Fighting Stage 3 Breast Cancer on protection

Katharine Adams and Dr. Kimberly Allison have never met, but they share a diagnosis in common. Both women have fought Stage 3 breast cancer, and more importantly, are now thriving and helping others too! Once diagnosed with cancer, each woman had some serious treatments to face and many decisions to make. These survivors have built upon their experiences and moved forward in different ways.
Katharine Adams lost both breasts and went through 6 months of chemo and 6 weeks of radiation. She learned to take charge of her medical decisions and kept copies all of her medical records. Kathy became her own patient advocate - a move which protected her health through the rigors of treatments. She also designed comfortable, good-looking clothing to be worn during recovery. Did I mention that she is a fitness trainer? Despite the chemo and radiation, Kathy continued to use exercise to keep herself limber and fit. That's something I wish I had done!
Dr. Allison was a new mom just getting used to breastfeeding when she found a lump and was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. She is a pathologist - an important part of the oncology team - and knew what cancer could do at the cellular level. Kimberly had to deal with her cancer at age 33, while going through many other life changes. Her treatments were aggressive - to match the large tumor - but she survived. She shares her story in the book "Red Sunshine" about how she and her very supportive husband went through the whole journey. It helps to know that doctors are very human and can relate to the sufferings of their patients.
Stage 3 breast cancer is a complex, invasive cancer diagnosis. This diagnosis is broken down into 9 substages, each a bit more serious than the last, all of which require more treatment than Stage 2. With treatment, survival rates are better than Stage 4, and about half of all patients live past the 5-year mark to have full and useful lives.
Here's an article with all the details about diagnosis, survival rates, treatments and follow-up procedures for Stage 3 breast cancer.

Real Friends Don't Fade Away When You're Dying From Breast Cancer

The simple fact is this: people do still die from breast cancer. Despite the upswing in survival rates and improvements in detection and treatment, this disease is still a killer. We still need a cure - for all the different variations in breast cancer - and we still need effective prevention. Meanwhile, men and women are still being diagnosed with cancerous breast lumps and enduring surgery, radiation, chemo, and years of hormone therapy in hopes that their cancer will be beaten and will not return. But you may know someone who has had a recurrence, and you may remember someone who didn't survive.
Back around Christmas, I wrote about a friend who had a recurrence at four years past diagnosis. Her cancer had gone to Stage 4 and she knew that her time was limited, because it had targeted her liver. Treatment was offered, and she turned it down. She chose to spend her remaining time feeling relatively well - instead sick from chemo - and to use the time to see friends and family while making good memories. That was a brave decision and very characteristic of Adell.
She had a broad base of support from family, friends, and community. Taking charge of her situation, she made it clear that she wanted Home Hospice.Her husband had made the same choice and that worked well for them. Her family was very sad but also supportive. They got organized and started staying with her in shifts, so that she always had someone around the house. As the disease progressed and she became weaker, her supporters made a simple request. They needed lunches for four every weekday, to sustain Adell and her at-home supporters. This would also give them a little respite from caregiving, a little time to talk with people that were supportive of them as well as Adell. As time passed, this combination of food and respite became more and more important.
We had set up a community on Lotsa Helping Hands. The calendar allowed us to request and sign up for days when lunches were needed, as well as see what other support was wanted. We could swap news and photos and support Adell and her caregivers. At first, people regularly signed up to support for Adell and her family. It worked well and the LHH site facilitated communication. But in Adell's last three weeks, support tapered off. Fewer people offered to help. Caregivers and family members were still constantly on the job, and didn't want to leave the house any more than necessary. Word got out that Adell didn't have long to live, and that she sometimes didn't eat or that she slept all day. That is normal for people who are doing the work of dying. They are using their energy as best as they can, preparing in body and spirit  to resolve their life on Earth.
Now I'm going to speak very personally and frankly. When a person you care about is approaching the end of their life, do not - DO NOT - fade away, only to show up again for the funeral. That person and their family still needs support daily as the process takes it course. A person who is dying can still hear and sense the world around them, and may be able to feel the emotional atmosphere in their world. Their caregivers certainly still need connections with the world outside the situation, people who will listen, refrain from judgement, offer hugs, tissues, and yes - lunches! So here's my bottom line on this: Stick with the person and their family - To The End. Think about what support you hope to have when you enter into your last days, and offer others the best quality of comfort and support that you can give. Don't pull back, especially as news from the bedside gets more final. Real friends don't let friends die lonely. They love tough and they love true.

