I am still a woman - Confessions of a twice cancer survivor - my journey by Nina Ann McCurley

13th August I had my 6th surgery Nipples. Breast Cancer battle and many surgeries later. There were 2 bandage changes in the first 2 weeks. Fairly weird pains and stabbing pains, What I will tell you is that I hate surgeries, also that I get scared of how many I have had to have also. But I have coped really well I think, that is way too many surgeries in a small amount of time. Since the removal of the second lot bandages I have been bleeding most nights on the sheets, so much washing. So just a little tip and that is to lay on a towel or something to save your sheets, as my left side seems to bleed more than the right. But I will say after the double mastectomy my right side (the cancer side) did not heal for a much longer time.I think the girls take it in turn... I think I am finally recovering and trying to get back to normal. I know the stitches after 2 weeks are starting to dissolve slowly. I hope to be back and sailing soon, oh and i am missing housework and work!! (NOT) ...

Breast soreness is very common. It affects most women at some time in their lives. The degree of soreness, and where and how it is felt, differs for each woman. It might be sharp, stabbing, dull, throbbing or aching. It might be felt in all or part of the breasts, one breast or both. It can also affect the armpit area. For many women, the soreness is barely noticeable. For others, the pain is so great that it affects their everyday lives. Usually the condition goes away in time. The medical name for breast soreness is mastalgia. There are many reasons for breast soreness.  Most important is see your Doctor if you are worried :-)

This is really great! A lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1 (LPAR1) inhibitor, known as Debio-0719, suppresses the development of metastases in mice by inducing cancer cell dormancy, according to a study  published August 21 in the  Journal of the National Cancer Institute . Metastasis is a main contributor to mortality in cancer patients. Patients with “triple negative” breast cancer (tumour cells that are hormone receptor negative and express normal levels of the HER2 oncogene) are known to be at high risk for metastatic progression. In addition, breast and prostate cancers are known for having variable but possibly long periods of dormancy, where the disease is silent. Factors inducing or breaking a dormant state are poorly understood, but extending dormancy is considered a therapeutic goal. To determine the effects of LPA1 inhibition on metastatic dormancy, Jean-Claude A. Marshall, MSc., Ph.D. of the Women’s Cancers Section, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmaco...

As reported today by the independant: Not had this drug myself,  it's a real shame I think it should be covered. #iamstillawoman #cancer #survivor #drugs #whatdoido A drug will not be made routinely available on the NHS for women with breast cancer from today after a watchdog ruled that it does not help improve patients' quality of life or provide value for money. New guidance for doctors issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) does not recommend Avastin (bevacizumab) to treat women with the disease, it said. The drug works by starving cancerous tumours of blood and was being looked at as a treatment in combination with capecitabine, a type of chemotherapy, for breast cancer that had metastasised to other parts of the body. The advisory body said that making Avastin available on the NHS was not a good use of resources because of its high cost, and the lack of evidence to show patients would have a better quality of lif...

Gee Barbie has been around for along time, showing my age now. I had 1 Barbie doll and the fashion back then was fun and amazing. These days I looked at my nieces collection of 9 thinking how come you need so many? boy things have changed. This latest Barbie has all the stories saying its Drag Queen Barbie. I must say I love the fur and the shoes....also the shock factor! “ One of the great things about Barbie is that she continues to push the envelope,”  Cathy  Cline , vice president of marketing for Mattel’s girls’ brands, told  The New York Times . “ Barbie doesn’t worry about what other people think.” Just don’t expect to see Ken in a dress. Selling for a pricey $125 a figurine, the cross-dressing doll pretty much looks like the Barbie you have come to know and love: big blonde hair, big boobs, tiny waist and seriously wacked-out proportions. Her dress, however, was inspired by The Blonds’ “Blonde Legends” Fall 2008 collection and is quite remarkable and wou...

