Not all breast cancers are created equal…And of all types of breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer is the most deadly (as well as on the rise). The reason it is so deadly is because it is virtually invisible.
So, what makes inflammatory breast cancer so much more deadly than other types of breast cancer?
For starters, it can not be detected with a mammogram. It might as well be called the invisible breast cancer. And without a method for early detection, this type of cancer is most always not diagnosed until the end stage (which brings the survival rate even lower).
Another obstacle with this type of cancer is…
Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer are nothing like symptoms of other breast cancers. In fact, symptoms of this deadly form of cancer are often mistaken for mastitis (a painful but treatable condition). This type of misdiagnosis only further delays a woman’s diagnosis and treatment. By the time most women are diagnosed, their cancer has already spread.
Understanding how this type of cancer is different from other breast cancers is the key to early detection. Here are the symptoms of Inflammatory Breast Cancer?
A rapid and unusual increase in the size of the breast.
Red blotchy rash or other skin discoloration of the breast.
Breast is hot (feverish) to the touch.
A persistent itch of the breast and/or nipple.
Flattening or retracting of nipple.
Thickening of breast tissue.
Pain or soreness of the breast.
Nipple discharge and/or change in the pigmentation around the nipple.
Swelling of lymph nodes under the arm or above the collar bone.
A dimpling or “orange peel” feel to the breast.
These symptoms will most likely come on very quickly. As Dr. Robert Schneider told us at a Breast Cancer Forum in San Francisco last month, it’s not unusual for a woman to go to bed one night and by the morning wake-up with the onset of many of the above symptoms.
Although I was glad to have the opportunity to hear about Dr. Schneider’s promising new research, I was shocked to find out that there has been little to no research done on IBC in the last 20 years. Actually, I was MAD as hell. Maybe my friend Becky would be alive today if someone had just cared enough to do a little research. Seven years ago we thought Becky was getting cutting edge treatment, clearly that wasn’t the case.
As if the difficulty in making a diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer isn’t bad enough…Treatments that are effective in other types of breast cancer are ineffective for IBC, but many oncologists are still treating it the same. For this reason, Dr. Schneider recommends that women go directly to a cancer center for both treatment and diagnosis (something my friend Becky was discouraged from doing). The good news is that research and clinical studies are now being done that may soon provide doctors with better treatments for IBC. Until then, women need to be their own advocates, and help drive more awareness to inflammatory breast cancer.
In October I wrote about Fear and Breast Cancer for BlogHer…I hadn’t wanted it to be a personal piece, but in response to a comment on that post, I did end up divulging a painful personal story.
As a member of the American Cancer Society’s Blogger Advisory Council, I wrote for the first time about the devastating loss of My Friend Becky to inflammatory breast cancer for their More Birthday’s campaign.
Even a small amount of stress can have negative effects on your overall health and well-being. Can you spare six minutes of your time to reduce some of that stress? If so, give this a try.
Find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed for the next six minutes.
COLORFUL MEDITATION – For meditation and stress reduction is 6 minutes of continuous highly complex computer generated kaleidoscopic imagery with an original New Age ambient music soundtrack…
from www.cinemandala.com
Did you try it? Did it help? Let me know in comments.
My New Year’s resolution is about doing everything I can do to have more birthdays. At the moment the one thing that could keep me from doing that, is my blood pressure. I’ve had blood pressure and heart rate problems since my twenties, but now in my forties, I know I’m at a much greater risk for having a heart attack or stroke. So this year I plan on taking specific steps to hopefully lower my blood pressure. Like Morra Arrons-Mele, I would like to make these changes holistically. I’m still planning to take my medications, but even on medication my blood pressure is still not controlled.
Here are the steps I plan to take in 2010…
1. Continue to eat healthy, but kick it up a notch.
2. Reduce stress by using meditation and Reiki on a regular basis.
3. Get the Wii Fit and begin doing light exercising and yoga.
I’ll keep track of my progress by documenting my blood pressure and the days I’ve used any of the above steps.
Well, that’s my “more birthdays list.” I hope you’ll join me at the American Cancer Society’s Official Birthday Blog, by sharing a list of your own.
Here are some tips for making and promoting your Bday List and supporting the American Cancer Society’s More Birthdays campaign…
1. Create a list of things (could be one thing or many) you plan to do to stay healthy in 2010 and/or to help create more birthdays. This is your “my more birthdays list.”
2. Share your list on Facebook and/or Twitter (using the #mybdaylist hashtag). These could be anything from losing 5 pounds or eating more vegetables to training for a 10K or half-marathon.
3. Tweet and/or post messages on Facebook about the progress you’re making on your more birthdays list throughout the year. This will help you get support, tips, and encouragement from others who are trying to accomplish their more birthdays lists.
Stem Cell Research: Mixing religion, science and politics equals controversy.
