Discussing Breast Cancer

Remember when Breast Cancer Awareness Month began on October 1st? There was excitement, adrenalin, anticipation, enthusiasm …

But now? National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is over.
(more…)

Tomorrow on Inspire!, the Internet Talk Radio show I’m hosting, Donna St. Jean Conti and I are interviewing Kim Dalzell, PhD, RD, LD, registered dietician and doctor of holistic nutrition. (Hmmm … doctor of holistic nutrition?)

I’m sure we’ll touch on her book, ‘Challenge Cancer and Win’ and a myriad of other topics including kitchen-therapy.

“It’s time to shift our thinking and focus to what happens INSIDE when we eat,” says Kim. I’m anxious to find out her take on how what we eat related to breast cancer specifically.

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a million times. I’m not sure I believe in alternative treatment to breast cancer. I’m sure there are some of you who are strong proponents of mind/body therapies in place of mainstream medicine but I’m not in that camp. In addition to mainstream medicine, however … well, I’m fully supportive of it.

But am I willing to change my diet? That’s a tough one. I did watch Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Cancer the other night and I watched her down those wheat grass juice drinks and I just thought … I’m not sold. Of course, if I were staring down the barrel of the Stage IV cancer rifle, I’d probably drink anything. But it was so … green.

I have questions for Kim, for sure. Meanwhile, if you have some you want covered … post them in a comment or email then to me at discussingbreastcancer at gmail dot com and I’ll make sure I ask them for you.

Anyway, tune in tomorrow at 1:00 ET if you want to catch the broadcast LIVE; if not, the airing will be archived for you to listen at your leisure anytime. (If you’re curious about how I came to host the show, check out my original post about it here.)

I’m an avid scrapbooker. Or at least, I was. Today the word avid isn’t necessarily accurate but neither is the word apathetic.

Over the course of three children, two cancer diagnoses and a leap back into the professional world … my lust for the hobby that filled my Friday nights has dwindled. My free time is spent catching up on laundry, beloved television shows, cleaning up the paperwork clutter a family of five generates, reading magazines for pleasure not profit … or SLEEPING. And, I don’t want to waste my girls nights out doing anything productive anymore, I want to kick back with my friends over cocktails not cropping tools.

Recently I got my hands on Memory Mixer “digital scrapbooking made easy” software. Holy cow, I’ve been living in the dark ages. Check out this quick layout I did using my Mac and their software:

The only problem I’m having is that there is so much included I haven’t internalized all my options!

(more…)

The other day when I was in my oncologist’s office I overhead a woman talking on her cell phone. She was telling her mother about the Pink Tea she was attending today. I thought, wow, I wish I was going to a Pink Tea. It sounded fun. Feminine. In our world of breast cancer, our sense of our own femininity can be elusive. We’re losing our breasts, we’re losing our hair. Both breasts and hair make us as women feel decidedly feminine. So I tuned into the rest of the conversation.

The Pink Tea to which she was referring was sponsored by Sister’s Journey; that’s a powerful, faith based support group. She was a beautiful black woman. The Sister’s Journey website doesn’t say this, but the woman whose conversation I overhead did: it’s specifically for African-American women.
(more…)

I’ve been blogging here for just over six months I’m about to dig in, evaluate the direction this blog is going in, and determine the best direction to take this conversation — what do you guys, the readers, like to read on this site? We are discussing breast cancer, that’s a given. But which posts are you most drawn to? Which posts resonate with you the most? What aren’t you getting somewhere else that I can offer you?

Be straight with me … what do you want out of this conversation?

Email me at discussingbreastcancer at gmail dot com or click on the contact me/envelope icon in the right hand sidebar to pull up a direct contact form.

I look forward to hearing from you and many, many thanks, in advance, for your feedback.

First Lady Laura Bush has been in the Middle East — Jordan and Saudi Arabia — working to advance the plight of Arab women diagnosed with breast cancer. She even took time out to have coffee with survivors yesterday; helping to ‘break the silence’ of these women and ‘lift the veil‘ from this disease.

(more…)

OK, so last night I posted about the Gal to Gal walkers … and I keep smiling as I think about this virtual walk. Don’t you wish we could all just do what these gals are doing???

Anyway, I start poking around the Internet and I find out lots of celebrity hot shots have created virtual gals … like Martha Stewart, Lynn Redgrave, Jorja Fox and Marg Helgenberger (from CSI), Kristin Chenoweth, Angie Harmon, Molly Sims, Mena Suvari, Diane Farr, Leisha Hailey, Marg Helgenberger, Jaslene Gonzales, Jorja Fox, Christina Cabot and Diedre Goodwin.

The gals are in Vegas baby … oh, I wish I was with ‘em!

I really want to share with you all that I’m loving this blog talk radio show. I just feel so … alive when I’m talking with people about survivorship.