I am really excited about seeing my newly made nipples tomorrow. This time last week I was in hospital and not that long out of surgery. There is a lot of dried blood but I have managed to keep the plastic bandages and foam intact. I have tried to sleep on my back and that is not easy, but has kept everything intact. I am not sure what I am expecting tomorrow, excited but I guess it will look still a little bloody and lots stitches. Still some healing to do. But really I am thrilled another operation over, will let you know how I feel tomorrow. Sore but happy to be being rebuilt. I am thinking with all the expense and new body parts, I am just about the bionic woman... #bionicwoman #iamstillawoman #cancer #survivor #nipples 

I love shoes and Fashion, so of course I have an eye on fashion and Paris Fashion Week, oh and Manolo Blahnik shoes.. On and off the catwalk, Paris Fashion Week is one of the world's great spectacles. Mike Dolan discovers that the glamour, glitz and gossip often spills into the city's palace hotels and restaurants. WHEN NINA SIMONE SANG, "I love Paris in the Springtime", it's doubtful she was referring to the seven days of Paris Fashion Week, when the usual procession of Manolo Blahnik shoes and Prada bags becomes a stampede. Yet it's a time when the City of Light dazzles the world, like no other city can. "It's as if someone flicks a switch and all the lights burn brighter," says the concierge at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, one of the city's famous palace hotels and a favourite haunt during Paris Fashion Week. "It's when the Golden Triangle becomes a magnificent catwalk, when everyone on the Champs Elysées, rue de Rivo...

This happened 246 days ago. I have never even thought this would happen: The story of a woman’s right breast implant popping between her ribs during her workout is scaring the shit out of women everywhere who’ve contemplated doing Pilates. But it’s not the “Valsalva maneuver” that did it: While it’s true that breast implants can complicate certain types of exercise, her story is extreme, and was likely caused by a totally separate heart surgery that required an incision between her ribs. The 59-year-old woman, who hasn’t been identified for privacy purposes, had breast reconstruction surgery following a double mastectomy due to recurring breast cancer. As in other mastectomy patients, her implants were inserted between her pectoral muscles and rib cage, to appear more natural (due to the lack of tissue above the muscles). But where connective tissues would normally hold the implants in place, the patient had reportedly had also received heart surgery (unrelated to her br...

A little off the topic, today but I think this a very interesting story: (CBS News) A woman reportedly checked into a Chinese hospital because of an itchy ear that had bothered her for almost a week, only to find out a spider had taken up residence in her ear canal. The woman, "Mrs. Lee," went to the Changsha Central Hospital of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery for the procedure, according to Chinese media site  Rednet.cn. LiveScience  reports that the spider likely crawled into the woman's ear five days before her August 8 hospital visit. A scope of the ear revealed hairy spider with four eyes posing for the camera (pictured above). The Huffington Post  reports that the spider may have found its new home while Mrs. Lee slept in her home during renovations. According to LiveScience, the woman's doctors were concerned if they were to simply go in and try to remove the spider, it would "instinctively drill its barbs deeper, scratching the ea...

(CBS News) A male birth control pill advanced one step closer to reality, a team of cancer and fertility researchers  announced Thursday after their latest discovery.  Prescription drugs that lead double lives Sperm gene discovery may lead to male birth control, scientists say Scientists had been researching a small molecular compound called JQ1, which was meant to block a cancer-causing gene called "BRD4." The compound had previously been shown effective in staving off lung cancer and blood cancers, like leukemia and multiple myeloma, in earlier studies. Part of the problem with finding a male birth control pill is the challenge of getting a drug across the blood-testis barrier. Just like the blood-brain barrier regulates what cells and compounds come in and out of the brain, the blood-testis barrier physically separates blood vessels and the sperm-producing seminiferous tubules that are found in the testes. That's when Dr. James Bradner, an oncology resea...

  By Vanessa Renderman #stats #iamstillawoman #genetics #awareness Statistics show one in eight U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. That number hits much too close to home for Judy Rathjen. Rathjen, a supervisor in the business office at Methodist Hospitals, had breast cancer. Her mother has ovarian cancer, her paternal grandmother had breast cancer and a sister had uterine cancer. “I didn't know ovarian and breast cancer are linked,” she says. Rathjen, 54, was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in January 2007. “I had a spot on my mammogram four years prior to that, and it was being watched,” she says. When technology improved, the digital mammography helped doctors determine it was something more serious. "I didn't think it would happen to me, because they were watching it," Rathjen says. Her grandmother was diagnosed before age 40. “From what I've read, [if you're] under 40 or 50, there...