This week president Obama announced the release of 13 new embryonic stem cell lines to be used for research. Scientists are hopeful that this research could someday treat or even cure diseases like Diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and spinal cord injuries (just to name a few). But this decision isn’t without controversy.
Although, I have a hard time understanding why there is such a big controversy. If you consider the two-day old embryo to be life, then wouldn’t you want that life to have some sort of meaning? When the alternative to research is the trash, isn’t there more dignity in research?
This is a one minute video that demonstrates what is currently happening to unused frozen embryos “LIFE” from fertility clinics. These are the same embryos, that could be used to advance scientific research and to save lives…
I wrote about my feelings on stem cell research back in 2007, and my feelings are still the same. I believe the unused embryos that would otherwise be discarded from fertility clinics, should be treated with the same respect we give organ donation.
My daughter Nicole, who is a big Miley Cyrus fan, heard about a project Miley was supporting called Get UR Good On. As soon as she heard about it, she wanted to get involved. The idea was to do something good in your community, video it, and then upload it onto the Get UR Good On website to encourage others to do the same.
Nicole loves to cook Thanksgiving dinner, so she decided she wanted to cook a holiday dinner for women and children in need, so that’s what we did.
We contacted the Daytona women’s shelter and they were very excited about Nicole’s idea for a holiday dinner and toy give-away for the children. Then the work began.
Publix donated $50.00 and helped us get good deals on the food. Even so, that didn’t nearly cover the cost of the food, but a few friends and family pitched in to help with the rest. Then Nicole decided to use her own money (that she received for getting straight A’s in school) to buy the children toys. She bought — dolls, puppets, stuffed bears, coloring books, crayons, toy trucks and cars, pom-poms, magic tricks, books, play-dough, and more.
The CDC estimates that there are 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses each year, and of that number more than 300,000 will be hospitalized and 5,000 will die. Those are high numbers, especially considering these types of illnesses are very preventable.
On Thursday we will all be sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner, and some of us will even contract one of these food-borne illnesses. But there are things we can do to reduce our risk of of food-borne illness.
To start, here is a great video on Holiday Food Safety from the FDA website…
Are women just too emotional for mammograms before 50?
Unless you’ve been under a rock all week, you have probably heard about the government task force that has recommended new guidelines for breast cancer prevention. It goes something like this…
If you’re younger than 50 or older than 75, you no longer have to worry your pretty little head about breast cancer, or getting those pesky boob squishing mammograms.
Hallelujah! I wonder how long it will be before we go back to giving women Valium for chest pain? Who needs preventative care when it’s not 100% effective anyway? Hell, just go ahead and give us anti-anxiety meds for all of our ills…I’ll betcha we save a bundle on healthcare costs.Women already outlive men by a bunch of years, maybe this will even things out a bit…Isn’t equality what we’ve been cryin about all these years?
OK, I know, I went a little too far with my analogy. But seriously, this is what’s going on…
On Monday, the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommended that routine mammograms start at age 50 instead of 40, that women receive the test every two years as opposed to annually, and that physicians no longer train women to perform breast self-examination.
Imaging centers saw cancellations for mammograms more than double since the news of these “recommendations” were announced. I wonder how many of those women may actually have breast cancer right now and will miss the opportunity for early detection and treatment?
I have to admit, I’ve been having a lot of cynical thoughts running through my head since I heard this disturbing news. Like…
I can’t help but think that if the pharmaceutical companies were profiting from mammograms these recommendations would be suggesting that they begin ten years earlier rather than later.
And then there’s this one…
If a healthcare reform bill is going to benefit the insurance industry (and it must – considering all their lobbying dollars), then insurance companies need guidelines that will allow them to reduce the amount of money they shell out for quality health care.
I know these are just thoughts, but when government panels are established to become corporate bean counters of women’s health policy, it makes me a little angry.
The thing is, when it comes to healthcare for women – I want to see more choices for women, not less.
Check out this video, it really does a nice job of addressing the problems associated with these new guidelines…
Was I the only one who was completely shocked to find out that this so called panel of experts had three representatives from insurance companies, but no experts in oncology or breast cancer?
Did you know that one in four Americans living with HIV are women? It’s true. HIV/AIDS is affecting more and more women, specifically African American women. It’s actually become the leading cause of death in African American women between the ages of 25-34.
November is Epilepsy Awareness Month. I hope this post will provide information and facts about epilepsy, while also showcasing women blogging about life with seizures.
Epilepsy affects over 3 million Americans of all ages – more than multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and Parkinson’s disease combined. Almost 500 new cases of epilepsy are diagnosed every day in the United States. Epilepsy affects 50,000,000 people worldwide.
In two-thirds of patients diagnosed with epilepsy, the cause is unknown.
Epilepsy can develop at any age and can be a result of genetics, stroke, head injury, and many other factors.
