Learning Curves and Quilting Challenges

I've learned over and over again since starting quilting that nothing as easy as it looks.

See this interesting little pile of trimmings? This is what we amateurs have to do if we don't sew with adequate precision. That would be me. I put this soft, little pile of trimmings on a stump in our backyard hoping the birds night use the bits to feather their nests. Wouldn't that be cool? And pretty?

After putting together all those squares with the diagonal strips of print fabric and the neutral corners, I noticed that despite the care I took to sew with accuracy (which was apparently not accurate enough), my squares weren't quite square. After much deliberating, I decided I would have to trim them ... "square them up" ... which would not only take a long time doing diddly work but was also challenging me mathematically. You see, with trimming all four sides and with each square being just slightly wonky in a different way, I knew that increasingly the odds of my seams meeting up properly were decreasing. Natch! So I trimmed minimally - just one quarter of an inch smaller so when my seams are off, it will be not quite so noticeable.

And then I took all those neatly trimmed squares and sewed them together into 4-somes as best as I could into these X-squares. The seams don't quite match up very often but it's not TOO bad and once the whole thing is quilted and scrunchy, I'm hoping it won't be too obvious. And if it is, well, what the heck. It will show that it's been handmade by an amateur and will be a reminder to someone that it could only have made with great love because who else would carry on making such a beautiful mess?!

So now I have to sew all my X-squares together knowing full well that things are only going to get wonkier as I go. C'est la vie!  I undoubtedly have some creative bridges to cross still but ... all in good time.

I also took the advice of a quilting friend and sewed all those little triangle trimmings together while they were neatly stacked. This photo only shows some of them. Sewing them together involved a lot of very satisfying chain piecing using my new quarter-inch sewing foot (with the little guide), which I just LOVE! It is so helpful in the accuracy department!  Now I just have to open them all up and press them into little half square triangles, which I will probably have to trim. Another diddly project. I don't yet know what I'll do with them but I know they'll come in handy for either this quilt or for another project.

So, this Sunday will be sewing day. I'll sew all my X-squares together to form X's and O'x (Hugs and Kisses) ... wonky be damned!

Learning Curves and Quilting Challenges

The Best of Times / The Worst of Times

The traditional Acton family tequila and lime shot!

Hannah and Dani

Hannah Matt Dani

Some Ford Tough Babes with my new-to-me Explorer.

Matt making provolone cheese taco shells!

I will make these for sure!

Welcome Home Cake for Hannah and Luke

Myles, Evan, Luke - Moustache Party

Just 2 Wild and Crazy Guys!

Hannah concocting in the kitchen!

Okay. "Worst" might be a bit of an exaggeration but May 2012 turned out to be a month full of wonderful events, as anticipated, but what was unanticipated and pretty sucky is that Kevin and I had such nasty colds for almost the whole month!  I had 11 days of feeling really bloody awful before finally resorting to antibiotics and slowly, slowly feeling some improvements. Kevin, too. We got sick just before Hannah got home and despite her efforts to avoid it, she caught our cold though was able to prevent it from getting so bad as ours. We all lost our voices. right at the beginning of May and even now Kevin's still sounds off and mine is just starting to sound normal. TOTAL DRAG!  It meant we weren't able to do many of the things we'd hoped to do while Hannah was here for just over 2 weeks.

So, to keep things concise, the disappointments in May were:

1. Our nasty colds
2. Hannah catching our nasty cold - though a less severe version
3. Having to cancel the big multi-generational party we had planned
4. Having to cancel the Acton family event planned for Mother's Day
5. Not seeing Jim, Graham, and Allan while Hannah was home
6. Not seeing Gillian, Marissa, Tarah, Katelyn, Mike ... though we did get to see Kayla (bonus)
7. Not seeing Matty while he was here from Calgary
8. Only one dining out experience
9. Our fridge having "technical issues"
10. Feeling too crappy to do much of anything

The great things about May were:

1. Hannah coming home from her 5 months of travels (Paris, Berlin, Scotland, Uruguay, Buenos Ares)
2. Luke coming home for the summer
3. Matt, Hannah's boyfriend, driving here from Vancouver to stay for a while and then road trip back with Hannah
4. Dani, Hannah's good friend, surprising Hannah with her first visit to Saskatoon. They met in Vancouver but Dani moved to New York about 4 years ago.
5. A whirlwind family trip (Matt and Dani included) that, in less than 24 hours, took in Clearwater Lake, Kyle, the farm, dinner at White Bear bar, the drive-in, a traditional Kerr family game of hand and foot (canasta), and a jigsaw puzzle ... all with Mom, Gary, Darrel, Lynn, Jack, Jodi, Meghan, and Dawson. Awesome!
6. We drove home from Kyle just in time to change our clothes and get to a proper Acton family gathering at Don and Syl's to celebrate a multitude of things over one of Don and Syl's famous meals. Cheryl, RJ, and Mikael were there, too. We missed seeing Alexa, who was on her way home from a school trip to New York.
7. Hannah and Matt's cooking. Guinness Stew. Soups. Matt's cheese taco shells and apple and ginger parmesan empanadas. Hannah's many interesting salads and sides and cooking lessons. Hannah and Matt taught me how to take the bite out of over-powered red onions (chop, sprinkle with sea salt, and let sit in boiling water for a little while ... great tip!).
8. Dani's treats - Our favourite New York artisan chocolate - the salted one, chocolate covered salted caramels, rugelah from "THE PLACE" to get rugelah in New York, and ... olive oil from Frankie's - our favourite.
9. Hannah's concoctions and cures - medicinal teas, which I've learned to enjoy and a mix of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper, and a bit of honey which magically provides some relief from laryngitis.
10. We had a small barbeque event when Luke got home. A bunch of his friends and Kayla were here. So nice to see them all!  We had planned on another bigger event but couldn't pull that off with our STUPID COLDS!
11. Phillip Phillips winning American Idol. I picked him out from those first auditions. It's the first time I've ever picked the winner so early. 

So yes, the best and the worst. All in May. The best outshines the worst, though. It was so wonderful to have both Hannah and Luke here at the same time in summer ... something that rarely happens.

Dani left Tuesday this week and Hannah and Matt left Wednesday. We get to keep Luke for the summer. And now I need to get some quilting done. And maybe I should do something with our house, which looks like a bomb went off in it!

The Best of Times / The Worst of Times

The Latest Quilt Project

I'm still quite new to this quilting business and it's a good thing I don't have any real sense of how long the steps take. If I did, I might never have started!

After fabric selection I pressed everything. That took a long time.

Then I cut. And cut. And cut. In addition to these 200 6" squares I cut 400 3.5" tan squares. That took a long time.

The next step was to draw a diagonal line on each of the 400 tan squares. That took a long time.

Then I pinned two tan squared onto each of the 200 print squares. That took a long time.

Then, after a bit of a Sunday melt down when I couldn't get my bobbin winder to work, I eventually got all the tan squares sewed to the print squares.  Thank you, Jo, for coming to my rescue!  I bought this machine from Jo and so, in desperation I called her for help and she came right over. She saved the day. This was the first time I'd used my machine since having it serviced and I was afraid something had gone horribly wrong. It was just a little glitch and Jo the Pro knew what to do.

The sewing was the fastest part.

After that, I spent quite a bit of time trimming all the corners and more time pressing seams open. I still have a lot of pressing to do. It takes a long time.

Then I'll have to play with the layout and see if I have enough squares for what I want to do. I still have other squares in reserve and ready for sewing if I decide I want more.

I wonder what to do with all those little triangles I made by trimming the corners? There's a lot of them ...   an equal mix of tan and pink/orange/purple prints.  Do people really throw those away?  I see them being made into little half square triangles. Pretty diddly stuff for a beginner like me and I have so many other projects to finish (who am I kidding ... projects to START). Wouldn't a border of little half square triangles be cute?  Maaan. That would take me a LOT of time.  Just watch. I'll do something with them. Eventually. Any ideas are welcome!

So, after I get a satisfactory layout, it will be time to sew all the squares together and try to match points as much as possible. That will take a long time.

