The neighborhood is starkly splendid. Luxury homes stand cheek by jowl in proud, pretentious rows. Identical double garage doors stare down identical concrete drives. They give the street an industrial flavor. Entry doors and upstairs windows feature variations on a single great-big-fancy-house theme. Each house has its own pool in a lofty screen-room at the back. Each has a newly installed lawn in front. There are no trees. The mailboxes all match. They wait, like uniformed prison guards, for mail that never comes for families who will never occupy the MacMansions of this eerie Orlando, Florida subdivision.

Nearly all the houses are empty. Tourists like us occupy a few. One in five is for sale. Walking the neighborhood our first night I think of the Stepford Wives. Blue alien eyes with glowing white pupils watch me and my clueless canine companion, Fluffy, from behind drawn curtains. Fluffy the guard poodle leaves a personal memento of his visit on one of the identical lawns. I consider retrieving it as I would in an inhabited neighborhood. But we are in an opulent wilderness. I leave it without guilt. Nobody lives here.

I’m visiting this strange land with my family, brothers, sisters, mom and kids. We’ve gathered in rented magnificence to see my baby sister for what will probably be the last time. She is here with her family through an act of kindness by a final-wish foundation. The foundation is paying for her trip from Utah.

My sister’s three children are the perfect age to enjoy the wholesome deceptions of Disneyworld. My sister is here to indulge her children in kindly illusion. She is here to bless the family she grew up in with her courage and grace for one last Christmas. My sister has no illusions. She is dying of cancer at age 40. She has fought it for many years with determination, fortitude, courage and irrepressible good humor. The fight is in the final rounds. She is way ahead on points but the knockout is inevitable.

What better place for gentle deceptions and dreams of happy endings than the city that sprung up like a forest of magic beanstalks around Disneyworld? We are here to amuse and fool her children and ours. We are here to confirm the truths that exist in fairy tales.

When we first see her she is walking around, smiling, tending the kids. Hey, wow, she’s not sick! She’s fine. She makes cancer jokes. She’s the same bright girl we’ve always known. She cracks wise about her disease like it’s a slimy stalker, a bumbling loser who can’t get over her and won’t leave her alone. He sends twisted love letters. He peeks in between the curtains at night. God, what a creep. Where is he, Meg? Just point him out. Uncle Brian and I will have a little talk with him. We’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you.

But we can’t get rid of him. He doesn’t show his face while we’re around. Megan looks fine. But she needs a lot of hardware to keep this guy away. Special gear. Special drugs. Needles. Lots and lots of pills. Pill bottles like lures in a tackle box. She has to sit down pretty soon. Pretty soon again she’s shivering. Too soon she has to go back to her room.

We don’t talk about the creep. We wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. We’re here in fantasyland to celebrate the eternal truths, not to glorify the bad guys. But in this fairy tale brothers can’t fight for the princess. Cinderella had help. Snow White had seven tough little guys looking out for her. The hunters who got such a bad rap in Bambi were heroes for Little Red Riding Hood. With a little help, fairy tale heroines all lived happily ever after. It doesn’t seem right. The creep makes a nuisance of himself. My sister is in the hospital half the time now.

My sister’s too weak to come along when aunts and uncles take the kids to World after World. We trudge from ride to ride like serial lovers wandering between bad romances. Each time the anticipation is long and painful, the act trying and ridiculous, the pleasure fleeting and unsatisfying. If Dante had visited a theme park the Inferno would have had a level known as Hell World. The kids seem to enjoy it. On the way home the game of 20 questions is hilarious. Nobody guessed Aaron, 10-year old Eli’s first grade pen pal from Connecticut. The goat joke brings down the house. I have to pull over. I’m laughing too hard to drive.

Home again the creep has his muddy boots on the sofa. He ignores our threats. Our sister is back in the hospital. We know the creep will be leaving soon with her worn out body. We can’t scare him off. That’s all he’ll get, though. Her kids, her courage, her laughs and her love stay here with us, happily ever after.

You can find more of Hal’s essays at http://www.the-extremist.com

In our world today, breast cancer is one of the most common diseases and causes of death mostly among women. Breast cancer also occur in men though it is less common since the breast is being composed of identical tissues in both males and females.

In the early stage, breast cancer can be in form of painful lump and at times be presented as breast pain. It can also come as inflammation when it is associated with the skin. In this case the breast tumour itself is causing inflammatory reaction of the skin and this causes a lot of pains, swelling, redness of the breast and also warmth throughout the breast.