CBC news: Technology is amazing this came out  yesterday : A University of Manitoba physicist is the recipient of $434,000 in research funding from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation for a new method of detecting breast cancer using microwave technology instead of x-ray imaging. Dr. Stephen Pistorius is studying new methods for detecting breast cancer using microwave technology instead of x-ray imaging. Such low-power electromagnetic waves (about the same energy as a cell phone) could allow scanning for breast tumours without the need for breast compression. In a news release Wednesday, Pistorius said the technology is "expected to be more comfortable, safe and cost-effective, making it amenable for screening in remote and developing areas and for improving the accuracy of breast cancer diagnosis." Pistorius’ research proposal is one of eight projects aimed at earlier detection of breast cancer, receiving a total of more than $3.2 million in funding from th...

Description: DANSKO PROFESSIONAL PINK RIBBON SHOE http://www.zappos.com/dansko-professional-pink-ribbon Found these and thought what a great shoe, here is some information  Your heel should lift up and down with every step, so if you are a half-size you may be more comfortable sizing up  (for example, if you are a US 7.5, you may be more comfortable in an EU size 38). Support a good cause while putting your foot into all-day comfort, support and unmistakable style. High quality leather upper follows the natural contours of the foot. Box leather is ideal for the workplace environments with wet, acidic or greasy conditions. It has a smooth, clean finish with the natural irregularities removed. It is the easiest leather to maintain, and can be wiped clean with soap and water. Instep collar is generously padded. Roomy Thermoplastic toe box provides durable reinforcement and toe protection while allowing toes to move comfortably. Nonallergenic vegetable...

I can totally relate to Kathy, I also kept my first Cancer a secret. Mum had Ovarian cancer, I thought this was a great celebrity story to share. This is what Kathy said in March 2012 "I guess it's something I felt I had to face on my own. Now if I go through it again I think I'd be a lot more open about it. I admire people who have been open...like Melissa Ethridge and women I see walking around facing it without wigs," she said. "I think I would be more courageous this time." It sounds to us like Bates was pretty brave back then -- and we certainly hope that she never has to face cancer again. Bates has been in full remission since treating her ovarian cancer with surgery and chemotherapy. Though ovarian cancer is one of the more deadly, if detected early it can be treated. But because the symptoms -- bloating, fatigue, and lower back apin -- can mimic other benign conditions, ovarian cancer can difficult to detect an early stage. Bates ...

I thought I should share this crazy day with you, by the way my results were fantastic and perfect no seconadry cancer anywhere. That was a cause for a major celebration. They charge for these tests and it is an out of pocket expense, that means you dont get one cent back. The trick to most of these tests is that you pay. I was asked to pay upfront before having it as well. They said I would not be allowed to come back through reception so the money had to be done and the receipt would be waiting for me when I left. The PETSCAN starts with your medical hisatory and looking at all your old scans, if you are anything like me there will be a million of them...This took a half an hour. Then they put you in a room on your own for 1 hour while they pump the radioactive material into you. Then basically the test takes just under half an hour. So all up allow 3 hours and I was charged $400 I noticed that most places charge between $400 and $500. The petscan machine looks exactly like CT ...

Monday the 13th August was to see my 6th surgery and after a few delays it actually happened. A new hospital, I have been in quiet a few in the last 3 and a half years. I was admitted to Castle hill day Surgery. The staff were all really lovely! The operation was not far off the time. I was admitted at 1pm and discharged at 6.30 pm which was ok as I was settled at home and in good spirits. They made my nipples from my scar tissue. I think I have lost enough body parts now, that made sense to me to use something already there. This is day 3 and the pain is still there so I will stay on the painkillers for a little longer. I am padded up with foam and I think I may resemble Dolly Parton just a little (you have to always look at the funny side). Spent the whole day in bed yesterday, sleeping on my back is really hard I love to sleep on my tummy, but it will be a little while yet. I am having bandages off on next Tuesday, so I will see the end result then. I wanted to recommene...