Another PET scan...

I have my 2.5 year PET scan coming up in a week or so.
Good times! Maybe they will have Christmas tunes at screamingly loud levels during the scan like they did last year!

YEAH!

2 YEAR CANCERVERSARY!

That's right folks! It has been 2 years since I kicked Mr. Cancer square in the balls!
Fuck you Cancer!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month?

Breast Cancer Awareness Month? That's right. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
You show me someone who has NOT heard of Breast Cancer and I will show you the most ignorant son-of-a-bitch to walk the earth!
Where's my Lymphoma Month?

Sad...

Yesterday one of my Hodge Friends lost her 13 year battle.
Adrienne, you will be missed.

The photo below was taken in Boston a year or so ago.
Adrienne is on the far left.

My blog was mentioned in Newsweek!

The other day, Newsweek did a story on young folks with cancer. They talked about how we use humor to get through the whole cancer thing. In the article, they mentioned a few humorous cancer blogs, mine was one of them.

Below is the article.


A Malignant Melanoma Walks Into a Bar...
Cancer kills more young people than any other disease, and survival rates have not improved in more than 30 years for people in their 20s and 30s. How some patients are using humor to fight back.

Crammed inside a subway car in Manhattan—feeling remarkably generous, as I often do these days—I smiled at a young woman with a fancy black ponytail hairdo who was intensely staring at me. She didn't smile back. She said: "This is the second time you stepped on my shoe."

It was quite possible that I stepped on her foot. I'm a little clumsy nowadays. Almost three years ago, at age 29, I was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer The chemotherapy treatment that followed left me, among other keepsakes, with neuropathy in my feet, numbness and tingling similar to what advanced diabetes patients experience. One day I walked two blocks barefoot before I noticed my missing sandal.

"I'm sorry," I said, then whispered, "I know this will sound strange, but I can't feel my feet."


She rolled her eyes.

It was funny. In this crowded train, nobody was paying attention to my cancer, and it all seemed surreal again: my numb feet, my uncertain life expectancy, the loneliness, all coupled with gratitude for being alive, even if it means sharing a world with this bitch on the 1 train.

Cancer. Hilarious. I later typed these words into Google and found Kaylin Andres, a 24-year-old San Francisco fashion designer who was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer normally fond in children, last September. She uses her blog, Cancer Is Hilarious, to document her experience in a way young people could relate. Thank God for cancer humor. I need something other than yet another study that offered grim survival rates or scary-sounding side effects.

Cancer Is Hilarious is just one of the hundreds of blogs combining realistic cancer confessions with humor: Making Cancer My Bitch. My Blood Hates Me. What’s Up Your Butt?Kiss My Bald Head. I’m Not an Asshole. Surgically Speaking. I’ve Still Got Both My Nuts. Virtually all of them are written by cancer patients younger than 40. The blogs are just one way younger patients are addressing the absurdity of life with cancer with humor, rather than pink-ribboned, glassy-eyed earnestness.

About 70,000 people between the ages of 18 and 40 are diagnosed with cancer every year, representing about 6 percent of all new cancer cases. About 10,000 young adults die from cancer annually, more than from any other disease. This is not the best statistic to stumble on when you are looking online for hope, as I did in September 2006 after my doctor told me he found a growth in my colon. There I was—nonsmoker, athlete, young—diagnosed with colon cancer, the disease that more commonly afflicts overweight, elderly men. And all I could think was: how inconvenient. I was a travel writer and had just scheduled trips to Rome and Cologne for the following week. Bummer. I would have to reschedule those flights.

Then I did what anyone of my generation would do: I Googled "colon cancer." Within seconds, I found out that my cancer stage, advanced stage IIIC, gave me a 44 percent chance to survive five years. I swore I would never use the Internet to research colon cancer again. (That promise lasted all of five days)

At the same time, I started receiving books, stacks of self-help volumes from well-meaning people. Books claiming that cancer was hate materialized in the body of people who don't love enough. Books promising you can cure cancer by drinking wheat-grass juice. It made me want to throw up, even before my chemotherapy regimen started and I became a vomiting expert. I didn't need more things to make me feel guilty and excluded. I already felt like an outsider. I was by far the youngest patient in the oncology ward. I was too cynical to believe herbal remedies were going to cure me but unwilling to venture onto medical Web sites, where the depressing prognosis stats were lurking, ready to scare the hell out of me.

