The Breast Blog

Reviewing the book on my other site

2007-04-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

As you've probably realized, I can't keep up with two sites!

So ... I'll review Cathy's book on Discussing Breast Cancer on Wednesday, April 25th!

Chris has won Cathy's book!

2007-04-09T05:14:00.000-07:00

Author/survivor Cathy Bueti sent me two copies of her book, "Breastless in the City" so that I could read one and give the other away to one of my readers. Chris Rodas is the winner of that raffle and the book is going out to her today!

I'll be 'reviewing' Cathy's book in a few weeks so if you haven't picked up a copy from your local library or bookstore (local or online), you've still got time.

Thanks again Cathy, and thanks and congrtulations to Chris!

Moving Plans

2007-04-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hi all ... as you know, one of my goals with this site is to empower breast cancer survivors. Well, an opportunity has come up for me to combine my "blogging for breast cancer" passion with some web trafficking experts. I've decided to write for a new site, Discussing Breast Cancer, at www.discussingbreastcancer.com.

With the people at 451 Press promoting the site, I'll gain more readers. More readers means more people reached with the information I want to disseminate to survivors. More "armed" survivors means more of a chance of defeating our enemy: breast cancer.

451 Press gets paid for the advertisements on this site, that's how they make money. As far as I can see so far, many the advertisers on the site seem to be credible and worthy causes. Some are even links I've wanted to click myself because they'll provide me with more information. Don't be afraid to click on those links. Clicking on ad just means you are doing research into the things that might be pertinent to you.

This is a professional blogging gig for me. That means I'll get a percentage of the ad revenue which means I can actually donate more to the cause. I'll let you know what I earn and what I'll put the money towards once I start earning.

The book club will continue (here or there, I'm not sure). I'll choose the winner of the raffle by Wednesday and get the book shipped off to the winner in time to start reading over the weekend!

One day there will be a forwarding link to that site as I wean off posting here and get you all reading over there. So pack your bags and get ready for the move.

April Book Club Selection

2007-03-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

This month's selection was made easy for me because of Cathy Bueti, author of "Breastless in the City." Cathy sent me two copies of her book; one for me, one for a reader of The Breast Blog.

I'm giving the second copy to ... hmmmm ... who shall I give it too? I was going to give it to the most active participant in the discussion on "Digging to America," but that would have been me (aren't you sorry you lurked?).

So ... email me or post a comment asap and be entered into a random drawing for the book (to take place by the end of the week). You can always get the book on Amazon; here's a link.

"Breastless in the City" is about Cathy's life. Child of an alcoholic father, she married her high school sweetheart but was widowed at the age of 25. Seven years later, still trying to find her way in life after such a profound loss, she discovers a lump in her breast. Single, bald, breastless ... and that alcoholic father? He becomes one of her biggest supporters.

The back of the books explains that Cathy is stunningly honest and open in this book. She's a real person telling the story of her battle.

I can't wait to get started!

Switch to red wine ladies

2007-03-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

So I freaked out when I read this one: "a single alcoholic beverage daily may increase a woman's risk of developing invasive breast cancer by 9 percent. Drinking just over two drinks daily may increase the risk by 32 percent."

Not good. Not good at all. And apparently beer, liquor and white wine are all guilty vices. But red wine ... that's not on the "bad" list. So it is time for me to start pouring Cabernet at 'Happy Hour' instead of Pinot Grigio. Not sure if I can make the switch, but apparently alcohol consumption influences our estrogen levels ... Lord, have mercy on us all!

Read all about it here: New study links breast cancer and alcohol consumption

Faces for a Cure

2007-03-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

Let me introduce you to Janie and Matt Canei.

Janie is my sister. No, not my biological sister, not even a step or an adoptive sister. She's a sister in this fight against breast cancer. That makes Matt my conceptual nephew.

