Beating Back Cancer: Cancer

Showing posts with label Cancer. Show all posts

Monday, March 19, 2012

Do Things Scared

At 7 AM and 70 degrees, I had to work outdoors. Three+ hours later, exhilarated but exhausted, I settled down with (very late) morning coffee. Turned TV to The View's Special Tribute to Mentors. I'm not a fan of frittering life away as a couch stuffer, so this way of relaxing was a departure from the norm, but meant to be. Sherri Shepherd's segment was viewing with

Pastors Holly and Phillip Wagner. Pastor Holly caught my attention when she said, "Do things scared." Author of the best seller Warrior Chicks: Rising Strong, Beautiful and Confident, Pastor Holly believes when you are afraid of things happening in your life, you have to do things scared but with faith and hope in God's plan for you that all will turn out well. A breast cancer survivor in remission for 7 years, Pastor Holly serves as an inspiration to those of us with cancer. Her message: rise up strong with a belief in God's plan for you, because "...some battles we choose, others choose us. The world is looking and waiting for a company of women who will rise in the midst of hard times."

The Big C is a scary experience, but sometimes you just have to do things scared, using the fear to work beyond. I'm not looking forward to treatment, if/when I require it, but each day I rise offering my day to God, asking for strength to make wise choices, finding joy in life on the farm, an organically renewing experience, grateful for the gift of a wonderful life, fully lived.

Related articles

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Alex's Lemonade Stand: Fighting Childhood Cancer

https://www.alexslemonade.org/

Predictions for 2030 suggest that every family will have a family member diagnosed with cancer. Current statistics are frightening. That's a scary statistic, but even more heart rending when cancer attacks children. I shudder when I hear that yet another friend or family member is diagnosed. In our school building alone, we could start a cancer support group, with 2 students and 5 faculty/staff members afflicted with cancer.

Text LEMONADE to 85944 to make a donation

I subscribe to Alex's Lemonade Stand on YouTube, so I receive each new video in a timely way. With sadness but with equal or more hope, I would like to share the current video, hoping that you will reach into your hearts and wallets to contribute $10 to this important cause.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Six-Legged Walks, Ecotips, and Beating Back Cancer: Life Choices to Beat Back Cancer

Cross posted on Learning Llamas.

Allie loves winter, water, but not ice...

Weathering winter can challenge the best in us, and despite a harsher noreaster season than usual, signs of spring revitalize. A thick sheet of ice blanketed the farm most of the winter months, thick enough to ice skate, really. All of which made walking a brand new ADHD Black Labrador Retriever puppy a challenge because she always has energy to burn, even after an hour plus walk. The snow stayed forever but still we took our six-legged walks. Not nearly as long but definitely more often, so it all balanced. And here's the cancer connection: in spite of being outdoors at least 3 hours a day in all conditions, I never spent a healthier winter, and I owe this feat to how I choose to live. Walking Allie keeps me fit and lets me sleep through the night without Allie wanting "out."

Hours old Golden with Rev and Aunt Tess

Clearly, having 7 llamas, one of which is a growing cria, 185 acres, a husband, a city home, and a teaching career, plus 5 blogs (farmlife, cancer, school, DEN, and tech), I am always busy. And that works for me. No matter how I feel, physically or emotionally, knowing my llamas depend on me gets me up every day at 4:30 AM to begin an hour-and-a-half routine of caring for my house and barn animals. After school, another hour plus (never minus). With a house, barn, and farm to keep clean, vehicles charged, cleaned, and all the seasonal work that comes with a farm plus grading students' work keep me very busy. Seeing a cancer connection pattern here, right... My cancer specialist Dr. Sunita Nasta at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, part of Penn Medicine at the Abramson Cancer Center repeatedly tells me that exercise if the best medicine, but warns me not to get exhausted. Working on the farm is whole body exercise, with the added body and soul or mind-body connection. Despite occasional fatigue, I would not change my life an iota.

Gishpheol A Nalgene plastic~think before you drink

Then there's the issue of consumption. What we choose not to consume is as critical as what we opt to select. I've moved away from most canned goods, plastic as much as possible (yes, I read for numbers). The newest and best packaging of food has moved away from BPA (Bisphenol A) because it is a suspected endocrine disrupter, a chemical that can interfere with the body's gland and hormone functions. The FDA is "working on" deciding what safe levels are. I just avoid the claptrap by choosing glass, carefully prepared frozen foods, and choosing organic. I eat a balanced abundance of grains, vegetables, and fruit, some of which comes from our farm or our neighbors' farms. Meat is usually not on my menu. This summer I am beginning an organic garden, using carefully harvested heirloom seeds that are NOT irradiated. Can you tell I am moving closer to the "R" word (retirement). Watching what you eat and drink and how your purchased food is packaged can be a lifesaver.

