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With May being recognized as National Cancer Research Month, the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance has launched an initiative to persuade some of America's 100 million daily coffee drinkers to donate the cost of one cup of coffee towards cancer research.
Join the movement and kick your cup for cancer research today!
If you ask my daughter about my cancer, she will tell you one thing, “I saved my mommy’s life.” She says it in such a nonchalant manner, it is if she is saying “The sky is blue” but she is right, she DID save my life.
My husband and I didn’t rush into parenthood. We waited 7 years into our marriage before trying to get pregnant. I was a little nervous that we might have some issues conceiving; I was 35, not some young virile girl. I had no idea how long it would take to get pregnant, or if I even could. But, we were lucky-- 3 months later, I took the pregnancy test (3 of them actually) just to make sure. They all said the same thing-- I was pregnant! I was going to be a MOTHER! It was funny how almost immediately I started rubbing my belly and thinking of all of the scenarios of having a baby. What would life be like to be a mom and have a baby? What kind of mom would I be? A fun mom? A strict mom? The cool, fashionable mom? I wanted to be the good mom, the one with the kid that behaved. I wanted to be the mom that had the career with the fulfilling family life at home.
For all of the support you give to charities, walks and events against cancer, do you ever wonder if you are really making a difference in the fight against this seemingly invincible enemy known as cancer?
The answer is this: Yes! Every donation in the name of cancer research is important in the continuing fight against this foe. As of 2007 and 2011, Congress even stepped up to the plate to help recognize May as National Cancer Research Month alongside the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
In a plot that seems more fitting in a movie thriller, the United States Marshals caught up to the fugitive after a cross-country chase, accused of siphoning millions of dollars in donations from a phony United States Navy Veterans charity.
Though the accused con artist is not giving up his real name, “Bobby Thompson” is accused of raising $100 million in donations from his bogus Navy veteran charity, U.S. Navy Veterans Association. According to the Associated Press, “[l]ittle, if any, of the money collected by the charity was use to benefit veterans.”
I’d like to take a moment to thank Rebecca Arnautovic, the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance’s Advocate of the Month for April. Rebecca has been incredibly active and visible in our Facebook community and continues to help spread the message of the MCA, while lending her support and knowledge to others affected by cancer. Beneath is an interview with Rebecca about her own experience with cancer and how that has shaped her way of life.
MCA:
Has cancer affected you in some way? If so, in what way? Tell us about your experience.
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The entire 11th floor of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston is dedicated to thoracic patients. They have lung transplant patients, collapsed lung patients, esophageal cancer patients and, of course, extrapleural pneumonectomy or EPP patients like myself. The nurses and residents are highly skilled and know exactly what to do to care for us.
The first few days after surgery are a blur; I was in the ICU for 3 days. During that time, I had to pass certain milestones before I could move to the step down ward. The first thing I had to accomplish was “dangle” that was sitting on the side of the bed with my feet “dangling” No easy task when there are about 14 tubes connected to you. After I accomplished dangling, I got to graduate to sitting in a chair-- woohoo! This was a huge step and meant I actually got up out of bed. After sitting for a couple of hours, I would need to sleep. It must be what a newborn feels like. Simple tasks would exhaust me.
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Today, April 28th, marks the international Workers’ Memorial Day. Observed each year, it is a day for remembering fellow workers who have been hurt or killed on the job and a day to renew focus on the efforts to continue to work towards safer working conditions for all.
This year also marks the 41st anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) being formed, which works diligently to advocate for jobs with safe working conditions and support for unions. Since the inception of this administration, the death toll of workers on the job has decreased but approximately 4,500 workers still die each year from their working conditions.
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On April 24th, I had my bi-annual check up in Boston with Dr. David Sugarbaker. It’s been 6 1/2 years since my diagnosis. It has been 6 years and 3 months since my subsequent surgery to have the tumor and my lung taken out—wow! I get giddy when I think about it. The few weeks before my appointments I usually suffer from what I call “Scanxiety,” or this anxiousness that comes before the scans to see if “it” came back.
This time, however, it was not that bad. I was a little nervous, but not seriously. I think maybe the main reason was during this trip I was meeting a patient who I had spoken to on the phone a few weeks prior. Bill O’Brian contacted me to discuss his upcoming surgery. It just so happened that his surgery was scheduled for the 11th of April and he would still be in Boston when I was going to be out for my appointment. I had spent about an hour on the phone with him and his wife, telling them what I had been through and what to expect. Something I vowed to do for others, since there was no one to do that for me. In those 60 minutes we bonded. Before we hung up, he said to me, “I just love you!! I really do! You’re family now!!” We made plans to meet when I came to town.
It’s no secret that life can get tough. There are things that happen beyond our control that can turn life upside down and make you pretty down, but it’s important to remember that things will get better if you take a proactive approach in making things better. Physical health and mental health go hand and hand, and there are several ways in which you can ease your mind and also improve your health.
As important as it is to nurture our bodies with healthful foods and physical activity, it’s vital that we nurture and explore our minds—our creative side. Imagination doesn’t have to go away when you grow up, you just have to make sure to engage it. It can be as cathartic as it is productive; putting your feelings into what you are creating is often very therapeutic. So while you’re taking your walk, bring your camera and snap a few pictures. When you find the time, write down your thoughts and goals. Pick up and start that crafting project you always thought you wanted to try. Start a scrapbook to document family outings or just random creative presentation kits. Why wait? Channel all of your anxiety into things that can relax your mind and serve as an outlet of inner expression!
