Strollerderby : breast cancer

10-Year-Old Battles Breast Cancer

Madeline Holler — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:02:00 GMT

When California 10-year-old Hannah Powell-Auslam felt a lump near her ribcage, she didn't think much of it. But her parents took her in to see a doctor and she eventually was sent for an ultrasound.

Doctors learned that the lump was actually a two-inch tumor. Hannah had secretory carcinoma, a slow-growing form of breast cancer, which has spread.

From CBSNews.com:

Hannah had a mastectomy. Now, her doctor says the cancer has spread to a lymph node, meaning more surgery or chemotherapy. But radiation is out.

"If you radiate the developing breast," [Dr. Helena] Chang says, "it will never grow develop fully, because it becomes atrophic."

ABC News reports that this type of cancer is exceedingly rare for girls Hannah's age. And also that her prognosis is good. Some are also cautioning parents to not fear for their own young daughters' health.

"I don't want the outcome to be that mothers are panicked across the country wanting to have their daughters in elementary and middle and high school to get mammograms or even clinical breast exams," [Lillie] Shockney, [administrative director of the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center in Baltimore, Md.] said. "This is a highly unusual situation."

The family is chronicling her treatments and battle against the disease at OurLittleSweetPea.com.

Still, makes you wonder what caused this girl's breast cancer. And whether we will be seeing more cancers in young kids, like this 8-year-old.

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Photo: CBSNews.com

Test Drive a Car for Mom - Fight Breast Cancer

JeanneSager — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:27:00 GMT

If the family car is sputtering, now may be a better time than you think to go price out a new one. And, no, this is not a "let's drive the economy" speech.

Ford has teamed up with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the company will be putting $20 toward the breast cancer fight for every test drive taken by families between now and June 1 (up to $1 million).

That's it. You don't have to buy one (although, of course, they want you to!). You just have to take the kids down to the dealership, strap them in the back and see how Ford fares at turning out family cars.

If nothing else, do it honor of Mom this Mother's Day - statistically, the chances she will end up with breast cancer are one in eight (higher if another member of the family has it). Find out what you have to do here and get driving.

Momma's Auction to Fight Breast Cancer

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:01:00 GMT

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, Maine Momma is doing something very special: Holding an auction of some ultra-modern and beautiful prints to raise money for a cure and to spread awareness.

I hope you click over to take a look, because these are definitely worth bidding on -- especially if you know her story. She's raising the money for herself, for friends, for family -- for anyone touched by the disease we all hope, one day, might be cured.

Please take a look.

(Hat tip to Greeblemonkey for the tip!)

Father and Daughter Battle Breast Cancer Together

JeanneSager — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:01:00 GMT

Usually the doc wants to know about mom and grandma when they ask for any history of breast cancer in the family. But men can get breast cancer too - a statistic that's rare, but not rare enough for Arnaldo Silva. The 58-year-old New Yorker found a lump in late 2006. A few months later, his daughter got the news that she, too, had breast cancer.

Vanessa Silva and her dad went through masectomies together after a blood test showed he had the breast cancer "gene." That's when Vanessa went for her own tests, which came back positive. They went through chemotherapy together. In late 2007, Vanessa, 32, was finished with treatment and declared "in remission." Her father got similar news in early 2008.

Like most of the nearly 1,800 men diagnosed with breast cancer every year, Arnaldo didn't think he could get breast cancer - because he doesn't have breasts. "That's the way I took it, I have no breasts," he told ABC News. But as one popular 2005 book reminded us, men have nipples . . . and that means they have breasts too.

And as the ABC News doc points out, man boobs have nothing to do with it (although if you have them, we have one solution). "It doesn't matter how skinny you are. It doesn't matter how heavy you are," Dr. Sharon Rosenbaum Smith said. "All men have breast tissue and can develop a breast cancer."

So Dads, it's time to join your partners in feeling yourself up once a month. Do it for your daughters. And your sons.