In over thirty percent of patients, seizures cannot be controlled with treatment. Uncontrolled seizures may lead to brain damage and death. Many more have only partial control of their seizures.
The severe epilepsy syndromes of childhood can cause developmental delay and brain damage, leading to a lifetime of dependency and continually accruing costs—both medical and societal.
It is estimated that up to 50,000 deaths occur annually in the U.S. from status epilepticus (prolonged seizures), Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), and other seizure-related causes such as drowning and other accidents.
The mortality rate among people with epilepsy is two to three times higher than the general population and the risk of sudden death is twenty-four times greater.
Recurring seizures are also a burden for those living with brain tumors and other disorders such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, tuberous sclerosis, and a variety of genetic syndromes.
I found this video on a blog called My 3 Peanuts – It is a very informative video that explains exactly what happens during a seizure.
This is a post in honor of breast cancer survivors. They are women sharing their stories of hope, struggle, determination, and survival. Some are in words and some are in video.
The swine flu vaccine will be available very soon, but there is still skepticism surrounding its safety. Generally, I have a strong opinion about these types of things, but my feelings about this vaccine are still uncertain.
One thing I am sure about though…This vaccine should not be made mandatory for anyone (including health care workers). I do believe health care workers should be among the first to have access this vaccine, since they will be the ones treating the sick. However, making it mandatory and threatening peoples jobs (especially in this economy) is totally unacceptable. But that is exactly what is happening in some states.
Is stress wearing you down? Are you worried about the bad economy? Your job? The mortgage? Your health? Your family? If so, you are not alone.
Life is always changing, and that can feel very stressful. But often, seemingly bad things will happen in our lives, that will actually turn out to be the catalysts to something positive. It’s very true that when one door closes another will open. Although it never feels so great when that one door closes. Recently I’ve had several doors close on me. But as hard as it’s been, I can already see that these things needed to happen to bring me closer to where I am meant to be.
There are three things we can do to help relieve the stress in our lives…
Do you have children that suffer with food allergies? It seems like food allergies are becoming more and more prevalent. Why is that? My personal opinion, is that it has something to do with how germ and bacteria free we’ve become as a society.
Last week was food allergy awareness week, so I thought I would use this post to look at food allergies and how some parents are coping.
Food allergy is an immune system reaction that occurs soon after eating a certain food. Even a tiny amount of the allergy-causing food can trigger signs and symptoms such as digestive problems, hives or swollen airways. In some people, a food allergy can cause severe symptoms or even a life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis.
Food allergy affects an estimated 6 to 8 percent of children under age 3, and about 4 percent of adults. While there’s no cure, some children outgrow their food allergy as they get older.
Do you suffer from a chronic illness with no known cure? Like Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? If so, you probably wish every day that you could find a cure and finally be healthy and well.
Why is it that just about every illness without a medically proven cure, has loads of people “claiming” to know the cure? Not only is it disingenuous to promote cures to desperate people suffering with chronic illness, but it also minimizes the seriousness of these conditions.
For instance, I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and many people believe the cure for this condition is as simple as getting more sleep (and oddly enough, more exercise). Guess what? CFS has nothing to do with how much sleep someone gets, and exercise often exacerbates Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. There is no cure for what I have, but the Internet is full of sites that claim to have “sell” the cure. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that there are many alternative modalities of healing that can benefit the symptoms of this disease, but they should not be mistaken for (or touted as) cures.
Stalker Diet Detective Ambushes Overweight Women For Reality TV Show
Yes, you heard right. There is a new show on We-TV that has many women (including myself) up in arms – It’s called I Want To Save Your Life. But what could be so bad about a show that wants to save lives? Well, it gives the impression it is a kind of “intervention” type show…but it’s really an attack on women who are overweight.
This show is wrong on so many levels that I barely know where to start. Below is a promo clip of this pathetic excuse for reality tv.
I did happen to see this show last week, and it was quite shocking. I think the worst part about it is how family members (in the case I saw it was the husband), basically “rat out” the women and allow this guy to stalk them and then confront them about their weight and diet on reality tv. I don’t know who is worse, the stalker nutritionist or the husband who rats out his wife?
This show would be a lot less revolting to me if the women were writing in asking for help on their own. But instead, they are being betrayed by the people that are suppose to love and support them unconditionally. It’s really very sad, not to mention HUMILIATING.
And to call it I Want To Save Your Life, really adds insult to injury. A better title might have been…
Honey, I think you’re FAT…So I’m going to humiliate you into going on a diet.
In the episode I saw, the (so called) lifesaving nutritionist/diet detective made the overweight woman go to the bakery and purchase a slice of her favorite chocolate cake. Then he made her hold it in a box while walking for over two hours in the hot sun. Is he freekin kidding? Not only did she have to walk off the calories in the cake, but she wasn’t even allowed to eat it (before or after the walk). It was more than a little cruel, not to mention totally unnecessary and degrading.