Did I mention that this quilting stuff takes a LONG time?!  Good thing I enjoy it!

The Latest Quilt Project

Hand Quilting - Slow Progress

But it looks so pretty!  This is going to take me a while. I've finished hand quilting the hankie that's mostly in the middle of the hoop and have started on the grey/mauve one above it. I'm just using a regular weight thread and little stitches and since none of what I'm doing is in a straight line, it's rather slow going. That's okay, though. I like it.

In this photo you can kind of tell where I've stitched along the outer white line framing the hankie. Since this picture was taken, I've quilted around the pink flowers, too.

There are 12 hankies. I think I should be able to get one done in a week. Maybe. It's good to have a goal.

Quilting and work aside, I'm feeling good. Not fantastic, like I did all through March, but good, which is still GREAT in my world. I'm still taking greens and I have a protein shake every week-day to up my protein intake. I bought a Brita water filter jug for the office - I can't remember who suggested it, but thank you whoever you are - and now I'm drinking more water during the day. We don't have filtered water at work and even though I drank some water during the day it bothered me because I'm used to filtered water at home and, of course, I'm too lazy to take water from home every day. The Brita is an easy answer. I wish I would have thought of it myself a lot earlier. I feel so much better about drinking water at work now.

So, I don't have quite the abundance of energy and light that I was feeling before but I still feel so much better than I was before that. Before greens. I'm still very aware of how much better my brain feels. Even when I'm tired, my mind is still noticeably more alert, more agile ... concentration comes easier. Multitasking is much easier. It makes such a difference to my days and to what I'm able to accomplish.

Also still better and what makes me grin is having feeling in my feet and toes again. Every day I wiggle my toes just to make sure the feeling is still there. And it is. Yeah!  My joints, too, are so much better. I wonder if that's just improvement with time or whether it's from the greens, too?  I think it's the greens. Several of the improvements I've experienced, I think, might be because whatever is in the greens perhaps reduces inner inflammation and improves circulation and the flow of oxygen, etc. Just my guess. Whatever it is, I'm very happy. I walk faster and with more ease. I know it's not just in my mind because a few people have commented. I used to be the last to leave a room. I would stand slowly and give myself time to let my joints settle by gathering my belongings, putting on jacket. And then taking slow steps, letting everyone else go first. I don't think anyone would have noticed that my joints were a problem for me. I'd learned to hide it. I'd adapted. Now I notice that I don't frankenwalk for the first 12 feet of the hall at work when I get up from sitting. I can usually go easily from sitting to walking now.

A friend I met for lunch and who hadn't seen me for a while commented that I'm so much more animated than I had been. She said I was a bit "frozen" before - I didn't move much and when I did I moved slowly. That's because I'm a hummingbird now!

For some reason unknown to me I've had especially bad hot flashes the past few days. I don't know why. It can't be the weather because I had fewer hot flashes when it was warmer. Hot flashes are draining. I know I'm supposed to be happy to have them because it means the Tamoxifen is working, but still. 

It will be so great to feel better for when our kids get home -- Hannah this Sunday and Luke next Sunday. I'm giddy with excitement. And I have much to do!

Hand Quilting - Slow Progress

Green Tea Slows Development Of Tamoxifen Resistance

Green Tea Polyphenol EGCG Slows Development Of Tamoxifen Resistance - Food for Breast Cancer:

" ... a new study has reported that EGCG [from green tea] can slow the development of tamoxifen resistance in hormone receptor positive breast cancer cells."

Note to self: Make green tea. Drink it. Even if you don't like it very much. Do it. Some finger wagging going on here.

Green Tea Slows Development Of Tamoxifen Resistance

I'm Ever Thankful for Greens!

I still marvel every day at the effect of these greens products! Honestly! It's been amazing. 