Image: ABC News

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Students Suspended for Hair Dyed Pink in Honor of School Nurse's Battle with Breast Cancer

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Students Suspended for Hair Dyed Pink in Honor of School Nurse's Battle with Breast Cancer

JeanneSager — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:27:00 GMT

It was a rare show of selflessness for a bunch of middle school students, but showing up with strips of pink in their hair last week earned a dozen Indiana pre-teens suspension. The kids said they were doing it in honor of the school nurse who recently passed away after a battle with breast cancer.

Their parents are refusing to make the kids wash the pink out of their hair, but the school is firm. Dyed hair, says the principal, is distracting.

No doubt the kids went about their impromptu remembrance - which for some kids was also a tribute to moms who've fought the battle and won - the wrong way. If you know hair dye is against the rules, why not slip on pink armbands or wear pink ribbons in your hair? Maybe approaching administration with the plan to begin with would have enabled a school-wide dispensation for the day to honor a faculty member who teachers must be mourning as well. Interviewed on camera, the principal expressed his regret for having to stick to the rules - he thinks it's a good idea. But the rules are the rules - no dyed hair.

You can't fault a principal for requiring every kid follow the same rules. But you can fault the rule.

It's just hair. Is it distracting in the morning when a kid shows up with blue hair? Yes. But show me something that won't get a bunch of hormonal pre-teens riled up. Exactly. Do we have to worry about kids flashing gang colors in schools today? Unfortunately, yes. But tell me how it's any different to have it in a hair streak than a barrette. It's just hair, which I'd rather kids were talking about then picking on the fat kid or spreading rumors that turn a girl into the class slut. It's just hair, which I'd rather my kid were playing with than drugs, booze or guns to get my attention.

When kids want to get attention, I'd like to see them doing it in positive ways - like joining up to dye their hair pink for breast cancer awareness. So maybe we could stop telling kids what they can't do and start telling them what they can do?

Image: WSBT

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Christina Applegate has double mastectomy

Brett Singer — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:30:00 GMT

MSNBC is reporting that Christina Applegate had a double mastectomy three weeks ago. She was diagnosed with cancer in one of her breasts earlier this month. She decided to have both breasts removed because, "Her mother battled breast cancer, and she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation linked to breast and ovarian cancer."

She plans to have reconstructive surgery, "over the next eight months," and seems to be dealing with the whole thing fairly well, all things considered: "I’m going to have cute boobs 'til I'm 90, so there’s that…I'll have the best boobs in the nursing home. I’ll be the envy of all the ladies around the bridge table."

Applegate has had an amazing career, especially if you consider where she started – as bimbo Kelly Bundy on "Married With Children" way back in 1987 on some new network called Fox. Her film appearances include "Anchorman" and "The Sweetest Thing", and she was the main draw for the sitcoms "Jesse" (42 episodes) and "Samantha Who?" (15 episodes and counting, currently nominated for an Emmy). She also appeared on Broadway in "Sweet Charity." Not bad for someone who began as a pure lust object for a whole bunch of boys (myself included). I'm glad to hear she's cancer free (I'm glad to hear anyone is cancer free, frankly), and that she sounds like she's dealing with what must be a very traumatic medical procedure as well as she can.

One side note: "Applegate’s cancer was detected early through a doctor-ordered MRI. She said she’s starting a program to help women at high risk for breast cancer to meet the costs of an MRI, which is not always covered by insurance." I didn't realize MRIs weren't always covered by health insurance; if that's true, that is a very bad thing.

Source/image: MSNBC

Breast Self-Exams May Do More Harm Than Good

Amy S.F. Lutz — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:32:00 GMT

Every year, my OB/GYN asks if I've been doing monthly breast self-exams. And every year, I say, "Once in a while," which is also what I say when my hygienist asks if I floss, and is my way of saying, "Never."

Now, it turns out I may have been right to skip that previously recommended self-groping. Scientists from the Cochrane Collaboration - a global panel that examines medical research - recently reported that two independent studies confirmed there was virtually no difference in the number of breast cancer deaths between groups of women who were taught to do breast exams and control groups that weren't.