In addition to this, changes in the shape and appearance of the breast is also suspicious to breast cancer. Before the arrival of X-ray of the breast (mammography) breast cancer is mostly discovered as not showing the evidence of the disease before the symptom comes to existence, which means that the X-ray helps a lot to detect this deadly disease earlier.

Though not all the breast symptoms turns out to be breast cancer but skin changes of the nipples is one of the late manifestation of cancer. At any age, the appearance of any breast symptom should be taken seriously by both the patient and the doctor meanwhile there may be possibility of breast cancer in any breast symptom.

Furthermore, breast cancer orgasms that spreads beyond original organ through blood surface, and this causes symptoms that depends on the location of the organ. These common organs include the brain, liver, lung bone etc though the symptoms on these organs may occur as a rusult of illnesses or disease.

Recommended: Visit NewBreast Cancer Awareness And Information for more information on how to protect your self from the deadly disease.

Of the various different types of cancer that people are now getting, breast cancer is one of the more treatable of them. But it is important that if a woman wants hers to be treated effectively it needs to be detected in the very early stages of growth. In fact because of the way it can be detected today breast cancer is considered to be one of the more favorable forms of cancer that can now be treated.

When it comes to detecting cancer of the breast in its early stages is by doing a breast examination or using a mammography as these are the more favored methods. In fact in studies carried out the smaller the breast cancer once it has been detected then there is a much higher chance the person with it will survive.

Certainly women are now being told it is extremely important that they carry out regular breast examinations on themselves as they will be more aware of any changes to their breasts. But also if there is a history of breast cancer in the family then having regular mammograms will help to ensure that detection of the disease can often be found during its much earlier stages of formation. In fact both examinations and mammograms are now used as the basis for detecting breast cancer in women today.

But a lot of women will be wondering just how often they should under go a breast examination or mammogram in order to help to see if they have this form of cancer or not. Certainly with breast examinations a woman could carry out this for herself each week and the best place to do this is when you are having a shower.

As for mammograms in the USA the ACS (American Cancer Society) recommend that women have their first mammogram when they reach the age of 40. This will then be used as a base reading and after this they will need to have a further mammogram test each year. However the ACS do suggest that with those women who are at a much higher risk of developing this form of cancer or suffer from any other type of breast problems. Then they should have their first mammogram at the age of 35.

A mammogram uses an x ray machine which is then able to detect cancer in a woman’s or even sometimes in men’s breasts. These machines are able to detect the cancer at its earliest stage when it is very small and would not be detected using the more traditional breast examination.

Today around 85 to 90% of all the breast cancer now be detected and treated have been found using the mammogram test. This in turn has helped to reduce the number of women dying from this form of cancer by up to 30% of those women over the age of 50 who are found to have it.

Although mammography does help to detect breast cancer in most women, there is a small percentage (10-15%) whose form of breast can not be detected using this method. Yet upon carrying out a physical examination it can so it is vital that all women learn the correct way of examining their own breasts for signs of breast cancer. Certainly it is best that a woman does carry out an examination of her own breasts on a monthly basis and if she feels that there may be a problem can as her doctor to then carry out a physical examination as well.

Although discovering that you or are loved one has breast cancer is a horrifying experience, no longer does it mean a your life is at an end. At Cancer Report we provide helpful articles and guides that will help to make dealing with this form of cancer much easier to handle.

According to classic legend, the Amazon warrior women would remove a breast in order to be able to draw a bow and arrow unhindered. In fact, the word “Amazon” derives from the Greek amazoi, meaning, “without a breast.” And though most breast cancer survivors today do not voluntarily have a breast removed, they are called upon to be mighty warriors in their own right. If given the right tools, encouragement and support, they can persevere and conquer just as thoroughly as the legendary Amazons did.

Often times breast cancer survivors, and their friends and loved ones as well, are at a loss as to what to say or do. They are scared, they are disoriented, and they are unsure of what the future holds or indeed if there will even be a future for them. Because of this insecurity and uncertainty, organizations like The Amazos Society were formed to lend much needed emotional support to survivors and their families.

The Amazos Society was formed by Carla Wells, a seven plus year breast cancer survivor who knows very well what it is like to face the fear and the uncertainty and the just plain ugliness of breast cancer. Physically and emotionally drained, Ms. Wells found herself fighting a losing battle to hold on to her giftware business of fifteen years while at the same time trying to hold on to her very life. Seventeen hundred miles away from friends and family, and forced into a position of being without health insurance, she indeed had to call on the inner strength of the Amazon warrior to see her through.

