Sometimes you probably get sick of me posting all the current research. But this article is pretty good and worth a read. Especially if you want to avoid cancer.
Cancer Tip: Skip the Wine
People ask me all the time what I do to prevent recurrence. The two big things are: lots of raw fruits and vegetables, (I also eat cooked, but I always try to have several raw during my day. And I eat lots that are high in antioxidants like brocolli and any close relative of the broccoli, like Kale or cauliflower.), And then I excercise at least 5 days a week. What I don’t do is drink alcohol. I know, you’ve all heard health benefits, but with a history of breast cancer I stay away from it. Here’s why.
Partners in Pink
For all you Michiganders who hail from the Kalamazoo area. I’m happy to announce a new “support group!” Starting October 7th, there is a new support group for women who have been impacted by breast cancer. It will meet at the Portage Free Methodist Church the first Wednesday of every month from 6:30-8:00 pm. Here’s a really cool thing too….there’s free childcare! As a young woman with breast cancer I totally love that! Call the church office if you need more info: (269) 327-5312. I’ll be there!
Lanolin: Save the Skin (part 2)
It’s become apparent to me that lots of people are out there searching for relief from the pain of radiation. The reason being is that my post on “save the skin” gets the most hits of anything I’ve written….lol! WordPress gives you your top posts daily and that one is the one that gets the most hits usually. The second one is the boob cake from my “bye-bye boobs party.” Not sure about that one, but it is what it is….lol!
So after I posted the “save the skin” post I realized I hadn’t included my very favorite moisturizer that I used regularly throughout radiation. Even now I use it almost weekly on my reconstruction scars.
When I was nursing my children I discovered a product that would heal my cracked nipples over-night. If I was ever getting sore I just dabbed some on and by morning, whatever soreness was completely gone. Lansinoh is basically pure lanolin. It’s ultra gooey so I would only put it on at night before bed and I only used it a few times a week. But it is probably the best moisturizer out there for dry skin. It’s pretty thick but if you put a glob on your skin and wait a few minutes it will soften from your body heat and then you can rub it in to your sore radiated skin. Go ahead and do it thick, it will soak in by morning.
You can get it at Target and it looks like this
Clergygirl Cancer Councel: “Save the Skin”
My skin has taken quite an assault through this breast cancer journey. First I had glowing clear skin through chemo. I’m not really sure why that was, but for me it must have killed everything including blackheads.
Then it was the port and my mastectomies. My first scar lines.
Then it was radiation. My radiated area wasn’t just a 4 inch by 4 inch area. Because it was inflammatory breast cancer and it was in both sides they radiated my chest, back and my neck up to my chin.
Most recently my skin has taken a beating in my reconstruction. I have the tummy tuck scar and scars around each breast. And as far as I’m concerned, I don’t want to spend $15 on a bottle of scar gel from the drugstore when it will only last me a few days. Seriously, I have that much scaring to deal with.
I don’t admit to being an expert in skin healing but all of my doctor’s have been amazed at how quickly my scars have healed and how well I fared in radiation. I guess when you radiate that large of an area on both sides they don’t have much hope that you’re not going to blister and bubble. And guess what…..my skin never broke. I got red, very red, but my skin stayed clear. So I’m going to share a few things I have used and am still using as I recover from the reconstruction.
Aloe.
Everyone likes aloe for burn relief. I went for the purest aloe I could find. I love putting aloe on in the morning because it absorbs quickly and I can get dressed without feeling like my clothes are getting all gooey.
You can find a link in the main page sidebar for the use of turmeric during radiation. Not only is turmeric thought to fight tumors, but it’s good for the skin. I took capsule form throughout my radiation and started taking it again through my reconstruction for wound healing.
Vitamin E.
Overall well known for scar healing. I lather this on at night before bed. It’s also great as massage oil for working to loosen the scar once it has healed.
I know….comfrey? If it’s spring where you are, comfrey is starting to emerge from it’s winter slumber. Since being diagnosed with cancer I have dabbled in herbal healing. A friend teaches classes near me and made me a wonderful comfrey infused olive oil after my mastectomies. I used every last drop. I found a comfrey-aloe salve later and have used that most recently. You really can make your own if you want, all you need is comfrey leaves, roots and olive oil!
This is probably my favorite of all of them. I have a blend of grape seed and vitamin e oil and I use it religiously before bed, and after my shower. There is lots of research that says grape seed oil protects from skin cancer and aids healing.
Updated: I’ve added another great skin moisturizer I use here.