Even worse for the pro-self-examination camp, however, was the finding that self-examiners were at a higher risk of getting unnecessary procedures - twice as many underwent biopsies that yielded negative results than did women who didn't self-examine. And biopsies and the other tests they may lead to can cause scars, deformities and emotional trauma.

What does this mean? Well, if you believe the benefits of possibly catching a malignant tumor outweigh the risks of unnecessary surgery, then by all means continue to self-examine. After all, about 35% of breast cancer patients discovered their own lumps - although doctors aren't clear whether those women were deliberately self-examining when they found the lump, or whether it was accidental, or noticed because of discomfort, etc. But if you haven't been self-examining and have felt bad about it, don't: Debbie Saslow, of the American Cancer Society, says, "Women who don't want to do breast self-exams shouldn't feel guilty about it."

Attack of the Strippers

Brett Singer — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:00:00 GMT

During a children's golf tournament in Broomfield, Colorado, the children were exposed to -- and I hope you are sitting down as you read this -- strippers. That's right. They actually saw women who dance and take their clothes off while men throw money at them.

Were the women naked? No. Were they -- again, stay seated, this is a bombshell that could shake you to the very core of your being -- scantily clad? Yes, dear reader, they were. Undies. According to CBSNews.com, the children wanted to know why "the men joining the strippers had water guns and why the women wore only their underwear." (That must have been a fun conversation.) Evelyn Koch, the manager of the golf course, apologized for the fact that the "children were present when the strippers arrived."

As you may have guessed, I don't think this is a very big deal. I mean, who cares? The thing about kids and certain things that people have problems with is that oftentimes the kids don't really notice or care. This, methinks, is one of those times. Maybe its because I live in Manhattan, and walk past a strip club every morning when I walk my youngest son to school. Granted, it's early in the morning and there's not any activity going on. But, like, who cares?

For the record, the barely naked ladies were participating in a charity golf outing to benefit a breast cancer organization. The kids weren't raising money for anything. Take that, moral majority!

image: golflogic

Exercise During Adolescence Decreases Breast Cancer Risk

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Researchers have long advised middle-aged women that regular exercise decreases the risk of breast cancer. But now they’ve discovered that being active beginning at age 12 substantially affects breast cancer risk as well. In a survey of 65,000 women aged 24 to 42, those who had regularly exercised as teens and young adults decreases had a 23 percent lower chance of getting pre-menopausal breast cancer than those who'd been inactive.

This is sad news if, like me, your idea of exercise in high school was to walk to 7/11 and buy a loaf of Wonder Bread and a jar of marshmallow Fluff. (And that, folks, is the result of having strict health nuts for parents. Be forewarned.)

If you have daughters between the ages of 12 and 22—the years when regular activity has the greatest affect on pre-menopausal breast cancer risk—you don’t have to go hire them a personal trainer: just encourage them to do at least three hours and 15 minutes of vigorous activity a week, or 13 hours of walking (well, I did go to 7/11 quite a lot). While older women are encouraged to exercise to reduce fat tissue, a main producer of estrogen, the theory behind the benefits of youthful exercise is that physical activity itself lowers estrogen levels. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that once I got seriously into yoga, my boyfriend became much less irritating.

Photo: www.more4kids.info

Study: Alcohol May Lead to Breast Cancer

Cole Gamble — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Over the recent years it seems there’s been a tug of war between the supposed benefits of alcohol versus the supposed negatives. Who didn’t cheer when they heard the news that a glass of wine or beer is good for the heart? I and my heart jumped for joy, even though my liver was a little more reticent on the subject.

Well, chalk up this news up to a big fat negative for you booze lovers. A recent study of more than 184,000 women found there may be a link between alcohol and breast cancer. The study found that women who had one to two drinks a day have a 32 percent greater chance of developing a tumor. Women who drink three more a day get bumped up to 51.

The people behind the study do not yet believe the evidence is conclusive enough to make a public health recommendation.

