No, not out of the country... but as of yesterday at noon I am back to my old self again - I had my port removed!  HOORAY!

Hey all,

By Denise Foley, Prevention

We're all grown-ups here—nightmares aren't a big problem anymore. We're calm, we're cool, we're mostly collected...until it comes to the C-word. For adults, cancer is the thing that goes bump in the night; that bump gets louder when family or friends are diagnosed. Whether your risk is monumental or blessedly average, we know you want to protect yourself. So we've combed through research, interrogated experts, and found cutting-edge strategies to help keep you safe.

Worship a wee bit of sun.
Keyword "wee" here. People who get the most vitamin D, which lies dormant in skin until ultraviolet rays activate it, may protect themselves from a variety of cancers, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, breast, and colon. Ironically, it even improves survival rates of melanoma, the most serious skin cancer. But 10 to 15 minutes a few days a week is all it takes to benefit. (Or you could try a supplement—aim for 400 IU a day.) If you're out any longer than that, slather on the sunscreen.

Eat an orange every day.
It just may zap a strain of the H. pylori bacteria that causes peptic ulcers and can lead to stomach cancer. Researchers in San Francisco found that infected people with high levels of vitamin C in their blood were less likely to test positive for the cancer-causing strain.

Listen to Katie Couric.
Though colonoscopies are about as popular as root canals, if you're 50 or older, get one. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Don't think you're off the hook because you got a digital fecal occult blood test at your last checkup: Research by the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study last year found that the test missed 95% of the cases. (Schedule your first colonoscopy before your 50th if you have a family history of colon cancer.)

Steam a little green.
Piles of studies have shown that piles of broccoli help stave off ovarian, stomach, lung, bladder, and colorectal cancers. And steaming it for 3 to 4 minutes enhances the power of the cancer-fighting compound sulforaphane, which has been shown to halt the growth of breast cancer cells. (Sorry, microwaving doesn't do the trick; it strips out most antioxidants.) Get more protection by sprinkling a handful of selenium-rich sunflower seeds, nuts, or mushrooms on your greens. Researchers are discovering that sulforaphane is about 13 times more potent when combined with the mineral selenium.

Pick a doc with a past.
Experience—lots of it—is critical when it comes to accurately reading mammograms. A study from the University of California, San Francisco, found that doctors with at least 25 years' experience were more accurate at interpreting images and less likely to give false positives. Ask about your radiologist's track record. If she is freshly minted or doesn't check a high volume of mammograms, get a second read from someone with more mileage.

Drink joltless java.
Downing 2 or more cups of decaf a day may lower the incidence of rectal cancer by 52%, finds a study from two large and long-term research projects—the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study from Harvard University. One theory is that coffee increases bowel movements, which helps to reduce the risk. Why decaf reigns supreme, however, remains a mystery.

Drop 10 pounds.
Being overweight or obese accounts for 20% of all cancer deaths among women and 14% among men, notes the American Cancer Society. (You're overweight if your body mass index is between 25 and 29.9; you're obese if it's 30 or more.) Plus, losing excess pounds reduces the body's production of female hormones, which may protect against breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers. Even if you're not technically overweight, gaining just 10 pounds after the age of 30 increases your risk of developing breast, pancreatic, and cervical, among other cancers.

Make like a monkey.
Or a bunny. Women who ate four to six antioxidant-laden bananas a week cut their risk of kidney cancer by 54%, compared with those who didn't eat them at all, found an analysis of 61,000 women at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Gnawing on root vegetables such as carrots did the same.

Get naked with a friend.
You'll need help examining every inch of your body—including your back, scalp, and other hard-to-see places—for possible changes in the size or color of moles, blemishes, and freckles. These marks could spell skin cancer. Women, take special note of your legs: Melanoma mainly occurs there. For the guys, the trunk, head, and neck are the most diagnosed spots. While you're at it, check your fingernails and toenails, too. Gray-black discoloration or a distorted or elevated nail may indicate the disease. And whether you see changes or not, after age 40, everyone should see a dermatologist yearly.

See into the future.
Go to Yourdiseaserisk.harvard.edu to assess your chance of developing 12 types of cancer, including ovarian, breast, and colon. After the interactive tool estimates your risk, you'll get personalized tips for prevention.

Pay attention to pain.
If you're experiencing a bloated belly, pelvic pain, and an urgent need to urinate, see your doc. These symptoms may signal ovarian cancer, particularly if they're severe and frequent. Women and physicians often ignore these symptoms, and that's the very reason that this disease can be deadly. When caught early, before cancer has spread outside the ovary, the relative 5-year survival rate for ovarian cancer is a jaw-dropping 90 to 95%.

