I had my first call on Conversations with Aunt Emmy and it was from a most unexpected source- my daughter Dory who lives in Washington,,D.C. I got feedback from my son, Gordon asking for more healthy living tips, so I included the need to set a reminder on your computer to get up at least once per hour, walk around the office and take deep breaths as most of us do not really take very deep breaths. Another listener wanted clarification on what cancer specialty a Hematologist Oncologist manages. This physician takes care of people with blood cancers such as Lymphoma and Leukemias, etc. From the Little Pink Purse of Courage we discussed 2 more questions regarding hair loss. The nugget: before your hair starts to fall- cut it as low as you can manage, so when it does fall, it should be less of a shock in your appearance. Next nugget : Negative and Positive labels for the hormone tests done do not mean good or bad as we have become conditioned to think. These results for breast cancer patients are related to the type of drugs which will be ordered to deal with the negative or positive hormone lab results.
Approximately 1,900 men are diagnosed each with breast cancer. The website: menagainstbreastcancer.org is available as a resource for men. There are wonderful free magazines with excellent information for breast cancer survivors, the general public family and friends. Tune in every Sunday afternoon at www.blogtalkradio.com/auntemmy and listen to this simple and informative show which helps you to ask the right questions of your health care providers especially if breast cancer is the diagnosis and chemotherapy is the treatment option. It's not a sad show, its great information in an easy to listen to format. Listen and call in. I look foward to hearing from you.
The Little Pink Purse of Courage
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
The Role of Your Oncologist and THE FACTS
Hello my friends and listeners. I hope you tuned in to today's show. If not, remember you can go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/auntemmy to here all past shows on-demand! This week we discussed some important topics. First, I want to provide some clarification for one of my listeners about the roles of the oncologist treating breast cancer. Please remember you can ALWAYS email and ask me for clarification or additional information. Here goes:
The first oncologist you are likely to meet is the surgical oncologist who will do a biopsy and then perform either a mastectomy or a lumpectomy.
Then you may next meet the medical oncologist who is the physician who orders and manages your drug therapy (chemotherapy), orders and reviews your blood work and keeps in touch with the radiology oncologist who administers radiation as needed.
Think of the medical oncologist as the captain of your team.
The Little Pink Purse of Courage is a 37 page booklet with 41 questions that you need to take with you when you first meet your medical oncologist. Some of those questions address knowing the specific type of breast cancer with which you have been diagnosed and knowing what stage it is in. Those are hard questions to ask and The Little Pink Purse becomes your voice at the point when you are most vulnerable and don’t even know what to ask.
I also want to put this disease in perspective for you by giving you some of the facts:
The first oncologist you are likely to meet is the surgical oncologist who will do a biopsy and then perform either a mastectomy or a lumpectomy.
Then you may next meet the medical oncologist who is the physician who orders and manages your drug therapy (chemotherapy), orders and reviews your blood work and keeps in touch with the radiology oncologist who administers radiation as needed.
Think of the medical oncologist as the captain of your team.
The Little Pink Purse of Courage is a 37 page booklet with 41 questions that you need to take with you when you first meet your medical oncologist. Some of those questions address knowing the specific type of breast cancer with which you have been diagnosed and knowing what stage it is in. Those are hard questions to ask and The Little Pink Purse becomes your voice at the point when you are most vulnerable and don’t even know what to ask.
I also want to put this disease in perspective for you by giving you some of the facts:
- 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year
- In 2009, an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in women in the U.S.
- 62,000 women will be diagnosed with non -invasive breast cancer each year
- About 90% of breast cancers are due, not to heredity, but to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general
- 2.5 million women as of 2008 have survived breast cancer.
- Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women in the U.S.
Auntie Emmy's Symptoms to Watch Out For
Hello my friends! Here are the important nuggets from September 5, 2010's Conversations with Aunt Emmy on blogtalkradio.com/auntemmy. Please pay close attention to the advice below, it can save your life!
1. If you are over 40 and have never had a mammogram, it is vital that you do so immediately. Please discuss with this your physician immediately and get a referral to have a mammogram. It's simple and can be life-saving.
2. While breast self examination is still useful and lumps can be discovered, it's just one way of finding a lump which could be breast cancer.
3. There are other warning signs which can alert you to the possibilty that may suggest breast cancer. Promptly visit your doctor if:
On this point it is vital that you do not buy into or accept the following statement : "If you can feel pain or have pain in the breast, then it is not breast cancer." If you were given a True or False test question - the answer is False.
I know of a lady who worked out in the gym and lifted weights and thought her breast pain was just a muscle strain. Fortunately, she had it checked and her concern was taken seriously by her physician; The result: breast cancer. Remember, the best news is that breast cancer is one of the most treatale forms of cancer and many women beat it. Survival rates increase every year. What's more, women survive at least 20 years after diagnosis.
