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Surviving Cancer From Teenage Diagnosis to Elite Athlete and Coach
Lottie Mishan was just 14 when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and had no role models to show her what survival could look like. Now, she’s that role model. By Leona VaughnReviewed: August 26, 2022Fact-CheckedLottie Mishan is a runner and role model showing young people diagnosed with cancer what survivorship could look like. Photos Courtesy of Lottie MishanIn 2008, 14-year-old Lottie Mishan (née Bildrici) was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma after finding a bump on her neck.
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It took four months of chemotherapy and a month of radiation for Mishan to overcome the disease, but her time in treatment left her feeling as if she’d lost control over her life. Over a decade later, Mishan is married, an athlete, has a career coaching athletes on sports nutrition, and just released a cookbook, Running on Veggies: Plant-Powered Recipes for Fueling and Feeling Your Best.
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Mishan sat down to talk about the impact her diagnosis had on her life, and the career she’s built around fitness and plant-based eating. Everyday Health: What was it like to be diagnosed with cancer as a 14-year- old? Lottie Mishan: You're never really prepared for a diagnosis like this.
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It was a very out-of-body experience. You live in a world of conformity [at that age] — everyone's trying to wear the same thing, listen to the same music, have the same friends.
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I felt like, “Now I have this thing that makes me really stick out.” EH: What type of impact did your diagnosis have on your mental health? LM: It weighed on me a lot in the beginning. But, I also think my perspective on everything really changed.
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I felt, a lot of the times when I went through this, life was happening to me, it was out of my control. EH: How did you turn that around?
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Focusing on what I could control allowed me to let go of this fear of things happening to me, because there's only so much you could control. I was diagnosed in ninth grade. In my senior year of high school a group of people from my high school were running to raise money for this local cancer center.
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I did that race and for the first time, I felt in control of my life and I felt so powerful. I found this community of people who were waking up early to go running and do something better for themselves.
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Everyone who runs and everyone who has this kind of discipline always has a story, so I immediately bonded with all these people. EH: How did the plant-based eating evolve? LM: I love cooking, I grew up in the kitchen, so I immediately looked at food and was like, “How's this food affecting my body?
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What do I need to eat before I workout? What do I need to eat after?” EH: How has fitness and plant-based eating influenced your career?
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LM: I wasn't looking to make a career out of this. I was in school for marketing and I thought I was going to be in the music industry.
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It was at a time when Instagram was very small. People were not creating brands on Instagram, it was just this hobby of mine that turned into a business, not on purpose. By the time I was 21, I was working with professional athletes in Boulder, Colorado, flying all over the country to make demos and speeches.
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I quickly realized that there was a niche for this, and not a lot of people were talking about it. EH: Were you always open about the role your diagnosis played in your approach to nutrition?
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LM: I didn’t talk about my cancer diagnosis this whole time this was happening to me because I felt like in high school, that was my identity. I didn't want that to trail me on my way up. I was just very scared to talk about it, and I think it didn't allow me to heal as I should.
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When I finally did, I felt this weight lifted off my shoulders. EH: How did you come out, so to speak?
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LM: I decided to do an Ironman on the 10 year anniversary of my cancer diagnosis and publicly share my story for the first time being a cancer survivor. It was the best way for me to celebrate, doing something so physically taxing that most people in the world are not able to do.
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Doing it on the 10 year anniversary of my diagnosis was to show me that no diagnosis is gonna rule my life, and that there is a life after cancer. EH: What is one piece of advice you’d give to other patients and survivors?
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LM: You should know that nothing is forever. Feeling sick or feeling fearful, these negative feelings are not forever, and it won't weigh on you as much as you thought it would.
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There's always a positive in everything, and I would try to focus on that. EH: What made you decide to publish a cookbook?
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LM: I really wanted to write a cookbook because I wanted something that was more substantial. It just felt like the next step for me in my career to have this book, and I had an opportunity so I went for it. I also felt like the cookbook should just be an extension of my brand and what it already is.
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I already lean on these ideas of picking certain foods because of their health benefits, and I wanted the cookbook to be a guide for people to be able to step into the kitchen, and understand why they're choosing this and not that, and what they need to have in their kitchen in order to set it up for success. You'll see a lot of pantry guides, grocery guides, things like that.
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My goal with my cookbook and my brand is to not hold everyone's hand as they make a recipe, but to give them a framework to be able to do it on their own. I think the more people cook at home and the more people are comfortable in the kitchen, the healthier that they'll be.
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EH: What's coming up next for you and what are you most looking forward to in the future? LM: I'm training for the New York City Marathon, which I'm very excited about — it will be the second time I'm running it!
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I'm excited about all the possibilities to continue to make recipes and share my recipes. My cookbook has brought me so much more joy than I ever thought it could, and I'm really excited to continue to talk about it and give it to people and have my story maybe inspire someone else.
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When I was 14, going through this, I didn't have any role models who I could point to and say, "They're young, they're healthy, they're living their life after cancer." So it was important for me to speak from that angle, as well. NEWSLETTERS
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