Support for LateToSchool

[kelsmom]

<p>LTS, I role-played different situations with my kids when they were younger, so that they would be prepared to handle tough situations. They had ready-made <em>lines</em> for typical teen situations (friends drinking, that type of thing). Maybe you could prepare some lines of your own for future situations that might come up for you. I know it was hard for you to exit your calls gracefully … but you really should preplan a way to “get away” when necessary.</p>

[latetoschool]

<p>Kelsmom, I’m with you, I’m a fan of preventative preparation too, but, who in the world expects to uncontrollably POOP during a conference call? LOLOL.</p>

<p>It struck me that I should have said the fire alarm went off, but then I realized that the people who know me who were on the call would also know that I would pay zero attention to a fire alarm…ah well, live and learn. </p>

<p>Bobsmom, thank you for that. I’ll send a caregiver to look for that brand…meanwhile, I have also heard very positive things about glutamine, I think Boost has it as an ingredient…</p>

[kelsmom]

<p>LOL, LTS!!! I meant for NEXT TIME … if your life is like mine, preparing for it means it WON’T happen … which would be great, in this particular situation!</p>

[corranged]

<p>Think of it this way, Tucker Max was banned from all Embassy Suite hotels after having an “accident” all over the lobby while racing to the bathroom, and then he decided to recall the experience in very vivid detail for anyone to read! Tucker Max isn’t what I would call a good person, so read at your own risk. The relevant part of the story is near the bottom of the page, but here’s a quick preview:

Completely naked and covered in my own poop, I chuckle, because at this point if I don’t laugh I have to cry. As I open the bathroom door to the lobby, I think to myself, “Who else on earth could be having a worse night than me?”</p>

<p>My question is immediately answered.</p>

<p>I see a trail of ****, starting very wide at my feet, getting progressively smaller until it apexes at the chunky white shoes of none other than the small Mexican lady janitor.

[TuckerMax.com</a> | The Austin Road Trip](<a href=“http://www.tuckermax.com/archives/entries/date/the_austin_road_trip.phtml#281]TuckerMax.com”>http://www.tuckermax.com/archives/entries/date/the_austin_road_trip.phtml#281)</p>

[latetoschool]

<p>Thanks for that, C. At least I cleaned up my own mess!</p>

<p>Thanks for all of the food suggestions here, too. I feel a LOT better with the new foods and also with keeping everything as bland as possible, and I am eating more, too.</p>

[mikasauntie]

<p>Many thanks to LTS for being so willing to share and to others for offering so many helpful ideas. I am going to share some of the food ideas with my SIL who has Crohn’s. I’m sure others are also benefitting from this thread, probably in most unexpected ways.</p>

<p>Happy 4th</p>

[churchmusicmom]

<p>Ahh, LTS, you are priceless. My family and I are on a “road trip” right now from Atlanta to NYC to spend my daughter’s 21st b’day with her. Right this minute I am sitting in a darkened hotel suite with everyone else asleep around me…I am the early riser in the bunch. I caught up on the LTS “saga” and almost woke everyone up reading of your latest mis-adventure. Tears in my eyes kind of laughing. </p>

<p>Only someone with a heart as big as yours could share like that. You are beyond words.</p>

<p>Wishing you a glorious 4th! I am so glad your d is with you and I KNOW you will have a wonderful day!</p>

[4Giggles]

<p>LTS- Have a happy 4th with your daughter!!</p>

[epistrophy]

<p>and another</p>

<p>

**Dusty’s Blog</p>

<p>The purpose of this blog is to increase lung cancer awareness and to keep the people who care about me informed concerning my lung cancer diagnosis and treatment.</p>

<p>Friday, June 27, 2008**</p>

<p>Summer filled with advocacy work</p>

<p>Good things are happening in the realm of lung cancer.</p>

<p>If you haven’t seen the latest public service announcements about lung cancer awareness, brace yourself. They are eye-catching, provocative and powerful. The print ads feature a sunbathing gorgeous brown-eyed brunette in an itsy-bitsy yellow bikini.</p>

<p>But it’s not the woman’s swimsuit that’s provocative. It’s her lungs.</p>

<p>Her breasts have been removed and placed to the side. In their place is an image of her lungs with the message: It’s Time We Obsessed More Over Women’s Lungs. Text at the bottom of the ad drives the point home further. “Look Deeper. Nearly twice as many woman die of lung cancer than breast cancer today. Lung cancer takes more women’s lives than breast, ovarian and uterine cancer combined. Know the signs and symptoms.
<a href=“http://www.nationallungcancerpartnership.org/”[/url]”>http://www.nationallungcancerpartnership.org/”</a></p>

