Weekend Reads: October We Save Breasts, Pregnancy Weight Gain, Easy Meals

Posted on October 4, 2013 by llpitlwp

Friday…

the end of a busy week.

some reads that came across my screen this week.

have a great weekend everyone!

what are your plans?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month…but do you really know how to prevent breast cancer…it is not eating foods with “pink ribbons” on it. Jessica’s points are well taken in her post on Broadcast

I dread October. I dread the pink ribbons that will adorn everything from known carcinogens to rifles to football gloves and shoes. I detest the three day walks, the tales of survivorship from breast cancer including an estimated 25% who had DCIS.

via October: The Month Where We Save Breasts (But Not Women) | Broadscast.

One of the big questions…how much weight should you gain when you are pregnant? It varies but gaining too much weight is not a good thing.

So how much weight is a woman supposed to gain while growing a baby in her belly? According to the Mayo Clinic a “normal” sized woman should gain about 25 to 35 pounds and an overweight woman should gain about 15 to 25 pounds.

via Study Confirms: Gaining Too Much Weight During Pregnancy Could Be Bad for Your Kid | Babble.

One of my easy meals…

How important are quick and easy dinners during your week? I personally love ideas for fast foods that are homemade…do you?

The goal on weeknights is to get dinner on the table in under 30 minutes. The trick is to be sure it is healthy, tasty, and something my whole family will enjoy. It starts with a well-stocked pantry — a shelf full of canned goods so vegetables are always at the ready, a variety of spices to compliment any recipe, and staples like potatoes and rice to round out the meal.

via Easy Meal Ideas in 30-Minutes or Less.

Why You Might Want to Have a Preventative Double Mastectomy.

Posted on May 16, 2013 by llpitlwp

Cancer experts said Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a preventive double mastectomy because of a heightened genetic risk for breast cancer should encourage women to look into their family history for the disease.

via Experts Weigh In on Angelina Jolie’s Double Mastectomy – WSJ.com.

Many people, especially women are weighing in with their opinions about Angelina Jolie’s preventative double mastectomy.

Personally, I have had several friends die from breast cancer. My best friend from my college years died at 41 years old…way too soon. She left a three year old daughter to wonder what her risks were for developing this horrible disease.

In the years since my friend died, many advances have been made in the early detection of breast cancer. There are now reliable predictors of who might be at higher risk for breast cancer.

Angelina and many others carry a gene that makes them at higher risk for developing breast cancer. The determining test of whether you carry the “breast cancer genetic predisposition” is fairly simple. The decision as to what to do if you find you are at higher risk is not so easy.

What Angelina has done by revealing her personal choice after finding out that she was at higher risk for breast cancer is this:

She has opened a public discussion that just might save some women’s lives.
At the very least it will educate women about the choices that are available to them with regard to their personal health.
It will hopefully help today’s woman to advocate for herself when it comes to her risk and prevention of developing breast cancer.

I would definitely want to know if I had a gene that made me at high risk for breast cancer and I would probably consider a drastic approach such as Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy with reconstruction.

What would you do?

Has this discussion in the news made you more aware of how you can be proactive about breast cancer prevention?

I am really not interested if you think whether or not Angelina should be discussing her personal choice or if you think she made the right choice….the question is…

Would you do something drastic to keep yourself alive longer?

Resources:

My Medical Choice

Bright Pink

Breast Cancer Sucks!

Posted on October 2, 2012 by llpitlwp

Over twenty years ago I lost my best friend to breast cancer…she was 41 years old and had a three year old daughter.

I can still remember when she called to tell me she had a found a lump in her breast and her doctor thought it was a plugged milk duct because her baby daughter was not even six months old.

She had a mastectomy, chemo and radiation…her life ended a little over three years after her battle with cancer began. She fought a very hard fight…she wanted to see her daughter grow up but knew in the end she would not.

I watched her daughter grow up. She became an advocate for women with the breast cancer “gene”…her mother would be proud of her accomplishments.

In this month of October, I want to urge all women, if they can, to get involved in cancer awareness and breast cancer research. You can “Act with Love” by joining the Health of Women Study at www.healthofwomenstudy.org. This is a new revolutionary project of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation that was launched to the public on October 1st.