I was a little disheartened after that colonoscopy and it seemed that I'd sunk back into my pre-greens life even though I was still taking greens. And then slowly, a week later, I could feel my energy returning and I was just hoping ... hoping ... that I could get back to how I felt through all of March ... trying not to get too hopeful. Then, just as things were improving, early this week I had some kind of stomach thing happening. I lost my appetite, felt crappy and unsettled, and didn't dare put anything but toast, banana, and egg on my sensitive stomach. So no greens for three days. I could hardly drag myself out of bed and then getting through the days was tough, too.  On Wednesday morning my stomach felt more settled so I dared to chug down a dose of greens. Two hours later I noticed I was feeling actually pretty good. Not too tired. And it got better from there.  Was it the greens. I can't say for sure. Maybe it was just timing. But I think it was the greens.

In addition, I've gone a whole week without a decent sleep. That's longer than usual for me. The fact that I've felt good the past couple of days despite not getting even near adequate sleep, is freaking crazy!  I can hardly believe it!  What if I'd been getting good sleep?  How would I feel then?  WOW!  

Another unexepected bonus from greens is that I no longer feel I need a diet coke in the afternoons to get through the day. I've hated relying on pop and the caffeine in it to get me through my day but since I don't drink coffee, it's the ony think I've known (until I discovered greens) that helps me keep my eyes open in the afternoon. When I'm tired and need to stay awake, it's been what I've reached for.  Since I've started greens, I hardly ever think of coke. I don't need it. That a big bonus in my world. 

So, yes, I'm feeling good again and I hope I can get some good sleep in this weekend and maybe feel even BETTER!

I've included here a few more truisms from Xeni. Love that pinata metaphor. I can't help but visualize it. Xeni nails it!

I'm Ever Thankful for Greens!

Xeni Jardin - Tweeting About Her Breast Cancer

If you don't know who Xeni Jardin is, I'll start by saying she has long been a hero of mine ... long before she, too, was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2011.

I first encountered Xeni when I started following Boing Boing many years ago. It's a website she co-founded with some others (who I also admire for individual reasons) and for which she writes. It's my favourite tech/pop culture/art/smart stuff blog and it's a favourite of many.

Xeni, for whom using technology is like breathing, decided to get a mammogram at 41 after learning that two friends in the same age bracket were both diagnosed with cancer. And, being Xeni, she decided to share her mammogram experience on the internet. She was shocked to learn right there and then that she had breast cancer ... almost a whole decade before she would be encouraged to get screened.

She is undergoing a pretty nasty chemo regimen right now in the hope of kicking cancer butt and she tweets about it on Twitter, for those of you who might not know what tweeting is all about. Here are a few of her tweets about losing her hair.

What she wrote about her mammogram and subsequent diagnosis (at the clinic she went to they did the biopsy right there and then ... amazing ... NO WAITING!! ... God, I remember that dreadful waiting for what you pretty much know will be bad news ... but you still need to hear it ... and you're still hoping beyond hope). You can read Xeni's story here at Boing Boing.

Here's an especially touching and wise part of her story:

"The gravity in this place is different. I've spoken to others who've traveled out here, too, and returned home safely. When you become one of them, you learn quickly that you share a language others can't understand.

The trick, these fellow travelers tell me, is to accept the not knowing and find your equilibrium in that new gravity. Calm the mind. Find your balance out on the cold planet, whether or not you know the next step, or the date of the next appointment, or what good or bad news the Technetium-99 isotopes floating around in your blood during the last scan reveal.

You must be at peace with not knowing, they tell me. That is how you get through outer space, and find your way back home.

The thing about this thing, or, at least, this first week of this thing, is how it takes you out there to the cold planet again and again and again, when you aren't expecting it. Long, undulating waves of fear pull you out to where you are alone and unreachable, even by words sent from the strongest satellite.

The thing that brings you back is love."  

The Xeni I know is fierce and tough but she's also scared silly, too. Her commentary on twitter about her experience covers the gamut ... anger, frustration, fear, sarcasm, keen observations, and, of course, her wry wit.

I wish her well.

Click on the photos of her tweets to enlarge them.

Xeni Jardin - Tweeting About Her Breast Cancer

ZLT Salad Recipe

Eileen, this is for you!