Sadly, cancer touches so many lives and women are a large percentage of those affected by cancer. We interviewed several women who have overcome their cancer diagnosis and asked them 'What makes you feel beautiful?'
Here is a glimpse into their stories--
Hair loss can be one of the most difficult and feared side effects of chemotherapy. Upon learning we will lose our hair, we immediately begin anticipating our hair loss and its impact on ourselves and others. Feeling helpless in anticipation of our hair loss can cause or increase feelings of reluctance, fear, and depression. By researching options, making deliberate choices, and taking specific actions to determine our appearance without hair, we gain a greater sense of control over our changing appearance. A greater sense of control over our appearance may help motivate us to take control of other aspects of our lives that contribute to a greater quality of life during cancer treatment. Clearly, it is not "just hair."
Our hair is part of us, part of our feminine identity, part of our style and image. Without our hair, we feel stripped of our identity, and in the context of cancer, it often feels like we are systematically being stripped of ourselves. Hair loss strips us of our anonymity at a time when we desperately want to maintain a sense of normalcy. In the words of one anonymous respondent to 4women.com's "Emotional Side of Hair Loss" survey:
"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over."
-James Boswell
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I cannot remember the moment I became aware of other mesothelioma warriors around the globe, but, sometime in the last few years, my friendship base grew from a couple of people I knew from Boston to many people from all over the world—the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil; the list goes on and on. A few in particular stuck out because of their fierce passion against this disease and what it has done to their lives and to others’ lives as well. “Turn anger into action,” they say. Sadly, many have passed, succumbed to this dreadful disease and mourned by people worldwide. Many are doing well, fighting hard, and making it known that they won’t give in. I was lucky enough to meet one of these brave women this last weekend when my husband and I attended the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization’s annual conference in Los Angeles, CA.
Debbie Brewer is a tireless mesothelioma warrior in England. We became Facebook friends about 3 years ago and we both had been aware of each other for months before that. Debbie and I have a lot in common; I nicknamed my tumor Punxatawny Phil and she nicknamed hers Theo; we both sought out rather extreme mesothelioma treatments for our disease and we both had great success with them. The friendship grew through the last few years; I would cheer her on when she was giving speeches all over the UK about her battle and she would do the same for me when I was asked to share my story at various conferences. When I found out she was to receive the The Alan Reinstein Award for her commitment to education, advocacy, and support to the many people she comes in contact with, I was elated! It also meant that we might actually be able to meet after all this time since I planned on attending the ADAO Conference as well.
Asia is heading for a huge jump in asbestos-related diseases in the coming decades, according to numerous scientific studies and two of the world’s most prominent experts on public health and asbestos exposure. Not surprisingly, the consequences are expected to be felt most severely in India and China, two emerging economies and most populous countries in the world.
“What we can expect is very predictable – an absolute catastrophe of death and disease,” Dr. Arthur Frank, chairman of environmental and occupational health at Drexel University, said in a recent interview with this reporter. He added that the coming catastrophe is “all preventable.”
Asbestos: a fiber that is 700 times smaller than a human hair, yet it kills 90,000 people a year. Asbestos exposure can cause the deadly disease known as mesothelioma, an aggressive, yet preventable, disease.
Please help raise awareness of mesothelioma by sharing this video and help advocate the banning of asbestos use in the United States.
This past weekend I traveled to Los Angeles, California to attend the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization's international conference, “Asbestos: An International Public Health Crisis”. From March 30 to April 1, I was surrounded by renowned experts and other asbestos victims and survivors like myself. It is an amazing event that brings us together to share our experiences and learn about how we can help spread awareness and education about the disease and learn about new treatment options.
Below is a recap of each day that I was there as well as a 3 point recap of each day.
Many families today have members facing one of the most lethal cancers, mesothelioma. The cancer occurs due to exposure to asbestos and is the most serious of all asbestos-related diseases. Once considered rare, more and more people are now being diagnosed with mesothelioma. Asbestos can lay silent within the body for years before presenting itself as mesothelioma, and even then symptoms mimic common ailments making it very difficult to diagnose. This is one of the many reasons why the disease is so deadly. Asbestos also has the ability to spread from host to host, carried and transferred via clothing. Mesothelioma is a frightening reality and these stories tell how the disease affected the lives of patients and their families.
The Donnelly Family
What is Asbestos?
According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), asbestos is “the name given to a group of naturally occurring minerals used in certain products, such as building materials and vehicle brakes, to resist heat and corrosion.”
On March 5, 2012, the United States Senate passed a resolution (S. Res. 389) recognizing the first week of April as “National Asbestos Awareness Week.” Sponsored by United States Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), the resolution hopes to raise awareness of asbestos-related diseases – including mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer – and the incredible danger asbestos exposure poses to health.
A naturally occurring set of minerals, asbestos was once widely used in all manners of manufacturing including ship building, plumbing and building materials. Due to its manufacturing prevalence, asbestos caused many to develop mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that affects the linings of the lungs, abdominal wall and heart. Further, asbestos is known to cause asbestosis, where scar tissue builds up in the lung around the area in which asbestos fibers become lodged.
Besides the staggering number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with psychological trauma stemming from their wartime experience, one of the biggest news stories about veterans continues to be the incredibly high unemployment rate.
Unfortunately, the rate of unemployment among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is higher than the national average and is the leading cause for the rampant homelessness – among other economic issues – in this population.
For some Americans, this may have been a long time in the making, but recently Maine demonstrated how valuable their veterans are to their state by mandating the establishment of a specialized court for veterans.
This court is entirely different than what we all may think of “traditional” courts. In fact, these courts offer veterans a second chance after committing a crime.
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