Every time I watch videos taken during the Civil Rights Era I cringe at the images, I feel sadness that any human being is treated so poorly by communities and I feel shame. I also feel hope, because while there is still much more work to be done there has been progress. Yes, there are still injustices and prejudices but there is also a deepening of acceptance in society not just for people who’s skin is a different color than our own but for those who have a different sexual preference or a different religion. For that reason I have hope. I know I have taught my children tolerance and compassion and that is where change starts in our homes. You have to see the child to understand where change needs to begin.
For most of my adult life I have worried that I would get cancer in my 50’s just like most of the women on my mother’s side. Ironically, I am 50 now and I have COPD. Regardless, I have always tried to take care of myself so maybe I could avoid cancer and I think that is still very important. Being aware of changes in your body as well as taking care of yourself is imperative, not just to avoid cancers but heart disease and other ailments that can drastically change your quality of life. Exercise, eat well, laugh more and take care.
This article is interesting.
You don’t have to fear breast cancer
By Dr. Laura Esserman and Beth Crawford, Health.com
updated 9:24 AM EDT, Thu October 24, 2013
Editor’s note:Laura Esserman is director of the Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center and a professor of surgery and radiology at the University of California at San Francisco. Beth Crawford is a genetic counselor and director of clinical services for the Cancer Risk Program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
(Health.com) — Since Angelina Jolie’s brave op-ed in The New York Times, many women have called my clinic asking if, like Jolie, they should get genetic testing or a bilateral mastectomy.
But the choice that she made is not for everyone.
That’s why I want to share what you should know about reducing your risk of breast cancer, whether you have a family history or not.
Should you be tested for a breast cancer mutation?
Inherited gene mutations that result in a very high risk of breast and ovarian cancer, including the BRCA1 mutation that Jolie carries, are rare (1 in 400 people) and account for only about 5% of breast cancers.
If you have a history of at least one of these cancers on one side of your family — two first-degree relatives (mom, sister or daughter) or three second-degree relatives (grandmother or aunt) — this is a clue that your family might be at risk, especially if at least one person was diagnosed before age 50. (One hallmark of hereditary cancer is young age at diagnosis.)
A genetic counselor can help you sift through your history and help you decide if you should consider getting tested. (If you’re in this high-risk group, the test is usually covered by your health insurance.)
The reassuring news is that genetic testing isn’t warranted for most women, even those who have one relative who has had cancer.
I’ve had worried patients ask me if they should get the test anyway, and I tell them no: First of all, you could pay several thousand dollars out of pocket.
Second, the worst possible scenario is that the test comes back showing a genetic variant of unknown significance — one that probably means nothing, but since we don’t know for sure, can produce unnecessary anxiety.
What are your options if you test positive?
Jolie had a preventive mastectomy, but that’s not your only avenue. Prevention is not an emergency — cancer doesn’t sprout up overnight — so if you do learn you are a mutation carrier, you have time to weigh your options.
My patients’ choices are often influenced by where they are in their lives.
If they’re young and have not had children yet, they may want to opt for intensive screenings, like MRIs. For BRCA carriers, that means both mammograms and MRIs staggered at six-month intervals (before the age of 30 we only use MRI).
I just make sure patients are aware that since an MRI is so sensitive, it has a high rate of false positives (suspicious findings that turn out to be benign). This can be incredibly stressful.
Of course screening is not prevention: While catching a cancer earlier can mean less treatment, it depends on the tumor type. A stage 1 triple-negative tumor, for instance, will still require more aggressive treatment. By comparison, a stage 1 hormonally driven breast cancer may not.
The good news is that the treatment and reconstruction options are much better than what we had even 10 years ago.
Another alternative is medication: There are drugs, like tamoxifen, that can reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 50%.
Aromatase inhibitors such as exemestane have also been found to lower the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women by about 65%.
Then there’s preventive mastectomy, which for women with a BRCA mutation lowers the risk of developing breast cancer from 60 to 80% to about 5%.
Women, like Jolie, who have had relatives die from cancer at a young age are often especially interested in this option. Women who have young children may also be highly motivated to do everything they can to lower their chances of developing cancer.
Removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes reduces the risk of ovarian cancer (for which we don’t have an effective screening test) by 80 to 90% and is recommended for women who carry a BRCA mutation, after they’re done having children. (Jolie, whose mother died of ovarian cancer, has indicated that she plans to have her ovaries removed.)
The decision to have risk-reducing surgery is difficult and very personal. I’ve had patients with BRCA mutations who are diagnosed with DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ, an early, noninvasive form of cancer) and say, “That’s it, I want them both off.” I’ve had women in their 50s tell me that they’ve gotten this far and been all right, so they don’t want to do any more.
It’s not the sort of thing you do without a lot of talking and thinking. If a woman wants surgery, I ask her if she’ll be upset if she doesn’t get a good cosmetic result from reconstructive surgery.
If she says she doesn’t care, that the most important thing to her is the breast tissue being completely gone, then I know she’s ready.
What if you don’t have a genetic risk?
Every woman has some risk of developing breast cancer. However, breast cancer is a collection of many diseases, ranging from those that are slow growing and unlikely to ever cause harm, to those that are aggressive and life-threatening.
We do not treat them the same way. Our next challenge is to learn how to tailor screening and prevention strategies to different women depending on their family and medical history.
In the meantime, there are things you can do right now to help lower your risk of developing breast cancer, whether or not you’re a mutation carrier.
Exercising, maintaining your body weight in the normal range and eating a healthy diet (low in animal fats) all improve both your breast and overall health.Be familiar with your body, too, and if you find a new mass, let your doctor know immediately.
If you have one or more risk factors — a previous abnormal biopsy, any type of family history, early-age onset of periods, late or no child bearing, or extremely dense breast tissue — talk to your doctor about whether you’re a candidate for drugs such as tamoxifen or raloxifene, which are FDA-approved for breast cancer prevention.
Also, avoid hormone replacement therapy after menopause, keep alcohol intake low and, if you need to take medication for osteopenia or osteoporosis, consider raloxifene, which can also lower breast cancer risk.
It’s easy to hear about a celebrity like Jolie and panic, but I’ll share with you what I tell patients every day: While all women are at risk for breast cancer, most of us won’t get it. And hopefully our ability to treat and prevent cancer will improve even more, so that in the future, surgeries like the one Jolie had will not be necessary.
Yesterday my almost 20 year old son and I were running errands and he asked me to listen to this new song by Eminem. He told me most of the rest of the album sucked but he liked the title song “Rap God”. As he started the song I told him that I had just read a headline that said that Eminem;s new song was controversial due to some anti-gay lyrics. Turns out he hadn’t picked up on that so he REALLY listened to the song. Here are the lyrics that we heard.
Rap God by Eminem
Look, I was gonna go easy on you and not to hurt your feeliAnnotatengs
But I’m only going to get this one chance
Something’s wrong, I can feel it (Six minutes, Slim Shady, you’re on)
Just a feeling I’ve got, like something’s about to happen, but I don’t know what
If that means, what I think it means, we’re in trouble, big trouble, and if he is as bananas as you say, I’m not taking any chances
You were just what the doctor ordered
[Hook 1]
I’m beginning to feel like a Rap God, Rap God
All my people from the front to the back nod, back nod
Now who thinks their arms are long enough to slapbox, slapbox?
They said I rap like a robot, so call me Rapbot
[Verse 1]
But for me to rap like a computer must be in my genes
I got a laptop in my back pocket
My pen’ll go off when I half-cock it
Got a fat knot from that rap profit
Made a living and a killing off it
Ever since Bill Clinton was still in office
With Monica Lewinsky feeling on his nut-sack
I’m an MC still as honest
But as rude and as indecent as all hell
Syllables, killaholic (Kill ’em all with)
This slickety, gibbedy, hibbedy hip-hop
You don’t really wanna get into a pissing match with this rappidy rap
Packing a Mac in the back of the Ac, backpack rap crap, yep, yep, yackity-yak
Now at the exact same time
I attempt these lyrical acrobat stunts while I’m practicing that
I’ll still be able to break a motherfuckin’ table
Over the back of a couple of faggots and crack it in half
Only realized it was ironic I was signed to Aftermath after the fact
How could I not blow? All I do is drop F-bombs, feel my wrath of attack
Rappers are having a rough time period, here’s a maxipad
It’s actually disastrously bad for the wack
While I’m masterfully constructing this masterpiece as
[Hook 2]
I’m beginning to feel like a Rap God, Rap God
All my people from the front to the back nod, back nod
Now who thinks their arms are long enough to slapbox, slapbox?
