GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT #27…Biking and Walking and Haircuts for Causes

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 have been “funding” for causes ever since I rode in my very first March of Dimes Bike-a-thon in 1972. It was late spring, but the day we started it was snowing. Not blizzarding; not blinding…but snowing.

I finished the twenty-five-mile ride that had taken me around the Minneapolis lakes and out to Anoka. As weary as I was, I realized that I was hooked.

I did a few more of those, a couple of other “-a-thons” and then nothing really for several years.

A dozen years ago, my wife was diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes. I joined several bikes and walks, and one summer, my son and I did the 45-mile bike for diabetes. We did that twice, and one summer I did it alone. The next summer, my son invited me to ride with him on a fund raiser against MS, as a friend of my wife’s passed away because of it.

Then came breast cancer five years ago. There were no “doable” biking events for me then – I was in no shape to do the Susan G. Komen bike-a-thons at the time, so for a while I did nothing.

Three years ago, my school district sponsored the Relay for Life and we finally “came out of the closet”. We’d avoided it before then, though I’d been asked and we’d discussed it. For whatever deep-seated reason, we didn’t feel ready to join the even. We took the big step two years ago (http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2014/05/guys-gotta-talk-about-2the-relay-for.html) and then again last summer (http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2016/05/relay-for-life-2016-today.html). The group of young people with whom we walked was vital and dedicated. It was delightful!

I have yet another cause now – Alzheimer’s. My father was diagnosed a few years ago, and now the disease rears its hideous head on a near-daily basis. He lives in a memory care unit, but the sad fact is that there is absolutely nothing that can be done for him. Though undiagnosed, I think my mother suffered from it as well; though with her other issues, I’m not sure if it was a cause or effect. I only that know she’s been in a major fog for months.

I realized that after she passed a week ago, there were far too many “causes” in my life; far too many medical problems with events to raise money to fight for a cure.

While I’ve recently started to feel a pressure of “can this go on?”, I also realize that while we do in fact, live in the 21^st Century and there are many things we CAN do; there are still so many things we CAN’T do that it can seem overwhelming…

The wife of a pastor of mine once said, “It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”

I pondered this for many years, not really understanding it. Now approaching my 60^th birthday, I think I may have a handle on it: I will keep this blog rather than start another. I only have so many candles and I’ve tended this one for the past five years. While it’s not comfortable, it’s a candle I now know well – and it’s a candle that has truly pierced the darkness. I will keep lighting this one for a long time to come. (What about the haircuts? That was part of a fundraiser for the high school theater department and covering the event earned me my first piece of PAID writing!)

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

BREAST CANCER RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #47: Fasting and Chemotherapy Together May be MORE Effective Than Chemo ALONE!

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: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160711150926.htm

The idea that chemotherapy and fasting together enhance the “power” of the chemo has been around for some time:

“Gene expression assays and molecular analyses suggested that, in cancer cells but not healthy cells, fasting and chemo together induce a 20-fold increase in DNA damage, an increase in oxidative stress, and higher incidence of cleaved caspase 3, a protein that induces cell death.

“Longo hypothesizes that, while normal cells are well-equipped to deal with starvation by slowing their metabolism to just essential activities, cancer cells ‘became better at growing and growing and worse at adapting to new conditions.’ When cancerous cells are faced with a hostile environment, such as starvation, they become weak and shut down. ‘And, when they become weak, chemotherapy has an easier time,” he added. However, he emphasized, this is still a hypothesis.’” (2012)

There has been clear evidence of the positive effects of fasting during chemotherapy at least since 2009 (see second link below). Though we never heard a peep about this when my wife was undergoing chemo, it makes perfectly good sense.

In fact, fasting for health and spiritual development has an extremely long and documented history. In the Old Testament of the Bible, it appears as early as the book of Exodus, and specific to an individual in Second Samuel. A commentary on fasting notes, “…the OT uses fasting and abstinence from food to point to something even more necessary for life—communion with and dependence on God.”

Outside of religion: “Herbert Shelton…wrote ‘Fasting must be recognized as a fundamental and radical process that is older than any other mode of caring for the sick organism, for it is employed on the plane of instinct...’”

So, where was fasting when my wife went through chemo? The same place as everything else: in the literature but applied entirely according to the whims and knowledge of the doctor.

So, where is fasting today? It’s finally entered the realm of SPECIFICS: “Fasting is known to increase positive outcomes during cancer treatment, and now two independent studies in mice show that fasting, either through diet or drugs, during chemotherapy helps increase the presence of cancer-killing T cells.”

