Choose You Blog

Corny as it sounds, sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.  Scientific study has proven that it benefits the heart, and the immune system, by reducing the levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.

Of course when bad things happen, there’s nothing to laugh about.  Although those are the times we need it most.

I didn’t see anything funny when I was diagnosed with cancer.  I was doing too much crying to think about laughing.

I don’t remember exactly when it changed.   Maybe it was seeing my 7 year old son parading around in one of my long wigs.  Maybe it was the Woody Allen standup comedy routines my ex-husband sent me to listen to in the car.  Maybe it was when I realized that my battle with cancer would end my battle against headlice……..and one day during chemo I discovered the only thing remaining on my bald head was one stubborn little bug.

I do remember how I felt.  Powerful.  Just to be able to laugh at something that terrified me.  I realized if I could laugh at cancer, I could laugh at anything.  And I’ve used humor as a weapon in every other crisis ever since.

Sometimes, when bad things happen, there’s nothing you can do except try to see the humor in it,  black as that humor may be.

Maybe it’s not possible for everyone; maybe I’ve just got attitude.  And maybe that’s the best way to think of it.

Because being able to see any humor in negative stuff IS an attitude; it’s a choice.

That attitude maybe helps explain how a woman who lost both of her breasts to cancer could possibly make light of it by creating a collection called Boobalas.

Though many of the pieces are designed with breast cancer survivors in mind, plenty of them poke fun at the boobs I don’t have any more–by using things like kitchen timers, Hershey’s kisses, and combination locks in their place.

Creating something out of these objects and pieces of tile, with profits going to cancer causes—gives me a way to bring my cancer journey full circle.

So I hope Boobalas will give you a laugh, or a lift.  And aren’t those really the same, anyway?

Darryle Pollack is a survivor who discovered art as a way to heal from cancer.  Click here to see more Boobalas on her blog, I never signed up for this.

Recently, Renee Ross of the blog Cutie Booty Cakes, ran the Nike Women’s (Half)Marathon to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She traveled to San Francisco and ran with a team. I was so amazed by all that she put into her training and impressed by all that she achieved, and was really moved by her recount of the even in her post. I was so happy when Renee made time to answer my questions about how she prepared for this marathon, and where she’s going next. Her ideas and personal inspiration are…inspiring! her tips about how to get going with exercise are fantastic. Read on!

1. In your post, you talk a lot about team work, the women who inspired you (Aunt Helen and Carol) – how important do you think it is to be working for someone and with someone when it comes to exercise?

I think having a support system is essential when it comes to exercise. My journey to healthy living has been very public; I chronicled my entire journey on my blog, facebook, Twitter, YouTube and flickr. This helped keep me accountable and based on the feedback I’ve received it also inspires people and motivates them to get moving. When training fir an endurance event like the half-marathon, it was totally motivating to have a mentor who not only was participating but is a cancer survivor. Carol encouraged me every step of the way and cheered me on when my fundraising and physical abilities surpassed my expectations. I believe having her in my corner was integral to my success. And of course, the memory of my Aunt who succumbed to leukemia pushed me forward as well as thinking of my honored hero, 5 year old Ja’Naya who is currently in remission and has been a trooper for the duration of her treatment. On difficult days I thought of Ja’naya and all of the challenges she faced with very few tears and those thoughts kept me moving.

2. What’s your best personal pep talk for keeping yourself in training and motivated?

When I don’t want to train or the going gets tough I think of all the people that I know personally dealing with health challenges that inhibit them from exercising hard.  I remind myself that vie been gifted with this body that works and although I may never reach elite athlete status, the least I can do is run and train to stay healthy and in honor of those that are physically unable to. I remind myself that but for the grace of God I have my health and recognize that this is not something to take for granted.

3. As I’ve progressed, I’ve conceded that it really is about the clothes and shoes, lol. What do you look for in exercise clothes and running shoes for your best and safest workout?

For me,  the number one criteria running shoes is comfort. I have my running shoes professionally fitted at a running store to ensure I purchase the shoe appropriate for my gait. And even with professional fitting I had problems with blisters. I think I’ve found my ideal shoes now and combined with the use of Glide I was virtually(not completely) blister free when I ran my half marathon.