Choose Low-Fat Dairy For Better Odds of Breast Cancer Survival

Sorry lattes, bye-bye cream pie, cheese it - pizza! I can live without the higher risk of recurrence if you and I never meet again.
Ice cream, butter, cheese bites, creamy yogurt, sour cream, whole milk - could we live without having one of these yummy things every day? If you're concerned about your risk of breast cancer, then plan on going with low-fat dairy from now on. Switching to low-fat dairy items improves your chances of survival and raises the odds against a recurrence.
A study just published by Kaiser Permanente researchers reveals that breast cancer survivors who consumed at least one serving daily of high-fat dairy products were more likely to succumb to the disease or to have a recurrence than those who followed a low-fat diet. Since dairy milk comes from pregnant cows and because estrogen is concentrated in milk fat, consuming high-fat, whole-milk based products washes your breast tissue in more estrogen than you'll ever need. Estrogen fuels about 88% of all breast tumors. If you are eating a high-fat diet, you are at greater risk for obesity and cancers that are associated with an abundance of body fat. Add to that an overdose of estrogen, and your risk for breast cancer ramps up accordingly.
"Specifically, women consuming one or more servings per day of high-fat dairy had a 64 percent higher risk of dying from any cause and a 49 percent increased risk of dying from their breast cancer during the follow-up period," said lead author Candyce H. Kroenke, a staff scientist with Kaiser Permanente. Her study included data from 1,893 women who were diagnosed with early-stage, invasive breast cancer between 1997 and 2000. The study participants were followed for 6 to 12 years.  Bottom line: Research shows a link between consumption of high-fat dairy and breast cancer mortality, but no association with low-fat dairy foods and breast cancer outcomes.
So now, if I cream my coffee, gobble up a pudding, or slurp down a yogurt - it will be low-fat from now on. It may not taste as decadent, it may not seem as silky, but I may be around longer to enjoy other good things.

Stress Awareness Helps Breast Cancer Survivors Cope

It's no surprise to me that yesterday was the deadline for filing your taxes, and today, April 16, is Stress Awareness Day. I just hope you noted your medical tax deductions, if you spent so much on treatments and related costs for yourself or family members. That's one good reason for saving all those receipts all year long.
If you're dealing with breast cancer - yours or someone else's - you already have stress. You don't need a day set aside to "be aware" of stress, because you live with it, you cope, you ride out the emotions, and you survive. As a patient and survivor, you have already felt how stress impacts your health. Higher levels of stress affect your sleep patterns, energy for the day, headache frequency, blood pressure, appetite, and fatigue. In turn, that can influence the emotions that you may feel saddled with - depression, social isolation, fear, anger, frustration.
Here's some good ways to de-stress today:

• Exercise regularly at least a little, or as much as you can. It may lift your mood.
• Eat a healthy diet and include anticancer choices in each meal.
• Blow off smoking and alcohol - skip the extra damage these do to you.
• Reach out for support - get on social media, call a friend, find a support group.
• Have quiet time, try meditation, prayer, or journaling.
• Be yourself, without pushing yourself to be a Super Hero.

Not all types of stress are bad - it can be a great motivator! But stress unchecked can start to rule your life and ruin your days. Check in with yourself if you're getting overwhelmed, step back and think about where you're going. Shed excess stress and avoid stress triggers when you can. You'll be healthier and happier for it.

Healthy Habits for Earth Day Improve Health on breast cancer

After having breast cancer, I've always been on the lookout for ways to improve my health. I even read up on things to cook to keep my family members healthy! And since Earth Day is April 22, I've started thinking again about ways to make my home a healthier place. Here's a few ways to make your life greener and healthier.
Personal Recycling: Donate gently used wigs, sleep caps, and chemo caps to clinics and support groups that will pass them along to other patients. This keeps these items out of your closet and makes someone else happy.
Eliminate E-Waste: Instead of tossing your used electronics into the trash or dust bin, donate them or take them to an e-waste recycling facility for proper disposal. Your city or county e-waste recycling facility can prevent the lead, mercury, and cadmium contained in old printers, computers, and cell phones from leaching into water and air. Everybody benefits from that!
Green Your Clean: Try switching from chemical products to natural cleaning solutions. Change your home from smelling like a manufactured perfume pot to a truly fresh, green clean. Use some home-made cleaners that do the job and keep you, your kids and your pets safe. You'll save money and fewer harmful chemicals will go into the rainwater runoff.
Grow and Eat Green: If you don't have a veggie garden, consider starting one. It can be as simple as a few potted herbs or as extensive of raised beds of organic produce. You will have cleaner food without industrial pesticides and can take pride in your own tomatoes, peppers, basil, and local varieties of flowers for your table. We've done this for years and always have food to share with happy neighbors.