I mean, I love to talk, so this is really such a perfect venue for me. It’s hard to believe I didn’t major in communications when I first went away to college. (Engineering??? What was I thinking???)

I truly believe it is my destiny to use my voice to reach women with messages pertaining to breast cancer. My written voice and my audible voice. And this show just fits in so well with that.

In case you missed yesterday’s episode (Can I call them episodes? Do I have to call it a program? If I call it an episode, I can say, “Previously, on Inspire!” and pretend it is Keifer Sutherland’s voice just like on 24 — but I diverge. Where the hell was I? Oh, right, yesterday’s episode … here’s the link!

During this particular program, I introduced my co-host, Donna St. Jean Conti. Donna’s got quite a story to tell … what a battle this woman had! And I thought I was the surgical queen. I’ve got nothing on Donna.

There were a few points that Donna and I addressed that I think are important enough to share once again:

(1) Men can carry the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic abnormalities that are linked to breast and ovarian cancer.
(2) Even in lieu of a negative genetic test results (no BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation) someone could still have a genetic predisposition towards breast cancer (not all of the genes have been identified by researchers)
(3) Surgery is an often overlooked aspect of breast cancer treatment — it’s not all chemotherapy and radiation!
(4) Life after breast cancer is surprisingly fulfilling … because survivors tend to get their priorities in order, they do more of what they love and they consider each day the true gift that it really is.

Don’t think for a minute that you don’t have to listen now; come back here and let me know what I missed!

Okay, THIS is fun.

I just created a virtual ‘gal’ on a website and she’s walking across the country in support of women living with Stage IV breast cancer. Right now there are 6,733 of these gals trotting along, however, the Gal to Gal Foundation hopes to get one million gals walkin’ in this event.

I just read on their site … “over 300,000 patients worldwide will lose their lives to Stage IV Breast Cancer this year.” It hurts every time I read a stat like that one. It just hurts.

So, reading on … “the Gal to Gal Foundation identifies, partners with, and provides funding to existing organizations dedicated to the emotional and financial well-being of Stage IV Breast Cancer survivors.” Organizations like Making Memories … the beneficiary of the funds raised when women donated their wedding dresses (live, on TV) like I did not that long ago.

The virtual walk started on October 1st and the gals are walking from Boston to San Francisco and they’ll stop in 29 other cities along the way. FYI, it’s Day 24 and they’re in Phoenix.

By the way, that gal to the right isn’t my gal. My gal is named Kay L. Look for her when/if you create your virtual gal. She’s wearing a ‘Mom’s Rule’ t-shirt!

(FYI, there is a minimum donation amount of $3 to build your virtual gal; you can certainly give more … there’s a lot of good to be done by this organization.)

Did you catch this lady on Oprah?

Kris Carr … she’s amazing. In 2003 Kris was diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer — but her view of life and the way she lives is AMAZING.

Her documentary film called, ‘Crazy Sexy Cancer,’ airs again tonight on TLC at 8:00 and 11:00 (I assume EST). This’ll be the last time you can catch it before it’s out on DVD next year. I’ll be watching; I’ll write about it, too, in case you miss it. And before too much longer goes by I’ll be reviewing her book by the same name here as well. So far … I’m lovin’ it.

cancer, breast cancer, kris carr, crazy sexy cancer

I just read a post at another site about a young woman — 23 years old Amanda — whose mother was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer last year. It has me thinking about support, how I was supported during my treatment, how a local mother is going to be supported during hers … and how Amanda’s family was supported during her mother’s treatment.

See … people did wonderful things for Amanda’s family.

“People sent their cards, their love, and their well-wishes in droves. People we didn’t even know came to us with their own stories of cancer, some positive and some not so positive. People sent flowers and gifts: A girl I worked with, who had never even met my mom, gave her a beautiful crystal bracelet made especially for breast cancer awareness. My boss at the time gave me all the time off in the world so that I could be at home for surgeries and treatments.”

When you are dealing with cancer, little things really do make a difference. So if someone you know is facing a diagnosis, heed my advice. You can do your part to help.

• Write a handwritten card.
• Send a gift (or gifts for the children/spouse in the house).
• Make meals … not just dinner, either; deliver bagels or muffins, deli meats or breads.
• Bring over treats and snacks (especially good for those kids again).

But you can do other things to help, too. Here are a few of my favorites from my experience:

• Bring them a Soduko book and teach them how to do it. To this day I think of the woman who did that for me whenever I pick up one of these puzzles to do.
• Compile a CD of inspirational, celebratory or empowering songs. I love the CD that a friend of mine made just for me during that time.
• Help children express their love and support. One mom helped my son make me a gift (a beaded necklace) when he was at her house for a playdate with her son.

There’s so much you can do to help someone in need. Be creative, be thoughtful … and be inspired!

Housekeeping details: There’s still time to enter the Belkin iPod nano case giveaway.