I Was Diagnosed With IBC When Pregnant/Nursing, on Facebook
I’ve started a page on facebook specifically for women who were diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer while pregnant or nursing and who were either misdiagnosed, put off treatment, thought they had a plugged duct or mastitis. I’m doing this so I can connect with other women who went through this experience and hopefully in the very near future I want to start an informational web site for women who have mastitis that won’t go away…and need to know the possibilty is there. I had never heard of IBC. I don’t want to “freak out” breast feeding moms but at the same time I know IBC is very fast spreading and information and treatment early is key to survival. So if you know of someone who was diagnosed with IBC when they were pregnant or nursing, please let them know about this facebook page.
Health Care Rantings….
I know people have a lot of things they are concerned about in the upcoming elections and I am no exception. This year the issue of health care has come front a center for me. I want to share with you why it should be for you as well.
After going through a health crisis like inflammatory breast cancer I realize how fortunate we are to live in the United States. I just placed a call to the West Michigan Cancer Canter and they confirmed what I was pretty sure I knew. If you don’t have insurance they will treat you regardless of your ability to pay and they will use whatever means they have available to help cover your cost of care.
I have also read many articles that confirm that our crisis in the US is not the care we receive as much as it is the cost of care and the cost of insurance.
With that said I have read a little bit about universal health coverage. I have read enough to understand if I lived in Canada or Europe I would probably not be getting ready to spend the holiday season with my family. I read differing opinions….but the bottom line is that if you live in a country with universal health care your wait time can be as much as 22 months for an MRI.
When I was diagnosed with Inflammatory breast cancer I had a CAT scan at U of M that revealed something questionable in my other breast. Two days later I had an MRI that revealed a second tumor (MRI’s are one of the most conclusive scans for determining tumors). Had I not had these scans available to me my other tumor might have gone completely unnoticed until too late.
Inflammatory breast cancer is also a rare, dangerous kind of breast cancer that spreads very quickly. It starts in the lymphatic system which means that it is often metastasized before it is found. 6 months is often too late.
What would I have done if I lived in Canada?
I want to hope that because my situation was urgent I would have gotten care quicker than usual….but when I read about health care in other industrialized nations (the US is the only wealthy industrialized nation without universal health care) I have to wonder.
I recently watched the movie “Living Proof” about the drug herceptin that saved my life. You can watch the movie online hereand I’ll just tell you I am the woman “Barb” who had a complete cure. My tumors were completely gone with herceptin and chemo. It is a miracle drug for me and thousands of women around the world.
What you need to know is that women in Canada and Europe had to beg and take legel action to get herceptin. What you also need to know is that many of these women were given only months to live. Not very long to battle the government to get life-saving medicine. Here’s one woman’s story.
I’m not trying to scare you, and we certainly know the FDA has its own issues….but having universal health care means more government bureaucracy and more government control deciding what drug you can and can’t have. Do you want the government deciding you shouldn’t have herceptin when it is the only option you have to save your life? Here’s a whole article that touches on more concerns with universal health care. Herceptin is a very expensive drug….and because it was so expensive….France (WHO #1 pick for health care in the world) did not want to approve it. Not because it didn’t save lives, but because it was too expensive! How’s that for making sure everybody has health care! Let’s dumb it down to make sure everybody gets it!
This should matter to you when you vote because one out of six women will get breast cancer and one out of three people in the US will get cancer. Your friend, your mother, your child…..maybe even you!
I want to know that if I need good health care quickly I have it available to me…..and for the most part I do. I want to know that if my child gets cancer or is injured that I will get the scans and the drugs I need to proceed with the very best life-saving treatment possible. I don’t know of one emergency room in the US that would turn me away if I brought my seriously ill child to them.
It does matter to me that so many people in the US are uninsured. But the truth is….even if you aren’t insured you will still get treated in the US. Bankruptcy is always a possibility…..although unlikely with the assistance out there if you’re willing to do paperwork. Bronson Hospital has paid our bill twice when we had difficulty with our deductible.
The health care crisis has more to do with cost and insurance than it does with the quality of care. I like the McCain plan because it addresses the problem of COST and the need for competition, not just a fair playing field. Mandating a fair playing field when there isn’t a need for one means universal coverage which means slow care and government deciding on our medicine based on cost which will result in inadequate care for everyone.
Even U of M told me they only financially assist those with NO health coverage at all. So I was left with a $3,000 bill from my deductible. Did I like that bill? No…..but I liked the idea of living a lot more and set up a payment plan.
“Spreading the wealth” sounds really great…..but it might not be as good as it sounds if you look closely. I for one don’t want the government more involved in my health decisions from what drugs are available to me to vaccinating my children.