While the study doesn’t prove it, the lead doctor speculates: “…fasting, which would have been very common for our ancestors, was a tool to reboot the immune system and prevent the circulation of cancer cells. ‘This coordinated multifaceted effect seems too good to be true," he says. "It may not be a coincidence, but a very precisely evolved process that is meant to get rid of bad cells.’”

While I hesitate to draw any conclusions this early in the appearance of the research, I might also speculate that as Westerners, we have made an art of satisfying every whim and fancy, from having a never-ending supply of food available to us either to go get or, increasingly, to have delivered to us with no more effort on our part than the exercise of our finger muscles to pretty much having anything else we want. Obesity is now public enemy number one and it is obvious that one of the causes is our constant eating. Whether we were created to fast or evolved to fast, is it any surprise that cancers are eating us up? Denying ourselves MAY just be a survival imperative, and if you link to and read this article, you might also notice that doctors are QUICKLY finding ways around the actual “denial of whims” by creating something they call, “caloric restriction mimetics--drugs that selectively trigger some of the biochemical cascades that result from starvation but without the weight loss--”. All of this so we can trick our bodies into thinking they’re fasting while we continue to eat whatever and whenever we want.

What if doctors actually promoted, you know, fasting? I would add a snarky comment here, but I won’t. You can imagine it yourselves.

Resources: http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/31708/title/Fasting-Heightens-Chemotherapy-Benefits/, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815756/, https://bible.org/seriespage/chapter-1-fasting-old-testament-and-ancient-judaism-mourning-repentance-and-prayer-hope-g, http://www.allaboutfasting.com/history-of-fasting.html

Image: http://www.fiftyisthenewfifty.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Fasting_4-Fasting-a-glass-of-water-on-an-empty-plate-e1444605148664-680x400.jpg

ENCORE #41 ! – David Breasterfield…

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…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared in June of 2011.

I don’t know what it’s like, exactly for my wife, but there are long times now where the idea of breast cancer (and the accompanying metastasis possibility) disappears from my life as if by magic.

Between treatments, which she undergoes every three weeks, life returns to normal. Well, not “old normal”, rather the new normal (see “The World Didn’t Fall Off Its Axis”)…

But during this time, nothing seems to be “different” – we still chat, watch TV, go for walks with the dog, pay bills, see the grandchild, talk to people. Nothing seems to have changed. It’s almost like that magician – David Copperfield – worked his magic on breast cancer and made the whole thing disappear.

And maybe there’s something to be said for that – we’re NOT pretending. I don’t think I could ever do that. But we’re living in the promises of the doctors and the profound hopes of our friends and other women we know who are breast cancer survivors.

David Copperfield isn’t really a magician, he’s an illusionist, and while we harbor no mistaken belief that the cancer has “disappeared”, it’s sometimes helpful to live in the illusion that the cure is NOW. It’s something that allows us to go on day-by-day. I cannot imagine how terrifying these days just before a chemo session are. But I can help my wife entertain the illusion that she is done with chemo and she has been declared cancer-free.

Besides – that’s only going to be an illusion for a few more months. By Christmas, Liz will be a breast cancer survivor and THAT will be the real magic!

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

ENCORE #40! – Metastatic Breast Cancer: Lung Cancer

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…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared in December of 2011.

Some [twenty] years ago, my wife’s mother passed away from lung cancer.

A child of her times, she smoked often and heavily for a number of years while raising four children, then quit – long before I met her.

Diagnose with lung cancer in 1994, she took chemotherapy, went into remission and finally succumbed to the disease in (I think – and my wife will correct me!) 1997.

Her disease was DIFFERENT than the type of lung cancer that can flare up after a woman (or rarely a man) is treated initially for breast cancer. Lung cancer after breast cancer is most often caused by BREAST CANCER cells that have invaded other organs and therefore are called metastatic breast cancer. The word “metastatic” was used in the 1570s and comes from the Greek metastasis which means "transference, removal, change.” The roots are meta which means "over, across" plus the word histanai which means "to place, cause to stand.” The medical use for "shift of disease from one part of the body to another" dates from 1660s in English.

“Metastatic cancer to the lungs is the spread of cancer from another region of the body to the lungs. The place where cancer begins is called the primary cancer. For example, if breast cancer spreads to the lungs, it would be called breast cancer with metastasis (spread) to the lungs. In this case, breast cancer would be considered the ‘primary’ cancer.”

