Discussing Breast Cancer

More on yesterday’s post about breast cancer and the presidential race:

Anyone watch Project Runway? For those of you who don’t, it’s a reality show where contestants are actually talented “unknown” fashion designers competing for the opportunity to show at New York’s Fashion Week. Their competitions involve making clothing suitable for the catwalk.

Well, in January of 2008, the season’s sixth episode aired, and the contestants’ mentor Tim Gunn challenged them to design a dress made from materials gathered during a five minute shopping spree at the Hershey’s Times Square store.

The image to the right is the winning contestant’s exact winning design. And now, it’s available for auction exclusively on projectrunway.com and to benefit the Young Survival Coalition. YEAH!

Keep in mind, the dress is tailored to fit the model and might have unfinished edges due to the nature of the challenge and is sold “AS IS.” Item ships May 2008. HERSHEY’S auction ends March 18, 2008.

Again, here’s a direct link to the auction page. Let me know if you’re going to bid on anything!

(By the way, if you love Project Runway, check out Reality on Bravo!)

I pretty much stay away political discussions. But when issues pertaining to battling breast cancer show up in the battle for the presidency, I’ve gotta chime in. Last July I posted about Thompson when he was touting his conviction to find a cure. And now I have to share this with you: making headlines today is the fact that in a recent Ohio primary, the candidates neglected to speak about breast cancer — and that’s an issue identified by 62 percent of Americans as the key health issue facing women today.

I don’t know — is this an issue that needs to be discussed in the primary? Aren’t there more (other?) deadly issues in health care that need consideration? Sure, I want a cure just as much as the next survivor, but I have to think that we’re simply beating up the presidential hopefuls if we get on them for not wearing pink ribbons and talking about what they’ll do to find a cure.

That being said, if they do start talking about what they’ll do in terms of research, I’m all ears … that’s why Thompson caught my attention last year. But the fact that they’re not discussing it, well, that hadn’t been on my radar.

What about you? Do you think the candidates should pink up their campaigns?

Some of you clearly do … check out these statistics compiled by Susan G. Komen for the Cure?

“More than 90 percent of voters want the federal government to pay more attention to breast cancer research, screening and early detection and access to quality care for all. A majority of voters (62 percent) believe breast cancer is the most critical health problem facing women today. But only one in 10 voters is aware of their preferred presidential candidate’s position on issues relating to breast cancer.”

Here’s a link to the Fox News story.

(Oh, and if you didn’t click on the Susan G. Komen link above, you might want to reconsider. It takes you to their web page about breast cancer advocacy in terms of this year’s presidential election — and on that page is a petition that might get this issue on the front of candidates minds, signed by yours truly. Will you sign, too?)

For the record … if one of these candidates started wearing a pink ribbon and talking about their support for the American Cancer Society or Susan G. Komen or the myriad of researchers working to find a cure … they’d probably get my vote.

It’s making news headlines — The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee just approved the drug by biotech powerhouse Genentech for use in conjunction with chemotherapy to treat metastatic breast cancer.

Research has shown that use of the drug in combination with paclitaxel (Taxol) chemotherapy resulted in a 52 percent reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to those treated with paclitaxel alone — a doubling in progression-free survival.

From the Genentech press release: “There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer so it is important to control the disease as early and for as long as possible,” said Kathy Miller, M.D., Associate Professor of Medical Oncology, Indiana University School of Medicine and lead investigator on the E2100 trial. “Now with Avastin plus paclitaxel, we can increase the time a woman’s cancer is kept under control, and offer a biologic option to women who previously were limited to chemotherapies alone.”

Without boring you with the specifics of how it works, I’ll share this: Avastin works by cutting off the blood supply to the tumors. That’s one way to kill those suckers — at long last.

Meanwhile, the toxic side effects of high blood pressure and well, death, were considered by some to be too problematic and perhaps should have deterred the FDA and inhibited their decision. But let me ask you this … if you have metastatic disease, aren’t you willing to take a risk to improve your chances of survival? Aren’t you facing death head on and deserving of anything that might help you void that apparently imminent collision? Isn’t this approval going to bring us one step closer to a cure for these people that need one the most?

Imagine you have a headache … but you couldn’t take Tylenol because it was never approved since you’d be at risk of contracting a headache if you take it. That’s hypothetical and I have no idea if headaches are a side effects of Tylenol — but I hope you get my point. The fact that metastatic patients are at risk of losing their lives every day seems to outweigh every other risk of fatality, I think.

Bravo to the FDA. Bravo to Genentech — this is right along with your mission to develop drugs to address significant unmet medical needs and you know patients with metastatic breast cancer have unmet needs!

More importantly, bravo to all of you out there with metastatic disease that might benefit from this new treatment option. Bring it on!

Enjoy this clilp of the tribute artist MDT as Elvis — completely LIVE, no lip-synching “Rockin’ for the PINK!”

FYI, the February 17th “Rockin’ for the PINK!” event took place in Colorado and raised almost $3000 for Susan G. Komen for the Cure!

Good job ya’ll!

in the 2008 bloggies weblog awards. Last year Discussing Breast Cancer was nominated for Best Health Blog but didn’t win. Voting for 2008 has begun … this blog is still in the running. If you want to see this one make it to the top, please click on the link below, register if you need to, and cast your vote!

Wow.

According to research conducted in Northern Israel … “exposure to light at night is the most powerful factor in breast cancer besides genetic defects, according to a new University of Haifa study.” Too much light at night interferes with the production of melatonin — and an arm of the World Health Organization recently decided to classify shift work as a probable carcinogen.