Janie is dealing with a cancer recurrence -- and 18 year old Matt, who was 15 when she was first diagnosed only three years ago, has come up with a fantastic, innovative, novel way to raise some money and support. He's designed facesforacure.com and tells his story there; it's a site where I've already placed my head shot in support of him, his mother, and all the rest of us fighting this battle.

Perhaps I'm projecting a little bit of affection onto this boy because I have two boys of my own who lived through my initial diagnosis and recurrence as well. They are still young ... but this disease affects our children more than we can ever imagine.

Anyway, go check out facesforacure.com. Buy some space so we can all see we're in this together. We make a beautiful army, don't we?

Hair Loss Due to Cancer

2007-03-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

A wise young girl once said, "Cancer is about a whole lot more than just a bald head." She's absolutely right -- but the fact remains, it is extremely difficult for a woman who has part of her identity wrapped up in her hairstyle to face baldness. It is an outward tangible sign to the world ... yup, I have cancer, no doubt about it.

Facing hair loss as a chemotherapy side effect is frightening and emotionally charged. I had the honor of accompanying my mother to a wig shop in Connecticut (Just Wigs in Old Saybrook) where they treated her with the utmost respect and compassion. I've heard of other places offering equal care and concern to their customers as well ... custom wig makers like Joseph Paris Naturally in NYC and the Noelle Foundation at Noelle's Spa for Beauty and Wellness in Stamford, CT.

My mother can attest, however, that her wig from the American Cancer Society's tlc catalog was even more realistic than her custom made one ... go figure.

A division of the company behind Joseph Paris Naturally sponsors a great site you can visit for more information on hair loss due to chemotherapy.

A Spit Can Save Your Life

2007-03-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

Scientists have discovered a New Saliva Test that may help diagnose breast cancer.

I read in a medical journal that, "Mixed with substances from the bloodstream and the gastric and respiratory tracts, spit becomes a cocktail of bodily fluids. It contains proteins, hormones, viruses and billions of bacteria that can be used to detect everything from cystic fibrosis to AIDs."

It's safe, non-invasive and dentists can help with the diagnosis. And, hopefully, within the next ten years this technology will be in place.

This is perfect for women who've had double mastectomies and no longer have the use of mammography to aid detection; it's a great fear of mine and other women without breast tissue that cancer might grow on the chest wall or elsewhere in the body and remain undetected now that mammography isn't an option.

This new test? Worth all the spitting in the world if it saves just one life.

Digging to America

2007-03-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last month readers of The Breast Blog voted for Anne Tyler's novel, "Digging to America," as the first book for the monthly breast cancer book club selection.

Today the discussion begins!

"Digging to America" intertwines the lives of two families who share a common experience: adopting a little girl from Korea. From the opening chapter where the infant girls are greeted at the airport by the families to the last chapter where the families gather to celebrate the anniversary of that very arrival day, Anne Tyler offers a glimpse into the lives of families who adopt internationally.

While one child's (Jin-Ho's) family is typical American (if there is such a thing), the other child's (Susan's) family is Iranian-American. They eat Middle Eastern food and the grandmother (Maryam) switches from English to Farsi and talks talk about life 'in her country,' while trying to fit in a world away.

But of course these aren't the aspects of the story that I'll focus on here at The Breast Blog. I'm going to focus on the fact that at the start of the novel, JinHo's maternal grandmother (Connie) loses her battle to breast cancer. And towards the end of the novel we learn that Jin-Ho's mother (Bitsy) has breast cancer as well.

My opinion? I loved the international adoption theme because we have a daughter who was born in China. Because our daughter is our third child we do not celebrate her arrival day with fanfare; we celebrate her birthday because we celebrate her siblings' birthdays. But I understand the desire ... our daughter's 'gotcha day' is a day we'll never forget. Also, we do not use her Chinese name as her first name but we did choose to keep it as her middle name. I guess what I'm trying to say is I can relate to this facet of the story completely.

