Lessons from famous cancer people

Just because someone is rich and famous and survives cancer, it doesn't mean they can invent a new way to cure cancer. There are a few I would like to mention here. I have nothing against these women at all but am concerned about the weight their name carries and how many followers they have simply because of their fame.

Suzanne Somers - she has a book out on chemo free treatment of cancer based on interviews with doctors. I'm sorry but there is no way to globally dismiss or prescribe any type of cancer treatment without a one-on-one conversation.

Farrah Fawcett declined conventional, FDA approved cancer treatment which would have required major surgery and resulted in needing a colostomy bag for life and went to Germany for a different treatment. Which unfortunately was painful and did not work in the long run. This reminds me of the families who went to Mexico for Laetril treatments in the 1970s. If its not approved here, there may be a good reason for it. And running overseas may not be a good idea.

In a recent article in AARP, long time friends, Melissa Ethridge and Sheryl Crowe talk about their cancer treatment successes. While I found the article interesting, I was not too thrilled with the last image:

Melissa 'turned off' her BRCA gene by eating better. And Sheryl meditates so that her cells function at a higher level.  I'm sorry but you can't turn a gene off. Its part of you. And maybe meditation helps you but it doesn't mean it can cure cancer. Being healthy can help you reduce your risk of cancer but don't think daily meditation will keep you healthy.

I can go on. These four women are ones who first came to mind. If you are rich and famous you have access to the best care and the best types of supplemental treatments from personalized workouts, professional chefs, and expensive organic food and personal doctors. But that doesn't mean your treatment is going to work for anyone else. And please be clear on that to your fans and followers.

Healing and methotrexate

These days a little thing can do me in for a few days or even weeks. I have had a cold that started last week and lingered into this week. I assume its the same one as opposed to a new cold (or the flu or Ebola). But I am slowly getting better.

I was a good girl and did not take my methotrexate last week - it compromises my immune system and I am supposed to skip it if even a tiny bit sick. I went to the doctor on Saturday for an infected toe. Not an ingrown toenail but an infection along the side of my toe. I have been on antibiotics since then. So this week I also skipped my methotrexate. Again.

Per my doctors since I have been on MX for so long, a certain level has built up in my system. But if I keep skipping it, how long until my levels start going down and my RA starts acting up?

For now, a little cold can turn into a lot more. I just wish I could get heal like a normal person.

When diagnosed with cancer, get a puppy

I read a really good book last night. The whole thing. 83 pages in a 5"x 8" book so its a very quick read. 'Survival Lessons' by Alice Hoffman. Yes the famous writer Alice Hoffman.

She had breast cancer 15 years before she wrote the book which came out last year. In the introduction she tells us it is her personal path to healing on her own terms. The book then shares what she learned during the course of her treatment, looking back after all that time. I hope I am as smart then as she is now.

In addition to telling us to get a puppy during treatment, she is full of good advice including 'choose to plan ahead' and 'choose to dream'. These are two very important things we often forget when coping with a cancer diagnosis.

It made me think in a good way. I will return it to the library shortly so others can benefit from it. I might reread it before I return it and I will definitely reread it again in the future.

What was I thinking?

In 2008, I participated in a weekend long retreat run by Casting For Recovery on Cape Cod where we learned fly fishing. It was a retreat for women with breast cancer and had such an impact on me, I went back and volunteered in 2009, 2011, and 2012 (no retreat in 2010, 2013, and 2014). The woman who lead the retreat for 15 years resigned in 2012 and the group sort of fell apart as others also resigned because they had been volunteering as long and it was time to move on.

Now, me, yes, me with all my health ailments has volunteered to be the new retreat coordinator for Massachusetts and Rhode Island and get the retreat going again in 2015. I do not have much to do, I am sure it will be easy with all my excess energy. I need to come up with a team of volunteers, run 3 fund raising events each year, and get it all organized.

This is what I have so far for a team: me with a few others who have promised to help once we get moving.

This is what I have far for fundraising events: I think we will have a reunion luncheon in the fall.

Otherwise, we do not have anyone, nor a location, nor a budget (I need to write that one out), nor much financing. I have a bit of work to do.

But I want to do it. The weekend I participated in the retreat I remember driving there thinking 'what the hell am I doing going away for a weekend to learn about fishing - and I'm not touching a single slimy fish - with a bunch of people I don't know - I really am crazy - I must have lost all brain cells during chemo. But wait, I have gall stones and can always claim a gall bladder attack and leave if it is really that bad.'

It really was a turning point in my coping with breast cancer. I left inspired and energized. I even got a fishing rod (not that I ever go fishing). I wanted to help other women have the same experience that I did. The three years I volunteered were all the more beneficial after seeing the participants grow and cope with their breast cancer diagnosis and treatment were even more rewarding.

So now, I am determined to get this program back on the road again. I am mailing out a letter to all previous participants in MA and RI and getting the ball rolling. Another former participant is printing the letters. I will stuff the envelopes next weekend and send them on their way.