Is stress wearing you down? Are you worried about the bad economy? Your job? The mortgage? Your health? Your family? If so, you are not alone.
Life is always changing, and that can feel very stressful. But often, seemingly bad things will happen in our lives, that will actually turn out to be the catalysts to something positive. It’s very true that when one door closes another will open. Although it never feels so great when that one door closes. Recently I’ve had several doors close on me. But as hard as it’s been, I can already see that these things needed to happen to bring me closer to where I am meant to be.
There are three things we can do to help relieve the stress in our lives…
Lupus is a hard to diagnose autoimmune disease, that affects mostly women of child bearing years. This post will address the facts about Lupus – What is it? How is it diagnosed? What are the symptoms? Then you can read about several women who are living with Lupus, and blogging about it.What is Lupus?
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I wanted to do a little more than the average breast cancer awareness post. Here is my humble attempt. I’ve put this post together with; videos of survivors, an interview with Christina Applegate, early signs & symptoms, blogs of note, news, and links to informative support sites. If I’ve missed something (and I’m sure I have), please share the information with our readers in comments.
I have always been interested in science, particularly in Quantum Physics. So, this story is extremely exciting to me. In just a few months, we may soon understand exactly how the universe began. I have put together several articles and videos that I think you will find very interesting, and I will continue to update this post as new information becomes available. This is the largest and most expensive experiment ever to be done, and the information here does not require you to be a scientist to understand. I hope you find it as interesting and exciting as I do.
Are High Gas Prices Affecting Your Health and Wellness? – (cross-posted at BlogHer)
With gas prices going up and up, many people are facing difficult choices when it comes to their health. From not being able to afford their medications, to buying less expensive (usually unhealthy) foods at the supermarket…They are being forced to make financial decisions that may be bad for their health.
Last year I did a post about how a major medical crisis (such as cancer) could force a person to choose between lifesaving medications, and paying their mortgage.
Childhood Obesity: Should We Give Children Cholesterol Lowering Medications?
I’ve written several posts about the epidemic of childhoodobesity. Childhood obesity is very serious, mainly because of all the secondary problems associated with it, including death. Childhood obesity is directly related to poor eating habits, and lack of activity. So, when I heard that the use of statin medication had been approved for children as young as eight, I was quite surprised, and very skeptical.
Healthy Living: Can Yoga Help Reduce Symptoms of Chronic Illness? — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)
Back in March, I told you about yet another invisible illness that I’ve had the pleasure of being diagnosed with. Fibromalgia. It was also at that appointment where I learned of the 20+ pounds I had put on in less than a year. And it wasn’t like I was at my ideal weight before that time either. For the first time in my life, I actually weighed more than I did when I was pregnant. It was then that I decided I must begin to take eating healthy more seriously. Aside from not being able to fit into my skinny jeans, the extra weight was exacerbating all of my invisible medical problems.
In a much better interview than had been done by Kathie Lee on the Today Show last week, tonight’s Nightline interview with Dooce was witty, clever, and informative. Here is a video clip of the full segment on Nightline…
Hillary Clinton was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday. I didn’t actually see it, but I did see several reports of it on the cable news channels. The media was very thorough and quick to compare Clinton’s mock bowling with Ellen, to Obama’s gutter ball of last week. [Personally, up until that moment I had been undecided, but after seeing the riveting side by side bowling comparison, I'm now totally committed to one candidate.]
Anyway, one station was even observant enough to report on the differences between Barack’s “Ellen Show” strategy and Hillary’s…It seems Hillary didn’t do a jig with Ellen, but Barack did. So thanks to Hillary’s appearance on Ellen yesterday, the evening news programs had a lot of great election news to cover. The level of journalistic integrity on this important election coverage was nonexistent. I even continued to see the same coverage several times today, so I could only assume nothing politically relevant happened during Hillary’s appearance on Ellen. However, it wouldn’t actually be safe to assume that.
Hillary Clinton was a guest on Ellen yesterday, and, although I haven’t generally been in the habit of posting talk show appearances of the various candidates, I watch all of them (even John McCain—grumble), and I thought this one was worth posting because the two Dem candidates’ positions on gay rights have been the subject of much debate around here recently, and Hillary spoke to Ellen about gay rights and told a very personal story about people who influenced her support of equality and fairness (love that framing!). She also spoke about an objective that I thought would be of interest to a lot of Shakers: Making breast cancer curable in the next decade.
Hillary said what? She wants to make breast cancer curable? That seems like a pretty big deal, but all I had heard was that she couldn’t hit more than one plastic pin down with a plastic ball.
My name is Catherine Morgan, and I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. Above are links to my blogs, that also list many of the posts and articles that I've written for them.
I'm also at BlogHer Health & Wellness.