Let me show you maintaining this shit ain’t that hard, that hard
[Verse 2]
Everybody want the key and the secret to rap immortality like I have got
Well, to be truthful the blueprint’s simply rage and youthful exuberance
Everybody loves to root for a nuisance
Hit the earth like an asteroid, did nothing but shoot for the moon since
MC’s get taken to school with this music
Cause I use it as a vehicle to bust a rhyme
Now I lead a new school full of students
Me? I’m a product of Rakim, Lakim Shabazz, 2Pac N-
-W.A, Cube, Hey Doc, Ren, Yella, Eazy, thank you, they got Slim
Inspired enough to one day grow up, blow up and be in a position
To meet Run DMC, induct them, into the motherfuckin’ Rock n’
Roll Hall of Fame
Even though I walk in the church and burst in a ball of flames
Only Hall of Fame I be inducted in is the alcohol of fame
On the wall of shame
You fags think it’s all a game ’til I walk a flock of flames
Off a plank, and tell me what in the fuck are you thinking?
Little gay looking boy
So gay I can barely say it with a straight face looking boy
You witnessing a massacre
Like you watching a church gathering take place looking boy
Oy vey, that boy’s gay, that’s all they say looking boy
You get a thumbs up, pat on the back
And a way to go from your label everyday looking boy
Hey, looking boy, what you say looking boy?
I get a “hell yeah” from Dre looking boy
I’mma work for everything I have
Never ask nobody for shit, get outta my face looking boy
Basically boy you’re never gonna be capable
To keeping up with the same pace looking boy
[Hook 3]
I’m beginning to feel like a Rap God, Rap God
All my people from the front to the back nod, back nod
The way I’m racing around the track, call me Nascar, Nascar
Dale Earnhardt of the trailer park, the White Trash God
Kneel before General Zod this planet’s Krypton, no Asgard, Asgard
[Verse 3]
So you be Thor and I’ll be Odin, you rodent, I’m omnipotent
Let off then I’m reloading immediately with these bombs I’m totin’
And I should not be woken
I’m the walking dead, but I’m just a talking head, a zombie floating
But I got your mom deep throating
I’m out my ramen noodle, we have nothing in common, poodle
I’m a doberman, pinch yourself in the arm and pay homage, pupil
It’s me, my honesty’s brutal
But it’s honestly futile if I don’t utilize what I do though
For good at least once in a while
So I wanna make sure somewhere in this chicken scratch I scribble and doodle
Enough rhymes to maybe try to help get some people through tough times
But I gotta keep a few punchlines just in case cause even you unsigned
Rappers are hungry looking at me like it’s lunchtime
I know there was a time where once I
Was king of the underground, but I still rap like I’m on my Pharoahe Monch grind
So I crunch rhymes, but sometimes when you combine
Appeal with the skin color of mine
You get too big and here they come trying to censor you
Like that one line I said on “I’m Back” from the Mathers LP1
Where I tried to say I take seven kids from Columbine
Put ’em all in a line, add an AK-47, a revolver and a nine
See if I get away with it now that I ain’t as big as I was
But I’ve morphed into an immortal coming through the portal
You’re stuck in a timewarp from 2004 though
And I don’t know what the fuck that you rhyme for
You’re pointless as Rapunzel with fucking cornrows
You’re like normal, fuck being normal
And I just bought a new Raygun from the future
To just come and shoot ya like when Fabolous made Ray J mad
Cause Fab said he looked like a fag at Mayweather’s pad
Singin’ to a man while they played piano
Man, oh man, that was a 24/7 special on the cable channel
So Ray J went straight to the radio station the very next day
”Hey, Fab, I’mma kill you”
Lyrics coming at you at supersonic speed, (JJ Fad)
Uh, sama lamaa duma lamaa you assuming I’m a human
What I gotta do to get it through to you I’m superhuman
Innovative and I’m made of rubber
So that anything you say is ricocheting off of me and it’ll glue to you
I’m devastating, more than ever demonstrating
How to give a motherfuckin’ audience a feeling like it’s levitating
Never fading, and I know the haters are forever waiting
For the day that they can say I fell off, they’d be celebrating
Cause I know the way to get ’em motivated
