a man, a boat and some respite
I was listening to the radio this morning and I heard an interview with a man who was sitting in a boat outside his flooded home in Calgary, fishing. He said that his furnace, freezer, everything in his basement and much of his first floor were submerged in water but he was making the best of it."People pay thousands of dollars to do what I'm doing. How often do the fish come to you?" he asked the interviewer. "I can sit and be miserable or hang out like this and keep a smile on my face for a couple of days."I was quite taken aback with this interview. At first, it seemed like an incomprehensible attitude to have in the fa...
Source: Not just about cancer - June 24, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: joy breast cancer lucky news community grief cancer blog good stuff Source Type: blogs
what did i do wrong?
OK internet, help me out here:I've been looking for a recipe for healthy snack bars, to replace store bought "chewy" bars. The bars can't contain nuts or peanuts.My nutritionist sent me a recipe for Chocolate Date Protein bars. I made the bars, following the recipe exactly and ended up with a very, very tasty paste - too sticky to be rolled into balls, let alone made into bars.She's away indefinitely and I can't find a comparable recipe online. Can someone figure out how to give these bars more integrity?I used ground hemp. Could that be the problem? Is it possible to buy whole seeds? Would that help?I don't want to post s...
Source: Not just about cancer - June 16, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: community good stuff food Source Type: blogs
learn how to be a better advocate
The Canadian Breast Cancer Network has announced that it will be holding an "Advocacy Training Session" in Halifax, Nova Scotia on September 13-14:"The advocacy training will focus on the issue of metastatic breast cancer and will offer participants the opportunity to enhance their communication skills and effectively deliver strong advocacy messages to a wide variety of audiences."Priority will be given to women living with metastatic breast cancer, primary caregivers of those living with mets and to applicants from the Atlantic Provinces. CBCN will be covering all expenses including, travel, accommodations and...
Source: Not just about cancer - June 14, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: metastatic breast cancer cancer blog good stuff Source Type: blogs
the good side won
Today sanity prevailed, justice was served and the good guys won.I don't get to say that very often.In a unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court ruled today that genes cannot be patented. They were specifically addressing the patenting of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes by Myriad Technologies, a company that claimed the right to conduct all testing for genetic predisposition for breast and ovarian cancers.The impact of Myriad's patent was widespread. Several Canadian provinces were ordered to "cease and desist" testing of the BRCA genes. Instead, the provinces were ordered to send the genes directly to Myriad labs, at a dramaticall...
Source: Not just about cancer - June 13, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: breast cancer news health care cancer blog good stuff Source Type: blogs
justifiably annoyed or overly sensitive? you tell me.
I read an article a little while ago about a Conservative politician who just finished treatment for breast cancer. The article was probably meant to make me feel inspired but instead I just go angry.I felt guilty for not being more charitable (is that a word used in this sense by anyone other than those raised Catholic?) and disappointed in my own lack of empathy.I bookmarked the story and decided to postpone writing about it until I could understand my reaction.It's been a couple of weeks. I reread the article and got angry all over again.I work very hard at not being judgmental of others' choices. This is a hard thing w...
Source: Not just about cancer - June 11, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: metastatic breast cancer chemotherapy health care pissed off show and tell conversations cancer blog rants Source Type: blogs
doors open - an excuse for frivolity
I have a long overdue post up at Frivolity (getfrivolous.com). We had such a good time at Doors Open Ottawa!Daniel "driving" an OC Transpo bus. If you are reading this post on a site other than Not Just About Cancer (besides Facebook or a feed reader), you are reading stolen content. (Source: Not just about cancer)
Source: Not just about cancer - June 3, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: kids joy community my love Frivolity show and tell family good stuff my kids Source Type: blogs
cut through the crap
All the junk science and bogus claims1 about breast cancer are really getting to me these days. What bothers me even more is that some of the denial and outright obfuscation comes from sources we in the mainstream are supposed to trust.2How do you decide what's real?With so many conflicting messages about lifestyle changes, what advice are we to follow?And when are those in a position to do anything going to truly investigate the environmental links to breast cancer? (I know the answer to that one. Probably never.)It's enough to send a girl back to bed. It's pretty dark under the duvet. Maybe I can hide from the world...
Source: Not just about cancer - May 27, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: breast cancer things i do for my health news community fear cancer blog good stuff Source Type: blogs
Barbara Brenner: a real hero
A formidable woman passed away earlier this month. Barbara Brenner was the former Executive Director of Breast Cancer Action and an articulate and out spoken advocate for change. Her voice cut through a haze of pink, raising awareness of corporate exploitation, pink ribbon crap and the environmental causes of breast cancer. She was a real hero, who died way too young.My friend Tamara sent me this excellent article from the New York Times. She drew my attention to the last line, a wonderful quote from Suzanne Lampert, Ms. Brenner's spouse of 38 years:“I always told her that I would make sure her obituary said she died aft...
