Every cancer survivor I speak with remembers their “cancer-versary.” It’s the date you were diagnosed. And every cancer survivor will tell you hearing the news is gut wrenching. Your head spins; your heart skips a beat, and many people, including myself, go numb or break down in tears. Imagine being a beautiful young woman whose life is filled with promise hearing this news. Maybe you are newly married or a new mother. Maybe you are a fun loving single gal who looks forward to finding that someone special. The future and its possibilities seem limitless. Then cancer pays an unwelcome visit
Read more →Summer is a sun lover’s dream. I grew up in the South with a beautiful blonde mother who turned dark golden brown. Unfortunately, I inherited my father’s pale skin which burned and freckled (and later speckled). Skin cancer is on all sides of my family, and I am vigilant about skincare and sun protection. When I was a teenager no one discussed skin cancer. In high school we gals competed to see who could have the deepest tan. I slathered on the baby oil and my mom’s Bain de Soleil Orange Gelée (I will never forget the scent!). This was
Read more →How many of you have back pain? Or shoulder pain? It’s common and getting worse thanks to sedentary lifestyles and more time spent hunched over computers and necks stretched over digital devices. (Mea Culpa!) In fact, two studies published in 2014 in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases on January 30 and March 30 reported that nearly one in 10 people across the globe suffers from an aching lower back. And, back pain is a leading cause of work related disability. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases anyone can have back pain, but some things that increase your
Read more →I have a special place in my heart for four kinds of women: Dreamers, Doers, Do-Gooders and Survivors. Judy Pearson and Karen Shayne are all four rolled up into two beautiful bodies of energy with huge hearts and super-sized souls. They are co founders of the Women Survivors Alliance and the annual National Women’s Survivors Convention (“Survivorville”) and publishers of Nou Magazine. Their mission is “to establish a network where women affected by cancer can find their voice, improve their quality of life and embrace their second acts.”
Read more →When I saw a notice in RITR, a source for journalists and radio show hosts to find interesting guests, I was taken by the title of this book, “Juicing Cannabis for Healing” by Katie Marsh. Now I live in New York State where marijuana is illegal, even for medicinal use. But next door in New Jersey you can partake for medical reasons. I am intrigued by the use of medical marijuana to alleviate a number of health conditions and side effects from treatment including those from cancer. My mother has rheumatoid arthritis, and I am a cancer survivor. Any natural
Read more →Once again Angelina Jolie-Pitt made headlines with her New York Times Op-Ed article “Diary of a Surgery” addressing her decision to undergo prophylactic surgery to remove her ovaries and Fallopian tubes. She chose to have the operation after her physician informed her that inflammatory markers from a test may point to ovarian cancer. Jolie-Pitt’s mother, grandmother, and aunt all lost their lives to cancer. In 2013 Jolie-Pitt , in another The New York Times op-ed “My Medical Choice,” revealed her decision to undergo a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction as a safeguard against breast cancer. As a carrier of the BRCA1 gene mutation she had
Read more →Ears will be burning and so will my show topic December 29 on Fearless Fabulous You! on W4WN– the Women for Women Network. My guest is Barbara Musser, who served as my “sexpert” in my first book, “Getting Things Off My Chest: A Survivor’s Guide to Staying Fearless & Fabulous in the Face of Breast Cancer.” We will dedicate the show to addressing questions about intimacy and sexuality, not only after cancer but also during and after menopause, divorce and a myriad of stages in one’s life where you may need some additional mental lubrication -and a bit more – to reconnect with your sexual
Read more →November is National Family Caregivers Month as well as National Lung Cancer Awareness Month and National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. My November 24th show is dedicated to the caregivers who are supporting loved ones facing a debilitating disease such as cancer. In particular, I want to address the nutritional needs for both the caregiver and the cancer patient. Too often the caregiver is so busy tending to her loved one that she neglects herself. I saw this happen to my grandmother, Rose, who sadly died from a heart attack while caring for my grandfather who had advanced prostate cancer. She completely
Read more →Unless you are living under a rock, albeit painted pink, you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Social media sites are awash in pink photos. Everyone from N.F.L. football players to everyday moms are donning pink sneakers and stepping out to raise awareness and funds for numerous causes. Pink parties with pink cupcakes and punch and balloons and branded pink gifts are being hosted coast to coast. And pink is showing up on Delta airplanes, Minnesota National Guard army tanks, scooters and drill bits. Men don pink tutus for videos and pink ties for more conservative appearances. Women wear
Read more →I asked my husband, David, to touch his crotch this morning. He gave me a strange look and shook his head, “No.” But maybe if he reads this post he will reconsider, along with other men. (We know you probably touch your privates in private anyway!) #FeelingNuts is an initiative to promote Testicular Cancer Awareness by encouraging men to examine their privates for any irregularities. Much like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge which raised both awareness and millions of dollars to help support research for a cure for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), #FeelingNuts is about bringing awareness to and opening the conversation
Read more →My Dad left this world November 2, 2009. I saved a few emails that he always wrote in CAPS. I told him “Dad, when you send emails in CAPS it means you are SHOUTING.” He responded, “I am deaf in one ear. That’s why I shout, even in emails.” But I wish I could still hear his voice. When people leave you sometimes it’s their voice you find you miss deeply. I miss Dad’s soothing voice when I was having a panic attack, his encouraging voice when I was pitching new business, and his commanding voice when it was time to “march
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