Inspired by her own tough battle, Ms. Wells decided to encourage and motivate others living with the horrors of breast cancer to not only defeat their disease but go on to live even better lives than before. So she used her artistic talents to design a line of twenty-four greeting cards containing very personal messages just for the breast cancer survivor. The cards, containing beautiful art and messages ranging from the inspirational “Fight for your dream” to the encouraging “You are not alone” to the lighthearted “Eat dessert!” can be purchased as gift or donated subscriptions by visiting http://www.www.theamazossociety.com.

Those who do not personally experience breast cancer, though they are sympathetic to what the breast cancer survivor is going through, often simply cannot relate to their fears and struggles. But they can choose to encourage them, and let them know they are not alone, by drawing on the talents and insights of others who have been there, such as Ms. Wells. The more emotional support and love these “warriors” receive, the more will to fight they will have.

There is a lot of help out there for breast cancer survivors in the form of research, fund-raising activities and local groups. However, it means a great deal to them to receive something much more personal. Something that brings encouragement to a woman right where she needs it– in her soul. That is something that The Amazos Society is determined to do, powerfully and simply.

As Ms. Wells states, “We do not get to choose whether or not we get cancer. But we can choose to fight. I do not want even one woman to ever stop fighting.”

And neither should you.

Encourage a Breast Cancer Survivor or Donate a Card Subscription on behalf of a loved one by visiting http://www.theamazossociety.com. Carla Wells is seven-year breast cancer survivor whose goal is to encourage others like her to persevere and prosper.

Breast Cancer has affected millions of people around the world. It’s the leading type of cancer in white women, and the number one cause of death of African American women. And there’s still no cure. With October just a few weeks away, it’s still possible to participate in the fight for a cure. Motivators.com has several items available in their breast cancer awareness section and for each order placed, 10% of the sale is donated to the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research fund. There are several ways to get involved and do your part in the fight against breast cancer using pink items!

Breast Cancer Awareness Giveaways

It’s a common fact that everyone loves free stuff. If they get it they’re not going to question it. If it’s a popular item, they’ll clamor for it. You don’t need to break on the bank to raise awareness. Try getting something that will stay in people’s sight line and that they can use all year round. An ideal item for the
office is the translucent pink power clip. Not only can it hold several papers together, but its magnetic backing allows it to be stuck to filing cabinets and magnetic boards. Another office friendly Breast Cancer awareness item is the Breast Cancer Awareness Post It note pad. The 4 x 6 pads, available with either 25 or 50 sheets, feature the pink ribbon. Because Post-It notes are usually thrown away after they’ve done their purpose, pair them with a pink pen and you’ve got a great giveaway.

Breast Cancer Walk A Thons

One of the most common events during Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a walk a thon. Breast Cancer walks happen all over the country and it’s a great way to raise money for a cure. Even if you’re not a walker, there’s still ways to get involved by using breast cancer awareness products. The most common way is to sponsor someone or a team. But go beyond just giving money. Provide the team with imprinted pink apparel, like a pink t-shirt with your corporate logo on it. Give walkers a breast cancer awareness water bottle to help quench their thirst along the way. An imprinted pink pedometer will help them see just how many steps they’ve taken for a great cause, not to mention how many calories they’ve burned!

Fundraising Items

Fundraisers are a great way to collect money for breast cancer awareness. Imprint a logo or message on an item and sell it. Then donate the proceeds to the charity of
your choice! Pink ribbon lapel pins. pink ribbon key chains and breast cancer awareness bracelets are just a few items that could be sold to not only raise awareness, but help raise money for the cause. Add your company logo to a tote bag or sport towel and sell them at a charity fundraiser. Not only will you be raising money for a great cause, you’ll be branding your logo as well!

Thank You Gifts

After your event is over, be sure to thank those who donated generously of their time and of their wallets! Send or give them a simple gift to show your appreciation.
Send a simple thank you letter to donors, with an enclosed breast cancer ribbon magnet and a breast self exam chart to remind them of the importance of self testing all
year round. For corporate sponsors who gave larger donations, try sending a box of gourmet cookies wrapped with a pink ribbon to the office or a refillable Breast Cancer Awareness
Jelly Bean Dispenser.

Sarah Shepherd is a e-marketing specialist for Motivators, Inc., a Long Island based promotional products distributor. The company’s website, Motivators.com boasts over 30,000 e-commerce enabled promotional products. 10% of every order placed on items in Motivator’s Breast Cancer Awareness Section will be donated to the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, a Long Island based breast cancer foundation.