That's when I found Planet Cancer, the most popular cancer humor Web site. It was founded in 1995 by Robin Blue, Paul Cox, and Heidi Schultz Adams, Texans and cancer survivors then in their 20s. They coined the term "cancertainment" to describe the growing subculture of young cancer patients seeking both more information and a space to indulge in inside jokes like "What's one of the top reasons to date a cancer chick? Recreational drugs are paid for by insurance."

According to Kairol Rosenthal, author of Everything Changes: The Insider's Guide to Cancer In Your 20's and 30's, the traditional cancer support system is set up to deal with older patients. Young people want to talk about different issues that the typical cancer patient might consider taboo: How do I have sex with a colostomy bag? How do I masturbate in a hospital? Will I have to choose between chemo and grad school? Rosenthal, a slim brunette with a posture of a dancer, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer nine years ago, when she was a modern dance choreographer. Unable to take radiation treatment, she currently has two tumors resting on her jugular vein, although they haven't been growing. Now 36 years old, the Chicago resident doesn't believe in the benefits of thinking positive. "I believe in the power of realistic thinking," she said. "And the reality is, you know, this sucks."

This is a sharp departure from the cancer survivorship rhetoric of the last 20 years. For members of an earlier generation, curing oneself of cancer was often associated with turning inward to positive thinking and spirituality and away from anything resembling cynicism and irony. Experts nowadays say that the power of positive thinking might be overrated (thankfully). Jimmie Holland, a psychiatrist at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the author of The Human Side of Cancer, confirms that patients often feel that being sad, scared, upset or angry is unacceptable and that emotions can somehow make their tumors grow. "For most patients, cancer is the most difficult and frightening experience they have ever encountered," she writes, and she argues that the emphasis on positive attitude invalidates people's natural and understandable reactions to a deadly disease. "Many negative, pessimistic people survive cancer, while others who believe positive attitudes will cure it do not. I do not believe for an instant that people whose cancer progresses have a weaker spirit or character than anyone else."


Despite their cynicism, young cancer patients are some of the most vocal cancer activists out there, precisely because they don't feel like they need to whisper after they lose a breast, a testicle, or sex drive. They start foundations, write books and blogs, launch clubs, and use technology to spread the news. Garland Harwood, a 29-year-old public-relations manager, combined both advocacy and humor when he planned a fundraising event on behalf of the American Cancer Society of Brooklyn, N.Y., which helped when he was diagnosed with sarcoma four years ago. Leery of the usual cancer fundraising event, where clichés are recited and pictures of deceased patients put up in a heart-wrenching slideshow, Harwood instead launched "Comedy for Cancer," a fundraising event in Brooklyn, featuring the stand-up comedian and Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor Nick Ross.

Ross, 27, first got the idea to create a stand-up show about cancer last year, when a man sitting on next to him on the bus asked: "Did you shave your head because you're losing your hair?" Ross, briefly appalled by the incongruity of the question, decided to be brutally honest: "No, man. I am on chemotherapy." Hoping to reconcile with a bald cancer patient, the man offered: "I am in AA." The man's friend chimed in, "I'm addicted to porn." Ross compiled this and other absurd moments in his life as a marginalized citizen in his 35-minute stand-up show, excerpts of which he performed at the fundraiser.

"Comedy for Cancer" was a huge success and resonated especially well with the "Brooklyn hipster crowd," says Harwood. Only one person in the audience, a cancer patient, said later it was "just too much." Cancer was traumatic for her, and joking about it made it worse.

The reality of cancer among young patients obviously isn't funny at all. As a group, we often fall into a no-man's land between pediatric oncology and adult oncology, with few traditional outlets able to cater to our needs. Young adults are the largest underinsured group. We face threats not just to our lives but our fertility, dating prospects, and financial stability. Often, we're long misdiagnosed as "too young for cancer," and by the time the disease is identified, it's too late for an effective treatment.

