The Blog: Laments From La Mancha

Mélaine and I are hosting our first ever brown bag session this afternoon for faculty. So with the help of Eric & YouTube, we made the following video:

So there you go.

And this my friends is why Big Bang Theory is the best new comedy this fall:

Hello, Steph here. You may know me from such Webisodes as “Vegas 2006″ and “Seekers/Karoake Singing”. Bob asked me to guest blog about October & Breast Cancer Awareness. Breast cancer, luckily, is killing fewer and fewer people. The medical advances are helping detect it sooner, and are giving people more treatment options.

Now we’re going to talk about boobs.

Earlier this year, my mom had her routine mammogram, and found out she had breast cancer. “I feel fine,” she kept saying to us. She kept trying to feel the tumor inside of her, but it was so tiny, it escaped self-exam (it ended up being 4mm). It was distressing to think that she could go about her normal daily life feeling perfectly healthy, and not know that a tumor was growing inside her. My shock was not finding out the news she had cancer, but rather the realization when immediately after surgery, the surgeon told us they had found that it had spread to her lymph nodes. It finally sunk in that it was cancer – a spreading, deadly sickness. It was not like a bad tooth that could be yanked. I suddenly felt very vulnerable; I had not even considered up to this point that as the daughter of someone with breast cancer, I was at a higher risk now. I ended up doing a self exam, and finding something. My doctor felt it, too, so I found myself getting my first mammogram at the age of 32. I cried the entire time I was being smooshed (it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be), and I almost collapsed in relief when the technician told me the doctor saw nothing. It ended up that I have fibrocystic breast changes (perfectly normal boob activity).

It taught me an important lesson. I must, without fail, examine myself every month. “But,” I asked my doctor, “What am I looking for?” I could poke and prod and not ever know what I was feeling. So she informed me that I was feeling for a change. This is why it is so important to GET INTO THE HABIT AT A YOUNG AGE. I ended up frightening myself by feeling something completely normal. Had I been tracking myself from a younger age, I would not have been so scared. The best time to remember is the day after your period is done. This time is the optimal boob consistancy for self exam. Anything drastically different from one month to the next.

It’s also important for women over 40 to get mammograms. Talk to your doctor if breast cancer runs in your family; your doctor may want to start earlier. My mom’s life was saved by a mammogram. If she would not have caught it with her annual exam, it would have most likely spread through her lymph node system and up into other organs. Her doctors are confident that they removed it all. She finished up chemo about a month ago, and is now undergoing radiation daily (week days only! No radiation people like to work on the weekends, I guess!). Yes, she lost her hair. Yes, she was as sick as a dog. But my mom knew she had to do what she had to do in order to beat it. She was as determined as I’ve ever seen her. Some evenings after chemo, she would call me euphoric that she made it through the hours of IV drip – without any nausea! She never did get nauseous.

I talked to her on the phone today, and we celebrated because she is getting some peach fuzz on the top of her head. She gets another mammogram in 2 months. I don’t think I’ll be fully relieved until that one is clear. Many, many women beat breast cancer and are 20+ year survivors. I can’t wait to count my Mom in that category. Please take my advice.

The following links helped me immensely. I wanted to learn everything medical to know about breast cancer.

About Fibrocystic Breast Changes: http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/FULL/Fibrocystic_Breast_Changes.shtml

This link has pages and pages of up to date information on breast cancer:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/breast/page1

If you want to buy something pink (a portion of the proceeds are donated to breast cancer charities):
http://www.pinkribbonshop.com/

If you want to donate/walk in the American Cancer Society walk:
http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/PageServer?pagename=MS07_GL_eventlisting#IN

Thank you for the guest blog,
Steph

We all have women in our lives that we care about.

Mothers, sisters, wives, friends and co-workers.

All of them share important places in our lives. They have shaped us into who we are as people. They have inspired us, encouraged us, and most importantly loved us.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and while Breast Cancer is not exclusively a woman’s disease, it’s estimated that more than 210,000 new cases in women alone will be diagnosed each year.

So for all the women that you care about in your life, take an active role in encouraging them to be proactive in early detection from self-exams and regular mamograms for women over 40. Be proactive yourself in learning more about breast cancer, its prevention and early detection. It’s always closer to home than you think.