I enjoyed reading about the Iranian-American family because I am fascinated by cultures so unfamiliar to me, so foreign. When we traveled to China, I became intrigued by the perception the Chinese people had of Americans. I came to realize that Americans cannot begin to understand how we are viewed by other cultures, and though we have nothing to be ashamed of or guilty of, a little awareness of how we appear can't hurt. I'd love to learn if this is an honest representation of Iranian people living here in our country, those that immigrated and those of a second generation.

Now, onto the breast cancer ... I hated finding out that Connie wasn't going to live to see her granddaughter grow up. Perhaps that hit too close to home for me. My own mother just successfully battled ovarian cancer and it pained me to imagine she might have succumbed to the disease instead and not see my children grow. I hated reading about the adjustment it was for Connie's husband (Dave) after she died; facing the 'aloneness' and missing companionship. It made me think of my own father ... and each time Bitsy patted his hand with sympathy I pictured me consoling my dad.

When Bitsy herself was diagnosed ... I thought, of course. Then I thought what I've thought many times in my own life ... thank God those little girls didn't share their family's genes. What relief. I remembered this was fiction and not a memoir so nobody's life was really at stake but I still felt the same relief I feel that my daughter doesn't have a genetic risk of developing this dastard disease.

IMO, Anne Tyler painted a realistic portrait of the circumstances these two families faced, two families that could represent any family living in America. Though I found her inconsistent writing style (she continually changed perspective -- how irritating to me), I found her to be telling a credible story that kept my interest until the end. I kept thinking it could have read like a memoir had she stuck with one person's perspective the entire time (Maryam's?). Maybe I wanted that to be the case because so much of the book could have been a true story about my own life!

That's what I thought. Now it's your turn. Let me know what you thought. Leave your comments or email me your opinion/review at karenmlynch at gmail dot com and I can post them individually asap.

Breast Cancer Book Club Discussion

2007-03-21T04:49:00.000-07:00

Today is the day we'll start our discussion of the first book we chose to read in conjunction with The Breast Blog's Breast Cancer Book Club.

Here's how this is going to work: I announce the book, we read the book, I post a synopsis and my initial reaction to the book, you comment with your initial reaction to the book, I post a question for discussion, you comment with your answers.

Any questions on the logistics? Post them in the comments here.

Meanwhile, I'll announce next month's book in the next few hours. I will tell you this:
I was sent two copies of the next book by the author herself: one for me and one for a participant in The Breast Blog Breast Cancer Book Club. The more actively involved you are in this discussion, the more likely it will be that I send you a free copy of the next book!

Free Acupuncture

2007-03-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

For breast cancer recovery ladies and gentlemen! This service at a NYC clinic is sponsored by the nonprofit organization Breast Cancer Patient Resource Foundation and starts on April 1st. It is designed for breast cancer patients under financial duress.

I can tell you, though I didn't have acupuncture during my treatment, I did enjoy therapeutic massage and Reiki treatments at Yale's complementary therapy program. The days I had a service scheduled were ones I actually looked forward to.

So look into this program if you are in the NYC area and are undergoing treatment. And if you use it, come back here and let us know.

The UK's leading cancer charity

2007-03-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what the stats are in other countries, but if 1 in 8 women in the U.S. will develop breast cancer, then there are millions of women in the world that will develop breast cancer. I'm proud to grow my understanding of what other countries are doing for the cause. Like the UK:

Cancer Research UK: the UK's leading cancer charity

I won't get too cheesy and break out into the song, 'We're all in this together,' from High School Musical, but thank God we are.

Together we make a difference.

XM Satellite Radio Goes Pink

2007-03-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

I love my car's XM Radio -- I found my perfect station on XM, Channel 26 if you'd like to know, and it is all I want to listen to! But in the house we have Sirius Radio so I'm sunk. I know, if I could just get used to an iPod I could make my own play list. But I can't make that happen. Unless I'm listening to Bon Jovi, I just cannot remember who sings what song. I just know what I like when I hear it.

So, satellite radio is the way for me to go. And now I've found out about XMs Pink Pioneer inno ...

