We Did It!

This was the first breast cancer walk I have participated in and can I say - WOW!  There were so many people.  It was inspiring. Yet another reason I am amazed by the outpouring of love and support.

Thank you to my team.  You guys were great.  I have to say I am so proud of my mother, she made it over two bridges and didn't even break into a cold sweat.

Breast Thermography

I have to say I have heard more on thermal imaging at airports than I have about breast thermography.  I think something could be wrong here!  Recently I came across breast thermography while thumbing through Think Healthy last month (The whole issue is on my blog post I'm So Proud!).  That was the first time I had ever heard of it.

I couldn’t help but feel a little sad as I read about what it is and how successful it is at early detection in women with dense breast tissue; typically the age range of 30 – 50 years old.  I could spend a lot of time wondering “What if I knew about this? Maybe I could be in a different place than I am now.”  There is certainly no sense to “what if” for me, but for those of you reading this blog it may be very important.

Knowledge is power and this is a perfect example.  If we know what is available to us, we can know what to ask our physicians for.  If they are unfamiliar or hesitant to refer you to something, you have the ability to research and decide for yourself. 

I am a firm believer that we know our bodies better than anyone else, but that comes with some age and experience.  When I first went in to my primary doctor with a lump, I was a little nervous, and unprepared to ask questions.  We ended the appointment feeling somewhat satisfied with our assumptions that is was a fibroid cyst.  I agreed to watch it and return if there were changes.  I did notice the lump over the next few years, but it would come and go, so I thought no change.  Once the lump was consistently noticeable, I knew what it really was.  

If I would have known the things I do now, I could have asked for screening or sought it out myself, if for nothing more than to ease my mind.

Here are a couple of links about breast thermography.

What is Breast Thermography? 

The Correct Role for Thermal Imaging  *Be sure to read this article completely.  Very good.

What's Important?

Over the last few days I have thought very hard about the message I have been asked to share at our local Making Strides Walk.  They give you a guideline; 2-3 minutes max, share your story, and tell what the pink bra means to you.  Sounds easy right?  Well finding the version of my story that fits into 2 minutes isn’t that easy.  And of course I want to share what I feel is the most important thing I’ve learned.

I’m not really sure what that is.  There are so many things I’ve learned and they all seem important to me, but the two things that stand out in my mind are knowledge and early detection.  I know both of these things are mentioned quite often.  Yet for some reason most women are completely blindsided when they hear the news that they have breast cancer.

 The majority of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer had no family history of the disease – those are not my words, but I have read them several times in various articles (none of which I can recall to paste the link – sorry).  Because of my own experience, I feel the need to find out as much as I can for early detection in younger women. 

If you are under 40 years old with no family history, and are like most women, you probably don’t even think of breast cancer on a personal level. Over the next week or two, I am going to concentrate my posts to information available for this group of women.  

But remember, gumption, may just be the best defense.

*Found "About 70-80% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer." BreastCancer.org

Beautiful Days

I love the changing of the seasons.  Here in Florida they are a little less noticeable than some places, but the signs are there.  Our trees are beginning to lose their leaves and many of the garden flowers are dying back.  Last week the air was even a bit cool.  It felt so nice to get outside.

Take a walk, go for a bike ride, work in the garden, anything!  For me getting outside is like losing myself to the lovely sights and sounds.  My mind clears and the stress leaves, even if it is temporary.  And I need that.  For many reasons, but especially to forget about myself for just a bit.  Forget about doctor's appointments and tests.  Just take time to feel like my old self.

I never forget my experience with cancer, but sometimes I need to try.  I need to let the worries and cares slip from my thoughts and enjoy the moment I am in - right at that very moment.

I hope you all will be able to get out and enjoy a little worry free time in your week as well. Happy fall!

What an Honor

Yesterday I was asked to be a survivor speaker at my local Making Strides for Breast Cancer event. Wow I feel honored.  They may regret it, but I'll give it my best shot!

Live Strong!

How do you do something when your body just won’t cooperate?  That is my dilemma.  I know some things just take time and other things take work on my part to get my body healthy again.  And apparently some things take both! 

Pretty much since the end of my radiation treatments, I have been trying to lose the weight I gained during chemo.  I have worked pretty hard to achieve that goal, but with little results.  I have always been a fairly healthy person and don’t have a lot of food vices to give up.  So I tried adding more exercise.  After all exercise is a very important part of staying healthy after cancer. But this too just wasn’t helping in the weight department. I wasn’t ready to give up though. 

After talking with a friend, I decided to give something new a try, and I wanted to share it with you.  I decided I would use the livestrong.com website.  I’m not getting crazy results like 7 – 8 pounds in two weeks or anything.  Some weeks I haven’t lost anything, but overall it has helped me to lose a few pounds and keep them off.

