Sister Sister

My sister is my hero.

She really is. Battling again, 21 years later. This time the fight is much harder but she's a bit older and a bit wiser.
I can't imagine hearing those words from your doctor.
I can't imagine the fear, pain, reality and then the process, but I'm beginning to understand. Now it's the hair...

She took control and got one of those cute, super short hair cuts. I told her how much I loved it! She's in good company.

 But she keeps making jokes about having another brother. The reality is, she has no idea how beautiful she is. It's not just about outer beauty, her inner beauty and strength is inspiring but right now, she just can't see it. I get it. I just wish she could see herself through my eyes.

I worry about her. She worries about me, and everyone else in her family. Can you believe that? She worries more about her family and less about herself. She knows that she will make it through this. We all know she will, and as she navigates through what is now her world I see an amazing woman emerging. That same woman I love so much and call my sister, but a woman who is an example of what can be, a woman of experience and strength.

This too shall pass. And when it does we are going to celebrate at the top of the Eiffel Tower with a bottle of Pink Champagne!

Beantown Breakthrough

This is very cool.

The medical minds over at MIT have come up with a potentially life-saving device in the battle against cancer. Dr. Omid Farokhzad and Dr. Robert Langer created an effective approach to cancer treatments by using targeted nanoparticles called BIND-014. These nanoparticles act as drones who seek out and deliver cancer killing medicines to cancer cells only. This could be the big Kahuna for cancer treatment.

What really caught my attention was the story of a woman cancer patient in this morning's Boston Herald. She had failed chemotherapy and radiation treatments and had exhausted all other options for her diagnosed stage two cervical cancer. Evelyn Sorensen was told by her doctors that she had about a year to set her affairs in order. She was urged to take a vacation, say goodbye to friends and family and prepare for the worst. The 47-year-old demanded to see a list of clinical trials from her radiologist and spotted the BIND-Bioscience trial, based in Cambridge.

Sorensen, who lived in Cambridge in the 1990's, joined the trial in August. "People in Cambridge really know what they are doing," Sorensen said. What she didn't know was that serendipitous moment would change the course of her life and reverse her death sentence. Her tumors shrank by 70 percent after her first treatment. Sorensen reported to no horrid side effects such as nauseua and hair loss. She even joked about the docs slipping her a "placebo mickey" because she felt no ill effects. In the six months since the trial, Evelyn's body has no cancer and is still taking the medication to stay that way. She is now strong enough to return to work and is exersicing regularly. Her family is amazed at how far she's come in six months. "I'm starting to feel like my old self," she said.

Thank God for medicine, money and the brilliant minds who devote their lives to making incredible science. BIND-014 is very interesting and how it works was explained to me like this:

-Imagine these nanoparticles like microscopic robots who have a targeted, cancer-detecting "GPS'".

-These microscopic robots have their work cut out for them. Our immune system is designed to stop them before they get to the cancer. Like a division of our armed forces elite, these tiny robots must be quick and stealth to evade the immune system.

-When they reach their target they release their cancer-killing medicine, then slowly biodegrade and get absorbed safely in the body.

One can only hope that his breakthrough brings life and hope for so many battling this devastating disease.

Necessary Torture

I know it's something I have to do every year. I know how essential it is to my health. I know how important it is for the early detection of a horrible disease. But seriously??? OUCH!!

Today is my day for the yearly mammogram and I dread it every year. The twins DO NOT like the torture. See that photo above? That plastic level flattens out boobie 1 like a pancake, which results in the most uncomfortable pinching and numbing pain sensation which you must hold for what seems like an eternity. Then they tell you not to breathe!!! If that's not bad enough, the nurse then comes over, bless her little soul, and grabs boobie 2 to position it perfectly for it's own special Kodak moment.

I'm just sayin', I've never been the kind of girl who likes to be consentually "felt up" by a stranger. I prefer a little wining and dining, coupled with some intellectual conversation in the form of foreplay, but make no mistake, there is no "play" here. I wouldn't condemn the process, as yearly mammography saves lives. I'm just anticipating the degrading, painful torture that is essential for me to be a healthy adult.

And I'm really lucky.

And, (knock on wood) I'm pretty healthy.

And I live in a country where it is socially pertinent to screen for breast cancer yearly. Heck, we even have our own month and color to help us to remember.

And I have a sister who is a survivor.

And I thank god every day for the gift of her cancer-free self.

And I will submit the twins to the torture, secure in the knowledge that greater women have stood there before me and did what had to be done.

So what if I have to spend the rest of today walking around like this: I'll take the odds on the necessary torture.

Proud To Be Pink

The NFL went pink yesterday, and nothing could have been more masculine. In a bid to promote October as breast cancer awareness month, each NFL team showcased it's breast cancer awareness pride by wearing pink on the fields.

A classy move by the NFL, no doubt. Players were sporting pink in all kinds of places yesterday; pink arm bands, pink cleats, pink gloves, pink rimmed hats, pink towels and hot pink breast cancer ribbons which were abound yesterday on the gridirons all over this country. Even the referee's, the black and white judges of the game, joined in the wearing of the pink. For something that looked so out of place to be as perfect as it was, was truly a great feat. At first glance, one might have thought, "Is Tom Brady really wearing pink cleats?" "Does Randy Moss have on hot pink gloves?" After the mind does a complete double take, one realizes that it's all to promote awareness for a worthy cause.

And how well the pink played out on the fields yesterday. Splattered here and there, it popped in silent tribute to the warriors who battle this terrible disease. And for an afternoon, I was constantly reminded what the wearing of the pink meant. I say, what a classy way to show support for the mothers, sisters, daughters, wives and friends who have been touched by breast cancer.

According to The New York Times, the pink cleats idea began with Carolina's DeAngelo Williams, whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. Her three sisters died from the disease.

"Her detecting it early was the reason she was able to pull through it,” Williams said.

To me there's nothing sexier than a man who proudly wears pink.

You had to know I couldn't get through an entire football post without a picture of THE TOMMY now, didn't ya?