Love Entails Suffering

Hi Everyone,

My friend Theresa was laid to rest on Monday.  It was a beautiful and sorrowful celebration.  The priest gave an excellent homily on suffering.  He said that when we experience suffering we are filled with a sense of protest and rebellion, continuously asking “Why?”  He reminded us that we were made of love and that in suffering love shows itself.  Love entails suffering.  I have been pondering this phrase- love entails suffering.  For me, there is no doubt that in the cancer storm I have experienced, love prevails.  In return I want to give acts of love to others.  Funny how that happens, I guess it was in my plan.  

Be Well, 

Prayer of Release

Today I write with a heavy, angry and humbled heart.  My friend Theresa lost her battle with breast cancer last night.  I met Theresa at Pink Paint last year, a painting class at Pink Ribbons Project.  She and I were diagnosed with breast cancer weeks apart in 2008.  She was 28 at the time and had a son who was just a year and a half.  We went through a similar regimen of treatment and were both cancer free until last year when her cancer metastasized to her liver.  She was a vibrant young lady with a soft, loving and positive spirit, always with a smile.

I have really struggled with how quickly she went from well to 24 hour hospice care and then death.  I have a tremendous amount of survivor guilt, lots of questions to God of why her and not me.  Frankly, it has sent me in a tizzy and I have found myself thinking about my own funeral.  And of course, I am looking for God’s message in all of this.  Seek him, trust in him, his will is good.  It is hard for me to wrap my head around good when a young mother has just left her husband, 4 year old and many loved ones. 

To the world she is part of the cycle of life, to our country she is another cancer statistic, to her community she is a hero and to her family and friends she is wife, mommy, daughter, neighbor and on and on.  Ultimately, she is God’s daughter and for whatever reason she has been called to him.

I heard Don Piper speak at our church years ago before I was diagnosed with cancer.  He died in a car accident in 1989 and lay dead for 90 minutes.  He was prayed over by a pastor and then returned to life.  He travels the country speaking of his account of heaven and has written several books, including 90 Minutes in Heaven.  I know this may all sound hokey, but his story is real and it was one I will never forget.  I often think about his words and experience and how profound it was.  Today I think about Theresa and the angels that must have greeted her last night, the sound of hymns, the light and the peace.  She is at a better place, truly.

When I was going through treatment I had a prayer warrior who would send me beautiful prayers.  She would write about whatever issue I was experiencing at that time.  I went through them this morning and found this one that perfectly speaks to me today.

Prayer of Release

I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until the day of His return. 2 Timothy 1:12 NLT

Heavenly Father, I release to you the burdens that I have been carrying, burdens that You never intended for me to carry. I cast all my cares upon You-all my worries, all my fears.

Father, calm my restless spirit, quiet my anxious heart, still my troubling thoughts with the assurance that You are in control. I let go of my grip upon the things I have been hanging onto, with opened hands I come to You.

I thank You for Your promise to sustain me, preserve me, and guard all that I have entrusted to Your keeping. Protect my heart and mind with Your peace, the peace that passes all understanding. Father, may Your will be done in my life, in Your time, and in Your way.

Be Well,

Anticancer Body

Hi Everyone,

This entry has such great information on the Anticancer Body and I apologize that I didn’t pass it along before summer.  Get ready for many links to guides pertaining to personal care products.  But... before I get started, turn up your speakers because I just added a great song to Anticancer Amy’s playlist.  I’m jamming with Florence + the machine.  Cancer is my DOG day- woo hoo- run fast!

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit organization that strives to protect public health and the environment.  Their website is full ( and I mean FULL) of research, documents, legislation, recommendations and on and on.  This is the fifth year EWG releases a sunscreen guide http://breakingnews.ewg.org/2011sunscreen/ .  The guide scores sunscreens on a scale of 1-10 which reflects known and suspected hazards of ingredients (chemicals!).  You can use the guide several ways and you will quickly learn if what you are putting on your family’s body is hurting or helping.  Don’t be surprised when you see that some of the worst sunscreens come from Neutrogena, Coppertone, Hawaiian Tropic, Bull Frog and Banana Boat.  I’m not saying all of their products scored high, but enough for concern.  Some of the best sunscreens come from Aubrey Organics, Badger, California Baby and Kiss My Face.  These products are becoming more available in stores like Target, Kroger and HEB.  Of course Whole Foods sells all the recommended brands.  There is also an app you can download on your phone to look up sunscreens when you are at the market, http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ewg-sunscreen-buyers-guide/id378866183?mt=8 .