Get calcium daily.
Milk's main claim to fame may also help protect your colon. Those who took calcium faithfully for 4 years had a 36% reduction in the development of new precancerous colon polyps 5 years after the study had ended, revealed Dartmouth Medical School researchers. (They tracked 822 people who took either 1,200 mg of calcium every day or a placebo.) Though the study was not on milk itself, you can get the same amount of calcium in three 8-ounce glasses of fat-free milk, along with an 8-ounce serving of yogurt or a 2- to 3-ounce serving of low-fat cheese daily.

Sweat 30 minutes a day.
One of the best anticancer potions is a half hour of motion at least 5 days a week. Any kind of physical activity modulates levels of androgens and estrogen, two things that can protect women against estrogen-driven cancers such as ovarian and endometrial, as well as some types of breast cancer. The latest proof comes by way of a recent Canadian study that found that women who get regular, moderate exercise may lower their risk of ovarian cancer by as much as 30%. Bonus: All that moving might speed everything through your colon, which may help stave off colon cancer.

Stamp out smoking—all around you.
Lung cancer is well known as one of the main hazards of smoking. But everything the smoke passes on its way to the lungs can also turn cancerous: mouth, larynx, and esophagus. The fun doesn't stop there. Smokers are encouraging stomach, liver, prostate, colorectal, cervical, and breast cancers as well. The good news: If you give up the cigs today, within 15 years, your lung cancer risk will drop to almost presmoking lows. Share that news with the people who puff around you, because exposure to someone else's smoke can cause lung cancer, and it may boost your chances of cervical cancer by 40%.

Step away from the white bread.
If you eat a lot of things with a high glycemic load—a measurement of how quickly food raises your blood sugar—you may run a higher risk of colorectal cancer than women who eat low-glycemic-load foods, finds a Harvard Medical School study involving 38,000 women. The problem eats are mostly white: white bread, pasta, potatoes, and sugary pastries. The low-glycemic-load stuff comes with fiber.

Have your genes screened.
Do you have a strong family history of any kind of cancer or multiple cancers? Talk with your doctor about genetic counseling. For instance, nearly everyone born with familial adenomatous polyposis (the genetic predisposition to colon cancer) develops the disease by age 40 if preventive surgery isn't done. Knowing this early can aid in prevention and early detection.

Request a better breast scan.
If you're at high risk of breast cancer—you have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic mutation, for example—ask your doctor to pair your routine mammogram with an MRI. A recent study found that together, the two picked up 94% of tumors; mammography alone detected just 40% and MRI, 77%.

Grill smarter.
Cooking your food over an open flame is a great way to cut calories. Unfortunately, it can also raise your cancer risk: The grill's high temps can trigger substances in muscle proteins to form cancer-causing compounds called hetero-cyclic amines, or HCAs. But avoiding this potential hazard is easy; simply keep gas jets low or wait until the charcoal turns into glowing embers before you start cooking. Protect yourself even more by lacing your burgers with rosemary (and perhaps other antioxidant-rich herbs such as basil, oregano, or thyme). This helps reduce the amount of some HCAs in meat, a Kansas State University study found. Also helpful: Microwaving meat ahead of time helps disable HCA formation and cuts down on grilling time.

Keep your house clean.
Yet another reason to love your Swiffer: Active postmenopausal women who got most of their exercise from housework cut their risk of breast cancer by 30%, Canadian researchers say.

Let garlic lie.
Thanks to this bulbed wonder, you can ward off vampires and stave off cancer. To preserve the potential cancer-fighting power of garlic, chop it up and let it sit a bit. Research suggests that heating garlic can block 90% of the activity of alliinase, the enzyme that helps to form a cancer-fighting compound. Alliinase is activated when the cloves are crushed or cut, but if cut garlic cools its heels for 5 to 10 minutes before heating, enough compounds are formed to survive cooking.

Check for radon.
Exposure to this odorless, radioactive gas that's produced by the natural decay of uranium is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, according to the EPA. Test your home to see if you're safe. The National Safety Council's National Radon Hotline (800-767-7236) offers low-cost test kits; they're also available at hardware stores.

Play hot tomato.
Red fruits (watermelon, tomato, pink grapefruit) are loaded with lycopene, a substance that has been proven time and time again to be a potent cancer fighter. It seems that heating said fruits makes the lycopene easier for the body to use, which explains why men who eat a lot of ketchup, pizza (it's in the sauce), and spaghetti (ditto) are far less likely to get prostate cancer.