Jill Harrison, a 26-year-old director-playwright, was misdiagnosed by her general practitioner for months after "getting the flu over and over" five years ago. She had lung cancer, an unlikely scenario for a 21-year-old nonsmoker with no family history of lung cancer. After a successful surgery and no reoccurrence of cancer so far, Harrison is grateful her generation and many of her friends were comfortable with "putting it all out there." Humor and openness, she said, saved her life. She has just finished writing a play called In Search of Hope. It starts with the main character, Hope, walking into a radiation room insisting that she be allowed to bring in her iPod to drown out the radio, playing Tony Bennett's "Put On a Happy Face."

But Harrison looks for meaning behind all the humor and sarcasm. To her generation, she says, "everything is funny." She argues that while funny cancer blogs create an instant community, they fail to truly connect people. "It's just another version of not talking about it," she says. She found the right mix of support and cancertainment through the foundation I'm Too Young For This! "They are a rocking young-adult support group because they are all about inspiring connections and talking about 'it,' " she says.

The I’m Too Young For This! Web site functions as an aggregator of all organizations and blogs by young patients. It uses the arts and social media to organize, mobilize and activate young adults, destigmatize cancer as a death sentence, and make it easy to talk openly. They sell "Stupid Cancer" merchandise (WHITE BLOOD CELLS ARE FOR LOSERS T shirt, anyone?) and organize Stupid Cancer Happy Hours. "There are huge generational disconnects with the old-school, big-box cancer societies," said Matthew Zachary, the founder and CEO of the I'm Too Young For This Cancer Foundation. "We're trying to be more hip and more relevant whereas those other charities come across as stodgy and out of touch."

As a part of the foundation's outreach effort, Zachary, 35, a survivor of pediatric brain cancer diagnosed in college, has been producing and co-hosting The Stupid Cancer Show out of the foundation's office in New York. With more than 18,000 live listeners each week, the internationally syndicated live talk-radio broadcast has become the voice of young adults with cancer. For the last two years, every Monday night he has been interviewing doctors who often have the "personality of oatmeal," mobilizing cancer patients to "kick cancer's ass," and being the cancertainer that he is, offering endless cancer jokes.

It's not always easy to poke fun at cancer. Zachary's friend, Susan Cross, 38, had just died of brain cancer the week before that day's show. During the broadcast, he asked everyone who was listening—PEOPLE at home, hospitals, and at work—FOR a brief moment of silence. One young adult dies of cancer every hour, he said. "Do I ever get numb?" he asks his audience. "I do, honestly."

So do I. Though I have been cancer-free since I finished chemo more than two years ago, I will always remain a cancer girl—THE affectionate nickname bestowed on me by friends. Last year, a genetic test reveled that my mother and I are carriers of the Lynch syndrome, an inherited gene mutation that causes not only significant risk of colorectal cancer (check), but also cancers of the uterus, ovary, stomach, small intestine, hepatobiliary tract, urinary tract, brain, and skin. So, aside from breast and lung cancers, I'm well suited for a BINGO on my oncology scorecard. My doctors try to be one step ahead by giving me annual colonoscopies, semiannual stomach endoscopies, annual PET scans, twice yearly blood work, annual skin checkups, twice yearly gynecologic smears and ultrasounds, and something else I'm probably forgetting. Chances are, on any given day, I'm either scheduling or rescheduling a doctor's appointment, waiting in a specialists' office or having a scope put in one of my body cavities.


Still, I have always joked about cancer, often to put other people at ease. At times, making jokes feels just as thin, forced, and fake as those HANG IN THERE kitten posters. But often, the reality is so overwhelming that all I can do is laugh.

At the Mercury Bar in New York's Hell's Kitchen, a fitting neighborhood for cancer survivors' bash, cancer patients and survivors below the age of 40 got together in May for a regular happy hour organized by I'm Too Young For This! "Chemo shooters" and "cancertinis" (basic shots and martinis, rebranded) were being served, and with cocktail in hand, nobody looked particularly sick—OR at least not the way "an amateur" would imagine a stereotypical cancer patient to look like. The invitation promised the event would attract people "who don't care whether you have one boob, one ball, two ports or even a hyperactive platelet count," and between the three dozen people who attended, my informal survey added up to at least 50 breasts and approximately as many testicles. People introduced themselves and their friends as efficiently as one would expect from the text-message and Twitter generation: Jennifer, ovarian, five years ago. Scott, testicular, three years in July.

