Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Life Web Ring

I was reading Cathy Bueti's blog (find the link on my sidebar) and she was talking about Kris Carr's new web ring, Crazy Sexy Life...a spin off from her Crazy Sexy Cancer.

This is open to anyone who has had cancer and would like to connect with others. There is no cost to join. The site includes forums, groups and discussions. You set up your own page within the site where you can blog and share your journey with others who will "get" you as only other survivors can.

Definitely worth checking out!

Become a Pink Artist

If you are artistically inclined, and even if you are not, this is a very inspiring project undertaken by Monica Magness of Girl Gone Thread Wild. I posted this the other day on my Esprit * d'Art blog, but want it seen here on my breast cancer blog.












My latest project will be taking part in the Pink Artist initiative that Monica at Girl Gone Thread Wild has created.

I know that many of you are participating in this wonderful charity event, and as a breast cancer survivor I am absolutely thrilled that Monica has undertaken this. More than that, I simply must participate. I wish I had realized what this was all about sooner, or I'd have been spreading the word sooner.

If you are an artist and have not already committed to this project, I urge you to check out Monica's site and sign up to participate in this wonderful event.

To quote Monica:

"the pink artist"
is a community of artists joining together
to create one joint art doll to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
When doll is complete, it will be mailed in to Art Doll Quarterly™
before finally being auctioned off on eBay at a later date.

ALL PROCEEDS WILL DIRECTLY BENEFIT CHARITY.


Spread the word!
If you are a quilter, mixed-media artist, polymer clay artist,
painter, doodler, felting guru, pastel artist, doll artist, beader, collage artist,
abstract artist,stitching queen, yarn goddess, paper artist, rubber stamper,
photographer, digital junky, rusted ART connoisseur, crayon/marker
enthusiast, journal-ER, poet... you get the idea,
We need YOUR participation!

Create:
one 2x2 inch square with a cloth base using your chosen medium
in ANY way you feel inspired to do so for this project

Schick Quattro Booby Wall

While I am not posting here on a regular basis as I have said, I do want to mention the Schick Quattro Booby Wall. Back in November 2007 I posted about this "Wall", having bared all for a photograph to be put on the wall. The wall wasn't being posted on line until January. I had completely forgotten about this until receiving an email from my cousin Heather today, saying that she had "seen" me on the wall. And yes, it's up and running and yes, I'm there (near the end).

I am so pleased to see the number of women who are prepared to post themselves on this wall in support of breast cancer screening and awareness. What I would like to have seen (and hope to) is more women of colour participating in this. Breast cancer affects women of colour in a way that it does not caucasian women and the awareness needs to be stressed. That said, I think from having spoken with a survivor of colour the day I did this photo, she was not comfortable sharing her story with the world. And this may be a cultural difference in upbringing and philosophy.

Regardless, please check out the BoobyWall and if you are so inclinced, post your photo on the site.

For those who are still interested in hearing my voice as I continue my journey through life, I can be found at

Sage and Thyme
Esprit * d'Art
The Journals of the Meandering Muse

The Middle Place

Although I have moved on from daily discussing breast cancer and what it means in the world, I do wish to share this.

And as uncanny as this is, I was preparing my thoughts to do this when I read my friend Beth's blog today and we are discussing the same subject, or rather, the same book.

A few weeks ago I was sent a complimentary copy of a book written by Kelly Corrigan. It is a memoir entitled "The Middle Place".

Perhaps from the cover of this book I was already in the "I don't think so" corner. It says:

The Middle Place is about calling home. Instinctively. Even when all the paperwork--a marriage license, a notarized deed, two birth certificates, and seven years of tax returns--clearly indicates you're an adult, but all the same, there you are, clutching the phone and thanking God that you're still somebody's daughter.

As a breast cancer thriver, I love to read books about the journey. I want to know how others coped, what they experienced, what they discovered.

I've had this book for over 2 weeks and I'm only at Chapter 20 and last night while reading 2 pages decided I can't even finish it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the writing or the memoir. The writing is easy to read but this woman's story is not my story and therefore I cannot relate. I'm definitely not enjoying it.

What it has made me feel is lost. I envy people who experience cancer who have parents they can run home to for reinforcement, for strength, for protection of their love. I had no parents, no siblings. I had the love of my family -- husband, children. I had friends and acquaintances I barely knew who came out of the woodwork with love...who became more to me than what family might have been.

If I say my feelings about the author were those of a spoiled young woman (even from the stories she told of her past and her youth), that stood out for me more than the lessons of strength that she learned from her father.

