Anyone who has ever been diagnosed with cancer has had their lives changed and may have needed new ways to cope . The Covid-19 pandemic is also changing lives. Many of us dealt with wildfire smoke in the summer and the shorter winter days can be another challenge. Breast cancer survivors on the Pathways Study Community Advisory Board (CAB) decided that understanding our risk of Covid-19 and taking care of ourselves are important and timely topics for us to address.

This is the second of two parts about what we can do for our health and wellness during the Covid pandemic, from breast cancer survivors on the Pathways Study Community Advisory Board. Here they share how they cope: connecting with people; taking a break; breathing deeply, meditating or praying; asking for support; getting sleep; gratitude; and focusing on moving forward. Research has shown that all of these can help our mental and our physical health. (Check out the first part for ideas on moving our bodies and eating well.)

We have all heard how important sleep is for our health. The stress of a cancer diagnosis and treatment on the body and mind can make sleep more difficult, yet it is important for healing. Even people whose treatment has ended commonly have trouble sleeping occasionally. For some of us, sleep can be a struggle.

While truly every day is a good day to say “I love you” to the special people in your life, Valentine’s Day is a beautiful moment where we may go the extra mile with a special gesture. With over an estimated $18 billion spent annually for the holiday nationwide, it is a wonderful opportunity to vote with your dollars and support healthier options for farmers, workers, and our loved ones who are all a part of this global love story. 

We are excited to share our suggestions for a healthy, safe, and sweet holiday!

Welcome to 2018!

Entering the new year is often a time for self reflection and new commitments to changing something about your life in order to be healthier, happier, and more at peace. For many women, a better relationship with food is something that they strive for anew on an annual basis and is challenging to resolve. 

With an eye towards integrating rather than avoiding, we want to share some easy to use techniques to tackle hunger cravings that can help make this new year one where healthy new habits are formed. 

My favorite way to mix work and pleasure (or work and health if you prefer) is to walk and talk. I can't exactly do that in a digital medium so I am inviting you to sign up for the Dipsea Hike for Zero Breast Cancer and to read more about putting breast cancer risk information into context so that we can talk about it in a realistic way.

ZBC is truly inspired by the teen cooks of the Ceres Community Project who prepare delicious and nutritious meals for breast and other cancer patients and their families. They do so under the supervision of expert nutritionist and chefs. The teens sign up for a regular schedule of prep and cooking sessions for a few months to several years. All of these young people make a commitment and have an impact. Meals are delivered to the patients and their families weekly – infused with love and messages of support prepared by elementary school volunteers. The Ceres Community Project is being recognized as the 2016 Healing Partner Award at our upcoming Honor Our Healers event on May 10th. You can learn more here.

In 2001, Teri Hollowell, friend and supporter of ZBC, combined her passion for world travel and corporate event planning expertise, to create One World Partners, a company that stages international corporate events. "The corporations were often local, but wanted to create international events all over the world," explains Teri.

Thanks to Janelle Burchfield for giving us permission to share her story.

 "You're such a delicate creature. You need to think about all the delicacies of being a woman."
- Random Doctor, after tossing a breast implant at me

So, this was my most recent Me Too moment - navigating the male-centric world of cancer treatment.

I'd kept my diagnosis pretty private for the first couple of months while I processed, letting only those closest to me know. Some women are so brave to share their story, I haven't been one of them. I knew I didn't want this disease to own or define me, and so I’ve taken my time in deciding how to speak about it -and Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all the countless other women sharing their Me Too stories gave me some courage.

This inspiring post is from our Executive Director's cousin, Jo Gordon, with our thanks.

Several months after my dad died – 13 whiplash years ago – I was driving home from the gym one evening when a Josh Groban song began playing on the radio, Where You Are. Sitting at a red light, the mournful music washed over me. One verse gripped my heart, and squeezed and squeezed: Fly me up to where you are, beyond the distant star I wish upon tonight, to see you smile, if only for awhile to know you’re there, a breath away’s not far to where you are.

I started to cry in a way I hadn’t before – not on hearing the news of dad’s sudden death, not standing at his gravesite on a chilly Johannesburg morning as kaddish was recited, not at the prayer service that evening, not as I waded through his closet, setting aside small treasures and throwing out boxes of boxes and bags of bags; not even that impressive collection of emptiness that he had stored so fastidiously for so long had been my undoing. But this one line in this one song wrung me out.

