All About Gooberr, How and Why We Started.

Hi there!

Starting off gooberr's first post with some background on the beginning of it all. Some may already know this but most don't - I am not a mom. WAIT! So why lactation cookies and tea?! 

Because, Mothers are amazing and I'd like to help make their lives easier one product at a time. Even if it's just a little bit. 

Truly, I was inspired by my own mother. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer 5 years ago, funny thing about cancer is that, it isn't always what you see on the movies or TV shows. I remember everyone taking turns to ask the Doctor what stage she's at. He replied saying we won't know until we do surgery to find out if the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes before determining a stage. There's also many things to note like HER-2 positive or negative, estrogen or progesterone receptive - if I'm remembering the tests correctly. (by the way if any one out there is going through this, feel free to DM me on Instagram @gooberrofficial if you need advice or just want to talk to someone!!) 

She underwent mastectomy and Thank God. The cancer did not spread to the lymph nodes, it was Stage 1. She was put on oral radiotherapy drugs and life went on as usual. It was like it never happened. 3+ years later... we only found out her cancer was back because an x-ray showed water in her lungs.

This time, it was Stage 4. The official diagnosis - Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma. The cancer spread to her lungs, heart and bones. I was devastated. I was angry. I was angry with her cancer aftercare, she went for checkups every 6 months, why didn't catch it sooner? What was the Doctor doing? How could they miss it?

Mostly, I was angry at myself. What have I done in the past 3 years to care for her? To show her I love her and appreciate her, to show her she's everything to me? I was the impatient, short tempered daughter who would still get frustrated with her. She started on Palliative Chemotherapy the same day. The spread is so widespread surgery was not an option... and the chemotherapy simply keeps the cancer and symptoms at bay. Unfortunately, current cancer treatments on the market are still playing catch up. As this is her first experience with chemo, the oncologist suggested a very manageable line of treatment with minimal side effects, but she would have to be on chemotherapy till the end or should she choose to stop. If you saw her on the street today you wouldn't know she has Stage 4 cancer. She still has her hair, she doesn't experience vomiting so much, she's just terribly skinny. Until, the cancer returns and the chemo medicine becomes stronger, with more severe side effects each time till either the cancer kills you first or your body dies on your body gives way I suppose... sorry I'm quite a pessimistic person by nature. lol.

I started thinking there must be more we can do? We started to talking to different people on how to manage this, what are the next steps to take.

Some tips from industry experts on Managing Cancer:

1. Food, eat clean as much as possible, this means none of that artificial nonsense, try to eat foods you can find in nature. E.g. Apples from a tree
2. Exercise, preferably at 10am because the sun is out and the trees are photosynthesizing. Expose as much of your body as possible because you want your body to absorb Vitamin D, the sunlight helps with that.
3. Optimism, don't dwell on the sickness. It's easy to sink into spiral of depression but its important to go out and have a positive state of mind

I realized I should have taken note of her food intake the first round it happened. This is where I failed. 

I don't want to fail again. I want to do better for my mom. I want to do better for all the amazing mommies out there. Because for all they give us, they deliver only the best.

Yeah... I know what you're thinking! I'm not a mother, what would I really know? Well... I know love. I believe it to be a universal language that knows no barriers. To want to give a loved one the best because well, LOVE.

Our mothers gave us life, carried us in her womb for 10 months! You amazing gorgeous mommies did that! Carrying your little one, nourishing them from within, loving your babes unconditionally. I want to love her unconditionally too. That's why I said I don't want to fail again. I want to keep my loved ones around for as long as I can and I hope to be able to share my passion with everyone and anyone who is willing to listen!

I set out to offer something for mothers, some place I can make a difference. Making mommies life a little bit easier one product at a time. Lactation cookies I decided was where I would start and hope to change things. Competition in lactation goodies business is FIERCE. I saw the problems, I can only imagine how stressful it must be to not be able to produce enough for your baby - it must be such a horrible and stressful feeling. And then.. there's all these products on the market claiming different things - which one should you buy?! It's too much! 

On top of that, where's the food safety regulatory body? Where's the marketing regulations?! Some food products that target moms are marketed as using Organic ingredient but use artificial flavorings - if chemicals was used in the production of the end product, is it still Organic? What do you think?

xx,
gooberr