Source: Not just about cancer - May 24, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: breast cancer news grief cancer blog don't buy pink crap Source Type: blogs
brain slurry and eye candy
I seem to still be recovering from the weekend, with a brain full of mush. For those new readers I picked up after my post on Angelina Jolie - you might want to come back tomorrow.Here's some of the random slurry from my brain:Speaking of slurry, my 10 year old's baseball team voted on a name over the weekend. The results came in yesterday.After one failed experiment, I made my own eye makeup remover yesterday. I don't wear makeup very often but when I do, I want something that will take it off without leaving me with more wrinkles and fewer eyelashes. My second try yielded great results - Burt's Bees baby wash, olive oil ...
Source: Not just about cancer - May 21, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: joy lucky my love family good stuff my kids food Source Type: blogs
Angelina Jolie, mastectomies and choice
People keep asking me what I think of Angelina Jolie's prophylactic mastectomy and subsequent op-ed in the New York Times. I've let my thoughts simmer a little before putting them into words. It's hard not to react viscerally to such a dramatic story.I wonder who'll play Angelina in the movie?First and foremost, I want to say that what any woman does to her own body and to preserve her own health is her own damn business. Unless we are in her exact pair of shoes there are limitations on the right to comment. Secondly, I think Ms. Jolie's choice to go public, especially given her status as a Hollywood sex symbol, is ve...
Source: Not just about cancer - May 17, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: breast cancer news health care mastectomy surgery preventing cancer cancer blog rants Source Type: blogs
what it feels like to learn you have a brain tumour, if you are me
I was going through some writing from last fall and I found this. I wrote it, in response to a prompt - "Write about falling" - for an online writing class I was taking. Reading this brings me right back to how I felt when I heard the news that the cancer had metastasized to my brain. I share it now because I think it might resonate with anyone who's every been blind-sided with unwelcome news.“Your CT scans were fine.”You breathe a sigh of relief.“But the MRI revealed a spot on your brain.”And with those words you start falling. You feel the floor crumble beneath you and the sounds of talking fade as you slip away....
Source: Not just about cancer - May 14, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: metastatic breast cancer brain metastasis news my love fear conversations cancer blog writing Source Type: blogs
funny, funny troll spam
Has anyone else noticed a new trend in blog spam? Usually spam comments tell me how brilliant I am, before linking to the stuff they sell. Then there are the ones about sex and related paraphernalia - often gibberish and including phrases like "home coffee maker porn shoes cologne gnocchi". Recently, I've had a couple that sound like trolls - accusing me of letting down my readership with laziness or self-pity. This appears to be a new spamming strategy.My last post, "i don't have a brain tumour",was a photo of a bottle of Prosecco and a glass full of the bubbly stuff. There was not text, as I felt the title and the i...
Source: Not just about cancer - May 13, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: breast cancer brain metastasis community weird cancer blog rants good stuff Source Type: blogs
i don't have a brain tumour
If you are reading this post on a site other than Not Just About Cancer (besides Facebook or a feed reader), you are reading stolen content. (Source: Not just about cancer)
Source: Not just about cancer - May 8, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: joy breast cancer lucky brain metastasis cancer blog good stuff Source Type: blogs
better than words
A few weeks ago, I took my bike in for its spring tune-up at my favourite bike shop. I love getting back on my bike again. I don't drive (which is a whole other story), so riding my bike gives me a sense of independence. Riding has always given me a feeling of freedom and on good days, I renew the euphoria of childhood as I make my way around the city on my own steam.Also, it's a lot more efficient than riding the bus and really good for my physical and mental health. My bike is a tank, weighing in at 42lbs and very solid. I sit upright as I ride it and it feels tremendously safe. However, I managed to tip it ove...
Source: Not just about cancer - May 7, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: metastatic joy breast cancer brain metastasis community conversations cancer blog good stuff Source Type: blogs
screening the sun like an ostrich
As is pretty normal around this parts, we seem to have gone directly from winter into summer, with no real spring in between. And we also seem to have gone from winter boots and coats to the danger of sunburn.I've been in denial about all this but I noticed a bit of pink on my arms today and realized I need to start applying the sunscreen. You'd think this would be simple but it's really not.I am extremely ambivalent about sunscreen. It's important as a means to help prevent cancer but much of it is filled with carcinogens. The kind that isn't can feel like rubbing on bread crumbs and leave cement like globs on your skin. ...
Source: Not just about cancer - May 7, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: guilt things i do for my health preventing cancer cancer blog Source Type: blogs