<p>I love it.</p>

<p>This organization, the National Lung Cancer Partnership, is doing amazing things. Last month the organization sponsored the first-ever Lung Cancer Advocacy Summit in Chicago. More than 50 participants from all of the lung cancer advocacy organizations, including Lung Cancer Alliance, Joan’s Legacy, Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, the Beverly Fund, CancerCare, LUNGevity and others.</p>

<p>The summit was dynamic, intense and emotional. It was heart wrenching to hear stories of mothers who had lost young daughters. One mother lost a 24-year-old daughter to lung cancer. Another lost her 19-year-old daughter to the disease. Both were from my state, North Carolina. The testimonies were incredibly moving. The sessions were action-packed with one top-notch panel after the next.</p>

<p>Immediately following the summit was the National Lung Cancer Partnership’s annual conference. There was an amazing amount of information packed into a four-hour session. One of the speakers was Dr. John Niederhuber, director of the National Cancer Institute. He took a few questions. Once was from Lori Monroe, one of the summit attendees who gave a report on the summit. Lori, who is also a lung cancer survivor, chided Dr. Niederhuber for not funding lung cancer research. (Lung cancer is grossly underfunded in terms of federal research dollars. For example, per death, research dollars are $1,638 for lung cancer and $13,519 for breast cancer.) Dr. Niederhuber took a lot of heat but—to his credit—he stated that if he were presented with a high-quality lung cancer research model, he would fund it. He said he would find the funding for the research.</p>

<p>I will take the man at his word—unless he proves his word is not worthy of my trust. I sent a follow up email to him. I also discussed it with my oncologist and encouraged him to pursue lung cancer research funding.</p>

<p>Back to the summit. Here are the topics we covered:</p>

<p>Lung Cancer 101
Joining Lung Cancer Research as a Consumer Advocate
De-stigmatizing Lung Cancer
How to Engage the Media in Lung Cancer
How to Navigate the Healthcare System
The Future of Lung Cancer Research
Understanding and Influencing the Legislative Process
Raising Awareness of Lung Cancer in Your Community</p>

<p>Things are happening here in North Carolina, too.</p>

<p>Plans for the upcoming Triad Free to Breathe 5K Race/Walk and Rally are in full swing. We are preparing a brochure/registration form and hope to start recruiting in earnest very soon. For now, please take a look at my fundraising page (if you don’t have one of your own). [National</a> Lung Cancer Partnership - Dusty Donaldson’s Fundraising Page](<a href=“FirstGiving is now part of Panorama by FrontStream”>FirstGiving is now part of Panorama by FrontStream)</p>

<p>I’ve been working on a multimedia presentation that captures the essence of the issues faced by those affected by lung cancer. I had the opportunity to show the presentation during an event at Duke University’s Nasher Museum. It was a cocktail reception fundraiser for lung cancer. At any rate, the presentation was a wonderful success. People seemed to be genuinely moved by the presentation. It was so gratifying for me because the project has been all consuming for me during the past few months—but worth every second. I hope to have the presentation—which I dubbed “Smokescreen”—posted on the internet soon. Right now the file is too large to distribute via email. Plus, the format requires the most current software. My daughter Kimberly is in the process of converting the files into a Flash file. Then we’ll break it up and post it on YouTube.</p>

<p>Here’s what is covered in the presentation. We start off doing a man on the street interview, asking kind of tricky questions: What is the No. 1 cancer killer of women? Then we asked about lung cancer screening. Dr. Jennifer Garst, a Duke lung cancer specialist and champion for the cause, was the voice of authority. She was awesome. To put a face on lung cancer, we were able to include the stories of people in my community. Anita Pardo, a member of my church, lost her husband this year. And Dan Kennedy lost his wife Julie to lung cancer about the same time. Both were never smokers and parents of small children. Their stories are powerfully moving. The presentation also includes a few lung cancer survivors and some images of a few who did not survive. Anne Wilson gave me a photo of her daughter Katherine who was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 24. Tammy shared her photo of her daughter Brittany who died last year at the age of 19. Finally, the presentation included a call to action, requesting support for the race.</p>

<p>One quick comment about the feedback from the Nasher viewing…Someone at the event runs the internal medicine resident’s clinic at Duke. She was moved by the presentation and requested a copy to show residents. That makes me so happy. Hopefully, young doctors will be encouraged to pursue lung cancer research. Or if nothing else, they have been given a personal perspective of the issues important to those affected by lung cancer. I cannot thank Anita and Dan enough for sharing their stories. Trust me…that was not easy for them to do.</p>

