Embracing Life After Cancer: A Journey of Hope and Resilience

The Power of Choices

And I thank God every day

For the girl He sent my way

But I know the things He gives me

He can take away

And I hold you every night

And that's a feelin' I wanna get used to

But there's no man as terrified

As the man who stands to lose you

Oh, I hope I don't lose you

When I first heard Benson Boone's words, I had no idea how prophetic they would become. My journey through cancer taught me that the lifestyle choices I made daily either fed the disease or fought against it.

Like many, I believed cancer was mainly about genetics, bad luck, or environmental factors beyond my control. I was unaware that research indicates diet and lifestyle factors contribute to 80-90% of cancer cases—far more than our genes ever will. I didn't realize that inflammatory foods, sedentary habits, chronic stress, spiritual emptiness, and toxic relationships created the perfect storm for disease in my body. These same factors lead to weight gain, depression, and chronic illness.

But here's what gives me hope: the same powerful lifestyle changes that help us lose weight naturally and reach our ideal body composition are often the exact same changes that reduce chronic inflammation, boost our immune system, and dramatically lower our cancer risk. This includes not just what we eat and how we move, but how we manage stress, nurture our faith, cultivate meaningful relationships, and care for our spiritual well-being.

The Impact of Music

It's interesting how songs can resonate with us. A mere mortal like me had never met, nor will ever meet, Benson Boone. Yet, it felt like he knew me as he sang about that elation I felt when things finally started to turn around after years of hard times—when prayers were answered, and hopes and dreams were coming true. However, that elation was mingled with the fear that everything could still be taken away. Benson Boone may have known all too well. So did I.

Last year, I married the most wonderful man in the world. My husband is the sweetest and most loving man I've ever met—the man who exceeded my lofty dreams and expectations. (I guess that's why I got married late—at thirty-six!). While we were dating, I battled breast cancer. Right before our wedding, I was finishing up a year of treatments—chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and immunotherapy. My husband supported me every step of the way. He prayed with me, encouraged me, and sent me little gifts from New York, reminding me of his love.

Newly married life was bliss. I found my best friend. We shared laughter, enjoyed hobbies, and sharpened each other's minds with theological and philosophical discussions. We always sought ways to make each other feel loved every day. We were grateful and happy, knowing how blessed we were with the little life we were building.

"Beautiful Things" was one of the most popular songs at the time. I found myself singing along: "Please stay/I want you, I need you, oh, God/Don't take/These beautiful things that I've got." How fitting, I thought, with things finally going beautifully—God, please don't take away my beautiful things. Little did I know the test we were about to face would come so soon.

The New Home and New Challenges

We bought a house in the summer of 2024—a fixer-upper on a beautiful piece of land with a pond, daffodils, lilies, grapevines, berry bushes, and all kinds of trees: pines, oak, maple, cherries, and magnolia. Acres of cornfields surrounded our little house, giving us privacy and making our property feel infinite. My little family worked hard turning this house into a home. To take a break from renovations, we planned to go camping. My family went camping, but I stayed behind for my first appointment with an oncologist in New York.

With my family away in Pennsylvania, I merrily continued renovating. I painted the interior and noticed early symptoms of what would become months of medical scares. "My period does not feel right," I told my husband over the phone while painting the kitchen walls a deep sage green. "It's been so heavy, and it's taking longer than usual. By the way, I still have those bruises, and they're not going away." I noticed the stepladder I was sitting on was soaked in blood. We couldn't figure out why I had these bruises or why my period hadn't stopped. We thought these issues would eventually resolve with the right supplements. However, my intuition told me something was wrong.

A couple of days later, my family returned from camping. I wore the pretty dress and earrings my husband bought for me. He was thrilled to see me, and we embraced tightly. "I couldn't wait to come home," he said. "I hate being away from you." That evening, I developed a high fever. I told my husband I had a severe headache and chills. When my symptoms didn't improve two days later, my husband took me to Urgent Care. I thought I might have caught a bug and would receive some medicine and be sent home. However, when I mentioned I had been bleeding profusely for ten days, the Urgent Care staff instructed my husband to take me to the Emergency Room immediately.

What followed were days and nights filled with needles, the constant beeping of hospital machines, and bags of blood and platelets as I was admitted to the hospital indefinitely.

Facing the Diagnosis

The window of my hospital room was lined with flowers, cards, and gifts from family and friends. I was alone that morning since my husband had gone to work. A young doctor entered my room, "Mrs. Krop, we need to do a bone marrow biopsy." Before she could finish speaking, I sobbed, "I'd like to ask my husband first before I decide on anything." I remembered when a doctor first told me they needed to do a biopsy two years ago. No amount of positive thinking stopped that diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer. I feared this biopsy would bring more bad news. I thought I saw distress in the young doctor's eyes as I cried after she mentioned the word "biopsy," and then she left the room. I never saw that doctor again.

"Mrs. Krop, the results of the bone marrow showed that you have myelodysplastic syndrome," another doctor finally shared.

"Mayo…what is it again?" A word I could barely pronounce.

"It means your bone marrow isn't producing enough blood cells, and the ones you have are damaged. That's why you've been experiencing malaise and bruising. Blood transfusions will help you for now, but we can discuss a stem-cell transplant later." My husband and I looked up "myelodysplastic syndrome." It's essentially a type of blood cancer that can progress to leukemia.