Thanks for letting me air my concerns and happy voting!
Living Proof Premiers on Lifetime
Thanks Michelle for tipping me off on this! Herceptin is saving my life and there may be a vaccine in the near future to keep from getting Her2 positive breast cancer because of this drug!
“Living Proof” will premier on October 18th on Lifetime and is about the doctor who developed herceptin.
Think Before You Pink
I’ve been quieter than usual. I’m not sure why. Radiation is going pretty well. My skin is fairing well and I am past the half-way point. I can now see pink outlines where the radiation covers and I feel sunburned. I continue to lather on the aloe gel and lansinoh. Yes….I am using something for breastfeeding moms but it works phenomenally well. It is very greasy but I slather it all over me every couple of nights and I think it is saving my skin. It is pure lanolin. I also use vitamin E oil sometimes at night too.
There are two issues keeping me from writing. The first is fatigue. Which I assume is from radiation. So I have given in and decided sleeping during Elijah’s nap is quite alright for a few weeks here. The second reason is my eyes. I’m struggling still with dry eyes and I’m beginning to wonder if I need bifocals? Hopefully they will heal in time once my cells recover from all that chemo I had.
On another note it’s Breast Cancer awareness month and another mother’s with cancer blogger posted this web site that I thought I would share called Think Before You Pink which challenges companies to accountability for pink ribbon practices. There are a lot of pink ribbons out there so ask questions about what you’re buying and how the proceeds or products effect breast cancer.
I also spotted this web site through Ford with some really cool apparel and gifts. I thought they might make some fun Christmas gifts. It’s at www.fordcares.com
My Letter to La Leche League
I promised I would write a letter to LLL and well…..I finally did it. Here it is:
Dear La Leche League,
I am the mother of three children. All were breastfed. The first two were breastfed well past the age of two. When my third child was about 10 months old I developed a plugged duct. As a Bradley Method Instructor I thought I knew the tricks to get it out. I massaged, put a warm compress on, took warm showers, ibuprofen, etc. When my plugged duct did not go away I sought help from LLL and other internet sources. My sister is a LLL leader and I have several friends who are LLL leaders so I also sought their counsel.
After a month or so I sought medical help. My family doctor agreed it looked like a plugged duct. Same things…..massage, compress, etc. After 6 weeks I called my midwife and she left a message with the nurse to try lecithin and echinacea. I tried this and thought it looked a bit better but by two months my breast was swollen, red, and hot. It had a rash, looked pitted and my nipple was inverting. I kept looking at web sites but I couldn’t figure out why my breast seemed to have a fever and I didn’t.
My husband finally told me I needed to get in to a doctor again. This time I insisted (I had called three times and been put off by my Ob/Gyn receptionists who kept asking if I had a fever). I finally saw a doctor at 4 pm, two months after I had first thought I had a plugged duct. A week later on February 3rd I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer.
Inflammatory breast cancer will only affect 5-6% of breast cancer patients, but it is very dangerous and very deadly if not caught soon enough. I am lucky I only let it go for 2-3 months. After chemo and a double mastectomy I am cancer free. I will start radiation in a week. I have met many women who have not been so lucky. I am horrified when I read how many women think they have plugged ducts while breastfeeding or pregnant. Most women who get IBC will be either pregnant, breastfeeding or in menopause. But if a woman gets cancer before the age of 40 it is so much more aggressive. Catching it early is critical.
I realize this is a sensitive issue because in no way do I want to scare women from breastfeeding. I certainly thought I was at low risk because I breastfed! But I would ask that you consider including in your literature online, your publications and in the training of your leaders that a plugged duct should not last more than two weeks. I would strongly urge you to put the symptoms of IBC somewhere on your site and encourage women to seek medical attention if it lasts more than two weeks.
I am quite certain you would save lives if you did this. A woman who I blogged with recently passed away from IBC. She noticed a plugged duct when she was pregnant but waited till her son was 5 months old to seek medical attention. It was too late. It had spread to her upper lymph system. She had six children. You can read about punk rock mommy here.
LLL was a wonderful resource for me before I had children. I was considered a champion nurser by the nurses after the birth of my first child because we nursed so well! I loved going to meetings and require my Bradley students to attend meetings and read The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. I recently donated on behalf of my sister who has assisted dozens of women on their breastfeeding journey. So of course LLL was the first place I looked for help.
Please continue to advocate on behalf of all women by sharing as much information as possible and making sure women have all the information they need to not only breastfeed healthy babies but live healthy lives themselves.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Starr-Reivitt
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