Transitioning From Patient to Survivor

You are one person before the diagnosis comes, you are another person during the journey and you are different person when remission is gained. That is not to say that certain pieces of you don't remain, but I feel it nearly impossible to go through this journey unchanged.

BY Kim Johnson

PUBLISHED July 31, 2018

Kim is a nursing student who is hoping to find her place amongst the phenomenal oncology nurses and doctors who cared for her sister. She loves reading, volunteering and enjoying the outdoors of Colorado.

Throughout my sister’s battle with cancer, we discussed the goal of remission. Although there were many times that neither I, nor her team, thought that she would reach remission, her bone marrow transplant made us realize that it might be possible. Towards the end of transplant, we all sat down to discuss what life might look like for her after cancer.

We discussed seeing her oncologist monthly in the first year, then three times a year for year two, four times for year three and once yearly for every year after that. It seemed like a wonderful change, considering that in  the last three years, we had spent more time in clinics and hospitals than at home. But for my sister, it still seemed like too much. She lived in fear of what every lab test might show. In truth, for the longest time, I was terrified too. 

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Museum Month in NOLA Begins Tomorrow

Museum Month starts tomorrow. You and a guest can visit the 14 participating New Orleans institutions listed below, simply by showing your NOMA membership card. A collaboration of museums of all sizes across the greater New Orleans area, Museum Month offers museum members the opportunity to visit all participating institutions, FREE OF CHARGE, throughout the month of August. Is your NOMA membership up to date? Join or renew now to visit all the participating institutions for free during the month of August! Remember to bring your membership card with you to all participating museums. If you have lost your membership card, please call (504) 658-4130 or email membership@noma.org. You can join one of three ways: click HERE,   call (504) 658-4130,  or visit NOMA's front desk.  STAY CONNECTED:

Tip of the Day: Guilt Free Takeout Options

Guilt-free takeout options. Smart choices and small changes can help favorite takeout meals fit your healthy lifestyle. Pick dishes that highlight veggies and ask for half the sauce. Make your takeout healthier Make Small Changes at Dinner

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Accepting the Harder Reaities of Cancer

When dealing with cancer, it's important to know your limits and be OK with them, to focus on the good.

BY Kim Johnson

PUBLISHED July 27, 2018

Kim is a nursing student who is hoping to find her place amongst the phenomenal oncology nurses and doctors who cared for her sister. She loves reading, volunteering and enjoying the outdoors of Colorado.

July 11 was four years since my sister was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma. In the past four years, my family – primarily my sister and I – have dealt with the realities of having cancer in our lives. There were times when I felt like it was ending, and she was going to die from cancer. There were moments that I felt sorry for the situation that we found ourselves in. And there were points when I was angry at everybody and nobody at the same time.

In the beginning, I thought that having cancer didn't matter. We were the Johnson family – strong, tight-knit and invincible. But as each day passed and things got harder, I was proven wrong. Cancer wreaked havoc on a family that had already endured so much. This illness ravaged every piece of us. It invaded every corner of what we had thought was normal and tore up every moment of time.

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CCFM Market Morsels - July 30, 2018

Cool Beans | July 30, 2018

FRESH & LOCAL: Cool Beans Fresh beans and peas have arrived and these legumes are one of our favorite offerings of summer. At our markets, you’ll find fresh red beans, field peas (aka pink eyed peas, aka purple hull peas, aka pink eye purple hull peas), crowder peas, lima and butter beans and more. Fresh beans are full of fiber, are higher in protein than most other plant foods, and contain a host of vitamins and minerals so they’re good for the body. They are also nitrogen fixing plants which means that in the course of growing them, they increase plant-available nitrogen content in soil, which decreases the need for added fertilizers. So they’re also good for the earth. What can’t they do!? If you’ve only ever had dried or canned beans or peas, fresh ones will open your eyes. The tender creaminess found in a fresh bean is incomparable to anything you revive from dried ones, or pour out of a can after it’s been cooked to death. Not to disparage dried or canned beans! We love dried beans as an affordable and nutritious staple, and canned beans for their convenience on hectic weeknights. This is just a whole different experience of flavor and texture. Unlike dried beans which expand considerably when cooked, fresh beans already have their full moisture content so won’t soak up much moisture and won’t expand considerably. This means you’ll need to adjust your added liquids, and also the quantity of beans you use. Get them fresh now, and throw a few bags in the freezer to enjoy later on. You’ll thank yourself later.