<p>I was able to participate in the recent North Carolina Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Summit recently. The person organizing the event is active in the NC Lung Cancer Partnership Education & Awareness Committee, which I chair. She asked for my help in organizing the first lung cancer break-out session. Also, I participated in a Minority Health Disparities roundtable last week. Blacks are disproportionately affected by lung cancer—both in terms of incidence and mortality—even when evidence indicates their smoke exposure is less than that of whites. One study shows approximately 50 percent higher rate of incidence and a 36 percent higher mortality rate for blacks.</p>

<p>At any rate, there is so much is happening. And it’s all good.
More later…</p>

<p>Thursday, May 08, 2008
Long awaited update</p>

<pre><code>All:

Yes, I am alive and well. I have not updated my blog for a couple of reasons. First, on a personal level, there was so much confusion from my doctors that, frankly, I didn’t know what to write. They all seem to be in agreement now that I am in excellent health.
</code></pre>

<hr>

<pre><code>And I have been so busy. But it’s all good. Enough excuses. Here’s what’s going on with me.

So much has happened since I last wrote. For starters, we’re putting together an event to raise lung cancer awareness. It is very exciting to be a part of this. Until we get a title sponsor we’re calling it Triad Free to Breathe 5K Race, Walk and Rally. It will take place November 15, 2008 (Lung Cancer Awareness Month) at Grandover Parkway, Greensboro, NC. The event will be inclusive of the entire Triad (Winston-Salem, High Point and Greensboro and surrounding communities such as Thomasville and Kernersville). It’s quite an undertaking but I trust everyone’s efforts will be well worth it. I will post a separate blog just on the 5K soon.

But I’ve got to tell you about the video we’re putting together. Dave Higaldo, a friend from my small group at church, volunteered to produce a promotional video to use as a tool to raise awareness about lung cancer and about 5K. That has been consuming a lot of my time (and Dave’s). Tomorrow we’ll complete the final scene and will get right to editing. Hopefully, it will be finished a week from tomorrow. Once it’s complete, I’ll post a link to the video on my blog.

Other exciting news is that I’ll be participating in a Lung Cancer Advocacy Summit in Chicago in a couple of weeks. About 50 summit participants will learn how to be more effective lung cancer advocates.
</code></pre>

<hr>

<p>Oftentimes, a cancer diagnosis causes you to reevaluate everything in your life. The things that seemed so important one day, become insignificant when you’re fighting for your life. After facing a life-threatening disease—and surviving the threat—priorities turn upside down.

</p>

<p>[Dusty’s</a> Blog](<a href=“Dusty's Blog”>Dusty's Blog)</p>

[latetoschool]

<p>Thanks for that. LOL. I have to say, I am very, very grateful for this thread. The food (and eating) suggestions from everyone have really helped a LOT - daughter did the grocery store yesterday with some content from some of the posts here, and, last night I felt better, and this morning I feel even better still. Of course, I am still very, very far away from feeling “good”, but, at least I am no longer in misery. I am actually sitting outside with my laptop, enjoying my coffee, and the flowers and the birds…I am so very grateful to not be miserable.</p>

<p>So thank you very much everyone, and thanks to the CC moderators for permitting this thread.</p>

[sueinphilly]

<p>it’s sites like cc and threads like this that make the inventors of the internet proud </p>

<p>Technology and people at their best</p>

<p>On today July 4th, imagine our founding fathers if they could see us now. </p>

<p>Imagine the Revolution on blackberries and IM!</p>

<p>LTS, all I can say is, you go girl!</p>

[zipyourlips]

<p>Happy Fourth, LTS. So glad your daughter is with you today!</p>

[ADad]

<p>

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.

</p>

<p>–William Arthur Ward</p>

[Faline2]

<p>darling LTS, you truly made me laugh, in a whoop way…isn’t being human a total trip? Dignity is a powerful thing though and baby you still got yours! How absurd that you were unable to disengage from your high level business call and you are in a position where you simply can’t go into detail with a posse of professional colleagues when you need to disengage. Honestly, Hollywood has nothing on you…I am thinking Diane Keaton could perform this scene most winsomely in a mere echo of your now very colorful real life perhaps? So glad your darling girl is there this holiday weekend and you could actually commune with the birds and the outdoors a bit today and enjoy your coffee without so much discomfort today.</p>

[latetoschool]

<p>Faline - LOL - when my mind wanders to all of the many ways that incident could have been sooooooo much worse - all I can do is laugh. :)</p>

[epistrophy]