Ditch the wieners.
You can smother 'em in all the ketchup you want, but you can't negate a hot dog's, well, negatives. A new study of 190,545 people finds that eating a wiener daily may boost your risk of pancreatic cancer, which is nearly always fatal, by 67%. Same goes for sausage and other processed meats.

The Perfect Cancer- fighting Salad
Quick. Can you spot the cancer fighters at the salad bar? Build yourself some powerful protection with these ingredients.

Start with leafy greens.
They contain a hefty amount of the B vitamin folate, which has been shown to reduce one's chances of getting colorectal, ovarian, and breast cancers. In the latest study, researchers at Vanderbilt University found that women who ate the most dark greens were among the least likely to get breast cancer. Apparently, folate can halt changes in DNA that trigger runaway cell growth, the main characteristic of cancer.

Add shredded carrot.
In a study from Brigham and Women?s Hospital in Boston, women who ate just five servings of four raw carrot sticks a week had a 54% decrease in their risk of getting ovarian cancer, compared with women who ate them less than once a month. Carrots may also reduce your risk of kidney cancer.

Serve yourself some tomatoes.
If you don't feel like turning up the heat on your tomatoes, you can still get some of their cancer-shielding benefits. German research on 165 colonoscopy patients found that those who had the lowest blood level of lycopene, one of the chemicals that give tomatoes their color, had the highest rate of colorectal adenomas, a precursor to colo-rectal cancer. Toss a few into your guy's salad: They also reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Heap on beans.
Women who ate beans at least twice a week were 24% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who ate them less often, report Harvard School of Public Health researchers, who analyzed data from 90,630 people. Legumes may lessen risk of breast cancer, thanks to their ability to suppress the production of enzymes that encourage tumor growth.

Add a little fish.
Want to add something hardy to your lunchtime salad? Go wild with salmon. When B6-rich foods (like salmon) are eaten with folate-filled foods (dark leafy greens), they can help reduce the recurrence of colorectal adenomas, a precursor to colorectal cancer, by 39%, a University of Arizona study found. Salmon may also help shield regular eaters from skin cancer, British research found.

Splash on some vinaigrette.
Mixing your favorite vinegar with olive oil can also help prevent breast cancer. Scientists from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine found that oleic acid in olive oil dramatically cuts the levels of the cancer gene Her-2/neu, associated with highly aggressive breast tumors with poor prognosis.

Garnish with citrus peel.
They're like eating sunscreen—but they taste better. Limonene—a compound that gives oranges, lemons, and limes their scent—is linked to a 34% reduction in skin cancer, finds a University of Arizona study of 400 people.

Hey all,

Hey everybody, 

Hey there,

I HAVE FINISHED ALL TREATMENTS!!!!!!!!  I am so happy!  YAY YAY YAAAAAAAAAAY!

Hey all,

After a weekend of doing nothing but sleeping (13 hours Sat night!), walking, going to church and hanging out with Ben, I am in a better place.  The weather this past weekend was just gorgeous, enough to put anyone in a better mood.  That last post was tough to even type out.  I just didn't feel like myself last week.  I sincerely hope I don't get like that again.  But things are getting better!  7 radiation treatments are history, with 10 to go.  I'm slowly but surely getting there!  I still hate that mask, but they did cut the eyes out of it for me which has helped a tremendous amount.  Now the mesh marks are only on my nose, so I don't look like freak walking into work.  I got a few stares one day, I'm sure people were wondering just what the heck I had been doing.  I can tell the sore throat is coming, its starting to feel a little weird - but no pain yet.  I have radiation every day at 8:45 am, with my last one being February 25th.  I can't wait for that day!

Hey there,

Hey all, 

Freaky huh?