1. If you are over 40 and have never had a mammogram, it is vital that you do so immediately. Please discuss with this your physician immediately and get a referral to have a mammogram. It's simple and can be life-saving.
2. While breast self examination is still useful and lumps can be discovered, it's just one way of finding a lump which could be breast cancer.
3. There are other warning signs which can alert you to the possibilty that may suggest breast cancer. Promptly visit your doctor if:
- you experience fluid coming from one or more nipple and you are not breast feeding
- you experience a dramatic change in the size of one of your breasts
- you experience a discoloration of the skin or ulceration on the skin of the breast
- you experience pain in the breast, which is persistent or unusual
On this point it is vital that you do not buy into or accept the following statement : "If you can feel pain or have pain in the breast, then it is not breast cancer." If you were given a True or False test question - the answer is False.
I know of a lady who worked out in the gym and lifted weights and thought her breast pain was just a muscle strain. Fortunately, she had it checked and her concern was taken seriously by her physician; The result: breast cancer. Remember, the best news is that breast cancer is one of the most treatale forms of cancer and many women beat it. Survival rates increase every year. What's more, women survive at least 20 years after diagnosis.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
And the blogging begins. Welcome Breast Cancer Patients & Their Friends!
Hello!! Welcome to my first official blog entry. I am now on the BLOG train and I can’t even believe it. However, circumstances and openness to new ways of doing things, especially communicating, has catapulted me into this once unheard of word and world. My general biography is to the side of this entry. However, I feel I should explain the "Aunt Emmy" title as my name is actually Patricia:
I have been called many things throughout my life from Aunt Patsy, to Pat, to Aunt Emmy and many more. However, one thing remains constant. In my family, I am the one everyone comes to in order to seek advice. over the years, those closest to me, call me Aunt Emmy. I want my readers and followers to feel the same sort of affection. Thus, I am heretofore, Aunt Emmy!
I want to start by giving you a little overview of the purpose of The Little Pink Purse of Courage Blog and why I created The Little Pink Purse of Courage. Before, I get into that, I want to be sure and remind you that this blog will be updated every Sunday to coincide with myBlogtalk radio show, Conversations with Aunt Emmy, which can be found at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/auntemmy. This radio show, like this blog, will mainly consist of breast cancer-related and health-related content. Occasionally, we will venture into other areas. So be sure to follow me every Sunday at 4:30 p.m. EST. We always have fun! If you can't listen on Sundays, visit the above site for on-demand episodes!
Now for the crux of my first blog--
Your Relationship With Your Doctor
The message this blog will send is so important that I am leaving my comfort zone of phone calling and sending hand written notes( yes I still do that). Our relationships with our health care providers-especially our treating physicians, is one that is a positive and powerful partnership. In order to achieve this empowered relationship, you have to ask the right questions and have information so that your partnership is grounded in respect and openness, This should lead to the very best healthcare possible. I am not talking about any kind of alternative care or treatments; or that if you have a disease diagnosis you will be cured because you have this partnership with your doctor. What I am saying is that, regardless of the disease, if you and/or your family can ask the right questions and communicate how you wish to be treated by your physician-who is as an equal partner- then you will be empowered and the course of that illness will be quite different than if your relationship with your doctor were less personal.
From the age of 2, and I am much past that now, sickness and ill health plagued my life on a personal level. My illnesses were chronic and affected my schooling, my entertainment and my childhood and young adult life all together. I am referring to severe asthma. One day I started to pay attention- long before the pundits started writing about how to control and manage my asthma. I noticed a dramatic difference in my health to the point where today, I hardly ever take medications for it. When I had children who were both afflicted with asthma, I had to partner with their physicians so it did not hinder their childhood as it did mine. So I took my observations to the doctors, suggested what I thought worked and what did not. Soon we were in agreement and an empowered partnership evolved with the best outcomes for my kids.
Fast forward to 2001 and my sister is diagnosed with breast cancer. Here is a woman who had a routine mammogram every year- but on diagnosis is told she has Stage 3 cancer already infecting many lymph nodes. You can imagine how devastating this was for me. But we learn from all. We can make every experience into a learning experience and it helps the healing process. It is far better than acting defeated from the get-go. Even though I learned to control my illness, when my husband became ill, so often I did not know what questions to ask about his illness. And I am a nurse. Many times, I was in this haze of technical care giving but not informed enough about the disease. The internet was not yet a reality- but then again, when you are really, really ill and are first diagnosed- the mind is often blurred to the point where you do not want to know all the information that is out there. It is too real.
I decided that when my sister went to see the oncologist who would treat her cancer I would send questions that we HAD to have answers to. There, without knowing it, was the genesis of THE LITTLE PINK PURSE OF COURAGE: When Breast Cancer is the Diagnosis and Chemotherapy is the Treatment Option.