According to EWG, One to two million Americans develop skin cancer each year (Bikle 2008, Rogers 2010, ACS 2010) and skin cancer is five times more prevalent in the U.S. population than breast or prostate cancers (Stern 2010).  Wow!

From the EWG home page, click on health and then cosmetics database, Oh My!  There are thousands and thousands of personal care products scored based on their known or potential hazardous chemicals.  Honestly, you can spend hours on this site looking up all the products you put on your body.  You can look up your fragrance, nail polish, lice shampoos or even hemorrhoid creams!  Now, some people believe that there are many other ‘bad’ particles floating in our environment that we should be worried about (like the air in Baytown) other than eye shadow or conditioner.  Well, I say to them every particle and toxin counts!  I was in Nordstrom a couple of years ago; this was during my treatment for breast cancer.  At the time, I was looking to change my make-up products to paraben and phthalate free.  I went to Nordstrom of course, because they are current and would know where to direct me.  I told the gal at the counter that I was a cancer patient wanting to decrease my exposure to chemicals in my make-up.  She responded with a lecture that she too was a cancer survivor and that in all the years she had worked in cosmetics she had been just fine.  She said I should focus on other ways to decrease my exposure and that Nordstrom didn’t carry any paraben and phthalate free products.  I was thinking “but you are a cancer patient!”  I couldn’t believe what she was telling me.  I was shocked and told her that the data was there.  I’m sure she thought I was silly, but gosh, really?!  Then she told me to try Sephora.  Lesson learned = be your own advocate.

So what about the hype we are hearing about the Brazilian Blowout.  EWG has an entire section devoted to this hair straightening system and how salons are covering up the dangers http://www.ewg.org/hair-straighteners/ .  This is a must read for those of you (including me) who have had a straightening treatment before.  The brand Brazilian Blowout has come out with a new product called Blowout Zero.  This supposedly has no formaldehyde, only glycolic acid derived from sugar cane; however the data is not yet available to know how safe it is. 

I know this is such a long entry, but don’t forget to look up the information EWG has related to children.  They also talk about baby formula, foods and much more. http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/parentsguide/EWG_parentsguide.pdf

Be Well and wear sunscreen!

H-E-L-L-O Houston Microsoft Store!  Here is the family and I at the grand opening celebrations today and Bella and her friend meeting Kelly Clarkson!

Pink Lemonade Stand

Hi Everyone,
Congratulations to Isabella and Hailey for making over $600 at their pink lemonade stand!  They along with their siblings worked tirelessly for 3 hours in high temps soliciting donations for the Pink Ribbon Parade.  They passed out pink lemonade samples, breast cancer awareness materials, gave food prizes for a spin at the Chickfila prize wheel and sold raffle tickets for their quilt.  They are well on their way to raising the $5,000 needed for their ribbon, Butterfly Kisses.  The Pink Ribbon Parade quilt they are sewing was displayed as well.  Get your raffle ticket today!  Email me or Keely and we will get your ticket(s) to you.  As you can see, It is going to be beautiful.  Thank you, thank you to Bryan, Sonia, Lisa, Devon and the entire crew at Pearland Chickfila for hosting us.  The love you have for your job shines through your generous spirit to our community.  Bless you!

Thank you for your support and Be Well!

Pink Lemonade Stand

Hi Everyone,
Please join Isabella and Hailey for a PINK lemonade stand this Friday at Chickfila Pearland from 11:00-1:30 http://www.cfarestaurant.com/pearland/events.  The girls will be collecting donations for their pink ribbon, Butterfly Kisses.  A minimum of $1 donation will get you a sweet sample of pink lemonade and a spin at the Chickfila prize wheel- everyone's a winner!  The girls will also be selling tickets for a quilt raffle.  Yes, the girls are learning to sew along with the help of Valerie Boessling with Sew Fun.  Valerie and the girls are sewing a beautiful hot pink and black quilt that will be raffled off in July.  Tickets are $5 each and all funds go to Pinkribbonparade.org.  We will start selling tickets on Friday at the lemonade stand.  We hope to see you there!

Be well and look for a new post in a couple of days on The Anticancer Body,


 

Read All About It!

Hello Everyone,

I realize my last post was before our fundraiser on May 5, yikes!  There is much to share with you.  First off, our Cinco de Mayo fundraiser was a huge success!  We plated over 270 dinners, rolling over 800 enchiladas, fresh salsa galore and too many pounds of rice and beans to count- all made by family and friends with endless love.  Thank you everyone who participated.  We brought in over $2,100, making a nice dent in the $5,000 that we need to raise for the Waltz Warrior Ribbon.

