From the front lines...

The war on cancer...maybe if we did not associate cancer with fighting, war and hostility we would have a better attitude towards it.

Right now I do not have a good attitude at all. This sucks. There are no two ways about it. I will try to put my cheerleader outfit on and plaster a smile on my face, but I am just not feelin it today.

Here is the update on Hailey. She is home from her first round of chemo. She is in pain. She is sad. The pharmacies in town do not have the medication she needs in order not to feel the pain. She is staying with my parents. We hope we do not spend Thanksgiving in the hospital. I am going over to my parents on Wednesday and staying there until I feel like coming back to Hoschton.

I have not practiced yoga in about 5 days because I have been sick, and it shows. I plan on releasing this negative energy tonight by doing some good asana work, pranayama and if I can muster it up, some meditation. Maybe that will help me feel the light I am missing right now.

Random Thoughts...

Peace and sadness are not mutually exclusive

Sometimes living life to the fullest means fully feeling your pain

Cancer is where the Light can not shine, I see it not only as a physical battle but a spiritual one

Prayer is very powerful, do not doubt that God is listening and his angels are at your side

We are all terminal, some of us just are much more aware of that fact

Do not postpone joy

Abba did not give my sister cancer, but he could cure it if its in his plans - I really wish he would

Crying is good but it gives me a headache

Accepting grace is hard

People are awesome - I love them

I used to say "life sucks, wear a helmet" but I am going to change that to "when life sucks, wear a belt, shoes, a helmet, armor, a shield and bring a sword"

Stop thinking about the future, stop worrying about all the damned details and start living your life now: "life is what happens when your busy making other plans" Lennon

Hailey starts chemo today. Again.

Yikes

Well - the latest update is that there are 2 more tumors already in Hailey. Its only been a few weeks since her surgery. The next step is 6 (count 'em - SIX) rounds of chemo that last a week each. 

She will also be going to Texas once every 6-7 weeks for check ups there. 

She is taking the news pretty well, she is out therapy shopping right now. 

I am really much angrier and sadder than I want to talk about right now. 

Hails Naaah Update

Howdy everybody!

My sister and mom send their love from Texas. They are tired, but doing well. Here is the low down...

Hailey is working with THE doctor that is doing a huge research project on her type of cancer. He told her that it will probably never go away, but its treatable. So, first things first he is ordering 2 rounds of chemo. They will do scans while they are doing the chemo to see if the cancer is growing even with treatment. If the chemo does not work, then on to plan B which is more medication and treatment, I have no idea what that means or what that is...but its a different plan...then there is plan C which is even more medicine and treatment...nope, don't know what that means either...then on to plan D...experimental treatment. Hailey is not too keen on that and we hope that we don't have to go there, but at least its an option. I do not think that it would be an option with out her being at MD Anderson.

Today she has scans from her neck down to her pelvis, including her heart, lungs etc...so I pray that there is nothing in there!!!

Hails and mom are keeping it real, they are going shopping for cowboy boots today. Giddy'up...

Cancer Prevention

Since cancer has invaded my family I have radically changed my life. My diet has changed and my faith continues to grow. I truly believe your outlook on life will change your life. So...besides the obvious, like quitting smoking, how can we prevent cancer? Well from all of my research regarding this topic, all roads lead us to these things: strengthen your immune system, alkalize your diet and stay away from sugar, processed foods and toxins.

Lets take these 3 facets and examine each one of them.

How to strengthen your immune system: detox your body by eating high fiber foods or doing a cleanse (talk to your doctor about the best cleanse for you) to get rid of the toxic sludge living in your intestines, eat lots of greens, foods high in antioxidants and learn how to deal with stress in a healthy way, stress will make you sick quick! Ever notice how you feel run down or get a cold when stress takes over your life? This is where yoga, exercise, friends, meditation and taking time for yourself come in. You really need to find a way to de-stress. PLEASE get it out of your head that it is selfish to do something for yourself, you can not take care of others unless you are healthy. This is where I think your outlook on life comes into center stage. If you feel like you can not take time for yourself, then you are not going to enjoy it even when you do. This takes changing your belief system, and that takes a lot of work! Talk to a counselor, pastor or close friend that you trust about this and maybe some light will come into your life.

Alkalize your diet!

Cancer feeds off of acidic foods. Cancer can not live in an oxygen filled environment. Cancer is death, oxygen is life. So fill your plate and juicer with these foods:

List 1

List 2

Long story short: eat lots of greeeeeeeeeen food such as cucumbers, spinach, and kale - lots of fruits, including lemons and grapefruit (they are alkalizing weird huh?) and tofu, most nuts, legumes etc...are all on the alkaline food list. Does this sound familiar to anyone? We have always been told to "eat our veggies" but I do not think that anyone has ever really, truly, deeply, thought about the health implications of NOT eating them.

Stay away from sugar, processed foods and toxins.

Yeah, cancer lives off of sugar. Sugar. It loves it, it also loves dairy. Case in point, my sister has major sugar and dairy cravings now. She did not before cancer invaded her body. We also need to detox by cleaning out our bathrooms of most of the items that have parabens, aluminum, Amines, Dioxane and more. For more info on this topic check out the blog about cosmetics from a few days ago.

None of us can see into the future, maybe even if we do all of this and never take another drink of soda we still may get cancer. I am not naive enough to think that doing all of this will make you invincible. However, I think that its worth the effort to detox our minds, bodies and spirits and renew ourselves with life! Healthy, abundant, happy life! We are not going to live forever, but I want to be healthy and full of vibrant life while I am here on this beautiful planet.

Off to Texas...

Well, Hailey is off to Texas right now. She is on an airplane and heading to MD Anderson in Houston. We had a little send off BBQ for her last night and she was holding up pretty good until she had to leave. She did not really break down until she got in the car. She is scared - but she also knows that she is going to the best place possible for her cancer. We also had a prayer service for her after church yesterday, it was very moving with lots of tears and praise and begging. It was good. 

Please take the time to say a prayer for Hailey, Colleen and my family (esp. my mom!) today if that is your thing. I really do believe in the power of prayer! 

Love and Light!

Sweet, Pink, Chemical Laden Kisses...

Don't get me wrong, I completely support anything that brings money to any kind of cancer research. However, the whole breast cancer awareness that gets alllllll the attention by the large companies out there does kind of annoy me. What about other cancers? Is it just not as cute to have purple stuff everywhere instead of pink? Maybe its because its just for us girls (even though men do get breast cancer) and the big ol' companies out there know that us girls do most of the shopping. Its also annoying to see breast cancer awareness linked to companies that use cancer causing agents in their products, or they are promoting a food product that is NOT good for you. I don't see any kale farmers changing their packaging to pink...

Anyway...here is a great blog that I copied from Crazy Sexy Life. I think Stacy Malkan nails it. Bravo.

P.S. I have been thinking of putting a huge stripe of purple or yellow in my hair for awareness of all cancers. :) What do you think?

From Crazy Sexy Life:

Before you Kiss for the Cause: What’s in that pink ribbon product?
It’s that time of year again, when you can’t walk five steps without finding some new opportunity to spend money for breast cancer. We can “Kiss for the Cause” with Revlon lipstick, “shower for the cure” with Philosophy Pink Ribbon Gel, dust our cheeks with “Hint of a Cure” blush by Ramy, and “Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer” with Avon products.
Before I rush out for a pink-ribbon makeover, I have some questions for these companies: How much money are they actually contributing to breast cancer charities, and what is the money being used for? And most importantly, are they willing to stop using chemicals linked to cancer?
The big beauty companies don’t want such questions raining on their pink parade. After all, Revlon reaps a lot of good will and positive press from its pink-branded products and efforts to raise money for breast cancer charities through the Revlon 5K Run/Walk.
Yet ironically – outrageously – many Revlon products contain chemicals linked to cancer. In fact, Revlon’s Colorsilk brand is ranked as the most toxic brand of all in the Environmental Working Group Skin Deep database, with an average toxicity score of 8.6 (with 10 being the worst).
Pink ribbon giants Avon and Estee Lauder don’t fare much better; each company makes more than 100 products with a toxicity of score of 8 or above, according to Skin Deep, and many of the products contain chemicals linked to cancer. (You can check the score of your favorite products at http://www.cosmeticdatabase.org/.)
This is unacceptable – to say the least! As leaders in the pink-ribbon parade, Revlon, Avon and Estee Lauder have a special responsibility to be champions for women’s health by refusing to buy carcinogens from the chemical companies. As major (and influential) customers of the chemical industry, these companies have the power to shift the market away from harmful chemicals, and toward safer, non-toxic alternatives.
Instead, what we get from these companies are lots of cute pink-ribbon products, with an undisclosed portion of proceeds going to breast cancer research, almost none of which is focused on environmental causes of the disease such as cancer-causing chemicals and pollution. They want us to “hope for the cure” and get our mammograms, rather than having a serious discussion about how to prevent breast cancer, because prevention requires changes to the status quo.
For more about the not-so-cute history of the pink ribbon (which was co-opted by a beauty magazine) and Breast Cancer Awareness Month (which was started by a pharmaceutical/chemical company), see chapter 6 of my book “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.”
After these stories, trust me, you’ll never look at a pink ribbon in quite the same way again. So then what? The good news is, we have a lot of power too, because we get to decide which companies we support with our money and which products we put on our bodies. We can educate ourselves and our friends about what’s really going on, and take meaningful action for change. Here are four things you can do today:
Think Before you Pink: Share this website by Breast Cancer Action with friends and encourage them to ask critical questions about pink ribbon promotions. Another great resource on this topic is the book and film No Family History, by Sabrina McCormick.
Just say No to Toxic Beauty Products: Choose products that are free of carcinogens and other harmful chemicals by using the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database. Spend your money on companies with products consistently in the green zone (0-3 toxicity score).
Donate to Breast Cancer Prevention: Support The Breast Cancer Fund, the only national non-profit organization focused solely on prevention of the disease. Also check out BCF’s annual report, The State of the Evidence, a compilation of science about the environmental links to breast cancer.
Help Give the Beauty Industry a Makeover: The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is working to pass legislation that will require cosmetics companies to eliminate chemicals suspected of causing cancer, birth defects and other health problems. Visit our website and join our email list to get involved.