Life Isn't Lived In Reverse, Especially After Cancer

After a cancer diagnosis, some people choose to look at their lives as they once were. Instead of moving forward, they become stuck in the past. Learn how this survivor found a valuable cancer lesson while cutting the grass.

BY BONNIE ANNIS

PUBLISHED JULY 30, 2018

Bonnie Annis is a breast cancer survivor, diagnosed in 2014 with stage 2b invasive ductal carcinoma with metastasis to the lymph nodes. She is an avid photographer, freelance writer/blogger, wife, mother and grandmother.

We have a huge yard! At almost two acres, it can be a chore to manage in the summertime. Recently, we've had an abundance of rain and that has led to a rapidly growing lawn. Yard work is usually my husband's job, but long hours at work have forced him to forego cutting grass during the week. This allowed the lawn maintenance to wait until weekends, which means we have some pretty tall fescue. It can quickly become hard to manage.

Being the dutiful wife, I decided to help out. Since our yard is very hilly in some areas, we need to use two types of lawnmowers to tackle our problems. We use both a self-propelled push mower and a very sturdy riding mower. The self-propelled mower is one I'm very familiar with and have no trouble starting – the riding mower is another story.

Early one morning, I decided to tackle the yard. I'd planned to do this as a gift to my husband. Instead of him coming home from a long day at work to face the yard needs, I'd planned for him to come home surprised it had already been done. Pulling on a straw hat, old jeans, boots and gloves, I headed outside to get busy.

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Tip Of the Day: DIY Snack Idea!

DIY Snack Idea! Combine unsalted nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and plain popcorn for a tasty trail mix!  MyPlate Snack Hacks Recipe: Sweet & Salty Trail Mix

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I'm Sick and Tired of Feeling Sick and Tired!

Combating cancer can leave us drained.

BY Khevin Barnes

PUBLISHED July 29, 2018

Khevin Barnes is a Male Breast Cancer survivor, magician and speaker. He is currently writing, composing and producing a comedy stage musical about Male Breast Cancer Awareness. He travels wherever he is invited to speak to (and do a little magic for) men and women about breast cancer. www.BreastCancerSpeaker.com          www.MaleBreastCancerSurvivor.com

We all deserve a vacation from our cancer. It's a long, often grueling road we're on, and quite naturally it can be overwhelming sometimes. Stress is a slow-burning fire. It seems to reside somewhere in our solar plexus, stirring our intestines and roughing up those butterflies that flutter about inside of us.

So it's only natural that we get sick and tired of being sick and tired at times. But how we deal with the anxiety of cancer is perhaps just as important as how we manage the clinical side of our disease. After all, it is what we actually feel and emotionally process each day that creates our "happy thoughts" bathed in endorphins, or our negative reactions, along with the accompanying stress hormones like Cortisol.

We don't have to be chemists to understand how our bodies, and possibly our cancer, react to the mental exhaustion that can go along with our quest for health and healing.

What to do? (Read More )

You're the Perfect Fit, Unless You Have to Go to the Doctor

Getting a job while having health issues can be a problem, but don't just take my word for it.

BY Ryan Hamner

PUBLISHED July 27, 2018

Ryan Hamner is a four-time survivor of Hodgkin lymphoma, a musician and a writer. In 2011, he wrote and recorded, "Where Hope Lives" for the American Cancer Society and the song for survivors, "Survivors Survive" used in 2015 for #WorldCancerDay. Currently, he operates his website for those affected by cancer, 2surviveonline.com and drinks a ridiculous amount of coffee per day.