Great online resource for living better

Affordable symposia @ $25

Another daily practice is to read and research about cancer, and I choose mainstream, nontraditional, and alternative research therapies in hard and digital formats. I read, read, read. I look for venues that provide me with possibilities for better living in harmony with the earth. I found a free magazine (supported by practitioner and business advertisements) called Natural Awakenings. It has an online presence, but exists nationally, and if your locale does not have a current NA magazine, you can become a publisher. Inside each monthly issue is a world of lifestyle changes from which you can choose those that suit. One of my best finds from this periodical (I still love hard copy although I live a digital life) is Twin Ponds Integrative Center, a place that aggregates healthful programs, integrative practices, holistic therapies, and vibrant options for moving forward with a happy lifestyle that supports beating back cancer.

Fourth and final daily approach: prayer. Although a cliche in a post-postmodern world, I believe in the strength and healing power of prayer. Whether I'm cleaning pastures or doing yoga, I tune into God, have conversations of the silent sort, thanking and counting blessings. I pray for others, because what goes around comes around and back to you. Better to receive prayers from others than to ask God yourself. And I've learned to listen. Silence speaks, and in the early morning hours with my llamas, or in romping six-legged walks, or in late-night visits to check on the girls, I carry God's presence in my life with me.

The end result: a healthier happier me. But then, I have said this so often, I've been really lucky. Blessed.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Become a "First Connection" Volunteer

A wonderful opportunity to help others.

From the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Pennsylvania comes an opportunity to train as a First Connection Volunteer to help someone who is facing the challenges of blood cancer. If you are dealing with a blood cancer or are a blood cancer survivor, you can train to be a Volunteer. From the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, here is the background information you want to peruse about the Patti Robinson Kaufmann First Connection Program.

Find your Local Chapter

Recognizing the needs of families dealing with a blood cancer diagnosis, the Patti Robinson Kaufmann First Connection Program gives patients and family members the opportunity to share experiences with someone who has "been through it," and obtain valuable information about The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and the community resources available to support them. This unique match gives the patient or family member valuable insight from someone who also has experienced a blood cancer. First Connection participants and volunteers are matched by age, diagnosis and gender when possible.

Find your local chapter

Peers are trained in basic counseling skills and are armed with local resource materials so that patients and family members need not feel isolated as they begin the process of treatment. Anyone with leukemia or related cancers is eligible to receive a call or visit. There is no charge for this program.

Volunteers Needed

To become a peer volunteer, you should meet the following criteria:

* Have an interest and commitment to helping others
* Be screened by the chapter for the program
* Participate in all training provided by the chapter

To find out more, please contact your local chapter from the Chapter Finder or visit the Newly Diagnosed Forum on our website LLS Blood Cancer Discussion Boards.

Training dates and locations for Easter Pennsylvania

Main Office in Conshohocken
First Connection Training
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Time: 10am - 1pm

Ambassador Orientation
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Time: 2pm - 3pm
Contact: Nancy Chhum 610-238-0360 ext. 234

Lehigh Valley Office in Allentown
First Connection Training
Date:    Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Time::    9am - 2pm
Ambassador Orientation
Date:    Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Time:    12pm - 2pm
Contact: Megan Evans 610-266-8518 ext.10

Other Patient Services

Ambassador Orientation is special training for new volunteers to LLS.

I can tell you first-hand that opportunities like this one put a face and experience to cancer. After my initial lymphoma diagnosis, I was invited to an evening seminar on my cancer sponsored by my local LLS. The benefit to me and my husband was exponential; it reinforced that we are not alone in challenging our cancer. When I retire after over 4 decades of teaching students in high school, I am participating in this training so I can continue to learn and teach others.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Tissue Analysis May Help Predict Breast Cancer Outcome

Lobular Breast Cancer. Single file cells and c...

Image via Wikipedia

Lobular Breast Cancer, Single File Cells & Cell Nests

I am not a copy/paste person when it comes to blogging, but sometimes it's just the best way to deliver timely cancer news. From Randy Dotinga via Medicine.net comes this important information about breast cancer.

Additional Resources:

Breast Cancer Slideshow Pictures

Take the Breast Cancer Quiz

Disease Prevention in Women Slideshow Pictures

THURSDAY, March 3 (HealthDay News) -- An analysis of breast tissue may help doctors better predict outcomes for women with breast cancer, a new study reports.

Researchers analyzed what they describe as "highways" of connective tissue in breast cancer tumors, and found that the way collagen fibers -- the main component of connective tissue -- are arranged may aid in a patient's diagnosis and help determine treatment.

Collagen not only surrounds most body organs and helps provide structure for the body, it also tells cells how to behave, the study authors noted. Normally, a close-up of collagen resembles a jumbled path or a plate of cooked spaghetti.