One out of eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer at some time in their life. This could be your mother, sister, grandmother,niece,cousin, friend or coworker. Men can even get breast cancer but at a much smaller percentage. The statistics are real and it appears that most women know someone personally or through a contact who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. The sad part is that at least 60 percent of women do not do a monthly self breast exam. It is unbelievable that this simple exam, which you have control over, can help with early detection and treatment and most women are not performing it. Another astonishing fact is that many women do not get their annual mammography as suggested for their age and/or a significant family history. Early detection of breast cancer saves at least 80 percent of lives.

You need to know what your breasts look and feel like to be able to recognize any irregularities for early detection and treatment which can save your life. Breasts are changing organs, which means they are changed by fluctuations in your hormones and due to age. Lack of knowledge is something that needs to be avoided in order to fight breast cancer and win. When I surveyed a group of women and asked why they did not do self breast exams the most common answers were I do not know how to properly perform it and I am afraid I might find something. In this case ignorance is not bliss. Let alone a persons life is their greatest gift and we all want to live with quality of life as opposed to fear and debt. We as women need to take personal responsibility for our life and do everything we can to take our lives in our own hands.

The good news is that there are strategies you can use to help avoid or if you have been diagnosed with breast cancer have a better survival rate with proper lifestyle modifications. Reduce you risk of developing or reoccurence of breast cancer by maintaining a healthy height weight ratio, limit alcohol, do not smoke, eat from the five food groups in proper portions and calories, daily physical activity, perform monthly breast self exam and annual mammography and clinical breast exam by your physician. The FDA as approved a new device that helps magnify your touch go to www.investinyourbreasts.com for more information.

Patricia McGowan RN,BSN,CSHE is a graduate of Villanova University. She is a wellness specialist, motivational speaker and president of IIY,LLC an Integrated Wellness Consulting Company. The website is http://www.IIYHealth.com

The spread of breast cancer depends on its size and how far it has spread is the most important factor to use in predicting the chances of survival of a woman with this deadly disease. Detecting breast cancer as early as possible improves the probability that the treatment will work or be successful.

Personal self examination of the breast is one of the ways to detect breast cancer. Physical examination maybe by doctor or phisician also help to detect this dangerous disease mostly among the women.

The risk of getting breast cancer increases with age just because the wear and tear of living increases the risk of genetic abnormality, or some mistake, which develops to a stage that your body does not find easy to fix up with.

Apart from the above, personal history is also another way or factor where by breast cancer recurrence or the formation of a new breast cancer can be detected. To cut the story short, if there is any way you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, the chances of developing it again is higher than when you had never had this deadly disease.

Again, family history of breast cancer can have a significant impact on your chances or risk of getting such, but you should not automatically believe that if there is any case of breast cancer in your family that means you are a high-risk candidate for such.

Early detection of breast lump also helpst o protect women ffom this disease thought not all breast lumps causes cancer but if not detected earlier can cause this deadly disease. To avoid this, women are adviced to self examine their breast and if any lump, which did not disappear after menses is been noticed, such should be reported to a doctor or physician to avoid it developing to this deadly disease.

Recommended: Visit NewBreast Cancer Awareness And Information for more information on how to protect your self from the deadly disease.

Drinking green tea may help defend women from getting breast cancer. This is a good news from a study by researchers at the Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health. According to the statistics the incidence of breast cancer in regions where green tea is consumed in large quantities, notably China and Japan and India is much lower than in western societies.

Green tea is accredited with a wide variety of health benefits. One important effect that green tea seems to have is to fight and/or prevent breast cancer. Green Tea contains EGCG (epigallo catechin gallate) one of the most powerful antioxidant of the polyphenol family.

When it comes to treatment and prevention of breast cancer , it’s the polyphenols that are important. Green tea has the highest bioavailable amounts of these antioxidants. Of all the different polyphenols. EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) is a very powerful antioxidant and is believed to be an important player in the cancer preventing and fighting qualities of green tea. How it works is still unclear, but it may inhibit cell replication enzymes (preventing cancer growth) as well as other cellular processes that are too complicated to get into.

PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST BREAST CANCER - MOST POWERFUL ANTIOXIDANT COMBINATION

In various studies, rats with breast tumors were given green tea to drink and compared to similar rats that only drank water. The green-tea-rats had reductions in tumor size, and new tumors were slower to develop.

Japanese scientists of the Saitama Cancer Research Institute have done considerable study of the delay of cancer onset with the consumption of Green Tea. The study shows that early stage breast cancer spreads less rapidly in women with a history of green tea consumption. As a result, there is a lower recurrence rate and a longer disease free period.