I sent her with 41 questions. The first question asked that the doctor specifically state what type of breast cancer was diagnosed. Sounds trite but most women do not know that important piece of information and yet it affects treatment choices, among other decisions that your physician will make and offer you.
So the book has led now to my radio show on www.blogtalkradio.com/auntemmy, which I mentioned above. I am talking to women about breast cancer and other health related topics including Asthma- my chronic disease. For the next 2 months the shows will largely center around breast cancer and THE LITTLE PINK PURSE OF COURAGE. To learn more about me visit www.thelittlepinkpurseofcourage.com, www.thepassionsofpatriciaedwards.com or on Facebook and Twitter. I try to answer all correspondence.
Until the next blog entry for The Little Pink Purse of Courage or Sunday’s radio show Conversations with Aunt Emmy. I wish you health and happiness!
-Aunt Emmy
I have been called many things throughout my life from Aunt Patsy, to Pat, to Aunt Emmy and many more. However, one thing remains constant. In my family, I am the one everyone comes to in order to seek advice. over the years, those closest to me, call me Aunt Emmy. I want my readers and followers to feel the same sort of affection. Thus, I am heretofore, Aunt Emmy!
I want to start by giving you a little overview of the purpose of The Little Pink Purse of Courage Blog and why I created The Little Pink Purse of Courage. Before, I get into that, I want to be sure and remind you that this blog will be updated every Sunday to coincide with myBlogtalk radio show, Conversations with Aunt Emmy, which can be found at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/auntemmy. This radio show, like this blog, will mainly consist of breast cancer-related and health-related content. Occasionally, we will venture into other areas. So be sure to follow me every Sunday at 4:30 p.m. EST. We always have fun! If you can't listen on Sundays, visit the above site for on-demand episodes!
Now for the crux of my first blog--
Your Relationship With Your Doctor
The message this blog will send is so important that I am leaving my comfort zone of phone calling and sending hand written notes( yes I still do that). Our relationships with our health care providers-especially our treating physicians, is one that is a positive and powerful partnership. In order to achieve this empowered relationship, you have to ask the right questions and have information so that your partnership is grounded in respect and openness, This should lead to the very best healthcare possible. I am not talking about any kind of alternative care or treatments; or that if you have a disease diagnosis you will be cured because you have this partnership with your doctor. What I am saying is that, regardless of the disease, if you and/or your family can ask the right questions and communicate how you wish to be treated by your physician-who is as an equal partner- then you will be empowered and the course of that illness will be quite different than if your relationship with your doctor were less personal.
From the age of 2, and I am much past that now, sickness and ill health plagued my life on a personal level. My illnesses were chronic and affected my schooling, my entertainment and my childhood and young adult life all together. I am referring to severe asthma. One day I started to pay attention- long before the pundits started writing about how to control and manage my asthma. I noticed a dramatic difference in my health to the point where today, I hardly ever take medications for it. When I had children who were both afflicted with asthma, I had to partner with their physicians so it did not hinder their childhood as it did mine. So I took my observations to the doctors, suggested what I thought worked and what did not. Soon we were in agreement and an empowered partnership evolved with the best outcomes for my kids.
Fast forward to 2001 and my sister is diagnosed with breast cancer. Here is a woman who had a routine mammogram every year- but on diagnosis is told she has Stage 3 cancer already infecting many lymph nodes. You can imagine how devastating this was for me. But we learn from all. We can make every experience into a learning experience and it helps the healing process. It is far better than acting defeated from the get-go. Even though I learned to control my illness, when my husband became ill, so often I did not know what questions to ask about his illness. And I am a nurse. Many times, I was in this haze of technical care giving but not informed enough about the disease. The internet was not yet a reality- but then again, when you are really, really ill and are first diagnosed- the mind is often blurred to the point where you do not want to know all the information that is out there. It is too real.
I decided that when my sister went to see the oncologist who would treat her cancer I would send questions that we HAD to have answers to. There, without knowing it, was the genesis of THE LITTLE PINK PURSE OF COURAGE: When Breast Cancer is the Diagnosis and Chemotherapy is the Treatment Option.
I sent her with 41 questions. The first question asked that the doctor specifically state what type of breast cancer was diagnosed. Sounds trite but most women do not know that important piece of information and yet it affects treatment choices, among other decisions that your physician will make and offer you.
So the book has led now to my radio show on www.blogtalkradio.com/auntemmy, which I mentioned above. I am talking to women about breast cancer and other health related topics including Asthma- my chronic disease. For the next 2 months the shows will largely center around breast cancer and THE LITTLE PINK PURSE OF COURAGE. To learn more about me visit www.thelittlepinkpurseofcourage.com, www.thepassionsofpatriciaedwards.com or on Facebook and Twitter. I try to answer all correspondence.
Until the next blog entry for The Little Pink Purse of Courage or Sunday’s radio show Conversations with Aunt Emmy. I wish you health and happiness!
-Aunt Emmy
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