Symptoms that would lead doctors to believe that the breast cancer had metastasized to the lungs are similar to those of “regular” lung cancer and would be warning signs that a person would need to see their doctor as soon as possible. They include: a cough that persists over time, or does not go away with treatment; coughing up blood, difficulty breathing (due to decreased airflow by a tumor obstructing the large airways or spread through the lungs); wheezing (caused by the interference of airflow through an airway obstructed by a tumor); pain in the chest, back, shoulder, or arm (when a lung tumor presses on nerves around the lungs); repeated lung infections such as pneumonia or bronchitis; hoarseness; and lastly, lung cancer CAN have no apparent symptoms and only appear  when a chest x-ray is done for another reason.

As well, “general symptoms” of lung cancer can sometimes present with vague concerns such as fatigue, weight loss, loss of appetite, and even depression can be a symptom of lung cancer as well as many other conditions.

Treatment for cancer metastatic to the lungs is usually determined by the primary cancer, or origin of the cancer. Systemic therapy (chemotherapy, biological therapy, targeted therapy, hormonal therapy), local therapy – which might include surgery or radiation therapy), or a combination of these treatments. The choice of treatment generally depends on the size, location, and number of metastatic tumors; the patient’s age and general health; and the types of treatment the patient has had in the past.

References: http://lungcancer.about.com/od/symptomsoflungcance1/a/symptomslungca.htm, http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/metastatic

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT #26…When Terror Mellows To Discomfort

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 remember the first days, weeks, months, and maybe the first two years after the breast cancer diagnosis.
I remember a feeling that disaster hung over our heads every moment of every day, oppressive and heavy. It diminished slowly, and actually surely...

“The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘oppression’ as ‘the state of being subject to unjust treatment or control.’ However, this does not mean that those so subject are aware of their unjust treatment or control. This is an aspect of oppression that is largely missed in popular culture when we consider whether we or others are being oppressed. Indeed, when living day to day in concert with the constraints of a given cultural milieu, we seldom consider whether we are actually being oppressed. Instead, we tend to think that one who wants to live according to the constraints of her culture is making a free choice.” (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-would-aristotle-do/201411/two-concepts-oppression)

The emphasis above is mine. Living with breast cancer day-to-day, whether as a victim or a caregiver, may lead to a sense that we are continuing to live in the shadow of the disease. But given the passage of years, the horror of breast cancer; the oppression of life under the disease, may fade to the sense that “it’s all over”.

I am living there now. My wife may not be. My friends may not be.

But I am there. I’ve forgotten the oppression. I write this blog, true. The subject of breast cancer is on my mind. I am “oppressed”.

I’m sure that there are those who will object to my use of cancer caregivers and victims being oppressed. They might say that “there’s a cure!” or that “it’s not a cultural oppression!”

 I would say: “Have you ever had someone move away from you when you say, ‘Yes, I have cancer’? Have you ever seen the look someone gives a woman who is bald because of chemotherapy? Have you ever seen the look someone gives a woman who has had a double mastectomy?” [Do I need to remind you of the outrage engendered by society when the photo of a tattooed, breastless woman, a breast cancer survivor, was deemed “pornography” by FACEBOOK of all megacorporations, who happily allows tittypix without a peep? (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2148029/Cancer-survivors-mastectomy-photos-BANNED-Facebook-pornographic.html)]

 Whether someone is oppressed or not is NOT for outsiders to decide. It is for those who ARE being oppressed. I am feeling oppressed.

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

ENCORE #39! – Lymph Node Excision, Mosquito Bites and “A Return To ‘Normal’”

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…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared in July 2012 and is my most popular post!

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…

Here again, just in time for the season!

After my wife came home from a lymphedema expert at the hospital, I asked her how it had gone. The answer was that the swelling is receding slowly and that the pressure sleeve would be here soon.

She asked how often she would have to wear it, the doctor replied, “Forever.” She added, “Oh, and don’t ever get a mosquito bite. That’s one of the worst things in the world.”

*blink in startlement*

I don’t know about where you all live, perhaps someone lives in Arizona or New Zealand or Hawaii where mosquitoes aren’t a big deal. But in Minnesota, we (somewhat facetiously; but only SOMEWHAT…) call the mosquito our “state bird”. They are everywhere.

Granted, susceptibility to mosquito bites ranges from, say, me to say, my wife…

I get bitten, make no mistake. But my wife? Let me illustrate: we went to a recent fireworks fest celebrating one or another of some small town’s heritages. Great times! We sat in camp chairs set up in the middle of the street. The next morning, she showed me a pair of fist-sized welts, one on each side of her back that had been “exposed” (even though they were covered by T-shirt material!) where NUMEROUS mosquitoes had bitten her!

