Monday's health links

1. Well there you go - today is the most depressing day of the year.
2.  National Butt Out Week. If you smoke, please use this as an opportunity to try to stop. If you don't, don't look like an idiot by starting.
3. Researchers identify Alzheimer's and Down Syndrome gene. One more step towards finding a treatment.
4. More steps taken to regulate use of tanning beds in Canada.
5. The cost of treating cancer in the US.
6. The health risks of being overweight.
7. The side effects of some cancer treatment drugs.
8. Leadership is the key to disease prevention, with a British Columbia focus. Hallelujah.
9. Canadian advances in the treatment of brain cancer.
10. The Canadian Paediatric Society is calling for a national vaccination strategy.

And a little medical humour from Mr. Bean (thanks for the reminder, Debby!).

Check out my recipe blog

Today I have started a new series of weekly posts - and because it's on my recipe site its about recipes! Every Monday I will continue to provide health links here and recipe links there.

And, as always, please feel free to add your own two cents. I'd love to hear from you.

Laughing your way through crappy days

When I was first diagnosed, my dear friends Karen and Parker gave me, amongst other thoughtful things, a classic Bill Cosby CD. I didn't even need  to listen to it for it to help me - it was a sweet reminder that humour has the power to heal and, frankly, distract. Some days distracted is the best state of mind you can hope for.

There is also a lot to be said for simply being cheered up. Recently I went through a bit of a blue spell. To help me cope, I turned to some of my favourite comedy podcasts. They certainly don't fix me, but they relax my mood and give me a bit of a break from the re-lent-less gloom.

So, in the spirit of paying it forward, I'd like to share a few of my favourite current chuckle stops:

1. The Sound of Young America. Host Jesse Thorn introduces you to much of the best new comedy, as well as people elsewhere from the world of arts. I get the podcast via iTunes and yesterday embarrassed myself by laughing out loud, too often, while waiting for my kids at the playground. Current fave - Paul F. Tompkins - "Sir, You Have Fooled Me Twice" from the Best of Comedy 2010.
2. Laugh Out Loud from CBC Radio. Every week Craig Norris and producer Tracy Rideout bring us comedy-lovin' Canadians the best in comedy from around the world. One of my favourite moments from recovery - I was walking around the pond at Minoru Park here in Richmond BC, and I had to stop, doubled over, tears streaming down my face as I laughed at the stand up set from Big Daddy Tazz. The reserved, eldery Chinese-Canadians who frequent the park for their morning constitutionals looked very puzzled by this odd, bald, white girl, convulsing against the park bench. Note to self: save comedy podcasts for home listening.
3. Doug Loves Movies Doug Benson loves movies and so do I. This is what you get when a bunch of comedians who love movies get together. Warning - explicit language.
4. Old Jews Telling Jokes. I'd tell you some of them now, but it would take me a while to sort through the ones that are NSFW (not suitable for work - for those of you over 30).

I'll keep updating - check here or in my sidebar to see what I am listening to (usually a mix of comedy, news and music). But I'd love to hear what you are listening to!

Two boob or not two boob

People, my oncologist included, keep asking me if I am going to get reconstructive surgery. It's been almost a year since my mastectomy and I still haven't decided. Not that I've been dragging my feet or anything. I wasn't allowed to get it done until recently because we had to let my radiated flesh (ewwww) recover. But I'm fully recovered now and, cheese and crackers, I still haven't decided.

Why is this so difficult? I am profoundly divided. Sorry, I don't mean that literally. Perhaps I should say I am of two minds. Part of me really doesn't want to do it. I can't stand the idea of voluntarily setting myself up for the pain and recovery time. I also can't stand the idea of facing the possible complications that arise once you start dealing with implants. Someone dear to me has had a very bad experience with implants. And her judgment is something I would never question.

