Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. One of the largest fundraising and awareness events out there is the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. Making Strides officially started in 1993. However, it has a longer history than that. Boston area cancer survivor Margie Gould Rath started Making Strides Against Cancer in 1984 as a way to celebrate cancer survivors and raise funds for volunteers and survivors. The first event started with just two hundred participants… and boy, has it grown. Since the event began, close to five million people have participated in the walk to raise awareness and … Continue reading

Hormone Replacement Therapy: Risks and Precautions

Considering hormone replacement therapy? Here are some things to think about. The FDA recommends that certain women do not use hormone replacement therapy: Women who might be pregnant Women with a personal history of breast or ovarian cancer Women with a personal history of certain forms of endometrial cancer Women with a personal history of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, heart attack, or stroke Women who have active liver disease. (Though women with liver disease may be able to use hormone replacement therapy in patch form.) If you fall into those categories, talk to your doctors about alternative, non-hormonal treatments … Continue reading

Big Changes in a Little Marriage

On Wednesday March 12 my sister took my mom to Rocky Mountain Urgent Care in Aurora, Colorado, after my mom called her saying she didn’t feel right, she felt like she was going to die and could my sister please come take her somewhere, anywhere after she got off work. When they got to the urgent care center my mom’s oxygen saturation level was at 71 percent so they took some x-rays. The pneumonia she’d had last year had returned –and the nodules on her lung they’d also spotted last year had grown. The Nodules My mom was afraid of … Continue reading

Not All Breast Cancer Patients Need Chemotherapy

Two recent studies took a look at whether or not chemotherapy is the best treatment for breast cancer — with interesting results. The studies were reported at the 31st Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, an annual gathering of scientists from around the world. One study found that women were less likely to have a relapse or die if treated with a less harsh drug than the standard chemotherapy drug, Adriamycin. One study (from Loyola University in Chicago, IL) used a gene test to help predict whether or not a woman actually needs chemotherapy to treat breast cancer — or … Continue reading

Cancer Statistics

Prevention magazine recently teamed up with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to poll American women about cancer. They got some interesting results! More than fifty percent of women polled have a close friend or relative who has been diagnosed with cancer. That is a mixed blessing — it means there are a lot of people with cancer, but it also means that a lot of women are getting tested. 92% of women over forty are scheduling mammograms to detect breast cancer. 85% of women surveyed had a mammogram in the last two years. 94% of women polled … Continue reading

How You Can Fight Breast Cancer

You are the expert when it comes to your breasts. You have the power to make choices that can protect you against breast cancer. Here are some things you can do to fight breast cancer on a personal level and on a global level! Educate yourself. Breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in women — right behind non-melanoma skin cancer. Many women have no risk factors besides being female and aging. Keep up with the latest news and statistics from Susan G. Komen for the Cure (www.Komen.org) and the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org). Help educate others! Spread … Continue reading

The Marriage Blog Week in Review for October 15-21

Karri and I tackled some heavy issues this week in the Marriage Blog. In case you missed any of it, here’s your Week in Review to catch you up with what we wrote on: Monday, October 15 For National Domestic Violence Awareness Month I researched what domestic violence is, who it affects, and how to deal with it. What I came up with was seven facts to be aware of. Karri examined the effect having a baby has on a marriage, including the stresses and the roller coaster of emotions couples may go through. Tuesday, October 16 A bad experience … Continue reading

The Day a Lump Entered My Marriage – Part II

In Part I I told about the day I found a lump in my breast. Here’s what happened after: All Alone Nothing looked brighter the next morning. Wayne was a mess, and at first this freaked me out more. I needed him to pull it together. I needed him to be strong to carry me through. Or so I thought. When I called the doctor that morning, she got me right in. Wayne could not get off work to come with me so I had to go alone. The doctor also freaked at the size of the lump and scheduled … Continue reading

The Day a Lump Entered My Marriage – Part I

For National Breast Cancer Awareness month, I thought I’d share an experience that affected Wayne and I deeply. The Find In 2001, I kept experiencing a series of sharp pains in my right breast. I first noticed it as I was raking leaves and then chasing Murph through them. Whenever I bounced, I’d feel a piercing stab through my nipple. In general that breast had seemed more tender than usual at the time, but any kind of jolting movement suddenly brought on that lancing hot sensation. I went inside and felt around the area and couldn’t believe what I was … Continue reading