Breast cancer is the second highest cancer killer of women after lung cancer.

After news like that, I could use a drink, couldn’t you?

Photo: www.vegetarianorganicblog.com

Strollerderby Playdate: Blogging Pink

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:57:00 GMT

A few months ago, I looked around my church and gasped out loud to realize how many women sitting around me were in the middle of the the fight of their lives and how many women around me have survived that same fight against cancer growing in their breasts, colons, ovaries and in other corners of their otherwise healthy bodies. I am humbled by the strength I see in these women, the ability to keep on with their lives and children and work. During October, as we honor all those people who had, have or will be diagnosed with breast cancer, I think it is also the right time to lift up the bloggers who are courageously posting their experiences with grace, humor, honesty and awareness. Here's to you, beautiful women with bright, shining light:

Toddler Planet's WhyMommy has a team built up around her to stand with her during breast cancer treatment. Her writing will call you to do the same. Be sure to read what WhyMommy has to say about pink stuff as pom pons for this month.

J's Daughter began by writing about the ovarian cancer that took her mother's life and now writes about saving her own life and others. This will stop you in your tracks.

Cancer Bitch is fierce. You may get that impression by the photos in the sidebar.

The Merits of the Case is LawMom's documented journey through cancer, law school and mothering. You can help her win a scholarship to navigate all that by reading this post.

The Cancer Grrrl keeps it real while keeping it (like I like it) with the grrr in grrrl.

A Woman of Many Parts is a mother from London who writes poignantly about secondary cancer, being scared and moments of sweet forgetting.

Limbodacious is funny and smart and wants you to do what she says. She's not kidding. Seriously, do it.

Do you know someone who is blogging their journey through cancer? Share a link to their blog in the comments so we can give them some love, too.

Elizabeth Edwards' Cancer Returns

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:02:00 GMT

Presidential hopeful John Edwards held a press conference today to announce that his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, has cancer once more. Mrs. Edwards is a breast cancer survivor. Her cancer was thought to be in remission, but is has reappeared in her bone. The cancer is not cureable, but it is treatable. Edwards vowed that despite his wife's cancer, his campaign will go on. The Edwards' have four children, Cate, Emma Claire, and Jack. Oldest son Wade was killed in a car crash in 1996 when he was 16. Emma Claire and Jack were born following his death.

This story is a very personal one for me. I had the extreme privilege of meeting Mrs. Edwards last year when she was on her book tour for Saving Graces (a book I highly recommend). She wanted to meet with "mom bloggers" to chat about issues that were important to mothers and I was invited along with other Silicon Valley Mom Bloggers. Yes, she was promoting her book, but there was no ulterior motive. We talked about politics, the state of the nation, medical issues, and health care—not about her book.

Elizabeth Edwards is and will always be one of my heroes. I wish her the best and hope she lives a long life. We need her.

[photo credit: Stefania Pomponi Butler]

Strollerderby : breast cancer

10-Year-Old Battles Breast Cancer

They Say: Moms, It's Still Your Fault. Well, Yours and Daycare

Top 10 Pregnancy and Birth World Records

Should Healthcare Reform Start in the Maternity Ward?

City's 5th Co-Sleeping Death in 10 Weeks Reported

550-Pound Woman Gives Birth

Test Drive a Car for Mom - Fight Breast Cancer

Motherproofing the Motor City

What Do Madonna and Peanut Butter Have in Common?

Girl Gets Kidney from Mom AND Dad

Momma's Auction to Fight Breast Cancer

Father and Daughter Battle Breast Cancer Together

Students Suspended for Hair Dyed Pink in Honor of School Nurse's Battle with Breast Cancer

Christina Applegate has double mastectomy

Breast Self-Exams May Do More Harm Than Good

Attack of the Strippers

Exercise During Adolescence Decreases Breast Cancer Risk

Study: Alcohol May Lead to Breast Cancer

Strollerderby Playdate: Blogging Pink

Elizabeth Edwards' Cancer Returns