Episode 28: How Kate McGoey-Smith Overcame the Odds

Diabetes. Blindness. A Terminal Disease… Our guest on this episode of the Plant-Based Canada podcast is Kate McGoey-Smith. Faced with a very rare, no cause-no cure terminal diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, described as high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries of the lungs) along with type 2 Diabetes, Kate McGoey-Smith became legally blind and on continuous oxygen within months. Dizzy and fainting spells left this mother of three school aged children out of work, immobilized and recording good-bye stories to her kids, who were unknowingly destined to live without her within 2-5 years. Find out how Kate, a former registered nurse and a clinically trained social work therapist became more psychologically flexible to turn this imposed tragedy into triumph - re-gaining her sight, reducing her blood sugar to no longer having diabetes, and even reversing her fatal disease from level 3 to level 1! Most importantly, giving her now adult children the legacy of better health!In this episode Kate covers:Her life-changing story of overcoming a very rare, no cure terminal diagnosis.Her  insights related to  behavioural change around plant-based eating.Psychological flexibility and how it can be incorporated into everyday thinking.Episode Resources:If you would like to hear more from Kate, you can find her talk from the 2021 Plant-Based Canada Conference on the Plant-Based Canada YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/VpKtMHATwVkMcGoey-Smith et al., 2019 article in International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention titled, “Reversal of Pulmonary Hypertension, Diabetes, and Retinopathy after Adoption of a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet”: https://doi.org/10.22230/ijdrp.2019v1n2a41To read about how psychological flexibility is defined and measured: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33550157/To learn more about the impact of psychological flexibility on psychological well-being in adults with obesity: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33828505/The ACT model of health and treatment processes that is a way of thinking about and engendering psychological flexibility. Kate McGoey-Smith is also a Food for Life Instructor with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.Plant-Based Canada’s Socials:InstagramFacebookWebsite  Thank you for tuning in! Make sure to subscribe to the Plant-Based Canada Podcast so you get notified when new episodes are published. This episode was hosted by Stephanie Nishi RD, PhD.*Please appreciate that the views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. PBC is not responsible for any errors, omissions or opinions related to the content stated by the guests interviewed. The podcast should not be considered professional advice. Listeners should seek their own individual healthcare advice as needed.Support the show