When Julie Higgins opened Little Slice of Heaven Cheesecakes in The Podski food cart lot, she didn’t know how much longer she had to live.

Her prognosis was “extremely grim,” she said in a news release. A surgical procedure had removed the ampullary cancer affecting her digestive system, only for a growing, inoperable cancer to attack the mesentery of her abdomen. Higgins’ Portand-based surgical team said that surgery to remove it was unsurvivable due to its size and location in a highly vascular area, Higgins wrote in an email.

After a three-year-long battle, Higgins is cancer free. Her food cart is expected to reopen at The Podski on Thursday, after it was required to move to meet a fire code, along with the other carts.

It returns with a fresh look and a new name: Little Slice of Hell Cheesecakes.

“I needed to do this rebrand to be true to my journey, to be true to the new me, to embrace the simple joys of life, like a good dessert,” Higgins said.

The cart’s blue doors are now engulfed in flames, thanks to the work of local artist Glenn Ness, whose artistry represents Higgins’s hellish battle with cancer.

From The Bulletin archives

January 2023: Cheesecake food cart’s fare is heavenly, vegan and gluten-free

Finding balance

Higgins attributes her victory over cancer to her faith. She embraced a healthy diet and lifestyle, transforming from “the definition of a junkaholic” to juicing 20 vegetables daily, visiting the gym five times a week and consuming over 30 supplements twice a day, she said.

Higgins also devoted herself to the study of cancer, nutrition, plant medicine and alternative therapies.

“As you might imagine, post-cancer Julie isn’t exactly the same person as pre-cancer Julie,” she said in the statement. “I’m now a much better version of myself physically, spiritually and mentally.”

Higgins’ learnings created a moral dilemma. After acquiring heaps of knowledge about living a healthful lifestyle, she debated whether or not to keep her cheesecake business open.

But one of the greatest lessons Higgins learned from her battle with cancer was the importance of balance, she said. After flip-flopping from a lifestyle driven by poor diet to the opposite, she landed somewhere in the middle.

“The strict dessert-less miserable, cancer-fighting regimen I came up with really stripped me of a great deal of joy and fellowship and sense of community,” she said. “For me, this rebranding of my cheesecake is really all about promoting balance.”

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Changes rooted in moderation

Higgins announced several upcoming changes to the business, rooted in moderation.

Her cheesecakes are made in small batches with a standard KitchenAid mixer in Sunriver. Keeping up with demand has damaged her hands, she said, so there will be less cheesecake going forward, supplemented by baked goods that are easier on her hands to create.

Treats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, so she recommends arriving close to the cart’s opening. Operations will also likely be restricted to the warmer months (April through October) and on holidays during the off-season.

The size of each slice will be smaller to keep up with rising costs of quality ingredients and allow the business to remain profitable, Higgins wrote in an email.

Otherwise, it will be the same cheesecake.

“We’re still all about light and love, truth and hope. And our cheesecake is just as heavenly — or hellishly — delicious as it’s ever been,” Higgins said.

‘No one should have to battle cancer alone’

Higgins’ struggle inspired her to pursue a higher education in plant medicine. She graduates with her master’s degree from the University of Maryland’s School of Pharmacy this summer and plans to open at least one additional business promoting natural healing, she wrote in an email.

Although Higgins was surrounded by family and friends as she fought for her life, none of them could relate, nor did she know of anyone else wrestling with cancer in the same way.

Higgins is offering free faith-based cancer support in Bend. She invites the community to reach out via the contact form on her website at bendcheesecake.com.

“I want to be that person that I so desperately needed for others,” she said. “To answer questions. Speak from experience. Calm fears. Hope and believe for the best. To just be present with them. Because no one should have to battle cancer alone.”

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Details

What: Little Slice of Hell Cheesecakes

When: Opens Thursday 5:30-8:30 p.m. Regular hours 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday or until sold out.

Where: The Podski food cart lot, 536 NW Arizona Ave., Bend

Cost: $10-$12 a slice, $85-$90 whole cheesecakes

Contact: bendcheesecake.com, @littlesliceofhellcheesecakes on Instagram and facebook.com/LittleSliceofHellCheesecakes

“I want to be that person that I so desperately needed for others. To answer questions. Speak from experience. Calm fears. Hope and believe for the best. To just be present with them. Because no one should have to battle cancer alone.”

— Julie Higgins,

Little Slice of Hell Cheesecakes