Some attendees, such as Lindsey Brass, 29, went through relapses. Brass, a leukemia patient diagnosed at the age of 24 and relapsed by 25, finished law school last year just months after finishing chemo. At the bar, she mingled with other patients whom she met at previous events months ago and hadn't seen since. "People have been telling me 'We haven't seen you forever. Wow, you are alive!' " she said. "It is kind of a sick thing to say if you think about it." She laughed. Mortality jokes got progressively funnier as the night went on. It was hilarious. Really. You had to be there.

Please help me promote my funny cancer shirts!

I am looking for Bloggers to place my FunnyCancerShirts.com banner into the sidebar of their Cancer blogs. The site is getting a lot of exposure, sales have been great. You can feel all warm and bubbly knowing that a portion of each sale will be donated to a different cancer charity. The more shirts I sell, the more money I donate. Anything you could do to help with this would be GREAT!

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

Cut and paste the info from the text box below to add this animated banner to your page. Perfect size for the sidebar of your blog!


<CENTER><A HREF="HTTP://www.funnycancershirts.com"><IMG WIDTH="150"SRC="http://sniperphoto.smugmug.com/photos/351818018_nWdSB-O-1.gif" alt="Funny cancer shirts and gifts"></A></CENTER>


Cut and paste the info from the text box below to add this animated banner to your webpage.


<CENTER><A HREF="HTTP://www.funnycancershirts.com"><IMG WIDTH="400"SRC="http://sniperphoto.smugmug.com/photos/351166163_rgZpL-XL.gif" alt="Funny Cancer Shirts and Gifts"></A></CENTER>


If you just want to go crazy, and do some SUPER PROMOTING, cut and paste the info from the text box below to add this HUGE Funny Cancer Shirt ad to your page. Because of its size, you would need to place this code into a "New Post" on your Blog.


<CENTER><A HREF="HTTP://www.Funnycancershirts.com"><IMG WIDTH="600"SRC="http://sniperphoto.smugmug.com/photos/356274417_GSdWh-X2.jpg" alt="Funny cancer Shirts and Gifts"></A></CENTER>



If anyone needs help with adding the codes to your website or blog, please contact me.

Hodgkin's Lymphoma gains notable corporate sponsors!

Below is a re post from a friend and fellow Hodgkin's ass kicker, Dwayne. Be sure to check out his blog, http://www.journalofaprizefighter.com
He is MUCH better at writing than I am...


Many people in the Hodgkin's community are unaware that we have several influential voices in corporate America.

Taco Bell President - Greg Creed and Honeywell International - Senior-Vice President Adriane Brown, are emerging as strong advocates for Hodgkin's research. Taco Bell is a household name and diversified manufacturer, Honeywell, is one of the top 50 largest companies in the country.

These two powerful executives reside on the Board of Directors for the Alese Coco - Fight 2 Win Foundation. This New York based foundation is dedicated strictly to Hodgkin's research. Alese was also my friend and we often conversed while she was being treated at Sloan-Kettering.
On July 1, 2009, Greg Creed and Taco Bell facilitated the taping of the first ever Public Service Announcement for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which was taped at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California. The PSA was directed by the Russo Brothers who directed Arrested Development and the motion picture, You, Me & Dupree.

I spoke to Paul Coco (Alese's father) last week and he described the PSA as: "Both challenging and gripping. It will bring much needed attention to a lymphoma that receives far too little consideration from pharmaceutical companies for research." He continued: "The fact is that Hodgkin's has somewhere between 25% - 40% recurrence rate and nearly half of all stem cell transplants fail, and that's unacceptable. We're striving for complete cure."

The 30 second spot will begin airing nationally on several major networks beginning this September.

I will keep you posted on details as they became available.

The foundation's website is www.fight2win.org

Curb Your Enthusiasm!

Curb Your Enthusiasm has got to be one of my favorite shows of all time.
Recently, I started to re watch them. Will the new season ever start?

Anyway, in episode 34 of season 4 titled "The Weatherman", there is an ongoing joke about Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

When this originally aired, I gave it no thought, because I did not know I had the Hodge.

Anyway, give it a watch, hysterical!