"Purchase a Special Edition Pink Pioneer inno from Circuit City or xmradio.com and together, XM, Circuit City and Pioneer will contribute a total of $30 per radio to the Komen Foundation for the first 5,000 radios sold and activated."

I smell a great Mother's Day gift!

XM Satellite Radio - America's #1 Satellite Radio Service

Live Pink Program

2007-03-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

The picture of this card makes me smile ... and now I want to put gold stars on my recreated nipple-less breasts, too!

The artist who donated this particular work to ZNE's Live Pink program must be smiling, too, knowing that a breast cancer survivor might be cheered up when she holds this particular card in her hands.

ZNE is an online community of mixed medium artists (if you're hung up on the name like I was, ZNE comes from the Italian word for "Variation": variaZioNE).

ZNE has added a great philanthropic project to their site. Through Live Pink, women struggling with breast cancer can be surrounded with inspirational artwork.

From their website:

"The program works like this: Artists create miniature pieces of original artwork that is given to Live Pink coordinators in hospitals, support centers, hospices, and other Breast Cancer related programs - for direct distribution to Breast Cancer patients and their families. The artists donate their art and the coordinators donate their time distributing the artwork."

Volunteers or wanna bes ... you can personally create art for Live Pink, you can register someone to receive a gift, you can be a distributor of the artwork, and pretty soon you can donate postage stamps, envelopes, printing, advertising or other materials of that nature to the site.

Check out their gallery here.

If you are the artist who created this card, let me know ... I'll add your name to this entry.

If you are another artist and you want to display your specific art on The Breast Blog, I can work to feature your images every so often here with a link to Live Pink or other program -- one that is connected to the cause -- email me to discuss at karenmlynch at gmail dot com.

Tykerb approved

2007-03-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

The US FDA announced today that the drug Tykerb has been approved for women with HER2+ tumors that have continued growing despite chemotherapy and use of the drug Herceptin.

Head over to the Glaxo (GlaxoSmithKline) home page to read more about what this pharmaceutical firm came up with to give hope to women with advanced/metastatic breast cancer.

Glaxo has also expanded their patient assistance program to include Tykerb ... a program that provides low income patients with access to their oncology products. Nice going GSK!

Here's the American Cancer Society Press Release on the approval of GSK's Tykerb: ACS :: New Drug Approved for Breast Cancer.

This Tykerb home page is coming soon ...

Breast Cancer Wikis

2007-03-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

You've heard of Wikipedia, haven't you? The online encyclopedia ... look up almost anything or anyone on Wikipedia and you'll be quite content with the results. If not, edit them. See, a 'wiki' is basically server software that allows users to create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. I could add to Wikipedia's page on breast cancer, for example, if I wanted to.

Here's another breast cancer wiki: Cancer stories, support and information

And another ... at OBGYN.net

Finally, one that mentions The Breast Blog specifically and is sending me quite a bit of traffic these days (thank you Jewcy): The Jewish Girls Guide to Genetic Testing

The thing that worries me about Wikis is that there isn't a credible source behind them -- they are written and edited by human beings. Not sure they are all going to be trusted authorities on a subject. But they are likely to point you in the right direction.

The Breast Blog Didn't Win

2007-03-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

The 2007 Bloggies winner for Best Topical Blog was not The Breast Blog -- the winner was a blog called PostSecret.

I posted my thoughts about this on A Writer's Blog so you can head over there to check out how I'm feeling.

Over here, however, all I want to say is ... I'll survive.

Stamps have raised $50.3M for breast cancer research

2007-03-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

Read this in Michigan's Citizen Patriot today:

"Dear Pat: When I buy stamps, I choose the breast cancer ones in memory of my mother. How much money has the sale of those stamps raised? Does it really go for research? A Spring Arbor reader.

Dear Reader: As of last summer, the breast cancer stamps, which sell for 45 cents instead of the standard 39 cents, raised $50.3 million since 1998 when they went on sale, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

Seventy percent of the net proceeds is earmarked for breast cancer research at the National Institutes of Health and 30 percent to the Department of Defense."