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VITAMLIN THE BLOCKBUSTER ANTIOXIDANT FIGHTS BREAST CANCER

Brest cancer is the most common cancer among women. Usually, the body creates healthy, normal cells, but if a cell changes into an abnormal, harmful form, it can divide quickly and making many copies of itself, a tumor, abnormal body cells form a lump.

If you are a woman and live an otherwise full and healthy life, there is about a 15% chance you’ll develop breast cancer by the age of 90. That may not sound like a lot, but as far as cancer risks go that’s one of the highest out there. The best thing you can do to lower that risk is to frequently go in for a breast cancer test.

Risk factors to get breast cancer: genetic makeup or internal environments, hormones, illnesses, and feelings and thoughts. The external the food, water, air, smoking, and medicines, home, workplace.

The 15% likelihood of developing breast cancer is slightly skewed in that you are actually much more likely to get it if there is a history of such cancer in your family, and significantly less likely to develop it if there isn’t. This is good news if you don’t have any one in your immediate family that had breast cancer, but unfortunately many families do have such a history. With or without a family history, you still need to stay vigilant and go in for breast cancer tests regularly.

Regular mammograms with self-exams are the best ways for women to protect themselves.
The breast cancer test I’m referring to is of course your basic mammogram. Unpleasant, uncomfortable, and only a few steps away from medieval torture, it is the most effective affordable breast cancer test available. Waiting for symptoms to develop before getting treatment is a bad idea, as symptoms don’t usually become clear until the cancer is already in its later stages of growth. In these later stages, it is harder to treat, and it is much more likely to have spread throughout the body. So mammograms may be unpleasant, but terminal cancer is definitely worse.

It’s also important to develop some breast cancer tests of your own, that you can do on a regular basis in between mammograms. As soon as you hit puberty, it’s a good idea to conduct self breast cancer tests as this begins the period where your chances of getting breast cancer begin. Most cases of breast cancer are in women over 40, but there are a number of cases found in girls as young as early teens every year. Also, most people don’t realize that breast cancer can also occur in men! While it’s limited to about one percent of the total cases, there are still more men than you’d think that are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

Since your chances for survival are so much better if breast cancer is found early, keep up with the breast cancer tests! Don’t panic if you find a lump; most of the time it is something benign, and lumps are often common in women undergoing hormonal shifts.

Believing in good balanced diet, taking vitamins and minerals. Daily exercise, yoga, stretching, breathing exercises, drinking enough water, meditation, relaxation, positive thinking, and trying to be happy.

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The breast cancer survival rate for Stage 4 breast cancer is much lower than for breast cancer detected at earlier stages.

Stage 4 breast cancer, or advanced breast cancer, has metastasized to other tissue including bone tissue, lung tissue, or the liver. When breast cancer has overwhelmed the body’s natural defenses and spread this far by the time the cancer is first diagnosed, the 5-year survival rate drops to 16%-20% in the United States (American Cancer Society).

Up to 5% of white women in the U.S., and up to 9% of black women have advanced breast cancer spread to distant tissue at the time of first diagnosis (SEER). This difference is usually attributed to poverty and lack of health insurance.

In general, women who have advanced breast cancer at the time of diagnosis live approximately 18 months after diagnosis (median survival rate). Those who are still alive five years after their diagnosis of advanced breast cancer can live an additional 3.5 years (median survival rate) according to the American Cancer Society.

Since this is the most deadly category of breast cancer, it is important to work closely with all the health care providers. New treatments are being developed all the time, and second, or even third opinions may give the patient more information about newly discovered successful solutions.

Early detection is clearly the most important factor in breast cancer survival rates. Breast cancer detected at Stage 1 while it is still localized to the breast has a survival rate of 98%-100%, while metastasized breast cancer first detected at Stage 4 drops down to 16%-20%.

Early detection procedures must include monthly self-examinations done at the same time each month. From age 20-40, healthy women should have clinical breast exams performed by their health care providers every three years. After age 40, the breast exams should be annually and should include a mammogram or similar procedure.

North American white women have the highest rates of breast cancer in the world, but the 5-year survival rate for all stages (Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, and Stage 4) combined is 88% for the U.S. A recent study found European countries have lower 5-year breast cancer survival rates, with England at 77.8% and Ireland at 76.2% (Lancet Oncology).

The difference in these survival rates is usually attributed to life-saving early detection.

For more information on research showing increased breast cancer survival rates, see http://www.green-tea-health-news.com/breast-cancer-survival-rate.html

Sharon Jones has over 40 years training and experience in science, mainstream health care, and alternative health care. Her website is http://www.green-tea-health-news.com