Testimonial

                            HOW THE OHI SCHOLARSHIP CHANGED LAURA'S LIFE

        Laura was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma in May 2006. (Renal cell carcinoma is the most common form of kidney cancer arising from the renal tubule.)   What followed was a nephrectomy—her right kidney and adrenal gland were removed along with her gallbladder.  Laura was told by her doctor that what had caused her cancer to grow in the first place should be addressed, or it would come back.  That sent her on a journey to find health.  She had heard about Optimum Health Institute a number of years before but had not made time to go.  Her executive job in the high tech industry kept her very busy and absorbed in corporate life.  Laura said, “the cancer brought attention to what needed attention.  I seriously needed to change something so the cancer would not grow back.” She made the call that changed her life.

    
    Both Laura and her husband lost their jobs around the same time.  With a mortgage to pay and medical bills mounting, they barely scraped together the money for Laura to attend one week at the Austin OHI Mission.  Laura arrived feeling weak from the surgery, tired, and ill.  And she did not feel well at the end of the first week.  With no money to stay on a second week, Laura would have had to leave if it were not for a scholarship for week two.  She says, “I don’t think I would have embraced the program in just one week.  I was so depleted from the surgery and illness that I did not feel better after seven days.  The scholarship helped me stay on another week and I didn’t realize that I could feel better.  In fact, I felt so much better that a friend donated a scholarship for my third week.”  Laura went back to OHI of Austin in March 2008 for the Missionary Program and was thrilled to be part of touching so many lives. She says she’s never been happier than when her heart was singing in the wheatgrass room.

    Laura says she has experienced significant improvements in her health and vitality that have added years to her life. In the process, she lost 90 pounds but notes that the weight loss was not a goal, but only the result of her new lifestyle of raw foods and juices.

    With all her newfound energy and stamina, Laura has gone forward to make a difference in the world by volunteering for an organization that helps children with cancer and an African project that brings children to America for a leadership camp. This year she entered the LIVESTRONG Challenge event where she cycled and did the 5 K to benefit those with cancer.  She says she was amazed by her stamina. Laura says she now looks at her cancer as a huge gift from God.  She feels God’s love in every moment, and she and her husband focus on thanking God for it all.