GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT #8…Breast Cancer In Fiction

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

I just found out a week ago that I had sold my first novel. It’s a coming of age, urban young adult book about a biracial boy who LIKES to fight and the realization that he has to STOP if he wants to get ahead in life.

In my spare time, I’m also a “first line of defense” – what’s called a first reader in the publishing industry – for an online science fiction magazine. The editor’s wife is also a breast cancer survivor, and they sent me a story to share with my wife. It was witty and sharp – which is the way I prefer my humor (except for the occasional slapstick routine that makes me laugh so hard I can’t breathe…).

It got me to thinking: how much “breast cancer fiction” is there out there? I started a novel here some years ago in which I was re-writing FANTASTIC VOYAGE – a novel written by Isaac Asimov...based on a MOVIE script written by Henry Kleiner...which was based on a STORY written by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby...(and because the novelization of the movie, everyone (myself included) thought that Asimov had come up with the idea and written the novel from which the movie was made – which was a lot of effort for almost no feedback.

I decided to check and see in what works of fiction breast cancer appeared. So here’s my list and except for the one story I read above and the one I’m in the middle of writing, I can’t vouch for any of these.

According to Amazon.com, there are 328 works of fiction that deal with breast cancer. I notice on perusal that many of them are “self-published”. While this doesn’t mean anything bad, it CAN mean that a manuscript was edited by an amateur and have some of the problems that that implies. I have tried to stay with novels released by other-than-self publishers.

Positively Beautiful, by Wendy Mills – http://www.amazon.com/Positively-Beautiful-Wendy-Mills/dp/1619633418/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414237990&sr=1-1&keywords=breast+cancer+fiction

Before I Go, by Colleen Oakley, http://www.amazon.com/Before-I-Go-Colleen-Oakley/dp/1476761663/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414237990&sr=1-2&keywords=breast+cancer+fiction

Cancer Vixen, by Marisa Acocella Marchetto, http://www.amazon.com/Cancer-Vixen-Marisa-Acocella-Marchetto-ebook/dp/B00O02CAZC/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414237990&sr=1-7&keywords=breast+cancer+fiction

Love In Bloom, by Sheila Roberts, http://www.amazon.com/Love-Bloom-Sheila-Roberts/dp/1250046475/ref=sr_1_46?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414238785&sr=1-46&keywords=breast+cancer+fiction

All That Glitters, by Jennifer O’Neill, http://jenniferoneill.com/?page_id=570

And of course…

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan, http://www.amazon.com/The-Middle-Place-Kelly-Corrigan/dp/1401340938/ref=zg_bs_4673_4

I MAY read these. I may not. I MAY start my novel, A FATASTIC BREAST CANCER VOYAGE again...I may not. Even so, at least we know that there are people out there brave enough to write about it. Now if only I can find a novel about a breast cancer HUSBAND...hmmmm...

Image: http://wrex.images.worldnow.com/images/23784252_SA.jpg

BREAST CANCER RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! 24 : Bioimpedance Spectroscopy versus Tape Measurement in the Prevention of Lymphedema

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Every month, I’ll be highlighting breast cancer research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: A Randomized Trial Evaluating Bioimpedance Spectroscopy versus Tape Measurement in the Prevention of Lymphedema following Locoregional Treatment for Breast Cancer-Impedimed, Brisbane, QLD, Australia (Role:PI)

Major Goals: To determine if subclinical detection of extracellular fluid accumulation (lymphedema) via bioimpedance spectroscopy and subsequent early lymphedema intervention with a compression sleeve and gauntlet reduce the rate of lymphedema progression requiring Complete Decongestive Physiotherapy relative to rates seen using standard tape measurements; AND http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141003135126.htm

I know I keep cycling back to it, but LYMPHEDEMA is an issue that will be with my wife for the rest of her life.

Current research is looking at ways of early detection (my wife was told for over a year that “There’s nothing wrong.” Until she found a therapist who was scandalized by the ludicrous denials of people who know better. (You want to talk about “deniers” – climate deniers and their shrill accusers have it easy. No one’s going to die immediately if neither one is right or wrong. “Lymphedema deniers” are a danger to thousands of women here and now.))

So – what is bioimpedance? “BIA was first used over 30 years ago to measure the total water content of the body. The method involves passing an extremely low strength electrical current through the body and measuring the impedance to the flow of this current.” This low frequency electrical current can go through the fluid BETWEEN the cells, but it can’t pass through the membrane that holds the cell together. By measuring how much resistance – or impedance – there is to the current, doctors and technicians can measure EXACTLY how much fluid there is.

Lymphedema, as you know by now, is the accumulation of lymph (the body fluid that carries white blood cells to fight infection) in certain parts of the body. Under normal circumstances, lymph is moved to an injury, fights the invaders, then is whisked away to another battlefield or be recycled and reprocessed for the next generation of wbcs.

In lymphedema, those cells arrive via the lymph system, a layer of tubes that roughly parallels the blood vessels (it has NO HEART TO PUMP IT THOUGH). Lymph is driven through those vessels by a combination of muscle movement squeezing the vessels and by compression of the lymph nodes, where the lymph is stored. In a breast cancer patient, those nodes also become cancerous and have to be taken out. Lymph movement then becomes limited and slower than normal. Lymph builds up in an affected area, unable to move…which puts pressure on the lymph vessels, blocking what movement there is…and that where you have lymphedema.

So what can bioimpedance discover? Lymphedema at the earliest possible stage where it can be IMMEDIATELY treated and brought under control; and doctors can have a far more accurate measure of the rate that it is happening – and the success of treatment. The only way to measure lymphedema up until now is using a dress tape and wrapping it around the arm at various places…and WHAT century does that remind you of?

Resources: http://www.impedimed.com/medical-applications/fluid-status-body-composition/

Image: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/49/72/10/4972103a3933d18c1bfef02d8810612f.jpg