Move to Fiji changes woman’s life
TWENTY years ago American Dusti Patterson left the US and moved to Fiji after finding out that locally-grown vegetables were the key to her beating cancer.
After working in corporate America for more than 20 years, Ms Patterson said she was diagnosed with breast cancer that made her life a living nightmare.
“It took up my life,” she said.
“I did everything from chemotherapy to taking the pills and visiting various doctors who all said that I had no other option. So when I was diagnosed with cancer, 15 days later I was told to come in and start my chemo.”
She said after going through the motions of getting rid of the cancerous cells, she received news that she was cancer free.
“I was very happy to get my life back. So I didn’t think much of it until some years later when I got the call from my doctor that the cancer was back.”
She said after receiving the painful news, her initial thoughts were bleak.
She said a phone call to a Fijian friend was the beginning of her permanent move to the South Pacific.
“I had a Fijian friend who I had shared my story with and I had asked for her prayers and she knew that I was struggling. So she suggested that I go to Fiji, and go to a place up in Rakiraki that offered a more traditional approach to healing.”
After her short stint in Fiji and a clean medical bill not long after, Ms Patterson did not wait any longer before making the decision to make Fiji her home.
“That was 20 years ago. Now
I live on a diet of fresh bele, dalo leaves and spinach. I eat cassava and dalo which are all naturally grown here. I want to urge people to maintain this diet because your ancestors lived on this food before cancer ever existed.”