I use the website’s free program.  There I can track all the food I eat, as well as the exercises I do.  It calculates the amount of calories I consume as well as the amount I burn against the amount I am allotted (which is based on my age, weight, and weight loss goal). 

It is very easy to use and if I ever successfully figure out how to post it to my blog, I will share my progress with you.

Wow, I'm Tired! Am I Anemic?

Some days I just can't seem to get with the program, mentally or physically, and my body feels like it wants to shut down.  I could say this was all an adverse effect of the chemo, but in my case that isn't entirely true.  I have always been border line anemic.  My mother and sister both suffer from Iron Deficieny Anemia, so I guess it's partly bad genes.

It is very common for women who have went through treatments for breast cancer to feel tired, sometimes more to the point of true fatigue.  For women with breast cancer, having blood tests is pretty routine, and our oncologists check these levels regularly.  In my case, my iron levels just wouldn't come up, actually they decreased (but that has to do with the chemo making the red blood cells slightly larger during treatment).  My oncologist decided to run a variety of extra tests trying to determine what was going on.  Finally we decided that I have an iron deficiency. 

This is pretty common in women, cancer or not. The only difference is that most women just think they are over worked, over stressed, or simply tired and don't pursue it any further.

I take an iron supplement, but vitamins and I don't mix well.  They tend to bother my stomach.  So I try really hard to eat food that is high in iron.  I also found it interesting that it is important to take vitamin C to help our bodies better absorb the iron.  Here are a few links that better explain Iron Deficiency Anemia as well as give a list of foods high in iron.

Mayo - Iron Deficiency Anemia

Be sure to check out the different tabs at the top of the article.

Iron Deficiency Anemia

I'm So Proud!

Yesterday I received an email about someone who is very dear to me and I couldn't help but share it with you all.  Last year was quite a crazy time for our family and just as I was finishing up my chemo, my husband's step mother was starting her journey with breast cancer.  She was officially diagnosed on December 27, 2010.

Her story was featured in this month's issue of Think Healthy, a magazine I was not familiar with, but now have read from cover to cover. Below is the link to their website as well as an online version of the issue for you to take a peek at..  Hope you enjoy it!

Think Healthy Magazine

Spuradic Reading

I go in spurts, sometimes I read all I can get my hands on while other times I have absolutely no interest in reading another thing about breast cancer. However if you tantalize me with a headline I can be persuaded into reading about something even when I otherwise wouldn't be interested.  Today was one of those days!

Somewhere along the line I came across WebMD.  This is an online site that has quite a lot of information on a variety of issues.  Instead of reading through the entire site, I had them send me email updates for breast cancer. I have enjoyed many of their articles, but I don't always link to the site. That's what I like about this feature.  If I am interested in an article I can link to it and read more, but if I don't have time or I'm just not into it that day, I can skip it.  Today I received and email from them with several good articles, but one in particular stood out to me.

I wish I could just paste the email for you, but instead I will link you to a few of the articles.  Maybe one will be on something just for you.

Understanding Hormone Therapy

11 Questions for the Oncologist

When to Get a Screening Mammogram

Chemotherapy and Weight Gain

Chemotherapy is what I consider one of those necessary evils.  No one would purposely do something to make themselves crazy sick, unless the end result outweighed the side effects.  In my case I could follow the treatment plan of my oncologist and come out with a fairly decent chance of survival.  Or I could skip Chemo and have an 85% chance of recurrence within five years and only a 57% chance of living five years. I was 38 and had a young son at home.  The chemo was looking pretty good to me at this point.

As I contemplated chemotherapy I never in my wildest dreams imagined gaining weight.  I always pictured someone thin and frail.  But, for women with breast cancer, going through chemotherapy more often than not, causes weight gain.  Myself I gained 30 lbs.  There are several reasons why women can gain weight.  One is the amount of steroids.  Steroids help to keep the nausea at bay, and I was happy to have them. Another reason is the sudden shift in your metabolism.  Chemo can, and usually does, stop your cycles, putting you in what can be (or not) temporary menopause. Along with these add the fact that most foods don’t taste the same and if you are like me, all I wanted (or could eat) was comfort food.  Not to mention I didn’t feel well enough to keep up with any type of regular physical activity.

Sadly the weight gain can add more than just unwanted pounds.  Let’s face it, at this point one's self-image can be in a pretty fragile state.  I just had surgery to remove both of my breasts, I now had no hair (eyebrows or eyelashes), and to top it off, I couldn’t fit into any of my clothes.  I could talk myself out of feeling to sorry for myself here, because after all my body had just went through a pretty traumatic experience.  It might take it awhile to get back to my old normal. But the lingering weight can cause more than just self esteem issues, it actually increases my risk of recurrence. And, that doesn't appeal to me on any level.

Here are a few good links to better explain the connection with weight and cancer.

Body Weight and Weight Gain 
Weight Gain During Chemotherapy Treatment 
Why Do Some People With Breast Cancer Gain Weight?