the C word

M. is my Aunt's best friend, my redheaded Aunt from a family of redheaded women- including my mother- and M. herself has red hair. I've known her since I was 5 and just found out a few years ago she dyes her hair red. I'd never have guessed. M. was divorced a few years ago and lives with her 13 year old son. Nine years ago, M. had breast cancer. aggressive carcinoma Her mother died after a hard battle with breast cancer when M. was a young girl. And now, M.'s cancer is back. In her 'chest wall' as doctors call it.

Kate McRae is the little blonde beauty in my sidebar, the one I asked you to pray for. The prayers are for her little body, which has been invaded with brain cancer, at the stem of her brain, thick with blood vessels that cannot be surgically removed. Kate just finished with her 4th round of chemo, and had the follow up MRI. It was not good. The tumor shrank. That's it. It's not gone, and it's not even dramatically shrunk. This is horrible, horrible news for her parents, her family. I can't begin... to imagine. I go there and shrink back at the curtains, shying from the true enormity of horror you must feel when your child, your baby, is being attacked and killed from within and you can't stop it.

We all, all know people like this, stories like these. They are at once intensely personal and universally shared. We might have gone through it ourselves. I know a few fellow bloggers who have had cancer in the past, and a few who fight it now. I had a scare in the past, one of the worst weeks in my entire life, when the large, 6 centimeter chunk hanging off my ovary was deemed ' possibly cancerous by my doctor because of it's complex appearance. I had an MRI, and waited. I waited in panic. Terror. Not for my own life, but leaving my children? Before they are grown? We all face that fear, as parents. It's one of many. My cyst turned out to be the result of Endometriosis, and that diagnosis began my journey into the world of health, nutrition, alternative medicine. Turning my body towards health, towards life.

I spent the first few months of my research in a mounting panic. Reading about all the things in our world that we have created- things we press against our skin, put in our mouths, rub into our scalp, soak into our skin, wrap round our babies, enter the bodies of our children- which cause cancer left me feeling helpless, terrified. My cancer risk is higher than the average person because I have Endometriosis. Melanoma risk goes up over 60% for those with Endometriosis, for example. I also smoked from 15 until 30 ( with the exception of my pregnancies ) and spent my childhood saturated in the chemicals brought up by a chronic state of fear. All risks.

What I could do to help my body heal, what I could do to prevent my family from being exposed to so many cancer causing agents- that became my mission. I'd like it to be yours. Cancer cannot be ' prevented ' one hundred percent, of course not. Genetics definitely play a role, especially with certain cancers. Certain obvious factors- smokers, daily drinkers, weight, working with radiation- affect risk. There are risks that can't always be nullified- air pollution, power lines, water - but there are many that can.

In doing research for Endometriosis, I learned about the connection between chemicals and cancer in many household and beauty products. Parabens was a word I found popping up over and over in my reading. Parabens are in almost every mainstream product imaginable : soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, makeup, etc. In small amounts, parabens have been proven to be safe. But the accumulative effect is a growing concern, and many now believe that parabens, and many of their counterpart chemicals, greatly increase cancer risk. I replaced my shampoo, conditioner, soaps and lotions with chemical free ones. Often, products will say ' paraben free '
on the front. I buy mine at Henry's or Whole Foods. The risk of putting these chemicals on and into children on a daily basis is truly scary. Their immune system functions differently than adult immune systems, as do their organs.

The chemicals in laundry detergents and household cleaners are also risky. The 'safe' cleaners keep getting better every year, and I've found clean just as well most of the time. I use Nature's Way and Method. Luckily, Method has been mass marketed and you can find it at Target.

Eating whole foods, largely organic, was a natural step for me after reading over and over about the pesticides and hormones put on and into our foods. We are literally creating medical problems never seen before because of how we make food and what we eat. Young men are getting a disorder in record, never before seen numbers, which is basically an endocrine disorder which causes enlarged breast tissue, among other things. There is a direct correlation between this disorder and the hormones in our meats and milk. There is also a direct correlation between the hormones in meat and milk and young girls getting their periods and breasts younger and younger. Hormone balance plays a HUGE role in many cancers, and a healthy hormone balance is essential to every part of a healthy body, including thyroid production. Know anyone with a thyroid problem? I bet you do. Irritable Bowel Syndrome, among many other gut related diseases, used to be considered a problem of aging. Gastro's saw patients primarily in their fifties and above. Now, patients are in their 30's, even 20's, with these gut issues, brought on in large by eating diets large in processed foods, fat, sugar and wheat, and hormone imbalances, which are brought on by... the connections start to become so clear, the more you read. The gut houses what is called the second brain of the body, where many hormones are released. This is why so many people get a stomach ache when they are upset, and why if our hormone balance becomes compromised, so does our immunity.

Certain foods are more important to eat organic than others, based on how processed they are and if the pesticides 'sink' into the food. There are lists easily found online. Meat and milk is especially important to buy organic, hormone free. Lunch meat has a direct link to cancer because of the preservatives used in it. I had a friend, Lena, who was a scientist who worked on cancer, and she said no one in her lab. ate sandwich meats or wore deodorant, because in the community of scientists, it's known that despite what the press says, there is a link between these things and cancer.

I also know a woman who works with plastics, and refuses to let her daughter eat off anything plastic, including her bottles, which are glass, or chew on plastic toys. This woman told me she had no problem with plastic until she took the classes required for employees of this plastic company, and learned about what plastic is made of, what it does to your food, how it reacts to heat, and what it can do to your body.

So next? Yeah. I replaced all our plastics with glass.

Cancer and autoimmune disorders are becoming prevalent. Long ago, when I was born, Silent Spring was written, and it was all laid out. If we keep poisoning our environment, she wrote, we will poison ourselves.

I can't prevent it. But I'll be damned if I invite it into my body, or into my home.

Stay healthy, friends. And if you have a moment, please pray for Kate McRae.