Ovarian Cancer. Treatment Fund on JustGiving