Eating healthy

Us cancer people need to eat healthy. For some reason with a cancer diagnosis, many people feel the urge to ditch the processed food in their life and eat organic. They turn over a new leaf (no pun intended) on their eating habits. Everyone seems to find their own way to eat healthy, but now the people over at Environmental Working Group have released a list of Good Food on a Budget that makes it easier. Down load a  pdf here.

It is actually full of lots of practical advice and helps you take good intentions and turn them into a menu and grocery list. I think that's the most important part. We all have good intentions and then don't cross the bridge from idea to grocery list very well. But now we have help.

Well that's it for today. My brain is not inspired. Blah. My cold still rules.

Allow me to be whiney

Its my blog so I can be whiney if I want. If you don't like whininess then just go away for the day. I am going to be whiney today because I still have a cold. Back on March 20, 2008, I blogged about Cancer Vs. The Common Cold and indicated that I was waiting for a cure for cancer and a cure for the common cold. That's plenty of time. I am on day 7 of another evil cold here and I still feel like crap. This is not fair. I am sick of being sick.

I DEMAND a cure for both the common cold and cancer. I am going to be a demanding, whiney brat about this. Its time. Plenty of money has been spent on research for both of them and I do not believe there is an evil conspiracy by the pharmaceutical companies to hide any cures they have because they make so much money on the medications and treatments for both.

I am not being a good patient at this point. I am living on tylenol (no aspirin products for me because I am on anti inflammatories for my back), no decongestants (because between being allergic to decongestants and no thyroid - I can't take anything that says don't take if you have a thyroid disease), herbal tea with lemon and honey, cough medicine, and whininess.

I can't even whine to the cat because he is vacationing at my parents house - not yet returned after our vacation last week. I am whining to my husband but he makes fun of my squeaky voice.

I know if I go to the doctor she will just tell me to drink plenty of fluids, take tylenol, and wait it out. Whine, whine, whine, grr.

"Common Sense Has Left the Building"

This quote is from an article on the weird world of medical purchasing. A cloth sling can be purchased on line for $7 or your insurance company can pay $83 and give it to you with a $25 co-pay. Do we see the logic or lack of logic here?

In case you missed it there has been a lot of hoo-hah recently on high medical costs, most of which has focused on the costs of prescriptions, tests and other medical adventures. But a big area that has been overlooked is that of 'durable medical goods, orthotics, prosthetics and supplies'.

The way I understand it (with my tiny chemo brain) is that insurance companies negotiate prices for these with medical suppliers which include all kinds of middlemen each wanting their cut. Patients haven't really cared because most of the time these were covered by insurance and they only had to pay their co-pay, if anything.

Along came the internet and hard financial times and people start shopping around and online for things paying a new found interest in the price of an item. So that sling that the insurance company paid $83 can now be had for a mere $7 online. This makes me think of the proverbial government purchase of a toilet for $2000 or a box of paperclips for $50.

Methinks its time for insurance companies to renegotiate those deals as part of their plans to cut costs. They might also want to look for their missing common sense.

Doctor burnout

Another study (because we need more studies - keep those researchers on their toes) says that more and more doctors are subject to burn out. Doctors are working harder and harder, spending less time with patients, and being pressured by increasing requirements. Hence burnout begins.

I don't think doctors are alone in experiencing burnout. Most professions have a level of burnout.But when its doctors who are burnt out, patient care and their health may suffer.

Now its my turn to play doctor and help with their burn out. My prescription for doctors who are burnt out:

• Go on vacation and cut the ties to your office. Find someone else to cover your patients.Do not contact your office - everything will be waiting for you when you return.
• Forget your watch and let your phone battery go dead (this is what we did and it was very relaxing).  You will quickly lose all sense of time.
• Ignore all work related things, unless someone is bleeding in front of you do not admit you are a doctor.
• Do the things you enjoy but never have time for - whether hiking in the wilderness, bungee jumping, or sitting on a beach with a cocktail topped with a little umbrella, or better  yet a tropical flower.
• Spend time with the people you care about and never have time for. 
• Repeat annually.

Once you return from your vacation, give yourself a break every week where you can take a step back and do something you enjoy with the people you care about that is not related to work. If you don't know how to do this, maybe find a life coach to help  you learn to adjust or just ask your spouse, kids, or friends how do this. I am sure they will have plenty of advice. If you do not have a spouse, kids or friends, join a club that will take you on a weekly adventure - hiking club, dinner club, wine tasting club, etc. Get a pet that you can't easily kill by ignoring it during long working hours. Make plans to relax. That is key. If you dont plan down time into your busy life, it will never happen.

See I can prescribe things to doctors. They prescribe things to me all the time. I know all about stress. Tell someone they have cancer and watch their stress level rise. Its payback time.

Its all about the buddy system

Remember the buddy system? You went places in twos to help keep track of each other. The military started the buddy system but it works in the medical world as well. You take a buddy with you to your 'big' doctor appointments so you can be the patient and they can write down the doctor's answers to your questions.

The buddy system is also important as a cancer patient - with the icky diagnosis the best thing you can hear is from some one who has been through it - and made it through the same treatment you are facing and is there to talk to you about it.

If you join a support group, you might end up with a bigger group of buddies but if you aren't interested in support groups or they aren't available to you. But you still need a buddy. Sometimes you can't find one yourself which is where organizations like Immerman's Angels come in.

I had heard about them before - they pair cancer patients with someone who has been through it - but  never really knew that much. There was an article on CNN last week and I learned a little more. They are primarily focused on younger adults - under 40 - but are open to all ages. I signed up this morning to volunteer as a mentor.

I am unique in that my first diagnosis was at 19 so I think I can help younger adults cope with life after cancer. Or I hope I can be a buddy to someone who needs a buddy.

Being an inspiration

Some people have said I am an inspiration to them. I have never really figured out why. Maybe its the two cancer thing. I don't get it. The only inspirations I ever have are how to be more lazy and take a nap. I have not saved the world, raised millions for cancer research or anything so profound. I can be whiney at the drop of a hat (ask my husband for proof).

I am also not someone who celebrates cancerversaries. I dont think they are worthy of notice. But every so often we run into events which are worth noting - like birthdays - they always deserve notice.

However here is a woman who is an inspiration. Jill over at Dancing With Cancer: Living With Mets just celebrated ten years of metastases. Many people when they first think of metastases that this is the end. However we have Jill as living proof that metastases are not the end. If you don't read her blog, you should. She is a normal person dancing with cancer, living with mets.

Fall out

Earlier this year we watched the Komen foundation's fall out as the result of the poorly handled 'foot-in-mouth' PR disaster with Planned Parenthood. It has had some deep running, not yet concluded effects on the organization.

This week we saw Lance Armstrong being stripped of his awards for more than 10 years of cycling fame. He has chosen to stop fighting what he called a 'one sided' battle and as a result the conclusion has been drawn that he was using performance enhancing drugs to help bring him to fame and fortune. I am not trying to debate whether he did or did not or why he chose to end his fight.

Regardless of what he did or did not do for cycling, he did do one thing we cannot dispute. He created an amazing foundation to help people coping with cancer. That is his legacy and no matter what the cycling federations say, it can not be taken away from him.

The first statements attest that the foundation is going strong with support from fans all over. We should not watch the organization be destroyed no matter what the press and the cycling word things about Mr. Armstrong.