Well, this is one of those days I’m just thrilled to be part of the media.

In honor of breast cancer awareness month, Belkin has donated several great products to Discussing Breast Cancer so I can give them away to my readers.

I first blogged about their cases for the cause back in May when I read a press release about the products. Belkin has over 10 pink cases for your iPod and 10% of the profits are going to either Susan G. Komen for the Cure or the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Belkin kicked their campaign up a notch by donating to this site. (Thanks Belkin … your support is appreciated!)

So, here’s what I’ve got for you guys. Three awesome iPod cases, each valued at around $25, for three different readers. So stop lurking and let me know you’re out there!

One Belkin Remix Metal case for your iPod nano. This is the one I’m using — the back is clear acrylic and the front features brushed metal (aluminum), with a soft-touch click-wheel protector and a pink ribbon in the lower right hand corner of the unit. I’ve much more security carrying my iPod with me when it is encased; knowing that my kids use it and their sticky fingers won’t be getting all over it, this case is perfect for me. Plus, at $24.99, it’s value-priced. Peace of mind for a reasonable amount of money. Worth it, don’t you think?

There’s also One Belkin Remix Acrylic case for your iPod nano up for grabs. Snap it on for full protection and full functionality. With this one, you get two choices for the soft touch back — pink or chocolate. LOVE it — but I’ll give it up for you.

Then there’s a true gem, One Belkin Sport Armband, again for you iPod nano. Ultra comfortable, hand washable, water-resistant. It’s superlight flexible neoprene — what a way to workout. It also uses reflective material for use in the dark. Hmmmm … I know they mean running, but the possibilities are endless.

All you need to do to win is comment on THIS post between now and next Thursday. I’ll do a random drawing on Thursday, October 25 at 5:00 pm Eastern Time — then I’ll ask the winners to email me their mailing addresses so I can ship them out asap!

You can comment more than once, but your name will only be entered in the drawing once. Don’t forget to email this to friends and family who may be interested in winning.

Good luck and thank you again to Belkin for supporting such important causes!

Since I was diagnosed the first time in 2003, I haven’t heard of anyone in my community being diagnosed. Not that someone hasn’t been, it’s just that the news didn’t hit my front step. However, that changed the other day, and I’m consumed with emotion over it.

There’s a mother living not to far from me, This Mom with four children (some of our kids go to the same schools) who found out last week that she has breast cancer. She had her lumpectomy this week and the surgeon performed a sentinel node biopsy. It was positive, though the tumor was removed. Full pathology most likely isn’t back yet.

My heart is broken for this family, not because This Mom is living on borrowed time, but because I know the heartache This Mom and her entire family must feel. The terror of a diagnosis. The uncertainty as to what treatment will be like for them. The fear of the future. It hurts, so badly, and nothing anyone does or says can help that. That’s just heartbreaking for me to ponder again.

My own diagnoses were so horrible to digest.

So please, pray for this This Mom and her family, send me emails I can print out and deliver to her (click on the contact me icon to the right, change the subject line from website feedback to For This Mom and type your message in the box), and remember that this is when the sisterhood kicks into full gear — when another member is, unfortunately, initiated.

Blogger Heather Scoville brought to my attention the fact that NASCAR teams are driving pink cars. COOL!

NASCAR is totally sponsor driven (excuse the pun), so it made sense to me once I thought about it. Racing teams have sponsors, and many of those sponsors, like Target, Mars (and their M&M brand) and General Mills (and their Cheerios brand), do so much to support the cause anyway. I have these Cheerios on my counter right now, by the way, they’re practically a staple in my house. So yeah, why not paint a car pink as well. LOVE IT!!

(If, by the way, you haven’t seen the pink and white M&Ms, head over to Margie Alsbrook’s site, Limited Edition Foods. She’s got a great image of them over there. I have a half-eaten bag in my house right now and man, they are as yummy as always!)

Then there’s golf. I would never have put together golf and breast cancer. Yeah, yeah, I know women play, but I don’t. So the connection wasn’t immediate to me when my husband brought me some pink golf balls. Yes, I’ve got pink golf balls. Thanks to Wilson (I may have to start playing this game with my husband just to get a set of Hope clubs — did you check those out?).

Anyway, thankfully so many corporations are supporting this cause, this month and every month. That brings me hope for sure.

In a few hours (1:00 EST) I’ll be hosting another airing of Inspire! the internet talk radio show sponsored by Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine.

Today’s guest is a survivor named Connie Pombo. Connie is an author, speaker, mentor and an entrepreneur from what I’ve seen. She will share how she came to be diagnosed with breast cancer and let me tell you, it’s a great story to share during breast cancer awareness month. She’ll also share how she came to write and live out her ‘passionate’ to do list.

Join me today by clicking here … and if you miss the show, you can always listen to it later today at your leisure!