ZLT ROMAINE SALAD

Ingredients:

•  1 cup chickpeas (if you buy tinned ones, make sure the tin is marked "BPA-free"), drained and rinsed
• olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp chile powder
• sea salt, to taste
• 2 cups grape tomatoes halved lengthwise
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 med zucchini, ends trimmed and sliced lengthwise in 1/4 inch thick strips
• romaine leaves

Method:

• Preheat oven to 400 deg. Pat chickpeas dry and toss in a large bowl with lemon juice, chili powder, salt and 2 tsp olive oil. Spread on parchment paper lined baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 35 - 45 minutes until golden and crunchy. Let cool and set aside.
• In a bowl toss tomatoes with 1 tsp olive oil, and sea salt and pepper to taste. Arrange tomatoes cut side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes. Set aside and let cool.
• Brush zuchinni strips with 1 tsp oil and season with sea salt and pepper. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast at the same time as the tomatoes for 8 - 10 minutes, flipping once, until browned and softened. Set aside and let cool.
• Arrange romaine leaves on plates, top with zuchinni strips. Drizzle with dressing (recipe to follow), garnish with tomatoes and crispy chickpeas, and serve.
  

CLEAN RANCH DRESSING

• 3/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or ideally overnight.

Of course, there is lots of room for interpretation in this recipe.  You can use any old dressing you like, you can substitute any crunchy topping (roasted pumpkin seeds might be nice) for the chickpeas. And if you're not big on zuchinni, roast some other vegetable. And if you like your bacon, well ... 

 By the way, there are lots of recipes for making crunchy chickpea (garbanzo bean) snacks. I've set some aside but this is the first time I've actually tried them. Now I want to revisit some of those other recipes and try some other, perhaps, stronger flavours. Here's one recipe for roasted chickpeas that I plan to try some day.

ZLT Salad Recipe

Survivors Of Breast Cancer Suffer Treatment-Related Side Effects Long After Completing Care

Finally ... it's out in the open ... 

Survivors Of Breast Cancer Suffer Treatment-Related Side Effects Long After Completing Care:

More than 60 percent of breast cancer survivors report at least one treatment-related complication even six years after their diagnosis, according to a new study led by a researcher from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings are part of a special issue of Cancer devoted to exploring the physical late effects of breast cancer treatment and creating strategies to prevent, monitor for, and treat these conditions in the nation's 2.6 million survivors of the disease.


"Our work provides the first accounting of the true magnitude of the post-treatment problems suffered by breast cancer patients, and serves as a call to action for proper monitoring and rehabilitation services to care for them," said Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, an associate professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology who serves as a senior scientist on the committee overseeing creation of a surveillance model for breast cancer survivors. "We can no longer pretend that the side effects of breast cancer treatment end after patients finish active treatment. The scope of these complications is shocking and upsetting, but a ready solution for many of them already exists in rehabilitative exercise."

It's of some comfort to me that the long-lasting side effects are increasingly being recognized and acknowledged by the medical community.  While they are experienced by many (most?), I think they are largely dismissed and, post-treatment, people become increasingly reluctant to speak of them for various reasons.  I could elaborate on the many reasons why someone might keep their discomfort to themselves but I won't go into that here. Suffice it to say, that I hope post treatment programs increase as a result of this and other related studies.

Obviously, treatment doesn't just take a year of your life, which is what I was mostly led to believe. And yes, despite the many issues, I am very grateful and happy to be alive, which doesn't negate the fact that I have last some things that I mourn and I have had to accept changes that I wasn't ready for.

Survivors Of Breast Cancer Suffer Treatment-Related Side Effects Long After Completing Care

What I've Been Reading - The Emperor of All Maladies

I hesitated to make this my "vacation read" but since I didn't have anything else in hand that was speaking to me, I took it with me and started reading it on the flight to Louisville. I finished shortly after I got back - it's a big read. It's an excellent, informative, and extremely well-written account of cancer. The first accounts of cancer are so interesting and the early treatments horrifying. Some of the trials and the key characters in the advancement of research and treatment are very interesting.

The author, Siddhartha Mukherjee, is a skilled and compassionate story-teller, which makes this account of the history of cancer and the slow progress of research and treatment actually engrossing and compelling. It sounds as thought it might be a bit dry and technical and I probably wouldn't have tackled this book except that I'd read such positive reviews that emphasized how accessible and well-written the book is.

There were some areas that I got a lost in, such as the latest RNA and DNA research, but nonetheless, I learned a great deal and have already found what I learned helpful in better understanding the steady flow of cancer research that I regularly follow.

More significantly and unexpected for me was how I found myself relating the stories to people I know who have had to face cancer. It was interesting to understand the state of cancer research and treatment at different times. It broke my heart to read the 80's being referred to as "the dark days of chemotherapy". That's when Charles, a friend, had cancer treatments and died at age 23. I remember vividly. I don't know all the details about his cancer - we were very young and I knew nothing about cancer except to be terrified. To my mind Charles had stomach cancer and whether I'm right or not, I recall Charles as having problems with an ulcer in high school. In this book, the author talks about the discovery of H. pylori ... not discovered until after Charles had died ... that surprised the medical world by determining that most ulcers were caused by this bacteria making them treatable with the proper medication. Significantly to my connecting this with Charles is that H. pylori can be pre-cancerous. I didn't know that before reading this book. It makes me wonder if Charles had developed an ulcer AFTER the identification of H. pylori, might he have avoided cancer?

The book explained things that made me better understand the progress of the cancer that took the life of a friend's husband recently. 

During the chapters on smoking and cancer, I thought of my Dad. I better understand the progress of his cancers ... the first one, a cancer of the esophagus and the second one, caused by the radiation he received for the first cancer. This, to me, is the kicker --- that cancer treatments can actually cause cancer. I thought of the many women I know and have known who have fought breast cancer and how treatments for our cancers have progressed and yet we're still not in the clear. I better appreciate how complex cancer is and how determined it is to survive at our cost. Cancer is pretty foxy and there will probably never be a magic bullet kind of cure for it because cancers are all remarkably different and still changing. I'm grateful that some of the women I know have had the benefit of Herceptin without which many women would not have survived.  One of the happy stories in the book is about a woman who had given up - she was considered a lost cause even by her medical team - and had to be begged to join the drug trial for Herceptin. She is still alive today. There are other good stories in the book.

The book deepened my respect and compassion for oncologists and the difficult work of trying to save people from cancer ... the complexities in the effort to find just the right cocktails of poisons for a particular person and a particular cancer. It's not an exact science by any stretch.

While this isn't a book that would have been good for me to read at certain times over the past few years, it was good for me to read now. I better detach emotionally and I'm able to read research and honest information about cancer without getting too emotionally caught up in it with regard to myself. And I'm glad to better understand cancer in general.

I have to say, I shuddered sometimes when I read about cancer research and treatments in the past 20 years ... about recent discoveries that have impacted my own treatment. And I'm very sure that there will be changes to cancer treatment very soon that I will wish had been part of the knowledge base during my time of treatment.

If you're interested in knowing more about cancer and it's history told in a humane and accessible way, this is a good book to read.  Amazon.com has several reviews of the book.

What I've Been Reading - The Emperor of All Maladies

I've Been Robbed ...

... of my perkiness mojo. I'm not happy about that. Not one bit. I've had 5 weeks of amazing, thrilling energy and general sense of well-being.  That feeling seems to have been flushed with my colonoscopy prep.  It hadn't occurred to me ... probably because I don't remember any of it ... but Kevin thinks it's probably an effect of the anesthetic I was given for the procedure. That makes more sense, I think. Still, I'm impatient to get that feeling back and I hope it happens soon. Meanwhile I keep taking my greens and protein powder.

So I didn't do much all weekend. I slept more than I had been and mostly dragged my butt around. I did cook a meal on Sunday, though, and made this pretty, healthy salad with roasted tomatoes, roasted zucchini and crispy, crunchy spiced chickpeas. It's called a ZLT salad.

I've Been Robbed ...

Evidence Mounts for Aspirin's Anticancer Attributes

Evidence Mounts for Aspirin's Anticancer Attributes : Internal Medicine News:

In a review of data from 51 studies, daily aspirin use reduced cancer deaths by 15% compared with no daily aspirin use, and reduced the risk of cancer deaths by 37% for those taking aspirin for 5 years or more.

Note to self - keep taking that daily aspirin.

Evidence Mounts for Aspirin's Anticancer Attributes

ER+/PR+ Breast Cancer Shows That Estrogen Fuels Recurrence

Animal Model Of ER+/PR+ Breast Cancer Shows That Estrogen Fuels Recurrence - Food for Breast Cancer:

Estrogen receptor negative (ER-) breast cancer has been found to be more likely to recur early than ER+ disease. However, the risk of late recurrence is greater for ER+ tumors. One study reported that while the risk of recurrence was lower at first for ER+ compared to ER- disease, ER+ tumor status was more detrimental after 7.7 years.


Given the risk of late recurrence for ER+ disease, some researchers and practitioners are recommending that patients remain on endocrine treatment beyond the five years that has been standard.

This is news to me. Crap. I wonder if I'll really be able to stop taking Tamoxifen or some other estrogen blocker after 5 years. Maybe I'll be afraid to quit taking them. I wonder.

For those unfamiliar with the ER- and ER+ designations, mine is the ER+ type (Estrogen Receptor Positive), which means that estrogen was the cause or, at least, what made my tumour grow and this is why I'm now on estrogen blockers.

ER+/PR+ Breast Cancer Shows That Estrogen Fuels Recurrence

Latest Research On Exposure To Bisphenol A (BPA) And Breast Cancer

Latest Research On Exposure To Bisphenol A (BPA) And Breast Cancer - Food for Breast Cancer:

Exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor, might be associated with increased risk of breast cancer. BPA that has leached from food packaging and containers is the main source of exposure. BPA has been shown to induce breast cancer cell proliferation. Chronic low-level BPA exposure during adulthood increases tumor development in mice. BPA also induces mammary cell proliferation in BRCA1-deficient mice, leading to hyperplasia. Finally, BPA can reduce the effectiveness of some types of chemotherapy. Taking reasonable steps to limit exposure to bisphenol A makes sense.

Read the article to learn about the various sources of BPA and then do your best to avoid them.

Latest Research On Exposure To Bisphenol A (BPA) And Breast Cancer

Latest Research On Lymphedema After Breast Cancer Surgery

Latest Research On Lymphedema After Breast Cancer Surgery - Food for Breast Cancer:

Early intervention soon after surgery has been found to reduce the risk of lymphedema, prompting some observers to recommend this strategy rather than waiting for symptoms of lymphedema before starting treatment.

This is the approach I wish the cancer centre promoted here.  Trying to prevent lymphedema is better than trying to treat it after symptoms appear.

Latest Research On Lymphedema After Breast Cancer Surgery

Just a Reminder to Keep Chowing Down on Broccoli, etc ...

Consumption Of Cruciferous Vegetables Linked To Improved Breast Cancer Survival Rates:

Eating cruciferous vegetables after breast cancer diagnosis was associated with improved survival among Chinese women, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held March 31 - April 4.

Just a Reminder to Keep Chowing Down on Broccoli, etc ...

You're Never Too Old To Believe in the Easter Bunny

Happy Easter everyone! Luke and Karsen with a slightly frightened bunny!

You're Never Too Old To Believe in the Easter Bunny

The Last of the Travelogue - Nashville

Luke was busy with school and lacrosse for a couple of days so we took a short side trip to Nashville. Why not? It was just a 2.5 hour drive. While it's never been on my bucket list, I knew I would enjoy it nonetheless. And I did.

We stayed at a hotel right downtown within walking distance of the main drag ... Broadway, I think. Pretty touristy. Lots of pubs and restaurants with live music and souvenir shops. Lots of people buying cowboy boots. Lots of girls in dresses wearing cowboy boots.

There was a beauty pageant going on in the hotel we stayed at. Lots of pretty young girls wearing sashes and tiaras and lots of Mom's with cameras.

Kevin was thrilled to visit Ernest Tubb's record shop. Who knew?