Dump Expired Drugs Safely on breast cancer protection

During my treatments for breast cancer, I took pills. Lots of pills, all shapes and colors, all for different issues. After a while, when I would take Pill #1 - it would cause a side effect - and then I'd need Pill #2 to chase off the side effect from Pill #1. This often seemed pointless, but because I wanted to survive, I just kept refilling those prescription and taking those pills. I had a stockpile of prescription pills and a spreadsheet for my medication schedule. Finally when treatment was over, I was afraid to throw away the remaining pills because they felt like a security blanket. The pills had become my weapons against recurrence, and I didn't really want to part with them. Like many patients, I took estrogen-lowering drugs for 5 years after primary treatment, and then kept the extra pills in the back of my medicine cabinet. Finally, on National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, an initiative of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), I gathered up all my hoarded pills and took them to a nearby Sheriff's Office.
At a National Take-Back Day, volunteers accept packages of prescription medicines that are brought in by people like me and you. Most pills will be received, although an Epi-Pen and an old bottle of Mercurochrome that I had were rejected. The pills will be put into a bag for medical waste, and all the packaging will go into the trash. DEA agents will collect the bags of medicines - they took in 244 tons in 2012 - and these will be incinerated in special kilns that do not release fumes into the air.
Although none of my drugs would give you a thrill if you tried them, one reason the DEA collects these is to prevent drug abuse. Many young people get their recreational drugs right out of the family medicine chest, and can become addicted. Prescriptions are abused more than street drugs like cocaine, hallucinogens, and heroin in total. One other reason to properly dispose of drugs is to keep them out of the water supply. Flushing drugs may seem to be a safe disposal method, but when too much of those wind up in your tap water, you've got a problem.
If you didn't make it to your local Drug Take-Back event this year, and you still have drugs to dispose of, talk with your pharmacist or doctor. They can help you find the right place to take those pills.

MammoSite Breast Brachytherapy on breast protection of cancer

MammoSite breast brachytherapy is a type of accelerated breast radiation treatment. Sometimes called balloon catheter radiation, MammoSite treats breast cancer from within your breast in 5 days - with fewer side effects than the standard six or seven week course of external beam radiation.
Breast Radiation After Lumpectomy Radiation may be used to treat breast cancer after your tumor has been removed with a lumpectomy. Radiation treatments are done to prevent recurrence by ensuring that any cancer cells that may remain in the tumor area are destroyed. Intracavity brachytherapy is different than external beam radiation - it delivers radiation from inside your breast, and affects only a very small portion of healthy tissue.
MammoSite Breast Brachytherapy MammoSite was FDA approved in 2002 for post-lumpectomy breast cancer treatment. The MammoSite Radiation Therapy System uses a special balloon catheter, placed in your lumpectomy cavity and inflated with saline solution. Your surgeon can place a MammoSite balloon catheter at the time of your lumpectomy, or it may be inserted at a later time.
Advantages and Disadvantages of MammoSite Brachytherapy MammoSite brachytherapy treatments can be completed in five to seven days, as compared to six to seven weeks of standard external radiation. This means less disruption of your schedule, less travel time, and fewer copayments. Your breast will have a surgical scar, but otherwise none of the skin burns or tissue thickening that may occur with standard radiation. A very small portion of your breast will be treated by the radiation, and healthy tissue will be unaffected. Standard radiation may cause fatigue, but with brachytherapy you will be able to go about life as usual. Patients say that having to avoid showers for a week is a disadvantage, and that the sensation of having a saline-filled balloon within a breast feels odd. Infections can occur around the catheter insertion site, but you can take antibiotics to combat that. Because a catheter line will extend out of your breast while the device is in place, you'll need to wear a sports bra or a very comfortable bra to accommodate it, and adjust your sleeping position for comfort.
What to Expect During MammoSite Radiation Treatments MammoSite treatments are done twice a day for five consecutive days. Your treatment appointment will take about 30 minutes. During radiation treatments, your radiation oncologist will connect your MammoSite catheter line with a radiation machine, and put a small radioactive seed through the catheter into the balloon, where it emits your radiation dose. You won't feel any heat or vibration during the treatment. At the end of each treatment session, the seed is removed and you won't carry the radiation around with you in between treatments. If any cancer cells are lingering in the tissue around your surgical margin, the radiation should kill them. After 5 days, the balloon catheter is drained of saline and then removed through a small incision that is closed with a dressing.
Recovery After MammoSite Treatment You may have some side effects during or after MammoSite brachytherapy treatments. These will clear up with proper care, but make sure to go to your follow-up appointments and let your doctor know if you have concerns about recovery. You can expect some redness or bruising around the catheter insertion site. There may also be some pain or drainage from the scar before it heals. Take care to keep this area clean and dry. If skin redness persists, or the area becomes puffy or looks inflamed, see your doctor to determine if you may have an infection. You can take antibiotics to clear up the problem.
MammoSite Has A Good Track Record MammoSite has been tested in clinical trials and the company that makes the device continues to improve the balloon for more precise radiation. Very few local recurrences have been reported after MammoSite brachytherapy. This treatment compares well with ClearPath and other accelerated partial breast radiation techniques. Medicare and most private health insurance policies cover MammoSite treatments.
Requirements For MammoSite Radiation Therapy MammoSite is intended for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer. In order to qualify for MammoSite brachytherapy, you should be 45 years old or older, plan to have a lumpectomy, have no lymph nodes involved, and your tumor size must be three centimeters in diameter or smaller. Your surgeon must be able to leave at least seven millimeters of tissue between your skin and the fully inflated balloon. Your lumpectomy cavity needs to be as globular as possible to accommodate the balloon; otherwise the treatment won't work properly. In some cases, the MammoSite device must be repositioned for optimal results. Choose a surgeon who is very experienced in placing the MammoSite device, and ask if the hospital has all the proper equipment needed to implant and position the catheter.