My October Surprise... oops, I meant, My October Contest

In honor of all the pink that surrounds us, Brandon suggested a contest should be had. So we decided that whoever finds the most ridiculous corporate pink ad will win our contest.

How the contest will work:
1. Between now and 11/10 (when I return from my honeymoon), post as many photos or links selling or promoting pink items or concepts to the comments section of the blog. The less an item has to do with women or breast cancer, the better your chance is of winning (an example -- input zip code 43050).
2. If you see an item, and you don't have a camera phone, you may submit a written description of the item.
3. If there is a story behind the item, please tell. I love to read stories.
4. Brandon and I will review all submissions when we return. Together we will choose the most ridiculous submission.
5. The winner's submission will be posted on the blog.
6. I will try to find a prize while in the Caribbean.

Any questions?

Milk Hormones

Thank you, Jonathan, for bringing to my attention a petition to encourage General Mills, maker of Yoplait yogurt, to use rBGH free milk in the making of the yogurt. Here is the link to the petition: http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org/. Please tell General Mills what you think of their hormone yogurt.

I am not a scientist, nor am I making claims to be very knowledgeable about what I am going to share. But.... I am very worried about the milk hormones used on our cows. An example of one problem is young girls entering puberty at young ages. But my concern today is on cancer and these hormones. Studies have been done which show a correlation between these hormones and cancer. Here is a link to a Google search with the very simple search terms "rBGH" and "cancer," www.google.com

Some day I will do another post on rBGH (I've got wedding tasks at hand). For now, I will just tell you that I am very convinced that these dairy hormones are playing a role in the prevalence of breast cancer in young women. Yoplait is one of the first brand name foods that I remember participating the pink marketing campaign. For years, Yoplait has collected its pink wrapper tops in honor of the search for a cure. Maybe if General Mills really cares about women with breast cancer, they can be also be an early leader in using hormone-free milk for their yogurt.

The Chemo Quandary

Because my larger tumor (the 2.3cm tumor) was invasive and triple-negative, the medical community recommends that I have chemotherapy. My quandary is not whether or not to have chemo but rather which hospital program to choose. I have seen 3 different doctors. Each doctor's plan is similar but different enough to give me pause. In some ways, the plan isn't even the issue that keeps me up at nights. My biggest concern regarding chemo is the infertility side effect. I am getting married in less than 2 weeks. While we weren't planning on starting a family immediately, I didn't think we might not be able to have children on our own. Now all I can think about is my fertility, and potential loss of it.

Chemotherapy causes women to experience premature menopause. After chemo, some women menstruate again, others do not. The doctors cannot predict who will and who won't menstruate again. The closer a woman is to the typical age of menopause, the more likely she is to remain menopausal. Younger women are more likely to resume menstruation, but not always.

With the rise of breast cancer in young women, I assumed that doctors would be more compassionate about the infertility side effect. But it turns out, that it is just me assuming that everyone should be knowledgeable and caring about what I want them to be knowledgeable and caring about. Silly me!

The three doctors that I have seen have three very different attitudes towards chemo and infertility. Let's compare doctors:

• Doctor #1: Chemo patients have a 50/50 of remaining infertile after chemo. Suggests meeting with an infertility specialist to discuss harvesting eggs. Option is expensive, stressful, and not guaranteed. Also tells me that drugs are available to "freeze" the ovaries in an attempt to preserve fertility.
  
• Doctor #2: Ignored my concerns about the infertility side effects. Did not really answer my question about Lupron and other similar drugs but rather suggested that this drug would only be necessary when and if I am on a hormone plan (which would follow chemo).
  
• Doctor #3: Aware of the infertility side effects. Offered to see if Zoladex might be made available to me.
  