Exercise gear has to fit two categories – form and function. I go for clothes with wicking properties because unlike most Southern women I sweat, I don’t glisten! LOL I do however want to look good too, so more often than not you will see me in a running skirt. Running skirts are fashionable and unlike running shorts don’t gap and gather in unsightly places which you run.

4. You’ve said in Tweets that you’d like to be a Team Captain or Mentor for women for a half-marathon. How would you build and inspire your team?

I truly believe that if I can complete a half-marathon and lose 50 pounds anyone can do it! I’d remind them that they may not be as fast as I am and may not lose the weight as quickly but with determination and commitment it can be done. I am more than happy to support people that ask for my help and volunteering to be a captain or mentor is simply an official title for things that I already do.

5. How would you suggest women find a partner or team for exercising, whether it’s training for endurance or just to get healthy?

I suggest looking locally. Start with friends that have been talking about getting in shape but have not moved forward. Set appoints to meet and exercise together, it is easier to break an appointment with yourself than it is to break one with a friend. As a matter of fact have more than one friend to exercise with, I call these folks accountability partners and with more than one if someone can’t make it to training you always have a back-up.

For endurance events find a team that does group training  in your area by searching the internet or calling your local running store. The store that I go to holds weekly training runs and I’m sure this is something offered by many stores. You could also train with a group like Team in Training, where you raise money for a charity and receive coaching, clinics, support and if doing a destination event all travel fees in addition to race entry. Training with a group and completing the event together is so rewarding and an experience that I plan on repeating!

The Choose You Breast Cancer Health Kit is a wonderful resource for all women, and anyone who loves one.  It basically puts all the information you need about breast cancer prevention at your fingertips.

The Health Kit takes you step by step showing you everything from prevention tips to getting an early diagnosis, and it is also filled with many additional invaluable links and tools.

Best thing — The same lifestyle changes that can help you prevent breast cancer, can also help you prevent heart disease, other cancers, and even many chronic illnesses.  So check it out, and if you haven’t already…Choose You.

Choose You Breast Cancer Health Kit

Catherine is the mother of two teenagers, she writes about health & wellness at BlogHer and catherine-morgan.com.

I’m no stranger to journaling. I tried to keep a diary off and on when I was a teen. The pretty bound books were erratically filled: days in a row and then nothing for months. The benefit for me of writing my thoughts and feelings down in a diary is the amazing perspective it brought. I’d frantically freeform write my anguished angst, then go back and read it later; it always made me laugh. I’d read it one hour later and decide it sounded too melodramatic to maintain. I’d read it a year later and realize that emotions were fleeting and things that felt like the Absolute End All Be All in the moment ended up…not. I’d read things years later and think, “Wow, who is Jenny R? I wonder why she was so important to me then?”

As I watch teens crash and burn in major media stories, I wonder if they journal, real journalling, not status updating their friends via social media. My journals were private, for me alone (except the time my sister and her friend broke in and read them). There was no Internet back then, but anyway, just because there is now doesn’t mean it all needs to be hung out to dry like backyard laundry for all the neighbors to see. There’s something to be said for pen on paper, kept private, with a lock.

Part of my Choose You pledge requires journaling. My nutritionist suggested that I journal with careful detail. Not just a food diary, the sort of which I kept for weight watchers, but the context of my self, as I consumed the food.

The entry might read like this, “Today is the first week of my cycle, and I notice a discernible drop in my energy and focus. I’m starving by 10 a.m. no matter what I do or don’t eat, or when. If I don’t eat something, my sugars will crash and I’ll hit full-blown hypoglycemia, with temperature fluctuations, light-headedness, shakes, and so forth within minutes. I’ve moved to coffee by 11:30, when normally I don’t drink it. I’m sluggish on the track, hard-pressed to hit the 4 miles per hour. It’s frustrating because I feel a keen and corresponding drop in my creativity and comprehension. I think my entire system is sluggish. For example, no matter what I eat, it causes my stomach to get upset. This is all new to my age and stage. I’m doing the exercise anyway, as best I can, and trying different foods and times of eating, but it’s a struggle. I haven’t found the key yet. Not sure I can. Today (day 5) I skipped eating breakfast at all and carried a bag of almonds with me. I ate a small handful every half hour. That helped, was better than yesterday, but still I felt sluggish and unfocused. At least my sugars did not drop as badly, although I was eating lunch (spinach and feta wrap with grilled chicken) by 11 a.m. Dinner by 5 p.m. The coffee helped me focus, so if I must have a cup mid-day to make it, so be it.”

