Sheryl’s Story

I originally developed the Vista Natural Wellness Center as a place for providing activities and products geared towards living a healthy lifestyle. I feel that there are many things that one can do to have a better quality of life and also prevent problems down the road, if they adapt positive lifestyle choices. These choices include consuming a high quality, nutrient dense plant-based diet, getting moderate exercise in various ways, supplementing when the nutrients you require cannot be obtained by food, learning techniques to help your stress response and avoiding things that can cause harm (such as toxic relationships, toxins in our environment, food and other consumables, and risky choices).

I am a Certified Health Coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition since 2012, a Certified Whole Food Plant Based Nutrition Educator through the T. Colin Campbell Center For Nutrition Studies since 2022 and a Certified Clinical Thermographer through the American College of Clinical Thermology since 2009. Prior to that I was a Vice President of Client Service in the consumer products division at a global market research firm, leading my teams to provide insights to manufacturers and their retailers with our data, models and proprietary software.

While the corporate world was very good to me in some ways – the demanding lifestyle was affecting my health. I decided to step away and go in a different direction. It was around that same time that my mother died of COPD/emphysema at a young age, which was totally preventable. All of these factors led me to my path to learn and share with others the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.

Little did I know that in 2015, I would, myself, be diagnosed with a very serious and potentially terminal illness called Mantle Cell Lymphoma. While the cause was not definitive, I suspect that it was something I was exposed to many years earlier but didn’t realize at the time. When I was diagnosed and several years prior, I was living my very healthy lifestyle and the doctors say that this contributed to my success in getting through the harsh treatments quickly and moving on with few long-lasting side effects. As I write this, 10 1/2 years later I am still in remission and my medical tests are some of the best I’ve had in my life. Now the doctors are asking me what I do to stay so healthy!

I do have an immunodeficiency from the previous chemotherapy (I don’t make antibodies) and I am very susceptible to catching infections and taking longer to clear them. Also as a result I am more prone to skin cancers which I have had several including melanoma in situ in 2023. Fortunately it was caught early and any surgery was needed. Go for your regular skin checks!

Ironically, I had a previous full body thermography that picked up signs that something was very wrong, especially when they compared my results to prior years…

My story is one of hope and of encouragement, and a culmination of all of my experiences over the years. If you want to learn more you can watch my interview for The Patient Story, which details my journey with cancer and beyond. You can also read my blog here called Vista’s View for more of my thoughts on health, wellness and our world.

We are always doing something fun here at the Vista Natural Wellness Center in Oakland, NJ! Our Thermography Clinic and Store are open, and we have fun classes and workshops so check our Events Page, and of course products can always be purchased through our website. Come visit us soon!

Wishing you good health and a great life –

Sheryl