For those of you who have never met our furry child Gracie before, well - you're missing out.  She's part human, part cat.  We treat her as our child.  I swear she knows every word I say, and she is so freaking spoiled that she actually sleeps on a heating pad every night.  I know, I'm a sucker for all things furry and cute, especially her.  So, I decided that it was time for her annual check-up and took her into the vet's office Monday night.  Thank goodness Ben got home early and was able to go with me.  First off, as soon as we walk in the door she buries herself in the blanket I have in her carrier.  I haven't seen her that scared in a while.  Poor thing!  We get into a room and the vet comes in and wants to weigh her.  I somehow manage to get her up on the counter, and she weighs a whopping 13 pounds, 9 ounces.  They were like, "wow, she's solid".  I think what they meant to say, is "What the heck are you feeding this cat?  She's a chunky monkey!"  Keep in mind that Gracie is the most beautiful blue point siamese cat you've ever seen - and siamese cats are solid muscle.  She actually looks skinny to me, but has this little pouch of a tummy that the vet says they refer to as a "sweeper".  I thought that was cute!  Now Gracie is on a diet, she only gets half of her wet food at night.  So anyways, I ask if they can clip her nails for me.  Sure no big deal right?  HA!  Think again.  They began and when they got to the third nail, all hell broke loose.  She started to growl and make noises I've never heard before.  She was PISSED.  They stopped and said they had never seen a cat act like that before.  They decided to give her the shots first, and then got back to trimming those razors she had for nails.  They began again, and this time she tries to bite the assistant!  They have to go get a towel and put it over her face, and the vet then says to me "I'm sweating bullets"  - I didn't know whether to laugh or be embarassed.  Dang!  With every nail they cut, the more violent she becomes.  They finally cut all of them, and thank goodness because one more and I think she would have strangled herself. So, that was our fun Monday night!  Gotta love our sweet angel Gracie, but man, she is a pistol!

Today was my 8th treatment, and everything went well!  My sister-in-law Kristen went with me this time, and we got the private room!  YAY!   We were there for about 2 hours total, a very fast treatment - that always makes me happy!  My blood counts are awesome, as always.  Thank you Kristen for going with me and keeping me company!  Thank you Lord for allowing me to still be doing so well, I was afraid it would get progressively worse - but it hasn't.  I asked Dr. H if I could move my last chemo up a few days since we got Eagles tickets for Christmas from one of my best friends, Kristie, and the concert is on Jan 16th in Charleston - 3 days after my last chemo was scheduled.  I just couldn't have that - I HAVE to go to this concert, you all just don't understand how much we love the Eagles!  This will be my 4th time seeing them!  So, he has rescheduled it for Friday, Jan 9th!  The countdown has begun!  Kristie you are awesome, seriously we cannot wait to come visit!  I will be SO GLAD when chemo is over, of course I still have radiation, but the chemo is just getting old.  My hair is still falling out, and I don't know how much longer I can take it.  I have a "nub" ponytail now - its about a third of the size it used to be.  It's so thin!  Of course, I can still somehow manage to make it look decent if I go to a party of something, but its so fragile and just goes everywhere when I dry it.  I will never take my hair for granted again, it used to be so pretty without even having to do anything to it.  I can't wait for it to grow back in.  Wonder what it will look like?

Anyways, I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas!  I can't believe it's come and gone!  We had a wonderful Christmas with Ben's side of the family, it was so good to spend time with everyone.  The New Year is just around the corner, and I am really looking forward to starting fresh in 2009.  2008 was a year we will never forget, and I hope and pray we'll never have a year like that again.  Who knew that 2008 would bring shock, horror and frustration to our family?  You just never know what's in store for you, and it's important to live everyday to the fullest.  I hope all of you have a FUN New Year's!  Ben and I have the rest of the week off, and we will be enjoying every second of it.  Of course the chemo is cramping my style this year, so I'll be drinking sparkling cider New Year's Eve - I love champaign and I will miss it.  Maybe I'll drink some this coming weekend.  Yall pull for the COCKS in the Outback bowl, we will need some help!  Love you all, and I'll be in touch soon...

Kerri

Hey there!

Hey there!  

Hey all,

Hey all,

Ben and I had a wonderful weekend relaxing at our house - it was a much needed weekend of doing absolutely nothing. I haven't slept that much in probably years, so I guess I needed that! We went to church yesterday and I can't seem to get the sermon out of my head. I wish all of you could have heard this sermon, it was really a valuable lesson in life. Anyone can relate to it, as we have all had tough times and many of us out there are worried about our health, our jobs, our financial situation, etc. It talked about how living the Christian life is not easy, and how when you think nothing else can go wrong, everything turns around for the better and you realize what you have just gone through is really a blessing. You wouldn't be the same person if you had not gone through it. It began with these verses from 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

8) We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9) persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Our pastor talked about how you must pray for exactly what you need - don't beat around the bush. If you are having health issues, ask for the strength to keep on going.  If you are having troubles in your marriage, ask Him to strengthen your bond. If you are having financial troubles, ask Him what you should do to overcome this obstacle. If you find yourself without a job, ask Him to give you the courage to go out there and find another one. He said you must be specific and that you must not forget the power of prayer.

I personally found this sermon very comforting and thought I would share it with all of you.

Don't give up!

Love you all!