<p>and more</p>

<p>

“Sister Oui”</p>

<p>My sister Ouida died at Christmastime. She was 73. She had been in an Atlanta area hospital for weeks, and a surgical procedure failed to rid her body of pain and poison. </p>

<p>The funeral home asked me, “Was she married?”</p>

<p>“Several times,” I told them.</p>

<p>“Divorced?”</p>

<p>“Several times.”</p>

<p>The first time Ouida married, she was 16 and ran away from home. She quit high school. It is a great advantage in life to have a big sister who can show you things not to do. Ouida was always a grown person to me. In my earliest memories, she is already a teenager. I did not know sister from shinola; she was one of my mommies. She was born Ouida Faye, a beautiful Southern double-name. My Daddy was the only one who called her Ouida Faye all his days; he did not abandon Southernisms lightly. “Ouida” is pronounced like the French “oui.” All of her little nieces and nephews, as they came along, called her “Aunt We.” Ouida had two beloved daughters, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.</p>

<p>Ouida was among those of us who smoked more than one pack of cigarettes a day for many too many years. She became a lung-cancer survivor. During her recent hospitalization, I talked to her about how I had been prepared in my mind several years ago for her death. But she was a tough old bird. I said to her, “At this point, I believe you may live to be 90, like Mother.” </p>

<p>Ouida said, “I’m sure as hell gonna try.”</p>

<p>For a while, it looked like Ouida would once again be discharged from the hospital and sent home. I observed one of her physical therapy sessions, a not very successful effort to stand her up from her hospital bed. “She’s lazy,” the doctor declared to me. Ouida died less than two weeks later. Madame Physician, first, do no harm. *****.</p>

<p>Ouida and I talked about plans for her to move to Florida to be near her daughters. She liked to talk about the future. She liked for me to hold her hand and rub her arm. I read her the blog I wrote about our eccentric mother. Ouida laughed till the tears rolled down her face. In her final few days, we communicated less well, between my deafness and her struggle to say anything at all. The last thing she said to me, and not for the first time, was, “I love you.” Not, “I’m in pain.” Not, “my life is over.” Not, “It’s time for me to lay this burden down.” But, “I love you.” The sweet taste of those words on her tongue and that thought in her mind and that feeling in her heart.

</p>

<p>[Paw</a> Paw Bill: Sister Oui](<a href=“http://cotter-b.blogspot.com/2007/12/sister-oui.html]Paw”>Cotter Pen: Sister Oui)</p>

<hr>

<p>

“Health Watch: Peachtree Runner Facing Lung Cancer”</p>

<p>Ana Alfaro-Correa spent years running just for fun, but she said she never gave the Atlanta-Journal Constitution Peachtree Road Race much thought until three years ago. That’s when Alfaro-Correa found herself facing a very frightening diagnosis of lung cancer. FOX 5’s Beth Galvin reports. Click on video for more information.

</p>

<p>[MyFox</a> Atlanta | Health Watch: Peachtree Runner Facing Lung Cancer](<a href=“http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6907832&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.5.1]MyFox”>FOX 5 Atlanta)</p>

[ADad]

<p>

Fall seven times, stand up eight.

</p>

<p>–Japanese proverb</p>

[latetoschool]

<p>ADad, I like that, it’s perfect! Epistrophy, thank you…</p>

[JEM]

<p>I have shared the appreciation in posts 3472 & 3473 with the Mod Team, and do agree that this thread demonstrates some of the best of what the internet can accomplish.</p>

<p>But LTS, the inspiration was and continues to be YOU! You will never know the full measure of the effect you have had on the many readers of this thread, in addition to the others in your life.</p>

[dbwes]

<p>I have never commented before but I lurk and read and send my thoughts and prayers.<br>
Today however I ran across this article in today’s Chicago Sun-Times about cancer and exercise. LTS, you are ahead of the curve.</p>

<p>

Research credits healing power of exercise in war against cancer</p>

<p>By Lindy Washburn</p>

<p>McClatchy-Chicago Tribune News</p>

<p>July 6, 2008</p>

<p>HACKENSACK, N.J.—The standard weapons in the fight against cancer—surgery, chemotherapy and radiation—may soon be joined by something far simpler: exercise.</p>

<p>New research shows that regular physical activity helps reduce the risk of recurrence of breast cancer and slows the advance of prostate cancer.</p>

<p>In a few years, exercise will probably be prescribed regularly for cancer rehabilitation, said Melinda Irwin, an expert on cancer and exercise at Yale University School of Medicine. Personal trainers may join oncologists, surgeons and radiologists as members of the cancer-treatment team.</p>

