Fighting cancer: warriors don’t take no for an answer

Six pacemakers, over 60 radiation treatments, 14 months of chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant, 120 blood transfusions, a heart valve replacement … the list goes on. But Kelly Gallagher is still standing after fighting for her life against “the big c” five times now.

“I never really thought about cancer. I thought about what was on my to do list, I thought about my goals,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher is celebrating the Doctors who Rock awards, a night she organized for those who go above and beyond to help others. It’s inspired by the ones who helped her survive her fight. But over twenty years ago, one doctor told her she had less than a year to live. Kelly simply wouldn’t accept that.

“You give her a challenge she’ll say screw you I’ll show you,” said Gallagher’s ex-husband, and now good friend, Mark Schulman.

Right from the start of her remarkable fight against cancer, Gallagher took charge of her own personal health plan. Even without health insurance, she never stopped searching for answers … like when she opted out of chemotherapy.

She explained her process; “I went from macrobiotics to raw foods … I was told I had to eat red meat with the fat no leafy greens no citrus no salads no coffee.”

Some things worked, and some didn’t. But she never gave up … relying on her own instincts and her then-husband Mark’s support gave her the strength to keep fighting.

“When she did a macrobiotic diet, I did a macrobiotic diet. When she was doing wheat grass enemas, I tried wheat grass enemas, I drank carrot juice…” Schulman told Ivanhoe.

“Even if he didn’t believe what I believed, he allowed me to believe what I believed and supported me to believe what I believed,” Gallagher said.

But Schulman says it is Gallagher’s warrior attitude that is the centerpiece of her successful recovery… which she tries to spread to other women battling cancer.

“You’re a goddess in progress. And be patient, and be happy and continue to love yourself,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher also wrote a book of crazy cosmic poems that helped her get through her illness, called Poetry or Prophecy. It is an e-book soon to be available to download off her website. You may recognize Schulman as the pop star Pink’s lead drummer.

Contributors to this news report include: Gabriella Battistiol, Producer; Jesse Draus, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.