Hairdoo Day

Such a busy day... so many loose ends to wrap up. Then my glasses broke and I had to squeeze in two more appointments for Tapwe tomorrow. Not enough hours in the day...

Then Diana swooped in and whisked me to the spa for a hairdoo day! What fun. Two 'doos later and I'm set with a 'doo that will be low maintenance during my post op recovery. Check it out:

Pre-Cut

Cut 1

Final Cut

So I'm not terribly photogenic... it really does looks much better in person. Sigh...

Team-up with Fronteir Veterinary Hospital

To Our Cherished Clients,    Dr. Wikander's medical leave starts tomorrow, August 31, as she begins treatment for breast cancer.  To read Dr. Wikander's complete statement, click here.  Frontier is doing all we can to support Dr. Wikander during this difficult time.  To honor her, and the millions of women and families affected by breast cancer, Frontier is participating in Portland's Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday, September 18.  If you would like to support our fundraising efforts, click here and help us reach our goal!       Dr. Wikander has started a blog to keep her family, friends, and well-wishers "abreast" of her progress- click here to follow along!    Thank you for your understanding during this difficult time, The doctors and staff of Frontier Veterinary Hospital

More about p53 proteins and cancer cell migration

 How gene linked to cancer moves cells

CORNELL (US) — Mutations to the p53 gene have been linked to half of all cancers, and now researchers have identified how the gene controls cell movement and invasion into other areas of the body.

Previous research has shown that mutations of the p53 gene lead to tumor growth and the spread of cancerous cells.
Using cultures of ovarian surface epithelium cells, where ovarian cancer originates, researchers found when they inactivated the p53 gene, the cells began to move and invade the underlying gelatinous protein mixture used in the lab that resembles an extracellular tissue environment.
“People thought that cell motility and invasion were part of later stages of cancer, but we show that this characteristic can be found in cells at the very beginning of cancer formation,” says Chang-Il Hwang, a graduate student in the lab of Alexander Nikitin, professor of biomedical sciences at Cornell University.
Under normal circumstances, p53 regulates the expression of a receptor protein called MET. But when p53 mutates, MET overexpresses, leading to cell movement and invasive growth.
Researchers report in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences they found two distinct pathways by which p53 regulates and suppresses MET.
“One of the next steps is to study ways to inhibit MET,” says Hwang. “Our findings support the idea that suppression of MET could be a particularly reasonable and effective approach to controlling cancer carrying p53 mutations.
“We hope our findings can be generalized into other types of cancer as well.”
The research shows the p53 and MET network were consistent in both lung and colon cancer.
Mutations of p53 take many forms, with the most common mutation affecting one of the pathways that regulates MET but not the other pathway. By understanding how different p53 mutations affect each of the two pathways, researchers may one day develop individualized cancer therapies by suppressing MET, says Hwang.
“Different p53 mutations may affect the cancer from different angles,” he adds.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer, Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.
More news from Cornell University: www.news.cornell.edu
Health & Medicine - Posted by Krishna Ramanujan-Cornell on Monday, August 29, 2011 10:57 to Futurity.org
http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/how-gene-linked-to-cancer-moves-cells/

Delicious Broccoli!

A giant gold star to Pat Green for her Peanut Sauce!

I don't know if any of you have tried her recipe for broccoli dipping fun, but you should.

I made it this evening and tried it with both raw and steamed broccoli. The steamed broccoli won. I even had to fight my son for who got the last piece. He won... the beast!

Interestingly, you don't taste the broccoli at all but it adds a nice texture to a very rich spicy sauce.

Cindy, maybe Ian would like it, too.

Inception of Boob-opera

Thanks to all for your recipe ideas. I haven't tried them all yet but I'll keep you updated. I've learned that I don't have a clue of how to saute. Perhaps because we avoid veggies. I'll try steaming next time, Cindy...

I told you I'd fill you in on the initiation of this whole fiasco so here it is...

Mid-June I palpated a one inch lump in my left breast. Since I self inspect monthly, it was a bit disturbing to have such a large lump pop up all of a sudden. I called my doctor and they had me in within three days. The doc sent me for a mammogram and diagnostic ultrasound immediately. The good news was that the lump was very movable and tender-ish. This all pointed to a benign mass. The mammogram couldn't see it, which is evidently a common problem for those of us with "dense" breasts. I'd like to know why I've been irradiating my chest annually if they were unlikely to see anything anyway. A discussion for a different time. The ultrasound was unexciting also so the radiologist/ultrasonographer suggested we watch it and repeat all the tests in 6 months. No way! I wanted the thing out of there. Off to the surgeon I went. Dr. Cetas is AWESOME. She did her evaluation and suggested a biopsy but I insisted I wanted the mass out for histopath so we scheduled it.

Many of you knew I had a week of vacation at the end of July but it wasn't much of a vacation. That is when I had the lump removed. I was very impressed with all the Kaiser staff, including Dr. Cetas. They did an awesome job!

The following week I was in Colorado at a workshop when Dr. Cetas emailed me the bad news. Cancer... "good thing we took it out" she said... but we didn't get it all. An urgent MRI was ordered to check for it's extent. I flew back to Oregon that night and broke the news to my folks. Then I called my son, Tapwe, and told him. He was out camping with my brother. These were difficult and emotional conversations. I don't know if it was harder for or them or me.