<p>Exercise will become a “targeted therapy, similar to chemotherapy or hormonal therapy,” Irwin said</p>

<p>Any regular physical activity—the equivalent of a 30-minute walk, five times a week—will do.</p>

<p>“Don’t think you have to work up a sweat or train for a marathon to benefit,” Irwin said.</p>

<p>Exercise offers many other advantages: It fights the fatigue caused by cancer treatment, calms anxiety and helps survivors feel better about themselves and their bodies. Some personal trainers now specialize in working with cancer patients and more will soon be certified through a program of the American College of Sports Medicine. There are 10 million cancer survivors in the United States, 22 percent of them women who have had breast cancer, 17 percent of them men who’ve had prostate cancer. Exercise makes sense for most of them—to live longer, avoid other health problems, and just feel better.</p>

<p>Heart attack patients are now routinely put on exercise plans. But workouts for cancer patients are neither prescribed by doctors nor covered by health insurance.</p>

<p>“We’re where cardiac rehab was 20 years ago,” Irwin said. Once exercise was shown through research to prevent fatal heart attacks, 12 weeks of rehabilitation became the standard of care for most heart patients. </p>

<p>One day, that will probably happen with cancer patients.</p>

<p>Even with a low level of exercise, people benefit psychologically, said Rita Musanti, an oncology nurse-practitioner at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey who earned her doctorate studying exercise and cancer recovery. With so many cancer survivors in the community, she’d like to see informal networks created to encourage recovering cancer patients.</p>

<p>‘Out of that slump’</p>

<p>Beth Wajts of Hillsdale, N.J., joined the Ridgewood YMCA’s free “Living Healthy, Living Strong” class in January after her second surgery for breast cancer, followed by chemotherapy and radiation.</p>

<p>“I cannot believe the way I walked in, and the way I walked out,” she said.</p>

<p>“I never believed I would get out of that slump,” Wajts said. “Now I feel incredible.”</p>

<p>Angelo Chiusano, 81, joined after 43 radiation treatments for prostate cancer and surgery for an aortic aneurysm. Thanks to the camaraderie in the weight room, “I’ve gained a new family,” the Oakland resident said. “It’s made such a difference in my feelings.”</p>

<p>After doing the weight-resistance circuit in the gym each session, he swam. “Then, when I go home, I walk a mile,” he said. He has continued his workouts even though the program has ended.</p>

<p>Researchers are working to understand how physical activity helps fight cancer. Their findings so far suggest that exercise:</p>

<p>• Reduces blood levels of insulin, a substance in the body that causes cells to divide and grow more quickly. Women with high levels of insulin have a slightly higher risk of breast cancer and a much higher rate of recurrence and death.</p>

<p>• Helps repair infection-fighting T-cells, restoring the immune system after it has been damaged by chemotherapy.</p>

<p>• Reduces levels of circulating estrogen and testosterone, two hormones linked with breast, endometrial and prostate cancers. Even with medication to suppress estrogen production, some estrogen is stored in fat cells. Exercise may help by converting fat to muscle.</p>

<p>• Prevents weight gain and promotes weight loss, important because obesity is associated with lower rates of survival for many forms of cancer. </p>

<p>Most of the scientific work so far has focused on women with breast cancer, simply because there are so many of them. But studies have also shown exercise has positive effects for survivors of colorectal and prostate cancers. Among men older than 65, three hours of vigorous activity a week was associated with a decline in death from prostate cancer.</p>

<p>Jump right in</p>

<p>Exercise is now considered so beneficial that cancer experts are even encouraging patients to begin or resume exercise while treatment is under way. Workouts might need to be scaled back, but “evidence strongly suggests that exercise is not only safe and feasible during cancer treatment, but that it can also improve physical functioning and some aspects of quality of life,” according to the American Cancer Society.</p>

<p>Lockey Maissoneuve, a 41-year-old personal trainer, went through two mastectomies and chemotherapy two years ago. She is now is training for a triathlon.</p>

<p>“If you’re in treatment, the first week or two you try to do anything, you need to take a nap,” she said. “If there’s a day you want to exercise, do it.”</p>

<p>Wearing a wig was uncomfortably hot in the gym, so she switched to a kerchief. With her immunity reduced by chemo, she wiped down the equipment before she used it. </p>

<p>“The trainer is almost like your bodyguard,” said Julie Percy, of Parisi Sports Club in Midland Park, N.J., who also specializes in work with cancer patients. “We maneuver you to the right equipment, give you a sense of security.”

</p>