Andrea Ivory knew she was fortunate when she survived breast cancer due to early detection. That made her think of all the women without health insurance who put off getting mammograms and breast exams.

She didn’t just think about it. Andrea started the Florida Breast Health Initiative. Since 2006, Andrea and her team of volunteers have knocked on the doors of around 20,000 homes. And they’ve helped provide more than 500 mammograms to Miami area residents.

Andrea and the Florida Breast Health Initiative volunteers spread the word that “Early detection is the best protection.” They devote the first three Saturdays of each …read more

I have a good collection of cook books that I have accumulated through out the years. Not a lot, but enough to keep me happy. While I “love” them all, I am particularly more enamored with my Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book Pink Ribbon Plaid Cookbook.
It was actually given to me by my dear Mother-In-Law, months before she gave me the 400 Slow Cooker & One-Pot Recipes Cookbook. I*t was quite funny coz I had been waiting for the right time to buy myself a copy. I was always perusing the cookbook everytime we visited the Books A …read more

When a person is going through radiation therapy for cancer treatment, a nasty side effect is often skin toxicity. This can include burns, dry cracking skin, or other uncomfortable skin issues. If the skin toxicity remains fairly mild, then there may not be a problem. But, if the problems get bad, they can have a severe impact on the quality of life and could even bring a woman to the point that she must discontinue treatment.
Interestingly, researchers in Italy discovered that a glass of wine every day could actually help minimize the skin toxicity of radiotherapy. They examined 348 women …read more

My birthday is looming. I’ve never been concerned about my age, but I’ve never been this old before. I still picture myself as a 27-year-old woman and yet, I am so far removed from that age group it is depressing.
I was driving home from my friend Linda’s house (by the way, she is older than me) in this 90-degree heat with my air on 70 (because I don’t like to freeze, especially in summer), when I felt my seat warmer come on. What was so strange about it is that my seat only warms from the seat area, not the …read more

A new wellness program designed especially for cancer patients has been developed in Iowa. The family of Jane Borg Cook, from Cedar Rapids, lost their mother to breast cancer but is helping to turn their grief into a positive thing for others struggling with cancer. They have donated “$75,000 to create the new Jane Borg Cook Wellness Program at St. Luke’s.”

The program will open late in the summer and be free to patients. The center will help cancer patients with “physical, nutritional and psychosocial support” and also help others with chronic conditions.
Image: sxc.hu.

Breast ultrasound examination might eliminate the need for biopsy in many cases of lumps found in a teenager’s breast, researchers at Loyola University Health System recently concluded.

While teenage girls often will undergo an excisional biopsy when a lump is found, that may not be necessary, say the researchers. Breast cancer is rare in adolescents, and most lumps are benign masses related to hormones.
For the study, published in the American Journal of Roentgenology, radiologists performed ultrasound examinations on 20 girls who had lumps in their breasts. The girls were ages 13 to 19. The ultrasounds showed that 15 of the …read more

Breast cancer. After skin cancer, it’s the most common cancer in women in the United States. American women have a one in eight chance of developing some type of breast cancer in their lifetime. The American Cancer Society says that “an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United States.” But, as shocking at the numbers may be, it’s not new news. We’ve heard it all before.
Imagine now, a 10-year-old girl discovering a lump in her breast tissue – a lump that turns out to be cancer. Not only that, the …read more

If being diagnosed with breast cancer isn’t enough of a nightmare, how would finding out that your breast cancer test results may wrong feel like? That’s what is happening to thousands of women in the Canadian province of Quebec.
A study, done out of the University of Montreal, had concluded that between 15 and 20% of breast cancer tests had been interpreted incorrectly and that many women may have been given the wrong type of treatment based on this erroneous test results.
It is important, however, to understand that just because the tests may have been incorrect, this does *not* mean that …read more

Tamoxifen is a popular medication that may help reduce the risk of certain types of breast cancer by interfering with estrogen activity, which can promote tumor growth. Although there are several side effects that may cause problems (blood clots and cancer of the uterus, for example), it’s been found that tamoxifen’s benefits tend to outweigh the risks. (National Cancer Institute )
However, we know that people don’t get sick in a vacuum. Many women (and men) who have breast cancer may be ill with other diseases or disorders, which means they may be taking other medications that could end up interacting …read more