I am at the point in my research where I am wondering if I am on the only one concerned with this issue. I can find very little on medical information sites other than the fact that infertility is a side effect. My search of discussion boards turns up very little helpful advice (although I did find a new web discussion board on which doctors participate so maybe I'll get a breakthrough). While I am young to be breast cancer patient, am I young enough to not remain menopausal? One thing I am learning is that these potential fertility saving drugs have their own unpleasant side effects. It is all so confusing. And I have my own self-imposed deadline of choosing a doctor before I leave town for my wedding. Ack!

Does anyone out there have any practical advice or suggestions for me?

Pink, everywhere I look there is more pink

I can't help myself. I must comment again on the pink. If I leave my house to go almost anywhere, I see piles of pink. Last night, Brandon and I went to one of the central Ohio shopping districts. At the big box pet store, I found this pile of pink packaged cat food (see photographic proof). I almost screamed in rage. Cat food! Where will it end?

Whenever I see the displays of pink products, I feel perfectly justified in proclaiming, quite loudly, my disgust at the evils of pink marketing. At another big box store, I found, by the registers, pink Hanes underwear (with a note about continuing to refill the display through the entire month of October), pink Pepperidge Farm cookie bags, and pink Peppermint Patties. My rage continues, and there is no end in sight.

Maybe if I were further along in my psychological recovery, I would be fine with the Komen pink marketing campaign. But at this juncture, I am not mentally stable, and I am very fine with not being fine. When I am in these stores, its almost as if I want someone to say something to me. Maybe if I can release my breast cancer rage on some unsuspecting and innocent shopper, I'll feel better about myself.

I have already imagined the scenario. While in the grocery store, I am asking why must every brand name product be repackaged in the color pink. My voice is louder than normal. An older woman (age 55ish), who has never been diagnosed with breast cancer, will respond to my rhetorical query. Our conversation will go a little like this:

Her:"Honey, don't you know? October is breast cancer awareness month."
Me: "Of course, I know what month it is."
Her: "You should have more respect. Breast cancer is a disease that can affect all women."
Me: "Oh, I know. I know all too well. Less than 2 months ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and last month, I lost one of my breasts."

After my last comment, the interaction would quickly devolve into me screaming obscenities and asking if she'd like to see my scars. Brandon or the store manager would need to step in and pull me away. The entire interaction would be no more than a couple of minutes, but I imagine it would be cathartic.

The odds of this imaginary scenario happening are quite slim as I will not be spending much time between now and the end of October in the big box stores. I've got a wedding to prepare for. And after the wedding, I'll be in the islands. Depending on the results of the presidential election, I may just remain in the islands.

Barracuda

On a happy side note, after months of not playing, I am pleased to report that my Guitar Hero playing ability is still at its prior surgery capability. In fact, tonight, my first time playing since the surgery, I am earning some of my highest scores ever. Maybe only having one boob is the key?

Post-Surgical Appointment

So after reviewing my prior posts, I realized that I never reported on my "official" post-surgery diagnosis. I apologize.

The Wednesday following my hospital stay, Brandon and I returned to Cleveland for my first post-surgical appointment. The hope was to have my drainage tube removed (which it wasn't). The stupid tube remained for 5 more days. It seems my body produces lots of fluid, so the decision was made to keep the tube in, rather than allow the fluid to build up inside of me, and possibly aspirate the fluid later (not a pleasant option).

The time for truth about my health status had come. Luckily, the initial surgical diagnosis did not change. My lymph nodes were clean.

The shocker was the discovery of a second malignant tumor. A baby tumor, 1mm in size, was found in another part of my breast tissue. The tumor had not spread (described as being contained within good tissue). The new tumor is hormone receptive unlike the first tumor. Two different cancerous tumors had been growing inside my right breast. Any doubts about having the mastectomy were erased with this report.

Immediately following my appointment with the surgical team was an appointment with an oncologist. I will discuss my oncology travails in a later post but I will explain why I met with one. Even though my lymph nodes are clean and the tumors are gone, the cancer could still remain lurking somewhere in my body. And that is why chemotherapy is next on my health agenda.