Take this little tidbit and add it to the doctor’s admonition and you get a recipe for me *blinking in startlement*.

So what’s the problem with mosquito bites?

First of all, let’s review the lymph nodes, which I talked about in depth here: http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2012/02/lymphedema-another-for-rest-of-your.html.

Excision means to remove or cut out. When the breast cancer was initially diagnosed in my wife, the doctors were very, very interested in how far it had spread. If it remained only in the breast, it was “less dangerous”. But if it had spread to the lymph nodes in the armpit (usually), the diagnosis was more terrifying and led to identifying the stage of the cancer. For a complete explanation, try this site:  http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/staging.jsp They found cancer cells in the node and bumped the diagnosis from 0 to IIIB. This required them to removed lymph nodes – 21 in all and eventually the news that lymphedema would be a FOREVER concern.

Now to mosquito bites. Why are they such a concern? “...some insect bites probably are inevitable...treat them...to lessen the histamine effect, which can cause increased swelling in that area. Benadryl or hydrocortisone creams are two treatment options for insect bites. An ointment with aluminum sulfate as the active ingredient can also help decrease the effects of bites and stings...Treat an insect bite like any break in the skin on your limb at risk. Wash and dry the area completely and apply antibiotic cream to the area...take along a specialized first aid kit. The kit should include alcohol wipes to clean off any skin break, antibiotic cream for application on the skin, and bandages to protect the area…An insect repellent is a good idea...natural repellents, usually with citronella as the active ingredient, and these can be less detrimental to your skin...avoid putting insect repellent on your skin and then wearing a compression garment over it...”

Now you can be prepared for summer camping. As prepared as you can be!

Reference: http://www.lymphnet.org/lymphedemaFAQs/riskReduction/summerTips.htm

Image: http://voluume.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Encore-Sessions.jpg

ENCORE #38! – The Next Five Years

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…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry appeared in December of 2011.

All right – the mastectomy is done (not OVER, there are still deep emotions attached to that surgery that will never “disappear”). The chemotherapy is done (same thing there: deep emotions and memories that will be carved into my mind forever). While it’s never completely gone, the gut-wrenching worry has passed.

What now?

For the next FIVE years, in addition to some cosmetic surgery, checkups and maintenance, there are more DRUGS. Specific to breast cancer is the one I’ll talk about today: anastrazole.

Chemically, this is called 2,2'-[5-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethyl)-1,3-phenylene]bis(2-methylpropanenitrile).

But what’s it DO?

In a nutshell it slows down the production of estrogen in a human body (BTW – men make estrogen, too, just not as much as women do. Women make testosterone, just not as much as men do).

So?

Estrogen, which at puberty initiates the maturation of a woman, causes among other things, the increased growth of the cells in the breast. This estrogen comes from the ovaries and is a totally normal response to a person growing up. Estrogen levels in the blood increase during every menstrual cycle – which means it stimulates the growth of breast cells.

Estrogen doesn’t just stop affecting the woman after puberty. “…life-long exposure to estrogen…plays an important role in determining breast cancer risk…the number of menstrual cycles a woman has, and hence the length of exposure to estrogen during her lifetime, affects her risk for breast cancer.”

So every time a woman has her period, estrogen travels through the blood. The molecule of estrogen affects cells in the body – but only certain kinds of cells like the ones found in the breast and uterus. These cells have “keyholes” in their walls that are called estrogen receptors. The estrogen and the estrogen receptor hook together to make a single molecule that enters the nucleus of the cell. Once it locks on the cell’s DNA, it directs it to do many things. Among the things it tells the cell to do is GROW.

You know by now that cancer happens when cells grow totally out of control. So every time the breast cells get a message from the estrogen, they grow. Breast cancer is the out-of-control growth of breast cells stimulated by estrogen.

Anastrazole BLOCKS estrogen from giving its message to breast (and other) cells. On the website listed below, the author states: “…the medication is directed at preventing recurrence [of cancer] other than just in  breast tissue….The American Society of Clinical Oncologists stated recently: ‘To lengthen disease-free survival and lower risk for [cancer] recurrence in nearby tissues or distant tissues…’”

So in a single sentence – anastrazole blocks estrogen from giving its message to cells that like to take up estrogen and start growing wildly.

References: http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/factsheet/general/fs9.estrogen.cfm , http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Breast-Cancer/Why-Arimidex-Anastrozole-after-bilateral-mastectomy/show/1314813

Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg