Angelina Jolie's Decision

I can't remember if I wrote about this in the past, but I am positive for the BRCA2 gene mutation.  I found out about 1 1/2 years ago after my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and found out that she had the gene.  Thankfully, she is doing well after her treatment.

When I found out she had the gene and decided to get tested, I thought about my options if I was positive.  Before I got my results, I decided that I would not get prophylactic surgery.  After I got my results and since, my decision has wavered a bit, especially when stories like Angelina Jolie's come out.

Over the last couple of days, I have been rethinking my decision not to have surgery.  I thought about the fact that I have such little kids.  I thought about the pain and suffering that my grandmother went through.  I thought about how my great grandmother, my grandmother, my grandmother's twin sister, and my mother got breast cancer.

I also thought about what surgery would mean for my body, my mind, my identity.  I thought about (and still think about) how going immediately into menopause would affect my body.  I thought about how my identity would change knowing that I would have parts of my body removed (as silly as it sounds).  I thought about how much piece of mind I would really have even if I had surgery.  Would I have less anxiety or would I still worry that I would get cancer even after having body parts removed.

I honestly feel like this is such a personal decision.  What is right for me isn't necessarily right for everyone.  What is right for Angelina Jolie isn't necessarily right for me.  I think that all options should be looked at and weighed out.  For me not having surgery gives me the option of changing my mind later after having time to think about it.  If I have surgery, I can't change my mind!

Right now, my choice is to eat right (more on the pH diet), exercise, work on the mind body connection, work on my stress level and how I deal with it.  I think doing this will not only keep me healthy and hopefully decrease my risk for cancer overall, but will also get me healthy to have surgery if I chose to do so later in life.

I am going to be forty this summer.  Things may change as I get older since my family seems to get cancer later in life.  I may change my mind about having my ovaries removed after I go through menopause.  I may change my mind if I find a lump.  Right now, I can't have surgery without having cancer.

My life is telling me that I need to look at the different things I believe in.  I keep thinking that I need to make changes in my professional career so that it goes along more with my beliefs.  I need to make sure that I look into more education that will help me have a career doing things I believe in and love.  Loving what I do and believing in what I do will help me with my lifestyle changes also.

Amy

Juicing

A while ago, I joined in with BzzAgent to help test out products.  Recently I tested out Neutrogena products and was very pleased with how smooth the eyeliner was.  I was just asked to test out some juicing info.  I joined in to try Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead (which I have watched before and really enjoyed), as well as a new program, join the reboot, which I have not heard of.  I am really looking forward to re-watching the movie as it helps to keep me motivated.

As I've shared, I have the gene mutation for the BRCA2 gene which places me more at risk for breast and ovarian cancer, as well as a small higher chance for pancreatic and skin cancer.  At this point, I have opted to forgo prophylactic surgery for a more holistic approach to cancer prevention, meaning, I am looking to change my diet and increase my exercise as well as change my reaction to stress.  

I have been running for the last 4 months, with the goal of running every other day.  I have also been making green smoothies for the last 4 months also.  I haven't been as good as I should have been, and I really think that re-watching this movie will help me to keep motivated.  Even if I didn't have a higher cancer risk, I have to admit that I would still be interested in doing the lifestyle changes that I am making.  I have tried juicing my smoothies, basically straining them through a milk bag type strainer.  It's not as easy as I would like, but maybe if I learn more that juicing is more beneficial, I will maybe invest in a juicer.

Amy

Cancer!

I hate this word!  Like most people, I have been more than touched by cancer within my family.  I also have the breast cancer gene mutation which freaks me out more than just a little.  The decisions I know have to make suck to say the least, but at least I have the options to make decisions (about the only positive that I see in knowing that I have the gene, well along with knowing that my kids are at risk instead of not knowing.

I just found out that someone who I went to high school with lost her husband to pancreatic cancer last night.  As a person with a BRCA2 mutation, I am also at risk for pancreatic cancer, although that risk is low especially in comparison to my breast and ovarian cancer risk.  I also found out that there is more pancreatic cancer in my family that I ever knew.  Granted it is the familial lineage is pretty far away, but at least for me, it scares the crap out of me.

Every time I hear that some has been diagnosed with cancer or passes away from cancer, I get more freaked out.  I know that I need to make certain decisions, really just whether or not I am going to have my ovaries removed or not.  Every time I think I've made the decision, I think and then lose my nerve to stick with it.  Right now I am leaning against surgery and looking more at lifestyle changes.  That may change as I get older, as I get more peri-menopausal, or as life happens.  For me, not having surgery means that I will have the chance to have surgery if I choose at a later date.  If I have surgery when I am not ready, I can never take it back.  I do know that I am putting myself more at risk for ovarian cancer, but for now, that is my decision.  I did get my blood test back for my ovarian cancer test and it was normal, good news, and I have my ultrasound next week.  I still need to schedule my breast MRI, but need to do it at a certain time so I am in a waiting period right now.

After hearing the news of my friends's husband's passing, I really need to stick with my goals.  I really need to focus on eating right, exercising, being creative, and getting my life organized.  Following through with my goals all help me relieve stress on my mind, my body, and my spirit.  Now I just need to keep this resolve and follow through.  As I sit here typing, I am drinking my green shake (after I ate a crappy lunch).  I need to make sure that I actually drink these and eat more fruits and veggies in general as well as good whole grains!

For all that want to know what I put in my shake, this is it:

Green Smoothie

1cups of green leafy veggies (today was swiss chard)
1/2 an apple (green or red)
1/2 a pear
1 banana
1/2 an avocado
1/2 a bag of frozen blackberries
10 oz of water

Blend til smooth and enjoy!  I do have a vita mix.  I'm not sure how it would work in a traditional blender.  I believe that you should have a high speed blender so that it can really get things blended so that your body can incorporate them easily.

Enjoy life and take care of yourself!

Amy

On Being Previvor

If you didn't know, I recently found out that I am a "previvor".    A previvor is a term, I believe, that was founded by force.com to designate a term for people who are positive for the BRCA gene.  I now am faced with the decision to have prophylactic surgeries to remove my ovaries and my breasts.  This has been something that I have thought about for the last couple of months.  I had started thinking about it before I got tested, but the reality of this is just finally hitting me.  Last night was really the first time that I allowed myself to break down.  I was out doing my walk/run and in the middle of it, I broke down and started crying.  I started talking to my husband about what happened and he said I really need to do research and figure out what I need to do for me and that he will support me in what ever decision I make.

If you couldn't tell by the name of this blog, I believe in living a more natural life, but I also believe that there is a balance that needs to happen when living a natural life.  This decision is one area that I believe needs to be balanced.  I don't think that it is an easy decision to make: to either have surgery to remove parts of my body, that for a lot of women including me, are part of who we are as women or to use more alternative means to prevent cancer, breast and ovarian.  Right now I am leaning to not doing surgery with the potential of maybe having my ovaries out, but not having my breasts removed.  I have felt that this was going to be the way that I would go from the beginning, but I am scared of making the wrong decision and getting cancer and leaving my husband and 3 young children before it is time all because I made the wrong decision.

The New Year's goals that I have written about are based a lot on my BRCA2 + status.  I think that if I can work harder on these goals and actually meet them or at least continue working on them, I have a good chance of preventing cancer.  There is a lot of writing out there about having a gene and getting cancer.  There is also some information on how your genes are not your destiny.  I am hoping that I can make changes to my life to help change my genetic destiny.  I need to do a ton of research, and I need to find people who are on the same page as I am.  I haven't really figured out how to find these people, but I am hoping that there may be a group that I can find, maybe a support group type forum that actually meets in person.  I love that the internet allows for all sorts of info, but I really want to meet people and talk to professionals in person.

I am hoping that at some point in my life, I will figure out what I want to do professionally and hope that the less stress I have career wise will help with less stress overall.  I would love to have a career that took into account my beliefs of living a handmade and natural life.

Wish me luck on my research endeavors!
Amy

Test Results

If you didn't know, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer just about 1 year ago.  She has gone through chemo and radiation treatments and so far things are looking positive.  Her lump was caught early, unlike my grandmother her mother, who almost 6 years ago died of breast cancer.  Since my mom got diagnosed, she also got tested for the BRCA gene.  She got confirmation that she is a carrier for the BRCA 2 gene.  Currently, in my family, my mom, my grandmother, my grandmother's twin sister, and my great grandmother all have had breast cancer.  My grandmother's younger sister also had and died of pancreatic cancer, which the BRCA 2 gene puts you at higher risk for.

Now that my mom got tested, my sisters and I had to decide if we were going to get tested.  At first, I was leaning totally against having the gene test.  After talking with my doctor, I decided that it would be better to find out if I had the gene, because with my family history, without getting tested, I would need to have increased testing to ensure that things were caught early just in case I was at higher risk and didn't know it. I got met with a genetic counselor right after Christmas and with my husband decided to have the test.  Just about a week ago, I found out that I tested positive for the gene.

I wasn't totally surprised at the results, but I was still in shock from actually seeing it on paper and having one of my worst fears confirmed.  Of course, the immediate recommendation was to have a bilateral mastectomy and oophorectomy.  I was told that I needed to meet with an oncologist and discuss my options.  If I decided not to have surgery, I need to have a mammogram and a MRI every 6 months alternating each time.  If I don't have the oophorectomy, I need to have a trans-vaginal ultrasound and a CA-125 blood test every 6 months.  Even though I don't have cancer, I left that appointment feeling like I had been given a a death sentence, especially if I didn't have surgery.  Not exactly a great feeling to have especially not actually having cancer. I thought that since my family tended to get cancer later in life, I have a decent amount of time to decide, but no, they just lucked out (if getting cancer at all can be considered lucky) and got cancer later in life.  The BRCA 2 gene tends to cause earlier cancers, something I did not expect to hear.

I am still trying to figure out where to go from here.  I have 3 small kids and a great husband.  I don't want to get cancer.  I don't want to go through the pain and suffering and even potentially die, but I also don't want to have surgery.  There are too many reasons to go into right now, and at some point I will probably write about it just to put it in words that I can actually read.  My New Year's goals go along with the changes that I want to make especially now that I have tested positive for the gene.

My diet needs to change and so do my exercise habits.  I have joined in with another twins mom's blog for a healthy challenge.  I am hoping that this challenge will help me make the changes that I need to make and hopefully make theme stick.

As well as changing my diet, I want to continue to try to use natural cleansers for my home and my body instead of using chemicals.  I want to start doing yoga like I have been wanting to.  I actually saw a book that I may get so that I can do yoga with the kids.  I also want to focus on doing things to reduce my stress. According to the book "Crazy Sexy Diet", reducing stress helps increase telomerase which helps with increasing the size of telomeres which intern helps prevent chronic disease (I hope I explained that right.  I should go back and double check).  One way to help reduce my stress is by creating.  I am hopeful that living the kind of life that I want to live will help me live a long happy healthy life! 

Amy

Getting Back On Track!

I just read a friend's blog and she wrote about getting back in shape after having her third baby.  Right now she is dealing with some medical complications with her new daughter and for her, getting back in shape is something that she can control right now and something that she can do for herself and her daughter.  She has me inspired.  She now has three kids, one being an infant in the NICU.  I think that I, with three healthy kids, can get my ass in gear and start getting myself in shape.  I have been doing better with my diet, but definitely need to step it up quite a bit so that I am really eating what I should be.  I have been minimally active, but I really need to get it in gear and get moving.  Right now I am recovering from a massive cold and the weather prety much sucks!  That means I have not been a) motivated and b) too sick to have the energy to exercise.  I just got the couch to 5K app for my phone and hope that along with the Nike+gps app, I can get to the point of running a 5K.  I figure my little ones are 2 I should get my ass in gear and get in shape, espcieally since I wasn't in shape before I had kids!

On the food front, I really need to get back to eating better.  I am not doing totally bad, but can definitely do better.  I think weight wise, I'm doing ok, but I definitely need to lose at least 20-30 pounds!  I really need to lessen the amount of meat that I eat, increase the amount of veggies that I eat, and decrease the starches and the dairy. 

I am hoping that starting to eat right and exercising will get me healthy and in shape will help to keep me from getting sick like I have this winter.  I am also hoping that I can help to prevent any disease, or at least limit the diseases that I may be more prone to getting, such as cancer and heart disease.  I have to admit this isn't going to be easy and I know that I am going to trip up and back slide, but I really need to get my head where it needs to be and do what I need to do for my health!  My mom is currently in the hospital after her first chemo treatment and I am hoping that I never have to go through this.  Cancer is big in my family and now we have a 3 generational link from my great grandmother to my grandmother to my mother with breast cancer.  I don't want to be the 4th genereation and I want to do what ever I can to keep my body strong so that it can fight off what ever it needs to!

Amy

Cancer

I found out on my twins 2nd birthday (January 23, 2011) that my mom's mammogram showed a lump in her left breast.  This is the same one that my grandmothers breast cancer started in.  She has since had a biopsy which revealed that the tumor was 0.9 cm (about 3/4 in) and they removed 3 inches of tissue.  The pathology report stated that she has stage 1 grade 2 breast cancer.  This means that the tumor was small but semi aggressive and definitely invasive.  This meant that they recommended and MRI to r/o any metastases as well as a lymph node biopsy.  She was unable to complete the MRI with out getting sick, so that is one test that they are unable to do for her.  Today was her lymph node biopsy.  I guess, yesterday they injected her with a dye that would tell the surgeon what nodes to remove if any.  My step-father said that the most the surgeon would take out would be 2 nodes, but they ended up only needing to take out 1 node.  I guess that is a good sign.  Now we just have to wait for this pathology report.  As for treatment options, it really depends on the lymph node biopsy.  If the biopsy comes back with cancer, then they are recommending 8 treatments of chemotherapy, then 5 days a week for 6 weeks of radiation.  If the biopsy comes back without cancer, then she can choose either 4 treatments of chemotherapy and then the same radiation treatment or she can choose just to have radiation.  At least one of my sisters and I are thinking that she should do the combo treatment and hopefully knock the cancer out of her system no matter what the results of the biopsy are.  We also think that she can do conventional treatment along with CAM therapies (complementary and alternative medicine). 

My mom will be having the BRCA test at some point.  I'm not sure when and how this will play into her treatment.  For now I am attempting to learn all the I can about preventing cancer, especially breast cancer.  I am looking to apply CAM therapies to my own life for preventing breast cancer and any other type of illness that seems to be so prevalent in my family, mainly cancer of all types and heart disease.  I have been drinking green smoothies, mainly consisting of some type of leafy green (red chard, collard greens, and kale so far) as well as berries, citrus, apples, pears, bananas, and grapes.  I am attempting to eliminate pretty much all meat from my diet.  Today has been the first day with out any meat.  My next step is to move on and eliminate all animal products from my diet.  I then want to eliminate all the allergenic foods that showed up on my blood test.  I need to start exercising.  It is March 1st and yes I know that it is New England and the weather is very rarely predictable, but I am hoping that the sidewalks will be clear enough that I can get out with the kids and walk with the goal to start running.  I will be researching anything else that I can do to make myself healthier and keep myself from getting the diseases that seem to be so prevalent in my family!

Amy

Does This Mean Anything?

Is this a coincidence or is it real?  For the last week, that is except for today and yesterday, I have been having raw green smoothies for breakfast.  I am used to eating some sort of carb for breakfast, but I had been trying to starrt my day off right so that maybe I would make better choices for the rest of the day.  Prior to making this change in my diet, I had been having pretty rough sinus type headaches.  Once I started having the raw green smoothies, I noticed I was no longer waking up with a headache.  I was getting over a cold, so I was not sure if my diet change had anything to do with not having anymoer headaches or if I was finally over my cold.  I haven't had a headache since, that is until today.  I have had a slight headache off and on all day.  It's not the piercing headache that I was having before, but none the less an anoying headache.  The funny thing is, yesterday and today I did not have my raw green smoothie for breakfast.  I did have 2 glasses last night before bed and then a 1/2 glass after my pancakes this morning.  Yesterday I had french toast.  I find it interesting that now that I started my day off with starchy carbs, my headache is back.  It's probably just a coincidence, but just in case,  I am back to my raw green smoothie for breakfast tomorrow and nothing else.  No more carbs in the morning.  Ok, no more gluten or wheat or any of the other grains that i shouldn't be eating, in the morning.  Actually no more of the grans that I shouldn't be eating ever.  I think the headache today made me realize that I really need to do something with my diet, never mind that I have lost about 6 pounds without dieting, just making lifestyle changes!