I make elevating music, you make elevator music
Oh, he’s too mainstream
Well, that’s what they do when they get jealous, they confuse it
It’s not hip hop, it’s pop, cause I found a hella way to fuse it
With rock, shock rap with Doc
Throw on Lose Yourself and make ’em lose it
I don’t know how to make songs like that
I don’t know what words to use
Let me know when it occurs to you
While I’m ripping any one of these verses, that versus you
It’s curtains, I’m inadvertently hurtin’ you
How many verses I gotta murder to prove
That if you were half as nice at songs, you can sacrifice virgins too (ughhh)
School flunkie, pill junky
But look at the accolades the skills brung me
Full of myself, but still hungry
I bully myself cause I make me do what I put my mind to
And I’m a million leagues above you, ill when I speak in tongues
But it’s still tongue in cheek, fuck you
I’m drunk so Satan take the fucking wheel, I’m asleep in the front seat
Bumping Heavy D and the Boys, still chunky, but funky
But in my head there’s something I can feel tugging and struggling
Angels fight with devils and here’s what they want from me
They’re asking me to eliminate some of the women hate
But if you take into consideration the bitter hatred I had
Then you may be a little patient and more sympathetic to the situation
And understand the discrimination
But fuck it, life’s handing you lemons, make lemonade then
But if I can’t batter the women how the fuck am I supposed to bake them a cake then?
Don’t mistake it for Satan
It’s a fatal mistake if you think I need to be overseas
And take a vacation to trip abroad
And make her fall on her face and don’t be a retard
Be a king? Think not – why be a king when you can be a God?
Needless to say, I was not happy. My son sat there for a minute and then said, “Mom, I really didn’t hear that. I just liked the beat.” Then I said something about spreading hate and he turned to me and said, “Well, I guess that’s the last Eminem song I’ll listen to.” The reason that I was impressed is that as a parent we hope that we communicate good values and sometimes its hard considering the outside influences that our kids are exposed to and it made me very happy to know that my son also believes that everyone deserves to be loved.
Here is a song that expresses how we feel.
Here are the lyrics:
Same Love by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
[Verse 1: Macklemore]
When I was in the 3rd grade
I thought that I was gay
Cause I could draw, my uncle was
And I kept my room straight
I told my mom, tears rushing down my face
She’s like, “Ben, you’ve loved girls since before Pre-K!”
Tripping, yeah, I guess she had a point, didn’t she?
A bunch of stereotypes all in my head
I remember doing the math, like
“Yeah, I’m good at little league”
A pre-conceived idea of what it all meant
For those that like the same sex had the characteristics
The right-wing conservatives think it’s a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made, rewiring of a pre-disposition, playing God
Ahh, nah, here we go
America the brave still fears what we don’t know
And “God loves all his children” is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five hundred years ago
I don’t know
[Hook: Mary Lambert]
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love, my love, my love
She keeps me warm [x4]
[Verse 2: Macklemore]
If I was gay I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
“Man, that’s gay” gets dropped on the daily
We’ve become so numb to what we’re saying
Our culture founded from oppression
Yet we don’t have acceptance for ’em
Call each other faggots
Behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate
Yet our genre still ignores it
“Gay” is synonymous with the lesser
It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk-outs and sit-ins
It’s human rights for everybody, there is no difference
Live on! And be yourself!
When I was in church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service, those words aren’t anointed
That Holy Water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same but that’s not important
No freedom til we’re equal
Damn right I support it
[Trombone Interlude]
I don’t know
[Hook]
[Verse 3: Macklemore]
We press play, don’t press pause
Progress, march on!