I’m amazed what I have learned by journaling not just what I ate or exercised but also how I felt, and my body’s context. I think discovering that the first two weeks of my cycle are by far my very worst (now) was the most surprising thing.

I also am truer to my integrity — my Choose You pledges — when I journal. Knowing you need to write down your choices…well, let’s say suddenly that ice cream sundae doesn’t seem as necessary, but that exercise is.

I don’t share (notable exception above) the private details of my journal, not with anyone, but I do share the results with people who are helping me care for my health.

Do you journal your health? What have you learned?

Fifteen years ago I looked in a mirror and for the first time, I saw how my body looked without my right breast.

From the moment I had been diagnosed with breast cancer, I was focused on fear rather than appearance— especially since my breasts weren’t my favorite body part to begin with.  I liked them, but I didn’t hesitate for an instant to cut one off if it meant saving my life. Not that I had a choice—I had every possible type of cancer spread throughout that breast.

Still, it took weeks after surgery for me to work up the courage to look at the result.

It wasn’t pretty. A scar ran almost 6 inches from my armpit to the center of my chest, leaving me lopsided, with only lumps and bumps and bones and skin.

How much did one C-cup breast weigh? A pound? Two pounds? Funny enough, I tried to calculate this when I stepped on the scale.

The number I saw would have been a dream come true for most of my life.

Growing up with Twiggy as the standard of beauty, plus a father who pressed me to lose weight, I had managed to stay in fighting trim— but figured I wasn’t destined for the boyish body I wanted.

Sometimes you get what you wish for.

Only it wasn’t satisfying; in fact it was the opposite.

Every day I would step on the scale and every day the number would go down.
I weighed less than I had since maybe 5th grade. My clothes hung on me. I would have been a star at Weight Watchers.

Only this was no magic diet; it was chemotherapy. And every day I wondered—-how low would it go? How long could this go on? I managed to choke down a few protein shakes daily; but my body was ravaged; scrawny and pathetic.

Plus I had no hair—and that was the one part of my body I truly loved.  Instead of my wavy waist-length hair, I was bald; I looked like a concentration camp inmate. And I don’t say that lightly. That’s what I saw every time I looked at myself.

One day I looked in the mirror and as usual, saw that pathetic body staring back at me with sad eyes. Only this day, I made a promise to myself.

If I survive cancer I will never again complain about a bad hair day or being too fat. I will love my body no matter what it looks like,  missing breast and all.

At the time, I had no idea that I would have a second mastectomy—electing to take off the other breast to prevent a recurrence. I had no idea that I would be too thin for the standard surgery taking tummy tissue to make breasts. I had no idea that I would get implants; no idea that my body would reject them. I had no idea that I would end up with no breasts at all.

I had no way of knowing that medication would cause me to gain back all the weight I lost almost overnight. I had no way of knowing that I would gain even more, thanks to age.

I also had no way of knowing that my body would serve me so well—meeting the challenge of cancer and giving me the precious gift of life.

Since that day when I stood in the mirror wondering how low the scale would go…..

• I weigh around 30 pounds more than I did then (I don’t know exactly how much because I never get on it anymore.)
• I’m one of those women who occasionally sees a picture of myself from the early years when I felt fat; and wonder —-what was I thinking?
• My body is a long way from the ideal —too little in the places you want it—and too much in the places you don’t.

But I kept my promise.

Sure, I wish I had breasts — not to mention a waist — but I have never loved my body more than I do today.

And that’s the truth.

The image above is from my new collection, called Boobalas, which brings my cancer journey full circle.   One purpose of Boobalas is creating  a new take on body image and breast awareness—for all women, since we all struggle with these issues.  By using  humor and my story,  I’m hoping women and girls will focus on what’s most important—-learn that our bodies and breasts don’t define who we are— and appreciate them as the priceless gift they are..  Click here to see more Boobalas.