"The good Hodgkins"
When Dr. Funkhouser's receptionist (Alyson Lyon) tell Larry that the Doctor "is not himself lately" because his uncle has Hodgkins disease, Larry says, "but it's the good Hodgkins." Hodgkin's disease is a type of lymphoma, a cancer that can occur in the lymph system. There are two types of lymphoma: Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

My 18 month PET/CT Scan results!

Today was my Oncologist visit to get the results from my 18 month pet/ct scan. Everything was great.
There were a few small areas that were enlarged. These lymphnodes were the same size for my last 3 scans, no new growth. They are making me get scanned again in 6 months just to be sure.
So far so good.

Click below to read the full report.

Look at my innards!

Just loaded my PET/CT scan from today.
Everything looks good to me, but I am not trained at reading these damn things. I will not get the "official" word until next week.
There are a few little spots that are glowing though. I hope they are just my kidneys. They are glowing on both sides, hopefully nothing to worry about.
Have a look!

18 month PET/CT scan TOMORROW!

That's right folks, tomorrow is my 18 month PET/CT Scan!
Hard to believe it has been a year and a half since I last had chemo. Hopefully I will have the same tech, I can read him like a book. After the scan I always ask him how it looked. He always says the same thing, but he can never look me in the eyes and say it when it is a bad scan.
Here's to the tech looking me right in the eyes tomorrow!

Congrats, and thanks, to Susan!

The other day Susan sent me an email with a few pics from the Relay for Life event over in California.
Every year Susan heads up the Chemo Amigos team and raises a nice chunk of cash for Lymphoma research. For this, I thank her!
I also wanted to thank her for promoting my funny cancer shirts.
She sent me a pic of the lovely Cindy (1 yr post Hodgkin's Lymphoma) wearing one of my shirts!
Susan also snapped a pic of some of our HL forum buddies - Jenny, Bob, Linda and Brian.
Again, thanks Susan!

Controversial Cancer cards from Hallmark featured on the Today Show.

Did anyone see this today?
Controversial? Are you F-ing kidding me? I guess they never saw any of my Cancer Cards!
There was some guy on the Today Show interview arguing with a lady that wrote some of the Cancer Cards for Hallmark.
His whole point was that the sender of the card was "Copping out" by sending a Hallmark Cancer Card. Seriously!?
This guy obviously never had cancer! He also thinks that cancer SHOULD be an awkward thing to talk about! This guy is nuts!
Talking about cancer is really hard for some folks. The Hallmark cards fill the void and help these people show support.

If you know someone who has been diagnosed or is battling cancer that is a bit more "off color", you might want to give these Cancer Greeting Cards a look! Visit FunnyCancerShirts.com to give them a look!

Really? She has CANCER?!

As many of you know, I am a photographer. About a year ago I started shooting classic pinup type shots.

Renee has got to be the most AMAZING gal I have shot pinups with to date.
14 years ago she was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer. She has relapsed a few times since and is currently undergoing treatment at the Cleveland Clinic for her illness.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that Renee is the mother of 5 little girls, INCLUDING TRIPLETS!
Yeah, mother of 5 that is currently fighting cancer. You would NEVER know it by looking at her pic.

Welcome to the club!

Today I had to welcome a very good friend to the "Cancer Club".
A long time buddy of mine was recently diagnosed with a very rare form of appendix cancer. When I say VERY RARE, I mean under 1000 people diagnosed per year. In my immediate group of friends, this make 3 of us that have had some wacky, rare form of cancer!
I am sure he will make it his Bitch!


Fucking cancer...

My blog was listed in top 30 Inspirational Cancer Survivor Blogs

My friend Kelly send me an email today to let me know that my cancer blog was listed in an article written about cancer blogs.
Below is a little blurb about the list as well as what they say about my blog.

Top 30 Inspirational Cancer Survivor Blogs
No matter how the doctor delivers the news, cancer is a devastating blow. Then, you have the privilege of telling your family and friends, tolerating chemotherapy and dealing with a roller coaster of emotions. Sometimes letting it all hang out and facing it can be the best way to deal with an enormous obstacle. Our top 30 inspirational individual cancer survival blogs do just that, and, not only is it therapeutic for individual, it’s therapeutic for the families involved and other patients encountering cancer as well. Read on for some heavy inspiration from these highly personal journeys.