Yup ... worth it. Learn more about the stamps here! You can also look at the other fundraising stamps they have available ...

Woman Battling Breast Cancer Wins Dream Horse

2007-03-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

How totally cool is this? Lenora Kater has breast cancer and at the urging of her kids, she enters an essay contest to win a horse (she's always wanted a horse) and guess what ... she wins a horse! Renee's Friends Fund, a horse community in Colorado, made it happen.

This group of supporters is doing something amazing ... we're talking BIG. Dressage for the Cure, Polo for the Cure, with silent auctions and big sponsors. I only wish I were about to get to just one of these events!

WOW. I'm so impressed with this organization. WOW.

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

2007-03-08T08:15:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what is entailed in this surgery? Well, Lisa Marcucci, MD is a board-certified, practicing surgeon and critical care physician and blogger is online to tell us!

You can read all about the surgical details of breast cancer related procedures at her blog: Inside Surgery.

I just think this is so cool. So I checked out some procedures I'm proud to have had:

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy or Dissection (Breast)

Salpingo Oopherectomy and Total Hysterectomy

Pretty nifty that she does this in her free time ... but when does she sleep I wonder?

Are your boots made for walking?

2007-03-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

Mine sure are ... have you decided which events you are participating this year?

BB Bear (see image) is the mascot for the Burke Barnstormers, and he's become on of my favorite walkers. He's part of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer team from Northern Virginia. What a great idea, getting a team mascot. I love it.

Another great idea? Creating a team blog in addition to your online fundraising site. Check this one out:

Burke Barnstormers' Avon Walk Blog

Way to go ladies ... I'll be cheering you on each step of the way.

After the Tears

2007-03-06T18:50:00.000-08:00

You have to read this article on the YSC and LBBC Annual Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer ...

After the Tears - washingtonpost.com

Children Share Your Anxiety

2007-03-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

It is a mother's instinct to shelter her children from the anxiety of a cancer scare or worse, a depressing cancer diagnosis. But it is impossible to completely hide your emotions from them (nor is it wise -- but that's another post).

The most helpful thing you can do for your children when facing the kind of depression cancer brings on is get yourself the help you need. Counseling, therapy, guidance ... support ... not just because you will benefit but because your children will benefit.

In a study funded by the National Cancer Institute, researchers concluded that "children of depressed breast cancer patients were more likely to be concerned or anxious about their mother's cancer and its implication for their families." (ScienceDaily: Depression In Moms With Breast Cancer May Exacerbate Related Anxieties In Their Children)

When I faced my diagnoses, I looked into many support programs for my children (like the one sponsored by CancerCare for Kids) and ordered material from the American Cancer Society (a great workbook for kids to utilize when they just didn't have words). Read some ACS advice here if you have children's needs to consider.

I want to reiterate: If you are suffering from depression as a result of your breast cancer diagnosis, get help. Seek support from CancerCare, the American Cancer Society, or Y-Me if you feel you can't turn to your own oncologist for a referral to a hospital social worker.

It's the best thing you can do for you children.

Allies a comfort in fight vs. cancer

2007-03-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

The Young Survivors Coalition conference was a huge success (oh, how I wish I had been able to attend). More than 850 young breast cancer survivors made it, however ...

Did any of my readers get there? If you did, please share!

Allies a comfort in fight vs. cancer - Newsday.com

Cards for Cancer

2007-03-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

When word got out that I had cancer, loads of friends and family members took out their pens and note cards and whipped something off to me, heartfelt sentiments and all. I was touched; I kept every single one of them. Most of them were 'get well soon' or 'thinking of you' cards. Not one had the word, 'cancer,' pre-printed on them.

But apparently you can find a card dealing specifically with cancer if you are so inclined. Thank you Hallmark!

Check this article out:

Getting real: Now it's in the cards - Newsday.com