Strong bones, less cancer

So I just found out that I’m osteopenic, the step between fine and osteoporosis, and have started a new prescription (boo). Now here’s something that may be helping my bones and reducing my cancer risk (Yippee). This is really new research and it may not pan out down the road but it is exciting for those of us who had premenopausal breast cancer. My poor oncologist, our next appointment will be along one.

Here’s the link 🙂

http://news.yahoo.cohttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080531/ap_on_he_me/med_breast_cancer_bone_drugm/s/ap/20080531/ap_on_he_me/med_breast_cancer_bone_drug

Kennedy and cancer legislation

This is legislation that everyone who is reading this blog  needs to keep a close eye on.  If you are reading this it means that cancer has had an effect on your life.  No one knows what the future holds for Senator Ted Kennedy but he is putting energy and effort into fighting a health battle that touches so many of us.  

According to the Chicago Tribune, Sen. Edward Kennedy’s battle with a malignant brain tumor is likely to put a dramatic personal stamp on a health care cause he first championed nearly 40 years ago: The nation’s war on cancer.

The bill Kennedy plans to put forth seeks to improve the coordination of cancer research, prevention and treatment while giving more money to the National Cancer Institute and other public research agencies.

Let’s watch this and if the legislation is good then let’s advocate for our own self interest as well as those still to come.

Nausea and freebies

Never let it be said I don’t share with my readers. The link below is from Aloxi and they have a patient support kit that includes: Booklets about their product and about avoiding nausea and vomiting as well as a digital thermometer, playing cards, lip balm and more

https://www.cancerfacts.com/Secure/Campaign/OrderForm.asp?CCId=18

F*(&*&%^ing side effects

So, I’ve been taking Femara for 14 months.  I had a bone density scan done before I started which was normal and as of today I have osteopenia so now I have yet more pills to take.  Have any of you had this?  I’m just frustrated that this never seems to stop.  I think the biggest misunderstanding about cancer is that when you finish treatment you’re done.  As much as I wish that were the case it’s just not.  Drop a note if you’ve had a similar  experience.                

Stand up to Cancer

There’s been some talk and now it is official. ABC, CBS and NBC will donate one hour of simultaneous commercial-free prime time for a nationally televised fundraising event to air on September 5, 2008 (8 pm EDT and PDT), aimed at rallying the public around the goal of ending cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death.

I’m not quite sure how this is going to work. It sounds like a cross between a telethon and a series of public service announcements but with the heavyweights behind this I don’t know how it could not be helpful. I do hope that they block that same hour on all of the additional stations they control (like during 9/11).

And I do love the bit about this starting when a TV producer (Noreen Fraser) met a movie producer (Laura Ziskin) across the chemo room and asked for an introduction.

“The idea of setting aside an hour of prime time to raise money for cancer had its origins in the efforts of several different groups of people, including those working in television and in the film community in Hollywood.

Mr. Zucker said in an interview that it was an idea that he and Ms. Couric had discussed before she left NBC.

“I think we both thought it was a good idea,” he said. “When she moved over to CBS, she talked about it with some folks over there.” Among them was Leslie Moonves, the president of CBS.

Meanwhile, around the same time, a fortunate thing happened in the chemotherapy room of a Los Angeles doctor: Noreen Fraser, a television producer, spied Laura Ziskin, a movie producer. Both were receiving treatment for breast cancer, and Ms. Fraser later asked the doctor to make an introduction.

When they eventually spoke, Ms. Fraser, who also helps lead a foundation dedicated to raising money for women’s cancers, floated the notion of a cable TV special, said Ms. Ziskin, whose many producing credits include the “Spider-man” series, “Pretty Woman” and “As Good as It Gets.” “I wanted a bigger platform,” said Ms. Ziskin, who, inspired by Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” thought she might make a documentary.

“I am a person living with cancer,” Ms. Ziskin said, “and I’m frustrated by the pace of new therapies to save my live and other people’s lives.” via: avsforum.com

The website for the project is up at www.standup2cancer.org

National Cancer Institute Updates

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute has some updated research that effects those of us with sisters or daughters. As someone with both I’ll just pass this on.

• “Sisters of women diagnosed with breast cancer still have an increased risk of breast cancer 20 years after diagnosis of the sister, suggesting that women live with the burden of familial breast cancer for their lifetime,” the authors write.

• Women who engaged in leisure-time exercise between the ages of 12 and 35 have a lower risk of developing premenopausal cancer than do women who were less active.
• The full articles are available at http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/ and are pretty technical. A more readable summary is located here http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/107445.php

Traditional medicine treats pancreatic cancer

As a cancer survivor I have to say that pancreatic cancer is terrifying because it generally presents so late in the disease process. I am thrilled to pass along any good news in its treatment. Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have found that thymoquinone, an extract of nigella sativa seed oil, blocked pancreatic cancer cell growth and killed the cells by enhancing the process of programmed cell death. This herb has been part of Middle Eastern Traditional medicine for many years.

http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/news/2007/article16250.html

Rhona Brankin

Rhona Brankin a Labour Co-operative politician and was first elected to represent Midlothian in the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and was re-elected in 2003 and 2007. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2000 and had a mastectomy. She was highly praised by cancer advocacy groups for being open about her diagnosis and treatment. She is married with two grown daughters.

Legislative updates

• Update on HR1157 a bill to authorize a five-year, $40 million grant program for the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences to fund research into environmental factors that might cause breast cancer.
• Update on HR 758 that would require health cases providers to expand hospital-stay coverage for women undergoing breast cancer surgery.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/108532.php

Disabled

I need your advice.  My Darling husband and I are going to Bonnaroo in a couple of weeks and are terribly excited.  Here’s the problem.  I’ve done all the cancer treatments and everything and they’ve been finished for over a year now.  I’m taking my Femara as prescribed but it has come with a couple of side effects.  My docs agree that since the tendinitis in both of my wrists and the fasciitis in both of my feet started approximately one month after I started the Femara that it is likely the cause.  I’ll be finishing OT this week for the tendinitis and I am the poster child for OT.  Yippee!!! The work that they did and taught me to do brought me back to pre Femara days.

The feet however, are a different story.  I am seeing a podiatrist and will  have orthotics made next week.  I am receiving cortisone shots and the next round will be next week as well.  I can walk, and do on a regular basis.  I don’t need a handicap placard or anything to go to the grocery store but much more than a mile and I’m a hurting unit.  Bonnaroo includes camping and you don’t know where your campsite will be assigned until you get there.  It could be as close as 3/5 of a mile to nearly 3 miles (one way) from your campsite to the concerts.

I know my doctor would write up anything that I need to get a temporary placard and camp in the handicap accessible site which are 3/5 of a mile.  I am completely torn.  I’ve not used my illness to my own benefit, nor do I consider myself to have a disability but I fear I might if I try to hike 6 miles a day, minimum.

What do you think?  What should I do, take my chances with random assigned camping or plan to go into handicap accessible and get the documentation that I need?