"Mom, the doctor just gave me the latest test results." I sat down on her hospital bed, and held her hand while three tubes, pinned to the wall above her head extracted a vile brown mixture from her body. "Your breast cancer has returned!" She rested her head back down on the pillow, emotionless - not wanting to hurt her son - the messenger.

Watching someone die is a very unpleasant experience. Being tethered to your dying Mother for four weeks by a 20 foot wire connected to buzzers gives new meaning to "umbilical cord."

Several days after delivering the news, the doctor told me that there was not much more he could do for her, and he released her by ambulance to her garden apartment in New Jersey, where I set up home for the next four weeks. She lost the strength to speak or move while tethered to the tubes in her body, so I installed a buzzer by her bed that connected to a wire that ran along the floor, through the living room and then out to the terrace,where it snaked up the leg of my chair,and connected to a flashing red light that sounded an alert like an alarm clock. There was only one setting: LOUD. At first, the buzzer sent me flying into her room, until I realized that she was just doing it to keep me on my toes. She couldn't speak, so she gestured to the water glass, tissues, or bed pan.

Television, radio, or any loud noise was out of the question. My wife couldn't make it down from our apartment in New York City until the weekend. In need of friends and companions, I invited a case of red wine and a box of cigars to join me in my daily death vigil.

It was only a few short years before, that I had sat on the edge of another hospital bed and comforted my 46 year old sister Patricia, who was dying of cancer. An hour after I left the hospital, the doctor called me to say that she had passed away. (God, I trust that you have forgiven me for all the things I said to You that night.)

On a cool, crisp and sunny day in September 1999, I was on my way to the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan, to interview Nancy Brinker*, the founder/president of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, named for her sister who died of breast cancer at the age of 36.

Nancy is right out of Central Casting. Tall, attractive, intelligent, determined and very charming. She was in town to kick off the "Race for the Cure", one of the most successful fund raising events in the country. We sat at a desk in her suite, and while my tape recorder rolled, I asked her several mundane and routine questions. I felt that I was missing a wonderful opportunity. As she got up to leave for a luncheon in her honor, hosted by Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Waldorf Astoria, I caught her at the door, and requested one more question: "If you had one wish for something to take place in the first 10 years of the new millenium, what would it be?"

"Wow, that's interesting." We returned to the desk and the tape recorder. "I wish that we find the CAUSE of cancer!"

There are over 100 types of cancer, so we still have our work cut out for us. However, Breast Cancer is a particulary hideous disease, with it's hidden secrets - taunting us to defeat it.

My mother was a product of the Great Depression, and had some ingrained habits that still prevailed - like hiding money. When my wife and I visited my Mother for Thanksgiving and St. Patrick's Day, I would leave a note with clues to find $20 bills that I had hidden all around the house. It was only when I got home that I would call her and tell her where the note was that held all the clues. When my wife first found out about this game she said, "Michael, that's so cruel!" My mother absolutely loved it! Sometimes she would call me the next day to say that she had stayed up most of the night, because there was still one $20 bill she couldn't find.

My mother was rapidly deteriorating. It wasn't a pleasant site to see a woman who was so active and alive. Driving, taking trips to Branson, Mo. for her new found love of Country music.

I had to undertake a very unpleasant task. I called a cousin whom my Mother adored, and asked Rita if she would help me. I explained to her that I feared that my Mother may have money hidden around the house, and could she please ask her for me.

With hand signals, she led us to the hope chest in the corner. Inside was a note that had a series of clues, that led to envelopes, keys to boxes, and riddles. After a day and a half of following clues that led to loose boards, picture frames, and false bottoms, we had uncoverd over $33,000.00 in cash. I didn't have the nerve, so I asked Rita to please ask my Mother if we had found all of it. She came out of the bedroom with tears running down her face, "Your Mother said to tell you that it's for her funeral."

During those four weeks that I sat on the terrace, jumping at the buzzer as cigar ashes flew in my face, I reminisced of times gone by; I remember her yelling at police detectives telling them that her saintly son couldn't possibly have done that; yelling at Mickey Mantle to look up and say hello to her son (he did), getting me into the best possible schools; (she had a way with authority figures);paying for Mrs. Murphy's broken window; and a very strict code on how to treat girls.(The Nuns in my Catholic High School were pretty good at this too!) My mother was also a very big fan of Susan B. Anthony. I never knew who this person was. I assumed she was a movie star.

Breast Cancer is a hideous disease, I was thinking as I drove my Mother's car to the County Seat to file her death certificate. I popped in her favorite cassette of Garth Brooks and sang along. It started to rain very heavily. I gratefully pulled the car off to the side of the road, as I was crying too hard to safely drive any further. (God, I trust you forgive me for the things I said to You that night)

So, how do you react to someone's illness?

Your little girl comes screaming into the house, blood running down her knee, tears streaming down her face. How many seconds does it take for you to jump off the couch? Your pet dog or cat comes yelping and limping into the room - a thorn in it's paw. How long does it take you to jump off the couch? A loved one comes into the room - she tells you she has breast cancer...I trust I did as well as I could.

I can't even fathom or pretend to know what mental anguish a woman has to bear when she's been told she has breast cancer.

We have a little over 2 years for Nancy Brinker's wish to come through. Perhaps we can all look under our mattresses and find a dollar or two and send it to our favorite breast cancer charity. And may God be with every woman and family going through this ordeal.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In 2007 in the US, an estimated 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.