Our homes are filled with plastics, and most of us don't really know what they're made of -- or whether they're safe. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has put together these tips to help you choose better plastics and plastic alternatives for your family:

• Why you should pick plastics carefully.
• How to choose and use safer plastics.
• Finding safer, non-plastic alternatives.

You are not alone if the social distancing requirements and complying with the need of living in a social bubble has left you feeling anxious, socially isolated and feeling depressed. You are among millions of people who are bearing the brunt of Covid-19’s psychological effects. Our exposure to the continuous feed of stimulating news and notifications over wifi devices, television and social media has made many of us, myself included, worry about the future. As a result, it has made us vulnerable emotionally and mentally. Adjusting to the new normal of being isolated was not easy. I found the thought of following the mundane routine daily with little or no avenues of recreation or in-person interaction made me anxious.

Waiting to see if your new pain, out of nowhere, will resolve itself. Waiting for the surgeon’s office to return your distress call. Waiting to hear when you can be squeezed into the jammed CT scan schedule. Waiting to eat because if they can fit you in today, you need to be fasting. Waiting in a room filled with other waiters, all stoically counting minutes until it’s their turn to be stuck, probed, imaged. The longest wait – waiting for results. Waiting for the medical team to decide what happens next. Listening to an internal clock, ticking in a terrible silence. Waiting.

The Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (BCERP) website aims to make the latest scientific findings on the relationship between environmental exposures and breast cancer both accessible and actionable. Consisting of a transdisciplinary consortium of scientists, the BCERP is funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Environmental Sciences (NIEHS) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). With community partners, the BCERP researchers look at how environmental exposures during key life stages may increase risk of breast cancer. (Full disclosure: ZBC was a community partner in the past.)

When dealing with breast cancer, and looking to prevent breast cancer, the vast amount of information and the decisions that need to be made can be overwhelming. In 1999, Dr. Marisa Weiss, a renowned breast oncologist, founded breastcancer.org to address these needs. As a non-profit organization, breastcancer.org is dedicated to providing the most reliable, complete, and up-to-date information about breast cancer. It is an excellent resource.  Their mission is to help women and their loved ones make sense of the complex medical and personal information about breast health and breast cancer so that they can make the best decisions for their lives. The people behind breastcancer.org bring with them a diverse set of skills and experience, from medical experts, writers, editors, and business development experts, to designers and web producers. A Professional Advisory Board (PAB) reviews all the medical information on the website. The PAB includes over 70 practicing medical professionals from around the world who are leaders in their fields. Breastcancer.org also provides a Spanish translation of its pages on the website.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit organization whose mission is “to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. With breakthrough research and education, we drive consumer choice and civic action.” By providing integrated and detailed information on toxins in a variety of products, EWG encourages readers to advocate for themselves and their health by making educated purchasing decisions. Their staff covers a wide variety of disciplines, including a team of scientists, policy experts, lawyers, communication experts and programmers all focused on reducing our environmental exposures. In the past, they have found that their education efforts have enabled the public to put pressure on companies to remove potentially hazardous chemical ingredients as well as improving their overall practices. Overall, they diligently work to inform the public, provide specific tips to reduce exposure, and influence policy to create a healthier world for us all.

If you are a survivor, previvor or caregiver affected by a hereditary cancer, have ever wondered whether you should pursue genetic testing, or have tested positive for a mutation and wondering what the next steps are, Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) has a website chock-full of information and resources. FORCE is a non-profit organization committed to promoting awareness, sharing current information, providing support, advocating for and supporting research, and building a community of research and medical experts to guide those who are dealing with hereditary breast, ovarian and related cancers. Whether you are new to the topic or well-informed, this website can provide useful information and support to guide your journey.

Many people who have had breast cancer experience pain or discomfort caused by damage to the nerves, known as neuropathy. Nerves control our sense of touch, how we feel pain and temperature, and our muscle strength, so these changes can impact our quality of life after cancer. While researchers have much to learn, we know about causes and some ways to manage it.

This is a continuation of the blog What is Breast Cancer-related Neuropathy? Part 1, which describes the kinds of nerve pain and other symptoms and begins the stories of several members of the Pathways breast cancer survivorship study whose stories are told here. The first part also describes how cancer and it's treatment can cause neuropathy.