Speaking of ribbons….  My dear Isabella and Hailey have been busy with their fundraising efforts for their ribbon, Butterfly Kisses.  They participated in Friendswood’s Art in the Park where they passed out educational materials on breast cancer awareness and took donations.  They learned how to look people in the eyes with confidence and speak on breast cancer and their ribbon.  I was so proud of them and in the end they raised $178.  A photo below shows how their ribbon is coming along.  Save the date for their next fundraiser on June 17^th at Pearland Chickfila.  They will be having a pink lemonade stand!

If you have not been able to participate in any of our fundraisers, but would like to donate towards our collaborative goal of $10,000, there are several ways to give.  You can mail a check to me payable to The Rose or pay online through the Waltz Warrior PayPal account http://www.goicd.com/waltzwarrior.htm

If you are a movie buff, hopefully you have seen Forks and Knives.  This documentary which I have been talking about for some time opened this month.  In Houston, it will show through May 25^th at the Edwards Cinema Greenway Plaza.   A group of us will be seeing it tomorrow (Monday) at 11:45, join us if you can!

On to laughter.  Last week I attended an educational luncheon hosted by Pink Ribbons Project.  The guest speaker was a chaplain from MD Anderson who is certified in laughter yoga.  He discussed the benefits of laughter on health.  Bottom line, belly laughing is good for your hormones, blood, lungs and immunity.  I admit that I felt awkward looking at strangers in the eye laughing at, to and with them.  But in the end, I was belly laughing alongside with a great group of women.  Ho, Ho, Ha, Ha, Ha!

Lastly, I saw a new oncologist at MD Anderson last week.  If you remember, my dear oncologist Dr. Rivera is moving his practice to Phoenix as part of the MDA system.  I have gone round and round in my head on whether to fly to Phoenix twice a year or find someone in Houston.  If you are a patient with a chronic issue of any kind, you know how precious a good doctor is!  They become part of your family.  Long story short, I connected with the doctor I saw and plan to see her again.  She made the first round!  Despite my approval of the doc, I was shocked at my physical response to the mass of cancer patients at MDA.  Coming from Methodist, I was used to seeing what I thought of as healthy looking patients.  Well, MDA is a different tune.  Yes, there is an abundance of hope in the air and it is organized as The Container Store.  But the cancer, Oh the cancer, it was too much.  I became dizzy, thought I was going to faint.  I was flooded with those stomach butterflies that I had before.  I took some deep breaths (lots of them) and reminded myself over and over again that I was well!  Had a pep talk with Me and end the end Anticancer Amy was okay.  Oh, the day in the life of a cancer patient... 

Laugh and Be Well,

    

Fight or Flight

The Waltz Warriors (my team name for anything related to breast cancer awareness) is once again raising money!  We have several things going on and I realize it has been a bit confusing.  So, here is the breakdown: 

1.    The Waltz Warriors are cooking for Cinco de Mayo to raise money for the Pink Ribbon Parade, http://www.pinkribbonparade.org/.  You are guaranteed a great mexican meal for lunch or dinner while working alongside with us to fight breast cancer!   Get your order in today- the last day to order will be Tuesday. 

2.    If you cannot participate in our Cinco de Mayo fundraiser but would like to make a monetary donation, you can mail me cash or a check payable to The Rose.  We also have a paypal account that is found on the donate button of our flyer.

http://www.goicd.com/waltzwarrior.htm

3.    Thirdly, my 9 year old daughter Isabella and her friend Hailey are raising $5,000 for their own ribbon called Butterfly Kisses.  Their art teacher Ms. Betsy along with Isabella and Hailey are designing and creating Butterfly Kisses.  They are very excited and have started their fundraising efforts- woo hoo!  It has been so sweet watching these young hearts learn about mission and giving back.  Their reason for choosing the theme around butterflies is to symbolize the change (metamorphosis if you will) that breast cancer patients go through.  I told them that my wings have certainly begun to fly and it feels great!  So proud of them.

Basically we have to raise $10,000!  I know we can do it; we have such a strong following of folks just as tired of breast cancer as we are.  I’ve already said this, but just recently another friend in my Sunday school class was diagnosed with breast cancer.  That makes 4 of us in 4 years!  And yes we are all young with young children.  I have met several other young moms in my neighborhood also going through the metamorphosis of breast cancer.  And I can’t forget about all the sweet ladies I meet for Pink Paint on Wednesdays.  And, the friends of friends that I have met and on and on.  Breast cancer is all around me but my fight or flight response is always fight!   

Be well and support Pink Ribbon Parade,