We stopped to get out of the heat at a little bar with some live music. I felt right at home. Can you tell why? Doesn't this look just like our kitchen? Okay, so I have fruit and vegetable stickers instead of beer signs. But the general idea is there.

Our hotel was next door to the Hermitage Hotel so we took a walk through its very impressive lobby. Beautiful. Fancy schmancy!

We wished there had been a Predators game for us to see while we were there but they were on the road. We saw the arena, though. A nice building.

The first night we selected B.B. King's Blues Bar for dinner. There was a live band, which we thoroughly enjoyed. They were excellent.

A little off the beaten path is Printers Alley and it's literally a back alley but with some venues in it. We had planned on getting back to the Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar but didn't make it.

The next day we ventured out of the downtown area and made our way to an area near Vanderbilt University ... a trendy little shopping district called Hillsboro Village. We poked around shops, bought a few things, and then ... because it was so smoking hot ... we stopped at Cabana ... a very happenin' bar and restaurant, though not so happenin' at 3:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday when we were there. It was lovely to sit in the sunshine, have drink and a bite to eat. We learned later that Cabana is one of the hippest places in Nashville. We just picked it by chance.

I had an unusual but delish cobb salad and Kevin had lobster mac-n-cheese. Talking to the people at the shops and in the restaurant gave us some ideas for dinner and drinks that night. The suggestions were excellent. Awesome, in fact.

For dinner we drove to East Nashville (thank you GPS) in search of a recommended restaurant called Eastland Cafe. Such good food.  And then we drove back to the area close to Vanderbilt University where all the recording companies have buildings. Sony. Warner .... all the big names as well as lots of old houses that have been converted to the offices of many smaller recording companies.  At the edge of that district is an establishment called Patterson House - a tapas bar - but, more than that ... it was a very cool experience! I don't have any photos but let me tell you, it was SO COOL!! Very mysterious. I felt famous just being in it!

The house itself was a bit difficult to find. The only identifying signage was the name "Patterson House" in rather small letters across the middle of a normal front door suitable to the older home that it is. Inside was a little lobby with books shelves, leather sofas and chairs, antique chandeliers and a podium where an attendant stood beside a closed velvet curtain. Our name was added to the list and we waited about 15 minutes and then we were led to our seats at the bar that dominated the dark, moody room.  It was a massive square bar and bartenders wearing jeans, shirts, ties, and vests, worked behind it. Booth seating was along the perimeter of the room along with book shelves filled with books. The bar tenders train for about 6 or 8 months before they're allowed to apprentice in the bar. The cocktails on the menu are original and everything is made from scratch in front of you. They create their own bitters and special flavours. They keep some special flavours in little dark bottles and they add them to your drinks with eye droppers. We had some yummy tapas and tried some adventurous bar drinks. Very fun!  Very COOL!

It wasn't until we spoke with the Davis family whose son Brad plays lacrosse with Luke and who live in Nashville that we learned that there were bar rules that we somehow missed. Rules such as you are not allowed to stand in the bar ... you are not allowed to approach anyone else in the bar and are not allowed to disturb anyone famous. Latedah! Well, that explains why nobody was hitting on me and why there were no paparazzi, right? That's what I tell myself. It was a wonderful evening experience and if you're in Nashville, definitely GO!

By the way, the Davis's were amazed that we had been to the Patterson house. Apparently it's so secretive and exclusive that most people in Nashville don't even know it's there! Even the website it mysterious! Check it out here ... Patterson House. Read an article about the place here. Here's a link to a photo on Flickr taken from the vantage point of the exact place at the bar where we sat.

We tried to see the Grand Old Opry. It's a bit of a drive to Opryland. It's not downtown where I expected it to be. I had no idea it would be so huge! In fact I don't know if we ever did find the famous concert hall. There were signs everywhere and attached hotels and conference centres and we drove and drove and looped and looped. We finally gave up looking for it when we found Opry Mills, a big shopping centre in Opryland. Kevin's eyes lit up when he saw the sign for the Bass Pro Shop. So we shopped instead. And that was fine with me.

I think this sign was serious! *shudder*

Nashville. Nice place to visit.

The Last of the Travelogue - Nashville