With a veil over our eyes, we turn our back on the cause
‘Til the day that my uncles can be united by law
Kids are walking around the hallway
Plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful
Some would rather die
Than be who they are
And a certificate on paper
Isn’t gonna solve it all
But it’s a damn good place to start
No law’s gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever god you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear, underneath, it’s all the same love
About time that we raised up!
[Hook]
[Outro: Mary Lambert]
Love is patient, love is kind
Love is patient (not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind (not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient (not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind (not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient (not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind (not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient (not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind (not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient (not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind (not crying on Sundays)
This is an amazing collection of women around the world that have been touched by breast cancer. The stories are powerful and emotional. There the Helen from New York who was diagnosed with breast cancer in the same month her sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Read about Noemi, from Italy, who’s husband left her during her treatment and many many others . Too many others.
I would love to hear how these stories inspired you or hear your own story.
It’s day 15 of Breast Cancer Awareness month and today’s video is not about breast cancer. It is about how wonderful you are. It’s about the power in each of us. Sometimes we need to be reminded that we are enough. As women we are faced with many struggles whether internal or external. It is easy to feel like you are failing when you are responsible for everything. But you aren’t a failure, you are a human being. A woman. You are worth dying for. Make the most of your life.
I have an 8 year old grandson. He is really awesome kid. He’s smart, funny and kind. His passion in life right now involves an Xbox and the game Minecraft. Honestly, sometimes it really gets on my nerves. But today I realized something, here in the United States my grandson can sit with a game controller in his hand and be a boy. He is not holding a machine gun, or the dying body of a brother, sister mother, father or grandparent. When he is hungry he can pause the game and find food and drinks in the fridge. He is not starving, searching for food, begging or selling himself to feed himself and his family. In our country my grandson lives below the poverty level but he still has food, a roof and he can go to school. My grandson is not being threatened, raped or forced to shoot others. He is allowed to be an 8 year old boy.
“Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.”
― Dave Pelzer, A Child Called “It”
This is not the case for thousands and thousands of children across the world. It is not the case for the children of Africa that are forced into the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army). It is not the case for children sold as sex slaves. It is not the case for children that are beaten, raped and mutilated by adults.
It saddens me deeply, when I watch a movie such as “Machine Gun Preacher” about the life of Sam Childers, it reminds me of the frailty of the human condition, particularly among children, our most vulnerable. Childers is a former Outlaw biker, heroin addict, drug dealer who accepted Christ into his life and went on to build a church here is the States and after seeing the atrocities in Sudan he built an orphanage to save children in Africa. It sickens me when I read about children being forced into sex slavery. Being a child is not a possibility for so many.
“Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me. ”
― Fred Rogers
It angers me when I hear people say, well that’s not our problem, we have our own problems in the US that we need to fix. While there it is true that we do have our own problems, we also have far more services, opportunities and support than many other areas of the world, a world that we are all part of. I don’t have to worry when I go to sleep tonight that a military group is going to burn my grandson out of his home, kill his mother, and probably his brother because he is only two and then force him to carry a gun, kill people including friends and family and live a life of fear and helplessness.
Yeah, I think I will let him play his Xbox, build his Minecraft towns and let him be a child for as long as possible.
Joseph Kony. Leader of the LRA with the help of the Sudanese government is responsible for an estimated 40,000 child abductions. In the past 15 years approximately 200,000 women and girls have been raped in the Congo.
I love this lady. Marie Forleo is an incredible force of inspiration and positive thinking. I always look forward to anything she does.
Visit her website at www.marieforleo.com and sign up for the email alerts. They will help keep you on the right track in your business and your personal life.
I am a freelance writer and graphic designer in Central Florida. Please check out my portfolio at http://www.laurabwilliamsdesigns. I have always loved to read and write and draw. I wrote and illustrated my first book when I was 6 about a princess and her mean father, the King. It wasn’t ... Continue reading →
I am a writer, content marketer and social consultant. I work with brands and public figures to help them tell their story. You can learn more at www.goodinklings.com.
I am also the host of The Writing Biz Show http://thewritingbiz.com
Laura B Williams Designs 