“I love the way I feel. I love my way of life!”

Helen Jessup Before and After

By: Margie Burton for her sister, Helen Jessup

My sister Helen was born nearly 72 years ago. Mom had a challenging pregnancy after months of infertility treatments. The premature delivery was a difficult one requiring forceps that damaged both frontal lobes of Helen’s brain. Her infant and toddler milestones showed slight delays but all seemed to be progressing reasonably well until a sudden seizure at the age of three. She had been riding her tricycle in the driveway when she slumped over and fell to the ground, not breathing. Mom, an obstetrical nurse, ran out and immediately began CPR while driving her to the nearest hospital. Helen was revived, but being without oxygen for some time caused more brain damage. She was never able to ride her tricycle again.

Helen went to regular public schools for kindergarten and elementary school. She had difficulty and repeated a grade when she did not develop number sense and could not read well. When Helen was ten and starting 4th grade, the teacher declared that she could not have her in class as she was too far behind in her learning. In those days, school districts did not have accommodations for disabled learners. My parents were dismayed as the options in our little New Hampshire town were limited. They finally found a boarding school in Massachusetts that catered to students with limited academic abilities. It was expensive, but my parents could not find an alternative willing to accept her.

Helen had been quite sheltered in her 10 years of life, and she felt abandoned by her family at the boarding school. She did not understand what she had done to be sent away from her loved ones. She slowly progressed in her academics but emotionally life was very difficult for her.

During Helen’s teenage years she began to put on quite a bit of weight. My mom seemed to look the other way, declaring that Helen enjoyed few pleasures besides food. At the age of 20 she graduated from her school program with a certificate of completion and came home to live. My parents tried to find places for her to go and things for her to do, but she continued to find comfort in food.

Our dad passed away quite suddenly in 1973 at the age of 62. Helen was devastated. He had been her comforter and her strength. When our mom died 25 years later, Helen became my responsibility. By then, her eating pleasures had taken a big toll on her health. She had type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. She also suffered from emotional instability and severe depression. She went through various testing to see what public services were available. She could talk like an 8 year old but problem-solved at a two-year old level. That would never change.

After I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Helen and I became much closer and I became the mother figure in her life. Helen got baptized a short time after I did, and we bonded over attending church together. At first we tried letting her live alone in the senior complex apartment where she had lived with our mom. She would decide on several “meals of the week” that she wanted that she could microwave herself, and I would take her grocery shopping to buy what she needed. For months all seemed to be going well until finally someone from the church called me to tell me what she was doing. She would carefully take all the groceries I bought and put them in the trash chute across the hall. Then she would call different people in the ward to tell them she had no groceries and nothing to eat. She would carefully tell them I was too busy and ask them to be sure not to tell me because she didn’t want me to get mad at her. She called different folks for fast food breakfasts, other folks for lunches, and still others for dinners!

So we looked for a new home with a back granny flat for Helen to live with us in her own space. That worked out well for a while as I made her meals for her, expecting her to eat them. Later we discovered that she was panhandling outside the McDonald’s down the street each day while we were working so she could eat a bacon sausage McMuffin for breakfast, and a burger, fries and large soda for lunch. Her blood sugar continued to climb, and I didn’t know why. Finally someone told us that they saw her asking folks for money in the parking lot. I made a sign and took it to the police station and to the McDonald’s asking that she not be served there as she was asking their customers for money. Exasperated, I reassured her that I would allow her one bacon cheeseburger a week if she stopped going to McDonald’s. Her weight had reached an all-time high of 207 pounds, especially huge for her 5 foot 2 inch height.

Then Helen’s balance began to be affected. She fell several times at home and was not able to get up. I was not strong enough to get her up myself, so I called a Tongan friend who could easily pick her up. He seemed to have to do this often. I later discovered that she was actually autistic, not severely depressed, and she should never have spent a lifetime taking heavy psychotic medications that caused instability. We began slowly tapering her off the psychotic meds, but the diabetes continued to rage and damage her liver and kidneys.

After we retired we bought a home in Northern California. There were no fast food restaurants nearby, and we were around more so we could watch what Helen ate better. By this time Helen was using a c-pap machine, checking her blood sugar three times a day and taking three type 2 diabetes medications twice a day, four blood pressure meds, two cholesterol meds, and three psychotic medications every day.

This was about the time I was introduced to a whole-food plant-based way of eating, so I began to prepare these foods at home for all of us. When we went for Helen’s annual physical, her very caring doctor asked Helen how things were going. She burst into tears. “My sister is making me eat this special diet, and I don’t like it at all!” she sobbed. “What are you eating?” he patiently asked. “I don’t know, but I can’t have my bacon cheeseburger any more!!” she wailed, still sobbing. He looked to me, and I explained that we were now eating a whole food, plant-based no oil diet. He looked right into Helen’s eyes and said, “Helen, let me tell you something. I had a patient who was dying from cancer. He only had weeks to live. He began eating the way you are eating, and that was seven years ago. He no longer has cancer, so maybe it will help you too.” She immediately stopped sobbing (one indication of her child-like demeanor, as normal adults cannot stop crying immediately like children can) and said, “So, I have to keep eating this way?” When he nodded her response was, “Okay, I’ll do it!”

She has never questioned our way of eating again. I had to make a few rules in the beginning. Helen was not to watch me make meals, as she did not want to try things that included ingredients she was sure she didn’t like, such as tofu, quinoa, and nuts. I do try to make things that I know she likes such as burgers made from black beans and brown rice and pancakes made from bananas and oatmeal.

A healthier, happier Helen!

The health benefits have been dramatic. Helen lost more than 90 pounds. Within months she was able to go off two of her diabetes meds and both high cholesterol meds, and she no longer used the c-pap machine. After 6 months she went off all diabetes medications (though she continued to check her blood sugar once a day for nearly a year). Her A1c level went from 7.4 down to the current 4.4. After three years the doctor finally said that he was changing her medical record and removing the type 2 diabetes as she is totally cured! She still carries excess weight around her middle, but her 115 pounds on her 5 foot 2 inch frame puts her BMI at 21, well within the normal range. She can get down on her hands and knees and get up herself without holding onto anything. She is down to a low dose of one psychotic medication, one high blood pressure medication (her BP runs about 150/70), and no cholesterol medications as her total cholesterol at last check was 147. She is happy most all the time and not depressed anymore. Could she make wise choices to eat the right things out on her own? No, probably not. But as long as I am there to help her along the way, she is happy. She is very appreciative and thanks me for every meal. She tells me, “You sure take good care of me!”

What is most amazing is that Helen now loves the way we eat. She sees folks who are overweight, and she often comments, “I’m sure glad I don’t look like that anymore!” When she can easily get out of the passenger seat of the car she again exclaims, “I’m so skinny now, I can get out of tight places!” It is still a temptation at church potlucks when she sees all the desserts, but she often happily reminds me, “I just LOVE the way we eat! I really love all the food you make!” Helen wants the readers to know, “I feel really good, really healthy. I’m not diabetic anymore. I’ve lost a lot of weight. Eating this way has changed me. It’s made me think happier thoughts about the way I am. My depression seems to be a lot better. I love the way I feel. I love my way of life!”

Helen Jessup and Margie Burton

Helen Jessup (72 years old) lives with her sister Margie Burton and brother-in-law Jim in northern California where she loves coloring on her iPad and watching cartoons, mysteries and old movies. She volunteers in the nursery every Sunday, goes to the temple every week, and loves holding kittens and babies.

Click here to read Margie Burton’s whole food, plant-based story!