Let me clarify … we’re not talking small household night lights here, we’re talking about living on brightly lit city streets or factory night-shift lighting. My suggestion: if you are exposed to serious lighting at nighttime you need to investigate this study further. Start by reading the Washington Post article about the findings here.

I’ve been in Vermont for the past few days (my family took a ski vacation with another family — had an awesome trip); the entire time I was gone I went without cell service or an Internet connection. Holy cow, that’s life changing.

I can remember a time when those issues weren’t even on my peripheral. But now — geesh, did I feel disconnected from my life. I checked my iPhone as soon as we entered a cell service zone and there were hundreds of emails to sort through, several voice messages to play and a dozen or so numbers in the caller ID, people that didn’t leave messages. Welcome home, huh?

One of the emails I received had the above image in it — sent from a neighbor who recently discovered Mamasource, an online community of moms.

Mamasource is a place where you can log in to give/receive advice, referrals, support … prayers. If it’s like any other online communities, the outpouring of comfort and friendship for a woman with cancer is unsuprpassable. Also, women on forums like these almost always give/receive prayer support and research has shown that online prayer support makes a difference for cancer patients.

Coming home to this image in my inbox, well, it helped me reconnect to my neighboring community again. It made me feel cared for and uplifted and closer to humanity. It made me feel supported.

Looking at it makes me want to do that for someone else … wanna join me? Come on, it’s easy. Let’s send virtual well wishes — an email or an online card — to someone who desperately needs to stay connected.

Would this commercial ever air in the US? (Yes, it’s your weekend video clip, up early Friday morning!)

If you’ve found this blog, it’s also quite likely that you took to the Internet quite quickly after learning that you had breast cancer, searching for information on the disease, its treatment and its repercussions.

My doctors warned me specifically to be careful when doing Internet research — and they had good reason to do so. According to a new study, one in twenty breast cancer web pages contain inaccurate information … and web sites devoted to complementary or alternative medicine were fifteen times more likely to have false information.

(From a recent press release: “The study is published in the March 15, 2008 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, and suggests that patients consult clinicians before taking action on breast cancer information gathered on the Web.”)

I hope it goes without saying that you guys should be careful. The best place to turn for information is your physician’s office. Make your decisions based on the information provided to you by your medical professionals.

Your best bet? Find a National Cancer Institute Designed Cancer Center near you — visit that organization’s website first and foremost. Trust the American Cancer Society — they’re the most reliable source you’ll find online.

And trust me … to lead you in the right direction.

Survivors often find themselves in the midst of depression. They’re facing their own mortality, for one. They’re tired, sick, sore … it’s tough to pick yourself up mentally when you don’t feel good physically. It’s been said that hormone fluctuations affect our mood - chemotherapy and hormone therapy reek havoc on your natural hormone levels. And it’s wintertime (here in the Northern Hemisphere at least) … and these cold, dreary days are for the birds.

You’re not alone. Up to one-third of women diagnosed with breast cancer face mood disorders of some type.

Here’s what I need to tell you: it’s important to get help. If not for yourself, for your children: Research indicates that children of depressed breast cancer patients are more likely to be concerned or anxious about their mother’s cancer and its implication for their families.

My recommendation:

(1) Talk openly about your disease with your children — the positive spin you’ll likely want to put on it for their sakes will benefit your own psyche as well.

(2) Talk openly about your disease with whoever you have around you — it’s therapeutic to share those negative emotions. Purge them, get them out, so you can put all the energy you can muster up towards your treatment. Got nobody? Comment here or on an online support site like breastcancer.org.

(3) Talk openly with a medical professional. They can prescribe medication to help manage your mental distress. This is not the time to be too proud, or too vain. Get help. Nobody should go into battle without a fully loaded arsenal. If you already take something, tell them it’s not working. They need to know.

Don’t deal with depression alone.

Check it out:

A follow up, because we want to know more, right?

I love this. Here’s the explanation:

“MVNU proudly presents the 2008 MVNU Cougars Pink Out, in coordination with Think Pink Week. We invite everyone out to the men’s and women’s basketball games on Tuesday February, 12 starting at 5:30. Wear all pink as we “Pink Out” Walsh University. All proceeds from the event will benefit breast cancer research and awareness.”

I can’t wait to find out how it goes. I’ll keep you posted.

So we’re at the grocery store, shopping for the ingredients I needed to make an awesome appetizer to bring to a Super Bowl party … and my six year old son Alex spies something on the shelves that incites him to a near riot.

“Look Ma, Breast Cancer Root Beer,” the kid shouts at the top of his lungs. I was, after all, at the other end of the aisle. He comes running up to me with a can of Hansen’s Creamy Root Beer Soda — shouting, “See?” and pointing to the pink ribbon proudly displayed on the side.

There it was on the side. A City of Hope logo. He got me, this kid. I was going to buy him a can of root beer. I had just been writing about the lack of pink ribbons since October came to pass. No doubt my kids have been missing the ribbons as well.

But here’s what cracked me up: there were two tall twenty-something year old men donning New York Giants jerseys walking the same aisle as me and my kids when my son showed the world the ‘Breast Cancer Root Beer!’ The guys laughed in spite of themselves, and one of them said, ‘that’s something I would have said!’ to his buddy — completely understanding my son’s excitement over his discovery.

What’s up with that?????

I did some research when I got home, by the way. From their website: “Hansen’s will match your contribution up to $1,000 per person or family*. Simply click on the donation link at the bottom of the page and you will be redirected to the official City of Hope donation page. When filling out donor information, under additional information, check “other” and type in “Hansen’s” and the donation offer code that is located on cans of Hansen’s Natural Sodas or Hansen’s Smoothie Nectars.”