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Cancer is one such disease which requires scrupulous medical and surgical treatment. However, certain alternative therapies can also play an important role towards breast cancer treatment. When people opt for alternative therapies, they use it instead of conventional treatments altogether. For example: A person may use a special diet for treating cancer instead of undergoing chemotherapy or another conventional treatment. Traditional Chinese medicines, acupuncture, acupressure, herbal remedies and special nutritional or diet therapies, are also examples of alternative breast cancer treatment. Also, special nutritional or diet therapies are popular, alternative breast cancer treatments.

One needs to understand, that our body is designed to heal by itself. But to make that happen, we should not try to injure a wound which will then not heal in itself. This is a common sense statement that I have made. Yet, I must say that many of us do injure our bodies, on a day to day basis, by the wrong ways of living and eating. If you continue to eat and live wrongly, then it will result in a disease of one type or the other. We then rush to doctors for treating our sickness or disease. However, mostly it is seen that doctors only know how to treat the symptoms of disease rather than addressing the root cause of the disease itself. There are many types of alternative breast cancer treatments that are available now. Some of them are as follows:

Herbal medicine: The tropical periwinkle is used to treat breast cancer and other malignancies. This periwinkle alkaloid is used in the making of vincristine, which is a very powerful chemotherapy agent. However, this alternative breast cancer treatment should be conducted carefully. Herbal periwinkle extracts are highly toxic in nature. Hence, this drug form should be given under medical supervision only.

Meditation and self hypnosis method: Women with advanced breast cancer stage, should participate in group support sessions that conduct meditation and self hypnosis methods. By doing so, they will increase their survival chances. The above mentioned alternate breast cancer treatment methods, mobilize the immune system to fight the further spread of cancer. Relaxation techniques help in removing stress and anxiety caused by cancer patient. This boosts the immune system of the body.

Nutrition Therapy: Nutritionist who use nutrition therapy as an alternative breast cancer treatment, will usually recommend supplements of beta carotene and vitamin's C and E too. Orange and dark green vegetables are examples of good sources of beta carotene. It is also found that a low-fat diet is likely to help in cutting down the risk of breast cancer and its recurrence. It will help in preventing cancer and will slow down its growth. It is a known fact that foods with high in antioxidants are more effective.

Self treatment: Cancer patients, who have undergone mastectomy, usually are concerned about their physical appearance. However, those women who do not undergo immediate breast reconstruction can initially use a temporary prosthesis such as cotton fluff inserted into the regular bra. Prosthesis is not required after a lumpectomy, but it is recommended to wear a bra day and night, for many days, following the surgery period, in order to prevent traction of the wound and to assist the breast in regaining its previous shape.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Leonard

Breast cancer is considered as a killer disease and it is known to be the top cause of cancer death among women. According to American cancer society, about 1.3 million new breast cancer cases are diagnosed on an annual basis which includes 465,000 deaths. In order to successfully tackle this devastating disease, we must encourage innovative scientists to study cancer at its most basic level. In other words, breast cancer research work should be conducted at its molecular level. Also, besides the governments, private organizations should provide flexible funding to scientists who will be conducting breast cancer research work. Proper funding of breast cancer research projects; can not only lead to better prevention strategies but it can also help towards earlier diagnostic techniques and new anticancer drugs and treatments.

A world renowned cancer researcher, named Lothar Hirneise has come to an understanding that cancer exist with stress. He is of the opinion that when the mind is under constant stress, the body then produces high levels of stress hormone called Cortisol. The immune system gets suppressed with high levels of Cortisol in the body. Also, a stressed mind will release out Adrenaline to an extent of depletion. People suffering from cancer are found to be having almost no adrenaline in their cells. In fact, cells of cancer patients are often overloaded with insulin and plenty of sugar. Another leading German cancer researcher by the name of 'Ryke-Geerd Hamer has gone through twenty thousand cancer patients and found a direct relationship between psycho-emotional conflict and cancer patients. This occurs between 1 to 3 years, prior to cancer diagnosis and cancer forming within the body. Cancer patients, who have experienced a psycho - emotional conflict shock, in the form of loss of a loved one etc, few years prior to their cancer urine, has experienced emotional pain and stress within themselves. Such a state of mind can have an adverse effect on the immune system of the person's body.

Recently, researchers who are working towards breast cancer research project, have developed and successfully tested a breast cancer vaccine which is likely to treat women with treatment - resistant HER2 - positive breast cancer and thus be able to prevent cancer re - occurrence. Breast cancer researchers look forward to use HER2 DNA vaccines for cancer - free women, in order to prevent initial development of such tumours. At present, therapies such as trastuzumab and lapatimib are used towards treating breast cancer patients. However, it was lately noticed that a huge group of patients develop a resistance towards trastuzumab and lapatimib. HER2 receptors are known to promote a particularly aggressive type of tumour that affects about thirty percent of breast cancer patients.

The new breast cancer vaccine is produced by the body's own cells. It delivers a cancer fighting gene into cells, which then produce immune system proteins and also tumor - destroying cells. According to the lead researcher Wei - Zen Wei, a professor of immunology and microbiology at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, the vaccine is made by using so - called naked DNA from genes that produces the HER2 receptor. This DNA is put along with an immune stimulant. The process involved in the making of the vaccine, is called as electroporation. In this process, pulses of electricity were used in order to inject the vaccine into the leg muscles in mice. The genes moved towards the cells, which then produced HER2 receptors that led to activation of antibodies and immune cells called Killer T cells. This vaccine is unique and much more research will be further required so that it can one day be applicable towards humans for treating breast cancer.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Leonard