I think we all have strength. We are born to be strong. It is the challenges of our lives that show us how strong we are and how our strength intensifies and carries us through these challenges.

This is as always my opinion.

Hope With Genetic Research In the Spread of Breast Cancer

Scientists find key factor in breast cancer spread

Jan 09, 2008 05:17 PM
Julie Steenhuysen
Reuters

CHICAGO – By restoring tiny bits of genetic material missing from breast tumours in mice, U.S. researchers said today they were able to block the cancer's ability to spread.

The finding will help doctors make better treatment decisions and may give rise to a new way of halting the advance of breast cancer, said Dr. Sohail Tavazoie, an oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

"What's most important to us as cancer doctors is the concern that the cancer is going to come back," said Tavazoie, whose study appears in the journal Nature.

Tavazoie said the research will give doctors a better way to determine if a particular breast cancer tumour will spread and also add to the list of possible targets that could be used to make drugs that block genes that make cancers spread.

And down the road, it may lead to new therapies that restore the missing molecules that keep cancer tumours in check.

Cancer spreads when bits the primary tumour break off and attack other organs. This process, known as metastasis, is what makes cancer so deadly.

Tavazoie, working in the lab of Joan Massague, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher, set out to isolate the process that causes aggressive tumours to spread.

They found bits of genetic material called ribonucleic acid or RNA that suppress the spread of breast cancer to the lungs and bone. When they put those molecules back into breast cancer tumours in mice, the tumours lost their ability to spread.

Tavazoie said these small pieces of RNA known as microRNAs work by directing the activity of genes, much like the conductor of an orchestra.

They found that in certain aggressive cancers, some of these microRNAs are missing, allowing the aggressive spread of the cancer. When they restored these microRNAs to human breast cancers in laboratory mice, the cancer stopped spreading.

The researchers also found these same microRNAs were missing from human breast cancer cells taken from women whose tumours had spread.

"We think these microRNAs will help us to know if this is an aggressive tumour or not," Tavazoie said in a telephone interview.

"If it is, we will need to treat this woman with very aggressive therapy and we will need to be diligent about watching it," he said, adding that it may help doctors decide whether some women with less aggressive tumours can skip chemotherapy.

Tavazoie's team also looked to see which genes were causing all of the trouble when the microRNAs went missing. They found an especially strong association between the loss of miR-335 and cancer relapse. When this microRNA was absent, they found strong activity in a set of six genes.

Two of the genes, SOX4 and TNC, were already known to play a role in cell migration. When the researchers suppressed the activity of these genes, they reduced the cancer's ability to spread.

Changing and Knowing You're Ready

I just finished reading Elaine Ratner's "The Feisty Woman's Breast Cancer Book"...I had started it a while ago and put it down, only to finish it this evening.

Everything happens in it's time, when you are ready. While there were some opinions expressed in this book that I didn't agree with, or weren't my personal philosophy, overall I admired Elaine's approach to her cancer and to her life and how she has presented her journey. It is worth reading.

What settled within me tonight was that I am ready to move beyond my own breast cancer. I've been feeling this hovering over me for a little while, so reading this book and the chapter devoted to "When Your Breast Cancer Crisis Is Over, Move On", I knew the point that I had reached.

I started this blog in order to discuss separate issues about breast cancer, and living life after breast cancer. I needed that clarity in my own thinking and my own approach to journaling.

I know that I have reached the point in my own journey where breast cancer is only one aspect of my life and I truly have reached the "moving beyond" stage. I've been working through that stage now for over a year, but I know I have really been able to see the future, that cancer has been something that happened to me and is fading in the distance. It feels good. It feels right.

I will keep this blog open but I will continue to channel my thoughts into Sage and Thyme, Esprit * d'Art and my new venture of journal writing and photography at The Journals of the Meandering Muse. I'll also be spending more time on my creative writing and my visual art. I'm no longer looking behind...I'm only looking forward.

I'm sure that the subject of breast cancer will come up from time to time. It's bound to. I will never ignore it or turn my back on it. I will continue to be open about the experience and share my knowledge and my philosophy. I will continue to speak out, but it will not be my focus.

There is a sense of discovery and joy in knowing that a mountain has been scaled and that I have emerged on the other side filled with optimism and open arms to the future.

Taking Life By the Lapel

I was reading Sandy Carlson's blog, "Writing In Faith" this morning and loving every word I was reading. She has this lovely Maya Angelou quote on her side bar ~

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'