Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Notes on November

Hello sweet November!  
            Our eight-week dry spell finally ended with a fantastic thunderstorm last night, I took a trip to the voting booth this morning with (yes, still) hope in my heart, and the pink cloud from breast cancer awareness has dissapated and given way to new causes and campaigns.
            Since cancer is rarely fun let's start off with a few things that are. Movember (or the month formerly known as November), is an outstanding international effort to promote men's health awareness. Women are excellent about sharing health information with each other. Men? Not so much. Movember helps to change the face of men's health -- literally. The main challenge is to grow the "mo" to see who can get the best moustache by the end of the month (hello Tom Sellick?)  It's a lighthearted take on a serious topic -- prostate cancer, among others. An excellent summary for the man or men in your life:  http://us.movemberfoundation.com/mens-health/


The other big awareness effort underway this month is lung cancer, which kills more Americans than any other cancer. If you think about the obvious - how deeply buried within our bodies our lungs are - you have one reason why most lung cancers aren't detected until they've reached a later stage. While we all know that smoking is a path to lung cancer (and every one and their dog will try to help you quit if you do smoke) an alarming fact is that 60% of all new cases are people who have not (or used to) smoke. Some 20% of those are women.   
  
A few tweets, links and articles I've found on lung cancer and a hodgepodge of other interesting topics that caught my eye are listed below.  Later this week I'll start blogging about the LBC Foundation retreat coming up soon.

From:  @BrownBeanSprout
How She Became An Advocate for Lung Cancer. http://blog.lungevity.org/2010/10/12/the-compassionate-cycle/

The MAGRIT study is a Phase III study involving more than 400 medical centers in 33 studies.  This is the kind of study anyone recently diagnosed w/lung cancer needs to know more about. Go to: http://www.ascitrials.com/lung-cancer

From @EmpowerHer
November is National #Alzheimer's Awareness month, do you know the symptoms to look out for in yourself or your loved ones? http://t.co/xnb2eJV


From@LibbysHope
Best acronym ever:  U-B-E-A-T ovarian cancer: U=urinary symptoms; B=bloating; E=eating, feeling full quickly; A=abdominal pain; T=Talk 2 doc if persistent.


From @Cure_Magazine
When every moment counts. The always wonderful Suzanne Lindley (@rslindley) lives w/Stage IV cancer.  She guest blogs for Cure: Three Months of Time: it it worth it? http://bit.ly/cSqGIb


From @NYTimes
Funniest opening paragraph ever:"A month ago I went on a juice cleanse.  You know what it cleans out of you best?  The will to live." The rest of the article The Juice Cleanse:  A Strange and Green Journey is funny and informative about a practise that makes sense to Demi & Gwennyth -- but not this camper.

From @BreakCancer
Brought you to by the LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance, with the quick take younger adults bring.  And it is FUNNY.  Follow them on Twitter @BreakCancer, take a look at their website and enjoy.


My last two cents: Soy. Oy.
Too many articles I've seen do not distinguish between pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer in relationship to soy consumption.  It matters.  A hospital based nutritionist told me that the same soy that may help prevent breast cancer in premenopausal women might yet actually fuel tumor growth in postmenopausal women. As a result -- right or wrong -- I keep many soy products on the same shelf as red meat  More food for thought? http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/20/tofu-to-fight-tumors/  No pun intended.


From @WegoHealth.
This is diabetes awareness month and another condition you can do much to avoid.  Your best bet?  For starters toss the remaining Halloween cancer and stick with foods that are low on the glycemic index.  It's an easy and healthy way to eat. 


From: @CDC_Health
Cancer, the flu & you. Scheduling my flu shot now. The scoop from the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/flu/


From: @DebMThomas
Another round on the #gratitudealphabet.  Big hint:  tomorrow's letter is "c." I've been mediatating all day on the beatitudes. They keep me centered and our shared purpose right in front of my face.


Cheers!  

3 comments:

Nancy's Point said...

Jody, Lots of info here. Thanks. I read the guest blog by Suzanne Lindley, pretty profound stuff there. www.nancyspoint.com

Jody said...

Nancy,
Thanks for stopping by again. I thought Suzannne's article was incredible, too.
Happy November!

--Jody

Unknown said...

i thought my mom was going to die as well.. we had already lost all hope in the world and we had spent so much ...there was nothing to spend again.CANCER.so someone introduced us to this spiritualist from africa..so we decided to try him out reluctantly..and he gave us his theraphy.. we didnt have an option so we just tried it out..and then within 2 months of using his theraphy, i just couldnt believe the transformation that happened.. my mom is 62 years old now and she is so healthy..we have also introduced a lot of people to him and they have had good news. i just want to encourage you.it is even close to free...so you dont have to loose your loved one..my email address is heiresshagen@gmail.com.....give him a try...DONT GIVE UP
HAPPY NOVEMBER

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