To do more reading your self, check out a few of these helpful sites.

National Breast Cancer Foundation
Susan G. Koman for a Cure

For the month of October because of the wife I love so deeply, my amazing mom, my sisters (though they have all driven me nuts through my lifetime), for Kara, the great mom to my kids, and all the other ladies who put up with as friends and co-workers, I am turning ifoundbob.com “Pink for October” (or at least a manly shade of pink) to help bring your attention to this issue.

Well, this year’s new offerings of TV shows have rolled out for a little while and I thought I would give you a little update of what we have set on the TiVo, and what we thought of the rest:

Network TV: Old Favorites & New Friends

ABC – Umm… not a darned thing. With the exception of “LOST” (which hasn’t yet returned), there isn’t a show on ABC that has caught our interest. If there’s something that we should be watching, let me know, I don’t mind hitting the torrents and catching up, but honestly, nothing has even piqued my attention at all (and I’m easily piqued).

CBS – “How I Met Your Mother” is still one of those shows that we find… wait for it… wait for it… awesome. So if you haven’t ‘suited’ up yet and watched this show, it’s a lot of fun, in that I’m married and mid-30s kind of way.
Probably the best new comedy we’ve seen this fall has to be “The Big Band Theory”. It’s witty, and nerd driven (what more do I need to say to sell you on this show)? If you are not rolling in your chair after the discussion on how Superman I defies the laws of physics when the man of steel attempts to catch Louis out of the falling helicopter, then this show isn’t for you.

Survivor: China – Gotta love Survivor.

Numb3rs – This show continues to bring us enjoyment. One of the nice things is that it doesn’t have this massive back-story plot, so you can always jump in and enjoy the episode.

Criminal Minds – I don’t know, there has always been something about this show that I love (Gideon), and much like Numb3rs, even if we miss an episode, I don’t feel like we are totally lost.

Rules of Engagement – I had started to wonder that this last season, mid-season replacement had gone away (like The Nine), but nope, its back and still just as funny. What can I save, I love David Spade and Patrick Warburton.

Moonlight – It’s on the TiVo, but we haven’t got to watch it yet.

Cane – Meh. I watched this for an episode and it simply didn’t capture my interest on any level. It just felt like a wanna-be Cuban Sopranos. I love Jimmy Smits, but this show is sub-par at best.

NBC – “The Office”, hello, one of the funniest shows on TV. I never got the office until early this spring. We had caught a random episode or two, but I guess I just didn’t get it. So Michelle and I decided to start watching from the beginning. That did it, I was hooked.

“My Name is Earl”, hello, one of the funniest shows on TV. Jason Lee is just awesome. It has a great message and is a lot fun to watch.

“Bionic Woman” – on the TiVo, haven’t watched it yet.

“Chuck” – I liked the first episode enough to make me record the second on, but the jury is still out on this one.

“Heroes” – Enough said. I was worried when I realized this wasn’t going to be a limited series, but wow, so far I’m still very impressed with this show.

“Journeyman” – Hooked after one show. I loved Kevin McKidd in Rome, and wow, I had tears in my eyes at the end of the first episode. I have no idea what it’s about, but it makes me want to watch and find out.

FOX – “K*Ville” is Krap Ville. Honestly, if you wanted a bigger anti-return to New Orleans show, I don’t think you could make one. I just don’t get it. I mean, I can understand a show that takes place in NO, one that brings the ideas of redemption, rebuilding, and restoring the community. But the show just demonstrates corruption on every level. Krap, krap, krap. Bleh and krap.

“Back to You” – Okay, so I have this great idea for a show. You know Dr. Crane, we’ll let’s take a guy like that, but instead of him being a psychiatrist on a radio show, let’s make him a TV anchor. It’ll be awesome. Or not. So far after two shows, I’m just like, bleh, send it, done it, cancelled it.

“House” – Either you like him, or you don’t. I still dig him.

“Kitchen Nightmares” – I’m a chief Ramsay fan. This show makes me not want to eat at restaurants though

“FOX Sunday” – From Lions football to American Dad, FOX is the only channel we watch on Sunday (unless its TiVo).