In the new study, the researchers analyzed tumor cells from 200 patients with invasive breast cancer. The investigators found signs that the collagen began to act differently as the tumors progressed.
"We think the cancer cells start to pull on the collagen and straighten it out, forming a track or highway on which the cells can migrate," study senior author Patricia Keely, an associate professor of cell and regenerative biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, said in a university news release. As the highways became more developed, the prognoses for patients worsened, the study found.

"We have identified a novel collagen-signature system that may become a very useful addition to the tools clinicians use to determine a breast cancer patient's prognosis," Keely explained.
The research is published in the March issue of the American Journal of Pathology.
Commenting on the study, Dr. Priscilla A. Furth, a professor of oncology and medicine at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, described it as an example of "valid basic research."

However, "before any new prognostic test can go into practice it must be extensively validated. This publication is a first step that might trigger additional research to examine the utility of this type of analysis in different settings and by different groups," said Furth, who was not involved with the study.
"From the basic science perspective, this is an interesting observation and should trigger additional studies," Furth added.

-- Randy Dotinga

SOURCES: University of Wisconsin-Madison, news release, March 1, 2011; Priscilla A. Furth, M.D., professor, oncology and medicine, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

GREAT NEWS!

Betting with THE BEST! PennMedicine

My buddy Brinson tells me ALL CAPS means I'm shouting. YES, I AM. Shouting it from the mountain top on which we live. I have great news. After meeting with my NHL specialist, Sunita Nasta, MD, at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine in the Abramson Cancer Center, I know officially that my cancer has waned. Burned itself out in some areas, and smaller than when diagnosed in March, 2010. Significantly smaller. Cause for celebration.

Having a mobile blood cancer means it can transport itself elsewhere, but since mine momentarily has not morphed or moved, I have cause to give thanks for this blessing. Do I understand that at a later date, the news could reverse. Absolutely. But living in the moment, I am definitely grateful.

6 adult females and 1 male cria, 4+ months, 90+ lbs.

I asked my doctor what could make that difference, and the world of medicine just does not know. I asked myself what was different and shared that non-rhetorical with Nasta. Excercise. Winter on the mountain with a herd of llamas, even a small herd, and a cria, keeps me outdoors a lot! On a snow day when my students and most teachers celebrate a free day, mine still begins at 4:30 AM and ends for a break about noon. Then, I'm back at the barn around 3 PM for another good hour. Not a complaint; a choice. One I welcome with alacrity. And this choice just might be life enhancing, although when I ventured into the world of llamas, I did not know I had cancer, so that choice would, in time, become serendipitous.

The why is simple. From Ottowa, Ontario, March 8, 2008.

Llamas may look harmless, but their immune system harbours some unique weapons against disease. In the 1990s, biologists in Belgium reported that unlike other mammals, the camelid family – which includes llamas, camels and alpacas – produce not one but two types of antibodies: the conventional Y-shaped molecules consisting of four protein chains; and smaller, two-chain antibodies. Within these two-chain antibodies, the part that recognizes and clings to foreign molecules, called "antigens", during an immune attack has been dubbed a single-domain antibody (sdAb).

Despite their modest size, single-domain antibodies can grasp their antigenic targets as firmly as conventional antibodies. What's more, they are hardier than monoclonal antibodies, the current standard antibody format for therapeutic purposes.

Winter Farmlife

I am not naive enough to believe that just being around llamas, breathing in their breath daily as they say hello and hang out with me, has a medical impact. But it does have a therapeutic benefit. I'm outdoors, surrounded by sensitive loving creatures who share my life in a place I love. Keeping a farm comes with differing seasonal challenges, but one constant remains. Physical exercise in the elements.

Inside Perelman

I began this post with an image of the best cancer center in PA, NJ, and DE. My hospital. My choice after much research. I will always bet on the best. If I must have cancer, my choice continues to be PennMedicine.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

IBS

Subscribe to MedicineNet.com

IBS, aka Irritable Bowel Syndrome, is just that. Ask anyone who has it, and they will give you that knowing look. Since I have both, I thought I would share what I found in my weekly subscription to MedicineNet about IBS. Not suggesting both are connected; just sharing.

Click here to subscribe by email

If you are not a subscriber to MedicineNet, you really should, because it's as easy as adding your email address. I like this site because it covers just about every malady known to mankind, as well as a section on pets that continues to expand. Try it; you might like it and learn something that can help in preventative or treatment options.

Google this

Released on January 5, 2011 is the following preventative treatment for IBS:

A two-week course of the antibiotic rifaximin (Xifaxan) helps to relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and the relief lasts up to 10 weeks after stopping the medication, according to new research.

For the rest of the text, click here.