I am still researching and enjoying reading others blogs.  I love how many people out there are dealing with food issues and that they are sharing their struggles and what has helped them.  After seeing how much of a role dairy played in my older son's breathing difficulty, I am more aware of how food affects people.  I almost pushed for my son to have surgery, tonsillectomy and maybe even an adenoidectomy, and all I had to do was eliminate milk from his diet to notice a very noticable improvement to his breathing.  The best part is, others have noticed it too, so I know that it is not just me wanting to believe that there has been a change!  I am also wondering if citrus may be another trigger for my kids since they have recently been eating a ton of oranges and are again having diaper rashes.  I know we need to have them offically tested for allergies, but my anecdoctal information says that they are having issues with certain foods.  Now, I just need to maintain our dairy free diet and add a gluten free, citrus free, probably sugar free diet to what we eat.  I am really interested to see what role more diet changes play in our lives!  If anyone has good blogs regarding healthy eating, please pass them on. 

I have a little more information on my mom's cancer diagnosis.  At this time, she has stage 1 grade 2 breast cancer.  This means that the tumor was small, only about 0.9cm (about 3/4 in) and that it is semi-aggressive in nature.  It is an invasive form of cancer, so she will be having an MRI to see if the cancer has spread any where else in her body.  After that, she needs to have a lymph node biopsy, which will help to determine what type of treatment she has.  Then after that, she will have the BRCA test to see if she carries the gene for breast cancer.  This is actually pretty scary for me since I know that my great grandmother, my grandmother and her twin, and now my mom have all had breast cancer.  If she does not have the gene I will be very surprised (no one else in my grandmother's family had breast cancer except for her twin sister), but you never know.  This diagnosis has also made me re-evaluate my eating habits.  I still don't always make the best choices, but I know that whatever changes I make are going to be lifestyle changes, not just momentary changes.  I will be 38 this summer and I have 3 small children.  Thankfully, it seems as if breast cancer tends to hit after menopause in my family, but the time is now to make the changes, not wait until something happens.  Right now, I'm all about prevention.  Any suggestions on cancer preventing diets is always helpful and very much appreciated!

Here's to making lifestyle changes that will help me be a healthier happier person and making them stick!
Amy

Diet

As I predicted, the last 2 days were not all that great for my diet.Wakes and funerals will do that to you expecially those of an Italian family.  The one positive is that I did start my day off yesterday with a green smoothie, pretty awesome if you ask me.  As there should be nothing that should get in my way, I am off to get back on the wagon with my diet and do the right thing!

I found out today that my mother was just diagnosed with breast cancer.  This means, my great grandmotehr, my grandmother, and now my mother have all had breast cancer (my grandmother's twin sister also had breast cancer).  My grandmother died from metastesized breast cancer after having a double mastectomy (each mastectomy was a few years apart form the other).  The positive, if there ever is a positive with cancer, is that every one of them got breast cancer post menopausal, which is a better time to get breast cancer if you are going to get it.

I had already decided that I was going to change my eating habits, lose weight and exercise and be healthier all around.  This diagnosis confirms my need to do this.  My next goal is to research what is the best diet to prevent cancer in general, as well as breast cancer specifically.  I know that you should maintain a healthy weight with a BMI of 25 or below, exercise regularly, eat cruciferous veggies and good carbs, eat hormone free meat, and I'm sure there is more, I just need to find out what it is!

It pretty much has me totally freaked out that 3 generations of females in a row in my family have had breast cancer.  The fact that my grandmother died of breast cancer and now that my mother has it really scares me.  My mother is getting tested for the breast cancer gene.  I will be very surprised if she doesn't have it since there is obviously a pretty significant family history, or at least it's significant to me!  There is way too much cancer in my family for me not to take this seriously as well as other issues.  My uncle dies of heart disease and he was only 5 years older than I am now.  My farther died of suicide, again at the age I will be in 5 years.  I really need to watch my diet and my mood and make sure that I keep myself as healthy (all around)as I can be!

There will be more on my diet changes as the days progress and I get more research done.  I'm sure that I am over reacting to a certain extent as this news is just so new.  I just need to do everything in my power to keep myself healthy especially since I have little ones!  The one change that I have made is I have had 2 mornings where I had a green smoothie for breakfast.  I was really impressed that I was able to only have that for breakfast.  Now I just need to maintain this and add on more changes to my diet! 

I am also now even happier that I am making my own deodorant, my own creams, and using shampoo (when I actually shampoo my hair) that doesn't have chemicals in it, as well as using good soap without chemicals (and I will be learning how to make my own soap!), and just basically using good prodcuts that go on our largest organ, our skin!

Amy