Having struggled with cystic fibrosis — a life-threatening genetic disorder that affects the lungs — since birth, Australian-native Jessica Bean was no stranger to the inside of the hospital. However, at age 21, her somewhat stable diagnosis took a turn for the worse. While planning a last-minute wedding to her childhood sweetheart, fate steered Jessica toward a man who changed her diet and saved her life.
Fearing she was losing her battle to her illness, doctors recommended Jessica receive a double lung transplant as a last-ditch effort to curb her worsening symptoms.
“Even with a lung transplant, I’d never have the life I’d hoped for,” Jessica told The Sun in 2016. “I’d constantly be on anti-rejection drugs and there was a risk the surgery wouldn’t work. Reluctantly, I agreed to go on the transplant list, but I didn’t give up hope there was another way.”
With a dimming light at the end of the tunnel, Jessica decided to marry her long-term boyfriend Cameron to bring a bit of happiness into her life and the lives of those around her.
During the wedding-planning process, Jessica hired a wedding photographer who happened to be the wife of Dr. Gary Fettke, an advocate for and expert in the sugar-free lifestyle.
It was Dr. Fettke who gave Jessica hope that life would continue months and years after her wedding to Cameron.
“I’ve always had to have a high calorie diet because of my condition as I burned more calories fighting to breathe every day,” Jessica continued. “Generally I ate around 4,000 calories a day, twice the amount a normal woman would eat, and relied on things like sugary chocolate bars and lollies to give me an easy calorie boost.”
But Dr. Fettke urged Jessica to ditch sugar altogether.
Instead of opting for chocolate and candy for calorie boosts, Jessica transitioned over to peanut butter and avocado — healthy fats and more natural sugars.
And the results were astounding.
Not only did Jessica marry her love, but she was able to do so without the fear of death lingering in the near future.
Because of her diet switch, Jessica’s lungs improved so much so that she was recommended for a trial drug test that could help treat cystic fibrosis.
The drug, called Orkambi, massively improved Jessica’s health.
“Within days of taking the medication that targets the defective gene that causes cystic fibrosis, I could feel the benefits,” Jessica said. “I wasn’t waking up vomiting anymore and I could breathe.”
Rather than taking her regular dose of 40 different pills each day to keep cystic fibrosis symptoms at bay, she now takes two.
“The best thing was being able to do normal things like the grocery shopping and spend Christmas with my family,” she continued. “I never thought I’d do those things again.”
Jessica is now an advocate for wellness and coaches others on the sugar-free lifestyle.
She also runs a blog where she writes about living with and managing her chronic illness.
“I’ve gone from thinking my husband will marry and bury me in a matter of months, to enjoying my life and planning my future,” Jessica told Mirror.
“I honestly thought I was going to die, so to not only be here, but to be doing things I never imagined possible is unreal,” she added.
Transitioning into a sugar-free lifestyle doesn’t mean life can’t be sweet.
In fact, there are so many sweet treat recipes available that contain natural sweeteners and healthy fats.
And chocolate is definitely okay to eat once in a while.
Even Jessica believes chocolate is necessary sometimes.
Jessica told the Mirror that after going sugar-free, Cameron would bring her smoothies while at the hospital.
Fruits and veggies are always a great alternative to sugary snacks.
There are more than a few food bloggers who can supply you with a plethora of sugar-free recipes.
And, believe us, sugar-free recipes are good.
And if you’d like to learn more about cystic fibrosis, you can check out the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s website and Twitter feed.
There, you’ll find a bunch of info and stories from those living with CF.
"I don't want to spend so much time down in that dark hole, but how can it be okay that the #cysticfibrosis is trying to take over my life? How can I stop worrying that the next infection will be 'it' -- that one illness I don't recover from?" https://t.co/shC5foPm3L
— Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (@CF_Foundation) March 3, 2019