25. I Made Cancer My B**ch! – A light-hearted look at a Hogdkin’s Lymphoma survivor. Blogger Ryan Armbrust takes you through his whole cancer treatment while remaining completely positive about 98 percent of the time.

It's a very good list, and I'm not just saying that because I am listed!
Give it a look by clicking here!

31 Ways to Prevent Cancer!

31 Simple Ways To Prevent Cancer
from Reader’s Digest

Consider this number: 10 million. That's how many cases of cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year. Now consider this number: 15 million. That's how many cases of cancer the World Health Organization estimates will be diagnosed in the year 2020 -- a 50 percent increase -- if we don't get our act together. 

Most cancers don't develop overnight or out of nowhere. Cancer is largely predictable, the end result of a decades-long process, but just a few simple changes in your daily life can significantly reduce your risk.

Here are 31 great tips. 



1. Serve sauerkraut at your next picnic. A Finnish study found that the fermentation process involved in making sauerkraut produces several other cancer-fighting compounds, including ITCs, indoles, and sulforaphane. To reduce the sodium content, rinse canned or jarred sauerkraut before eating.
2. Eat your fill of broccoli, but steam it rather than microwaving it. Broccoli is a cancer-preventing superfood, one you should eat frequently. But take note: A Spanish study found that microwaving broccoli destroys 97 percent of the vegetable's cancer-protective flavonoids. So steam it, eat it raw as a snack, or add it to soups and salads.
3. Toast some Brazil nuts and sprinkle over your salad. They're a rich form of selenium, a trace mineral that convinces cancer cells to commit suicide and helps cells repair their DNA. A Harvard study of more than 1,000 men with prostate cancer found those with the highest blood levels of selenium were 48 percent less likely to develop advanced disease over 13 years than men with the lowest levels. And a dramatic five-year study conducted at Cornell University and the University of Arizona showed that 200 micrograms of selenium daily -- the amount in two unshelled Brazil nuts -- resulted in 63 percent fewer prostate tumors, 58 percent fewer colorectal cancers, 46 percent fewer lung malignancies, and a 39 percent overall decrease in cancer deaths. 


4. Pop a calcium supplement with vitamin D. A study out of Dartmouth Medical School suggests that the supplements reduce colon polyps (a risk factor for colon cancer) in people susceptible to the growths. 


5. Add garlic to everything you eat. Garlic contains sulfur compounds that may stimulate the immune system's natural defenses against cancer, and may have the potential to reduce tumor growth. Studies suggest that garlic can reduce the incidence of stomach cancer by as much as a factor of 12! 


6. Sauté two cloves of crushed garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then mix in a can of low-sodium, diced tomatoes. Stir gently until heated and serve over whole wheat pasta. We already mentioned the benefits of garlic. The lycopene in the tomatoes protects against colon, prostate, and bladder cancers; the olive oil helps your body absorb the lycopene; and the fiber-filled pasta reduces your risk of colon cancer. As for the benefits of all of these ingredients together: They taste great!


7. Every week, buy a cantaloupe at the grocery store and cut it up after you put away your groceries. Store it in a container and eat several pieces every morning. Cantaloupe is a great source of carotenoids, plant chemicals shown to significantly reduce the risk of lung cancer.
The Power of Antioxidants
8. Mix half a cup of blueberries into your morning cereal. Blueberries rank number one in terms of their antioxidant power. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals, which are unstable compounds that can damage cells and lead to diseases including cancer. 


9. Learn to eat artichokes tonight. Artichokes are a great source of silymarin, an antioxidant that may help prevent skin cancer. To eat these delicious veggies, peel off the tough outer leaves on the bottom, slice the bottom, and cut off the spiky top. Then boil or steam until tender, about 30-45 minutes. Drain. Dip each leaf in a vinaigrette or garlic mayonnaise, then gently tear the fibrous covering off with your front teeth, working your way inward to the tender heart. Once there, gently scoop the bristles from the middle of the heart, dip in a little butter or lemon juice, and enjoy! 


10. Coat barbecue food with a thick sauce. Grilling meat can create a variety of cancer-causing chemicals. But researchers from the American Institute for Cancer Research found that coating the meat with a thick marinade and thereby preventing direct contact with the charring flames reduced the amount of such chemicals created. Another tip: Precook your meat in the oven and then throw it on the grill to finish. 