What I do not like about MedicineNet is a blogger's complaint: no embeddable code. My experience is most readers do not click links anymore. What a reader wants is the visual right there. Sorry, but here are the links. Worth watching.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Slideshow Pictures

Digestive Disease Myths Slideshow Pictures

Diverticulitis (Diverticulosis) Slideshow Pictures

Really Beating Back Cancer

North FL Cancer Survivors

Unfortunately, cancer is ubiquitous. At a basketball game last night (both JV & V Boys trounced their opponents, but then we have always been a BB school), I learned of 3 more students having cancer between 2 teams, and of a recent student's passing. Of all the many heartbreaking things we face in life, the ones that wrench my heart most are things that happens to those most unprotected from harm: the very young and old, and animals. Trouble sleeping, yes. And questions without answers. Most haunting, almost a Holocaust syndrome, why did I live. Rhetorical. Why someone like me, older, having a life well-lived behind me. Why are my students afflicted, undergo treatment, and sometimes not make it while I thrive. And the answer I always find is God's Will. His timetable, not mine.

Maximum intensity projection (MIP) of a whole ...

Image via WikipediaMy newest PET Scan brought interesting news. Unless it was read incorrectly, some of my cancer "burned itself out." I had not known that was possible without treatment of any kind, but there you have it. Since my cancer is a blood cancer, it can travel, but it did not. At least not yet. So I find myself pondering the why word again. Or perhaps how. It's the how I want to explore. What have I done that may/might contribute to this phenomenon.

Other than fate, luck, God, karma, or just meant to be, I took a good look at how I live. Here's what I found, and I'm not promoting it, just trying to identify what might have made a difference.

I eat almost no red meat. Instead, I consume fish, some chicken.
Love vegetables, especially the calciferous ones, and fresh fruit.
Drink 1 cup of coffee in AM, then switch to tea w/lemon. A regimen of years. Drink lots of water.
Work hard and am very busy. I live on a farm, raise llamas, and learn and teach with high school students.
Take long walks with llamas and our puppy.
Find peace, contentment, balance, and grounding with farmlife.
Live organically, both with products and perspective.
I don't think of myself as someone who has cancer. I'm too busy to have cancer.
Pray. Never underestimate the power of prayer.
Research, read, take control of your cancer, treatment, options. Explore possibilities.

Other than that, I just keep living. Too much to do otherwise, and no percentage in the alternative. I give much credit to a very supportive husband who takes a whatever is needed approach. And I must say I am an avid reader and researcher of cancer, and speak/write openly about it--and for me--that's extremely healthy. I love to cook and do so from scratch, using healthy ingredients. But mostly, I am happy. I have a totally positive outlook and embrace living, my life, my cancer, and my future.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Gia Pronto

Dining, naturally!

Atrium dining

Interesting art

One of the many pleasant aspects of the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine is the natural dining eatery at the Atrium level of the Abramson Cancer Center. The food is a la carte, wholesome, healthy and utterly delicious. As you enter the spacious facility, you realize that an intelligent design exists not only in the menu which changes daily, but also in the spacial arrangements. A cosy nook of leather chairs, low, medium, and higher rising tables and chairs. You can choose to eat inside of Gia Pronto, or outside of it, but still inside the building in the Atrium. Very inviting options, and you are surrounded by incredibly interesting sculptures.

Choose from 10 homemade soups, design your salad, select your coffees and teas, or gourmet hot chocolates, or fizzy or flat cold beverages. If you love pizza, Gia Pronto will ruin you forever. Nothing exceeds the pizzas they create, or the way they serve it. You can select the size you want and they cut it to suit. If you love a panini, then Gia Pronto is the place. If you can possibly handle dessert, treat yourself to the highest largest thickest piece of pound cake. My choice: cranberry nut. Delicious.

There is something inviting about all aspects of the Perelman Center; the structure has an openness with glass elevators and glass facades. When you consider that most of the people who enter this building have a serious illness, it always amazes and pleases me that the serenity of the site helps those of us who seek help transcend our troubles, if only for a while.

6th Focus on Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma & Bone Marrow/STEM Cell Transplantation at PC4AM

Every piece of research or information that comes my way via my Google Alerts continues to reinforce my selection of the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine as the perfect choice for my cancer management. The choice you make for your treatment may just be the single most important decision you ever make, so if cancer visits your family, yourself, or a close friend, my recommendation is to do your homework diligently when selecting a cancer treatment center.

Endless Bests!

My selection was based on awards of excellence, the calibre of the faculty, the fact that Penn Medicine is connected to a university that pursues rigorous research, field trials, and purchases the most technically advanced medical diagnostic equipment. I also wanted a provider of professional development in the cancer field. And I found all this and more at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, a facility connected to Penn Medicine.

I am really excited about the upcoming Blood Cancer Conference at Perelman. You still have time to register; October 25 is the deadline. Click this link to join us for an enlightening experience.