The drive home was quiet. I was finally released after a week in the hospital. My husband and I were grateful I was home, but our happiness was mixed with sorrow and uncertainty about the days ahead. I also felt exhausted. As soon as we parked in the driveway, tears streamed down my husband's cheeks. "I love you so much," he said, his words heavy with meaning. "And you just got here. I don't want anything to happen to you. You just got here."

I understood what he meant. Life seemed cruel after he endured a devastating divorce and my battle with breast cancer. When things were finally turning around, the beautiful things we had seemed to be slipping away. "I'm scared that with the tragedies you've faced, like your best friend dying and the divorce, you'll start believing that God does not have good things for you," I said. My husband sobbed, his breath catching in his throat. I held him tighter, my tears falling on his shoulder. "I pray that no matter what happens to me, you will believe that God has good things for you."

The Fight for Health

We faced several more months of hospital stays and blood transfusions to keep me alive. Even simple tasks felt difficult, and I often felt out of breath. The MDS was taking its toll on my body, and my condition seemed to worsen quickly. Initially, a blood transfusion would help me feel well for two to three weeks, but by January, I needed transfusions twice weekly. The only way to truly help me was to get a stem-cell transplant, according to my doctors. I asked if we could wait until after Thanksgiving and Christmas to have the transplant so I could spend the holidays with my family.

Our first anniversary, January 24, was not spent in a fancy restaurant or on a walk at the beach. Instead, my husband brought me to Wilmot Cancer Center for my scheduled procedure. The nurses administered chemotherapy to completely kill off my bone marrow cells for the donor's stem cells to graft. It was the most difficult thing my body had ever endured, as I felt every pain and inflammation as my white blood cells and platelets disappeared. There were nights when I thought I had gone to hell and back.

"I'm going to be direct with you," one nurse said while giving me informational booklets. "The ones who eat, drink, and walk laps in this ward get out of here the quickest." It was the motivational talk I needed to hear to reclaim my health! Even when I felt horrible, I pushed myself to do what she said would help me recover. I spent two weeks in the hospital and was released on February 7. Since then, I've been getting better—healthier, stronger, and more determined to rebuild the health I lost twice. You should see how I work out at my husband's gym!

A New Perspective on Health

It's September 5, 2025, as I write this. Through my husband's relentless research and our journey together, I've learned something that has changed everything: before we met, I had no idea how much my daily choices—not just around food and exercise, but my stress levels, spiritual practices, and relationships—may have contributed to my cancer. I thought I was living "well enough," but I didn't understand the profound connection between what I put in my body, how I moved, how I managed stress, how I nurtured my faith, and how I cultivated relationships. All of these either create an environment where cancer thrives or where vibrant health flourishes.

Now, I want to do everything I can to prevent cancer from returning. More importantly, I want to share what we've learned with the world. This is part of why Defiant 91 was born.

My husband witnessed how this terrible disease took the lives of his best friend, both grandmothers, and many other loved ones. With my recovery from both breast cancer and MDS, we are deeply grateful for the chance to build on the beautiful things we have—and to help others do the same.

Discovering Hope

Here's what we've discovered that gives us tremendous hope: The same patterns that lead to obesity, weight gain, and chronic disease—inflammatory foods, sedentary living, chronic stress, spiritual emptiness, and toxic or shallow relationships—are the same ones that create the perfect storm for cancer. But flip that around, and you'll see the incredible opportunity: the healthy habits that naturally bring us to our ideal weight and reduce inflammation are the exact same habits that dramatically reduce our cancer risk and support our body's natural healing processes. This includes nutrient-dense foods, regular movement, effective stress management, deep spiritual practices, and nurturing, life-giving relationships.

This program was born from our journey—not just mine, but my husband's too, and the journeys of countless others who refuse to let cancer define their story. We've learned that fighting cancer is not just about surviving treatments; it's about living defiantly against the disease and despair.

Defiant 91 is 91 days of daily defiant behaviors to reclaim your health—one quarter of our full Defiant 365 program, a year-long journey of daily defiant habits:

• D-Daily Devotion

• E-Exercise

• F-Food science lessons and daily recipes

• I-Intentional Connection

• A-Alternative Therapies

• N-Nutraceutical supplements for weight loss and cancer prevention

• T-Time Enhancement therapies and chronobiology

  
  

Every morning when I wake up in our little house surrounded by cornfields, see the daffodils blooming near our pond, and work out with my husband with renewed strength, I'm reminded that we don't just survive cancer. We thrive beyond it.

Reclaiming Your Life

The next 91 days aren't just about nutrition and exercise. They're about reclaiming your life, one defiant choice at a time. They're about understanding that every meal is either feeding disease or fighting it. Every workout is either building your body's defense system or letting it weaken. Every moment of prayer or meditation is either reducing the chronic stress that fuels cancer or allowing it to persist. Every relationship you nurture is either adding life-giving energy or draining your vitality.

They're about believing that God still has beautiful things for you, even after the hardest battles. They're about becoming so strong in body, mind, spirit, and community that cancer doesn't stand a chance.

If you're carrying extra weight, battling chronic stress, feeling spiritually empty, struggling with toxic relationships, or simply want to do everything in your power to prevent cancer from ever taking hold in your body—this is your moment. The same journey that will help you reach your ideal weight naturally will also build the strongest possible foundation for lifelong health, deep relationships, spiritual vitality, and cancer prevention.

This is your invitation to join us in living defiantly—not just surviving, but thriving with purpose, hope, and unshakeable faith. Your beautiful things are waiting. May you and those you know who have been touched by cancer—or who simply want to build the strongest possible defense against it—know this hope, too.