11. Every time you go to the bathroom, stop by the kitchen or water cooler for a glass of water. A major study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1996 found that men who drank six 8-ounce glasses of water every day slashed their risk of bladder cancer in half. Another study linked the amount of water women drank to their risk of colon cancer, with heavy water drinkers reducing their risk up to 45 percent. 


12. Take up a tea habit. The healing powers of green tea have been valued in Asia for thousands of years. In the West, new research reveals that it protects against a variety of cancers as well as heart disease. Some scientists believe that a chemical in green tea called EGCG could be one of the most powerful anticancer compounds ever discovered. 


13. Have a beer tonight. Beer protects against the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, known to cause ulcers and possibly linked to stomach cancer. But don't overdo it. Drinking more than one or two alcoholic drinks a day may increase your risk of mouth, throat, esophageal, liver, and breast cancer. 

14. Throw some salmon on the grill tonight. Australian researchers studying Canadians (go figure) found those who ate four or more servings of fish per week were nearly one-third less likely to develop the blood cancers leukemia, myeloma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Other studies show a link between eating fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, halibut, sardines, and tuna, as well as shrimp and scallops) with a reduced risk of endometrial cancer in women. Ah, those amazing omega-3s at it again!
15. Take a multivitamin every morning. Many studies suggest getting the ideal levels of vitamins and minerals can improve your immune system function and help prevent a variety of cancers.
16. Get about 15 minutes of sunlight on your skin each day. You've heard of the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D haven't you? Turns out we've been so good at heeding advice to slather on sun lotion and avoid the sun's rays that many of us aren't getting enough of this valuable nutrient. Researchers find that getting too little vitamin D may increase your risk of multiple cancers, including breast, colon, prostate, ovarian, and stomach, as well as osteoporosis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and high blood pressure. 

The best source? Exposure to UVB rays found in natural and artificial sunlight. About 15 minutes a day ought to do it. Avoid overexposure, of course. That can increase your risk for cancers of the skin. You can also get vitamin D in your calcium supplement if you choose a supplement that contains both.
17. Carry a shot glass in your beach bag. Then fill it with sunscreen and rub it all over your body. A shot glass holds about 1.5 ounces, which is how much sunscreen dermatologists estimate you need to protect yourself from the cancer-causing UV rays of the sun. Repeat every two hours. 


18. Cut a kiwifruit in half, then scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Now eat! Kiwi is a little hand grenade of cancer-fighting antioxidants, including vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, and copper. You can also rub a couple of cut kiwifruit on a low-fat cut of meat as a tenderizer. 


19. Use a condom and stick to one partner. The more sexual partners a woman has, the greater her risk of contracting human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes cervical cancer. Having an unfaithful husband also increases her risk.
20. Cut out high-fat animal protein. A Yale study found that women who ate the most animal protein had a 70 percent higher risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, while those who ate diets high in saturated fat increased their risk 90 percent. So switch to low-fat or nonfat dairy, have poultry or fish instead of beef or pork, and use olive oil instead of butter. 


21. Have your partner feed you grapes. They're great sources of resveratrol, the cancer-protecting compound found in wine, but don't have the alcohol of wine, which can increase the risk of breast cancer in women. Plus, the closeness such an activity engenders (we hope) strengthens your immune system. 


22. Sprinkle scallions over your salad. A diet high in onions may reduce the risk of prostate cancer 50 percent. But the effects are strongest when they're eaten raw or lightly cooked. So try scallions, Vidalia onions, shallots, or chives for a milder taste. 


23. Make a batch of fresh lemonade or limeade. A daily dose of citrus fruits may cut the risk of mouth, throat, and stomach cancers by half, Australian researchers found.
24. Take a 30-minute walk every evening after dinner. That's all it takes to reduce your breast cancer risk, according to a study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Turns out that moderate exercise reduces levels of estrogen, a hormone that contributes to breast cancer. When 170 overweight, couch potato women ages 50-75 did some form of moderate exercise for about three hours a week, levels of circulating estrogen dropped significantly after three months. After a year, those who lost at least 2 percent of their body fat had even greater decreases in estrogen. Another study linked four hours a week of walking or hiking with cutting the risk of pancreatic cancer in half. The benefits are probably related to improved insulin metabolism due to the exercise. 