But part of me wonders if surgery will help me begin to feel more whole. I don't like what breast cancer has left behind. I don't like the scar. I don't like the new topography. I don't like catching a glimpse of my sunken chest when I look down at a book, at a computer, at my child. And I really hate my breast form - it's not that it's uncomfortable, but it is not part of me and I find myself poking at it and banging my forearm against it as I go about my day. Then there is its, well, substantial presence. You know what, when you drop your bra on the floor, it shouldn't go thud. Not sexy.

People keep trying to help me. One of my nurses said, "Go for it - get the breasts you've always wanted."  My doctor weighed in, "Oh you should do it - you're such a good healer." (At last, something I'm a natural at; it certainly isn't sports or navigation.) Then from someone in my family, delivered with a laugh and a shake of the head, "You can't be serious. You aren't going to do that are you?"  

Let's be real. Since the cancer, I don't see the world the same way. Anything that smacks of vanity feels just..so..wrong. I have learned to accept my puff ball hair and puff ball face because, well, I know they represent a small price to pay for killing my tumour. Eventually my hair will grow and straighten, and my face will slim down. If someone is going to judge me based on my appearance, I get now that it doesn't have to mean anything to me. But what happens when the judge is me? I know I have not accepted what I look like.  I'm 45, and it breaks my heart to think I will feel this way about my body for the rest of my life. And I honestly don't know what will change this feeling other than reconstruction.

Odd isn't it? In a world where 16 year-old girls are begging their parents to buy them new breasts, I have spent more time agonizing over this surgery than the one that took my breast away.

New recipe up as we begin our new plant-based diet

First up? My take on Mark Bittman's Simplest and Best Shrimp Dish over at my recipe site. The verdict? Simply delicious.

Monday's Health Links

Good morning!

1. Gillian Deacon, some of you Canadians will remember her as co-host with Jay Ingram of @discovery.ca as well as a host of a few shows on her own, has written a book about toxins in our beauty products. It's called There's Lead in Your Lipstick: Toxins in Everyday Bodycare and How to Avoid Them. Four months into writing the book, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. And she says her first response was almost a sense of shame. Been there. Did I get this disease because of something I have been doing? Now stop beating yourself up and start doing something positive for your health. I've flipped through the book and there is a lot of good advice backed up by solid science. This is next up on my have-to-buy list. Here's the Amazon.ca link and one for Chapters.
2. Second on my have-to-buy list? Mark Bittman's The Food Matters Cookbook. The only reason it is second on my list is I just bought the Pink Ribbon Diet book and have used up my cookbook quota for the month. Seriously, my cookbook habit has to be managed.
3. Exercise cuts risk of prostate cancer-related death. Boys - get up and move!
4. Drs. Oz and Roizen on taking aspirin as a weapon against cancer. Their advice? Talk to your doctor first, but they give it 2 thumbs up.
5. Two more studies tout the benefits of eating plant-based, Mediterranean-style diets, rich in olive oil, whole grains, seeds, vegetables, fruit and fish.
6. Measuring quality of life in cancer trials.

What I'm watching instead of reading more health news...9-eyes.com - an ever updating compilation of pictures taken from Google's Street View cameras. Check it out!

Slings and arrows

From xkcd

On the days when I was my most terrified, when my mind reeled with the fear that I might die and leave my kids without a mom, I prayed to God and asked for strength. I never once asked to be fixed. Even when looking at my own mortality, it felt wrong to ask for anything beyond strength. I mean, I have lived a pretty rich life, full of love and wonderful people. Right now, someone is praying to God for something I have taken for granted. How could I ask for more. But it felt OK to ask for a little help keeping it together, so I could face what I would face in a way that would not scare my kids. So, if I did die, I would have left my kids with happy memories right up to the end.

So I found my courage in my spiritual beliefs and in the knowledge that I had good people praying for me and keeping me in their thoughts. And right now, I am keeping others in my thoughts. Too many others. And so it will continue, as we look for bigger, better and more accurate slings and arrows against this and all the other nasty diseases.

Here's to finding courage wherever we can...and to finding weapons in science.