If you want to help me in my moderately insane decision to do this, please let me know. You can volunteer (contact me) or donate (see their website for details and mark your donation for MA/RI retreat). Sometimes I may be really crazy but I think this is something I really want to do. Its all about the benefit for the women who are coping with breast cancer and the benefit it gives to them.

When diagnosed with cancer, get a puppy

I read a really good book last night. The whole thing. 83 pages in a 5"x 8" book so its a very quick read. 'Survival Lessons' by Alice Hoffman. Yes the famous writer Alice Hoffman.

She had breast cancer 15 years before she wrote the book which came out last year. In the introduction she tells us it is her personal path to healing on her own terms. The book then shares what she learned during the course of her treatment, looking back after all that time. I hope I am as smart then as she is now.

In addition to telling us to get a puppy during treatment, she is full of good advice including 'choose to plan ahead' and 'choose to dream'. These are two very important things we often forget when coping with a cancer diagnosis.

It made me think in a good way. I will return it to the library shortly so others can benefit from it. I might reread it before I return it and I will definitely reread it again in the future.

Lessons from famous cancer people

Just because someone is rich and famous and survives cancer, it doesn't mean they can invent a new way to cure cancer. There are a few I would like to mention here. I have nothing against these women at all but am concerned about the weight their name carries and how many followers they have simply because of their fame.

Suzanne Somers - she has a book out on chemo free treatment of cancer based on interviews with doctors. I'm sorry but there is no way to globally dismiss or prescribe any type of cancer treatment without a one-on-one conversation.

Farrah Fawcett declined conventional, FDA approved cancer treatment which would have required major surgery and resulted in needing a colostomy bag for life and went to Germany for a different treatment. Which unfortunately was painful and did not work in the long run. This reminds me of the families who went to Mexico for Laetril treatments in the 1970s. If its not approved here, there may be a good reason for it. And running overseas may not be a good idea.

In a recent article in AARP, long time friends, Melissa Ethridge and Sheryl Crowe talk about their cancer treatment successes. While I found the article interesting, I was not too thrilled with the last image:

Melissa 'turned off' her BRCA gene by eating better. And Sheryl meditates so that her cells function at a higher level.  I'm sorry but you can't turn a gene off. Its part of you. And maybe meditation helps you but it doesn't mean it can cure cancer. Being healthy can help you reduce your risk of cancer but don't think daily meditation will keep you healthy.

I can go on. These four women are ones who first came to mind. If you are rich and famous you have access to the best care and the best types of supplemental treatments from personalized workouts, professional chefs, and expensive organic food and personal doctors. But that doesn't mean your treatment is going to work for anyone else. And please be clear on that to your fans and followers.

Healing and methotrexate

These days a little thing can do me in for a few days or even weeks. I have had a cold that started last week and lingered into this week. I assume its the same one as opposed to a new cold (or the flu or Ebola). But I am slowly getting better.

I was a good girl and did not take my methotrexate last week - it compromises my immune system and I am supposed to skip it if even a tiny bit sick. I went to the doctor on Saturday for an infected toe. Not an ingrown toenail but an infection along the side of my toe. I have been on antibiotics since then. So this week I also skipped my methotrexate. Again.

Per my doctors since I have been on MX for so long, a certain level has built up in my system. But if I keep skipping it, how long until my levels start going down and my RA starts acting up?

For now, a little cold can turn into a lot more. I just wish I could get heal like a normal person.

Taking back my life

Over the past few years, my life has shrunk. There are many things I can no longer do - hiking, biking, camping, skiing, vacuuming. I have decided it is time to take back my life.

I used to go for a daily walk, rarely skipping a day. A habit started years ago. I would walk in the rain and snow and heat and cold.

In the spring of 2007, I was working at a small company near home. I started walking at lunch with a co-worker once or twice a week. I left the job but kept walking weekly with her, through cancer treatment. We would walk the steep hills to keep in shape. We kept going. Some weeks would skip because one of us was traveling or busy, or my back hurt too much.


Two winters ago, she and her husband started spending two months in Utah to ski so we stopped for the time. Last winter she went for her two months in Utah, we walked once after she came back in the spring. Then my back started hurting more, and my hip (bursitis). We haven't walked since.

I have gone for a few walks since then but nothing as regular as I used to. I do go to the gym and do an hour of cardio three times a week as well as weights and stretching. But long walks result in bad effects - including hobbling home and spending a few hours or a day in bed. I find I don't have the stamina for it. My muscles aren't used to walking any more.

I am determined to start going for regular walks again. I do need a day of rest after working out. But I have a plan. A dastardly plan. My husband has no idea what he is in for.

We are going to go for a walk every weekend. We have started already. We went for a walk at a nearby wildlife refuge last weekend. And on Saturday we went for a walk in the wind and cold on the hills around our neighborhood. This coming weekend we will go for another walk.

I want to walk enough so that we can go on hikes again, something we really liked to do. One of our first dates was a hike along the edge of a cliff on western MA where we got hit by a thunderstorm and literally soaked to the skin. I would love to be able to hike like that again. It may take a while but I do want to hike again. I enjoy being out in the woods. Its part of taking back my life.

I am tired of watching things I enjoy slip away. I'm taking back my life. And maybe I'll lose some weight too.