Brenda's Blog: A Guide to Surviving Breast Cancer

Why Me?

Monday, November 30, 2009

©Brenda Coffee. All rights reserved.

I have a friend who may lose her voice box to cancer this week. I know it has been hard for her to think about little else. Too many of us understand the stark terror a diagnosis of cancer can bring along with the inevitable questions like “who will I be without a voice box, without a breast?” The answers are not found in the initial stages of shock but in the contemplative times after the “why me?” and even “why not me?” <PREVIEWEND>

In those first terrifying days, maybe weeks, when you lay alone in the dark and wonder if you will be here this time next year, at some point you must rise up, take your mat and walk. Your body is not the same one you have counted on your whole life, but if you choose to move forward a new self will emerge. Like a butterfly freed from a crusted and discarded cocoon, your new self will realize it does not matter if you are missing a breast, or your voice. While you are no longer the same person externally, more importantly, you are not the same person internally. Your heart and soul are hopefully on their way to becoming more pleasing in the eyes of God.

Should this terrible thing happen, I know my friend will find a way to accept it, and her voice will be heard in other ways. I believe God is molding her, softening some of her edges and strengthening others until she transcends her outer shell and becomes an even more extraordinary woman. She will find other ways to let her special qualities shine through, and she will give thanks for the strength and the courage and the grace God has given her.

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Should You Get a Mammogram?

Monday, November 23, 2009

©Brenda Coffee. All rights reserved.

If you haven’t heard of last week’s mammogram controversy, you have probably been living under a rock. On November 16, 2009, I watched in horror as Brian Williams, anchor of NBC Nightly News, interviewed Dr. Susan Love, one the foremost experts on breast cancer. Dr. Love, a breast cancer surgeon, clinical professor at UCLA and founder of the Dr. Susan Love Foundation, echoed the US Preventative Task Force’s new mammogram guidelines, saying that raising the age to 50 for women to start getting mammograms “would bring us up to the world’s standards.” She went on to say, “These (new) guidelines are inline with what everybody else in the world is doing right now—where they have government run screening programs.”

Think about that statement. Americans have always been told that we have the best healthcare in the world. Do you really want your mammogram guidelines “inline” with countries that have socialized—government run medicine—like Canada (they come to the US for good and timely healthcare), Great Britain and France? Do you really want a healthcare program like the one in Cuba? <PREVIEWEND>

Dr. Love went on to say that women over 50 have denser breasts than women under 50, and that denser breasts make mammograms harder to read, which means that some tumors are missed altogether. I agree, mammograms may not be the best tool to find breast cancer, but to those women under 50 who find their tumors with a mammogram, they are everything.

Dr. Love also admitted that raising the age women get mammograms would be rationing, “but it’s rationing of the best kind, and saving the other money to find something that works.” What are the odds there will be any “saved money” or that it will go toward finding “something that works?” The words “government” and “saved money” don’t exactly go together. This week, two respected oncologists, a radiologist and a representative of the American Cancer Society told me the new mammogram guidelines are the government’s way of getting us ready for fewer services, if Obama’s health care policy is passed.

In addition, the same government Task Force said doctors should stop teaching women to do self breast exams. That is frightening. I know of too many women, myself included, who found their breast cancer while doing a self-exam.

I am outraged at the US Preventative Task Force’s guidelines. The only thing they prevent is early diagnosis. Sure, mammograms are not the perfect detection tool, but until we develop something better, get your mammograms; talk with your doctor and listen to your “little voice.” Mine saved my life. Even if you are confused about the new guidelines, take matters into your own hands, starting with your breasts. Do regular self-breast exams. Without a self-exam, I would be dead, now.

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Breast Cancer, Are You in Denial?

Monday, November 16, 2009

The other day I met a woman whose mother, sister and aunt had all been diagnosed with breast cancer. When I asked if she had taken the genetic test that would tell her if she had inherited the gene that might make her a candidate for breast cancer she said, “No. I’m just going to leave it to God… Plus I eat healthy.” Hello!! This is a woman who clearly does not have the survival gene. <PREVIEWEND>

It is still shocking to me that she has no desire to know if she is at higher risk of getting breast cancer, maybe I should say of preventing breast cancer, or passing the gene on to her daughter. Knowledge is power girlfriends. Oh what I would have given to have had that knowledge BEFORE I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was four years after my breast cancer diagnosis when I discovered I carried one of the breast cancer genes; I did not hesitate a millisecond before saying, "take the other breast NOW!!" My decision to have a preventative mastectomy was a proactive stance in my fight against breast cancer, and it was empowering. That mastectomy was on my terms, not breast cancer’s.

Even if there is not a history of breast cancer in your family (I had no family history but I carried the BRAC2 gene) please consider getting a BracAnalysis to see if you carry the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. It is easy—a simple blood test. Most health insurance plans pay for genetic testing. It may save your life, or the life of someone you love. Do not be one of those women who have the “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” gene. Be smart: Stop breast cancer before it starts. For further information, go to Myriad Genetic Laboratories, http://www.myriad.com/

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Can Tomatoes Kill Cancer?

Monday, November 09, 2009

©Brenda Coffee. All rights reserved.

Test tube studies have shown that cancer cells cannot grow in a high alkaline environment, but do grow in excess acid. In order to understand what this means, we first need to understand the difference between alkaline and acid.

Remember those little strips of litmus paper in high school chemistry designed to teach us about pH? In technical terms, we were measuring the number of hydrogen ions in a given solution, whether it was orange juice or gasoline, to discover if it was alkaline or acid. Pure water is neither alkaline nor acidic. It is neutral and measures a 7.0, right in the middle of the zero to 14 pH scale. Solutions with less than a 7 pH are acidic, and those with a pH greater than 7 are alkaline. So, how can we use this information to reduce the risk of cancer growing and thriving in our bodies? <PREVIEWEND>

In recent years an alkaline diet theory has developed as a possible way of preventing or slowing the growth of cancer. Advocates of this diet believe that by eating foods with a high pH, which is alkaline—like tomatoes, spinach, cucumber and celery, among others—makes our body less hospitable to cancer cells. We do know that high fat, low fiber diets make us at higher risk for certain cancers, but can we alter our pH levels enough to prevent cancer?

Brigham & Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, says the alkaline diets do not work because our body carefully regulates our pH levels and does not alter those levels in a meaningful way, for a significant amount of time needed to kill cancer. In other words if our pH goes outside the normal healthy range of 7.35 to 7.45 our body automatically corrects itself to bring our pH levels back to normal. Another criticism of alkaline diets is they exclude many food groups which provide us with beneficial anti-cancer properties.

I am not a scientist so don’t change your diet based on what I’ve written, pro or con, but theoretically, the alkaline diet is an interesting concept to ponder. Unfortunately the big picture about diet and cancer is a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle that cannot be assembled in a test tube, much less in 500 words or less. So for now let’s keep reading and studying and eating the most balanced diet we can.

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Constipation and Breast Cancer

Monday, November 02, 2009

©Brenda Coffee. All rights reserved.

It seems as though Oprah and Dr. Oz have made it acceptable to openly talk about bowel movements, or the lack thereof, so… Here goes... Let’s talk about poop. <PREVIEWEND>

For cancer patients, and anyone interested in staying healthy or reducing their risk of recurrence, maintaining a healthy immune system is of prime importance. The immune system is one of the ways our body fights disease, colds and flu. One of the best ways to have a healthy immune system is by keeping your bowels moving on a daily basis in order to rid your body of toxins. If however, you are constipated, it is harder for your immune system to do its job.

Have you ever noticed that after a meal of beef and potatoes you become lethargic, even sleepy? That’s because your body has to work overtime to digest and process that heavy meal. More than likely that steak will still be with you for days, even weeks after your small intestine absorbs the nutrients and then passes the remaining waste material on to your colon for ultimate disposal. If waste material is allowed to stay in your colon for prolonged periods of time it will literally rot! That is not the way to protect your body from harmful bacteria. One way to tell how long your food has been in your colon is by how often you poop: The more you poop the faster food moves through your colon and the stronger your immune system becomes.

Sometimes cancer treatment, stress, medication, surgery, change in diet, lack of water and decreased mobility can lead to serious constipation. Chemotherapy exaggerates constipation and diarrhea, whichever condition you are naturally prone to have. Do not wait until you are constipated or have diarrhea for more than a day to take action. My doctor suggested over-the-counter medications or an enema bag filled with equal parts of warm milk and molasses. The latter remedy worked immediately. If you cannot fix constipation on your own, you could wind-up in the emergency room where they may have to manually dig impacted feces out of your anus. I cannot think of anything more embarrassing but evidently it is not an uncommon occurrence.

Now let’s talk about being pro-active and staying regular. In addition to drinking prune juice and eating plenty of fiber, immediately after I got home from each chemotherapy, I took a laxative for constipation and one each day until I had a bowel movement. After that my system functioned on its own without medication.

Proper nutrition plays a key role in keeping your immune system and your bowel movements in good working order. Fiber in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain bread and rice, oatmeal, shredded wheat, along with plenty of water and exercise, helps digested food move through your colon and out of your body. In addition you might consider drinking one of those probiotic dairy drinks that balance all the good and bad bacteria in your digestive system. I think they are terrific. One a day makes me regular as clockwork. (That’s probably more than you want to know about me.)

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Debbie's Cancer Blog

Divine Caroline

Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer

Rear Window

Why Me?

Should You Get a Mammogram?

Breast Cancer, Are You in Denial?

Can Tomatoes Kill Cancer?

Constipation and Breast Cancer

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