The next day I had the MRI. I was a bit stressed, as you might imagine, but Kaiser's technical staff was awesome... again. The results were back within three days. Thankfully there were no obvious signs of cancer cells distant to the original surgical site. Histopath evaluation and dye studies demonstrated a slow growing invasive mass (mitotic index of 1 per 10hpf) that was HER2 neg (not an aggressive form) and hormone-responsive (a good thing). I'll explain that another time.

Whew! This was all good news. The next step is more surgery. Larger mass removal and radiation OR mastectomy and chemo. Difficult and unwelcome decisions to make. I immediately researched the options and talked with 8-10 breast cancer survivors. They were so kind to share their stories with me. What choices they made and why. What negative experiences they had and how they delt with them. One thing was clear. I didn't want to worry about cancer popping up again in the future. Not in the affected breast... or it's buddy. So I decided to have a double mastectomy and completely eliminate the issue... I hope. I'm still not out of the woods. Some cells could have made it into the lymph nodes and beyond. We won't know about this until after the next surgery. Just one long drawn out mystery with a surprise ending... hopefully a happy one.

Then I had to decide on restorative breast reconstruction or not. Another difficult choice. I don't like any of the options: (1) no reconstruction and use prosthetic boobs or go boobless, (2) saline or silicone gel implants under the pecs, (3) microvascular surgery to transpose belly or butt fat to the chest (tummy tuck and/or butt lift). No one in the Portland area does (3) so it's not really an immediate option. The surgeon really encourages reconstruction immediately but I'm just not ready for that right now. I decided to deal with the whole cancer issue first and will pursue reconstruction later... if I'm so inclined.

All of these doctor and procedure appointments have disrupted my schedule in a big way. But it's also disrupted the schedules of many others. All the staff at Frontier Veterinary Hospital have scrambled to reschedule my appointments, all the other docs have covered my shifts while I've been out, and the clients have put up with the inconvenience of it all, as well. I am so grateful for everyone's understanding, patience and support - clients, co-workers, management, friends, and family. Having so many people in my corner has been truly empowering. I know that I'm the one going through all the crap but knowing you are all out there rooting for me makes it seem less daunting. I thank you all for that. As an aside, Frontier Veterinary Hospital is forming a Race for the Cure 'Team Y-dub'. If you're interested in joining our team call 503-648-1643.

Boobectomy surgery is this Friday afternoon. I'm not sure when I'll be up to typing next but I'll post when I can.

How Broccoli Fights Cancer

 When your mom told you to eat your broccoli, she may have been giving you good advice on how to avoid cancer.
Researchers already knew that a chemical found in broccoli, cauliflower and related vegetables, called isothiocyanate, appeared to stop the growth of cancer by causing apoptosis, or cell death, in cancer cells. But they didn't know why.
Recent research at Georgetown University found that isothiocyanate sticks to a defective protein found in cancerous cells. The broccoli-born chemical only binds to the protein when it is defective. The normal version is left alone.
NEWS: Organic Veggies Not More Nutritious
Production of the protein in question is controlled by the gene p53. It normally helps stop a cell from replicating uncontrollably. But when gene p53 is mutated, the protein comes out defective. Not only that, cells with mutated p53 genes are also more resistant to chemical cancer treatments.
P53 mutations occur in half of all human cancers, including lung, breast and colon.
Eating your broccoli may help reduce cancer risks because the presence of isothiocyanate was observed to increase the death rate of cancer cells with the p53 mutation.
Researchers found that after the cauliflower chemical, isothiocyanate, bound to the defective p53 protein, breast cancer cells died. One reason for this may be that the mutated gene also makes the cancerous cells vulnerable to toxic effects from isothiocyanate that normal cells are resistant to.
BLOG: China's Olympic Pollution Cuts Could Reduce Cancer
Fung-Lung Chung and colleagues at Georgetown University published their findings in the  American Cancer Society's Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
IMAGE 1: Broccoli (Wikimedia Commons)
IMAGE 2: Cauliflower (Wikimedia Commons)

copied from: http://news.discovery.com/human/how-broccoli-fights-cancer-110310.html

It begins...

All right everyone, tonight I decided to brave my first blog entry. I've never blogged before so it will be interesting to see how it all goes. Your constructive comments and suggestions for content or improvement are not only welcome but encouraged. I'd prefer it to be more interactive than pure narration.

My intent is not to write a "Dear Diary" but an informative blurb to keep you all up to speed on what's happening with my progress through my cancer treatment. It's a grim subject so let's have some fun with it.

I'll fill you all in on how this journey got started next entry, but first I need your assistance. I've recently been reading up on phytochemicals in foods and how they can help preventing cancer as well as slow cancer growth. Most of you know how much I dislike veggies... it's legendary. My most hated of veggies are brussels sprouts and broccoli. Two of the best cancer fighting cruciferous veggies around. Just my luck! So... help me by sending me your favorite recipes for these two veggies in the comments box below. That way we can share them with everyone. I'm told cruciferous veggies lose much of their value if thoroughly cooked or boiled, so I'm looking for steamed or stir fried recipes. Surely someone out there has a recipe to make these horrible veggies palatable!

A silver star goes to everyone that participates; a gold star to the winning recipe.