25. Buy organic foods. They're grown without added pesticides or hormones, both of which can cause cellular damage that may eventually lead to cancer.
26. Learn to love dandelions. Using commercial pesticides on your lawn may increase your risk of cancer, since most contain pesticides such as 2,4-D (linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) and MCPP (associated with soft-tissue cancers). Plus, pesticides used solely on lawns don't have to go through the same rigorous testing for long-term health effects as those used on food. And, as E/The Environmental Magazine noted in a 2004 article, no federal studies have assessed the safety of lawn-care chemicals in combination, the way most are sold. 


27. Buy clothes that don't need to be dry-cleaned. Many dry cleaners still use a chemical called perc (perchloroethylene), found to cause kidney and liver damage and cancer in animals repeatedly exposed through inhalation. Buying clothes that don't require dry cleaning, or hand washing them yourself, can reduce your exposure to this chemical. If you must dry-clean your clothes, take them out of the plastic bag and air them outside or in another room before wearing.
28. Choose cucumbers over pickles, fresh salmon over lox. Studies find that smoked and pickled foods contain various carcinogens.


29. Switch from french fries and potato chips to mashed potatoes and pretzels. A potential cancer-causing compound called acrylamide forms as a result of the chemical changes that occur in foods when they're baked, fried, or roasted. Not surprisingly, many foods with the greatest amounts of acrylamide are also some of the worst-for-you foods, such as french fries, potato chips, and baked sweets. Although the results aren't final yet, Michael Jacobson, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, estimates acrylamide causes between 1,000 and 25,000 cancers per year. His agency has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to set limits on the amount of acrylamide foods can contain. The FDA is studying the issue. 


30. Go for a spray-on tan. They're available in most tanning salons these days and, unlike tanning beds, there's no evidence that they increase your risk of skin cancer. 


31. Call up your bowling pal and hit the lanes. A study from the State University of New York at Stony Brook found that men with high levels of stress and those with less satisfying contacts with friends and family members had higher levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in their blood, a marker for the development of prostate cancer.

1 year PET Scan was today...

Today I had my one year PET Scan. I think things went pretty well, I will get the "Official" word next Tuesday.
I asked the Tech to burn my scan to a disc, he did it without any smooth talking on my part. I think that is a good sign. I know what my "Dirty" scan looks like, this one looks nothing like it. My first PET made my inside look like it was wrapped up in cheap-ass Christmas lights!

Have a look for yourself!

I also found out today that my shot of the Palace Theater won the grand prize for the Capture Kentuckiana book. First place out of 12,000 pics! I also sold 2 $400 Kentucky Derby pics to a customer on my photography website.

In the words of our Saviour , Ice-Cube, I gotta say it was a good day!

Yogurt Lids fight cancer?

I was watching tv tonight and noticed a Yoplait Yogurt commercial in which they are asking everyone to send in their yogurt lids as part of a fundraiser.

From the Yoplait website:
During our annual drive, for every pink lid you send in Yoplait® will donate 10 cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, up to $1.5 million. And we guarantee a donation of at least $500,000. So grab your friends, coworkers, yoga class or neighbors and start getting involved today.

10 cents for every lid!?
Why not just donate the price of postage directly to the Susan G. Komen Foundation? Do the simple math, one person sends one lid to Yoplait. They spent a MINIMUM of 42 cents for postage! That's over 4 times the money that would be raised!
Am I missing something here?

I'm no hippie, but it would seem that Yoplait is killing the environment as well. They want you to rinse the lid, bag it in a plastic bag and mail it.
Waste water, waste gas and use a shit ton of plastic.

World Lymphoma Awareness Day? WTF?

So yesterday was World Lymphoma Awareness Day...
Wait one damn minute!
I had Lymphoma and did not know we had our own fancy day dedicated to us. I would STILL not know about this if My bubby Duane had not mentioned it. I guess those folks over at the Lymphoma Coalition are really doing a great job getting the word out!

From this day forward, I declare September 16th "WORLD BISCUITS AND GRAVY DAY"!