I was sitting in my favorite coffee shop, going back and forth between writing, tweeting, searching for jobs and enjoying a significant coffee buzz. That is when I got a phone call from a recruiter who thought I was a perfect fit for a content developer role. Honestly, at that point, I thought I was the perfect fit for almost any position – even working as one of the furry animal people that wave at you on the side of the road outside of some of these pizza places, although that is a little creepy.

It had been a little over a year since I last worked a corporate job. Since that time, I had worked for myself, writing and doing freelance jobs for small companies, but insurance isn't cheap, ya know? Oh, which reminds me, during that time since my last job, my heart rate had also hit over 250 beats per minute and resulted in a little heart procedure.

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Together We Are Stronger: A Story of Healing

They say when you begin to help others, you reach a deeper state of healing.

BY TAMERA ANDERSON-HANNA

PUBLISHED JULY 26, 2018

Tamera Anderson-Hanna is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Certified Addiction Professional, Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and became a Registered Yoga Teacher while coping with breast cancer in 2015. She owns Wellness, Therapy, & Yoga in Florida where she provides personal wellness services and coaching and she is a public speaker on wellness-related topics. You can connect with her at www.wellnesstherapyyoga.com.

On Saturday, July 21, 2018, I experienced the power of the quote, "Together we are stronger." As a corporate wellness provider, I was asked earlier this year to teach a yoga class for members of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) who were holding their annual conference in Miami. A beautiful gift came from this experience as a fellow cancer survivor, Pilar Portela-Webb, a co-chair for the conference, presented an idea. Having been newly diagnosed with breast cancer, Pilar also wanted to give back to fellow breast cancer survivors. Not only did she become a student of my Miami Yoga for Cancer Program (Y4C), but an idea soon took off and the yoga class offered for the NAHJ turned into a fundraiser for my Miami Yoga 4 Cancer programming.

My Y4C group has slowly been growing, but like anything in Miami, there are expenses for space, equipment and advertising. Not to mention, there is the reality that some individuals who can benefit find it hard to afford such treatment modalities when also paying for other necessary cancer-related treatments. While the goal of this fundraiser was to educate Pilar's peers of the importance of yoga and meditation for healing and general wellness, but it also provided an opportunity to raise donations for scholarships to provide supportive resources for individuals in Miami to benefit from Y4C classes.

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New post on NFD --Positively Jessica -- "Cups and Ice"

New post on New Focus Daily

Positively Jessica – “Cups and Ice” by Jessica Meyer I am a big fan of the TV Show Friends.  I have watched all ten seasons over and over again.  So much so that I can usually have at least a one-liner Friends reference in everyday life. Which brings me to “Cups and Ice.”  Did you ever see the episode of Friends were Monica and […] Read more of this post Jessica Meyer | July 27, 2018 at 8:57 am | Tags: cancer survivors, Jessica Meyer | URL: https://wp.me/p7szYo-1kE

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Tip of the Day: Planning a Summer Potluck

Planning a summer potluck? Create a sign-up sheet with categories for dishes from each food group so you have a variety of healthy options. Tips to Prep for Parties and Potlucks Summer Food Safety Info

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Cancer Is Like a Baseball Game

Sometimes life throws you the curveball of cancer.

BY Jane Biehl, Ph.D.

PUBLISHED July 26, 2018

Jane has earned three advanced degrees and had several fulfilling careers as a librarian, rehabilitation counselor and college teacher. Presently she does freelance writing. Her articles include the subjects of hearing loss and deafness, service dogs and struggling with cancer. She has been a cancer survivor since 2010.

She has myelodysplastic syndrome, which is rare, and would love to communicate with others who have MDS.

When I was a counselor in a state vocational agency, I worked with people with disabilities including head trauma, blindness, deafness and learning disabilities. Some of my clients would approach me ashamed of their disability, and not wanting to ask for any kind of help. I would explain to them that this agency was designed to help them gain employment and pay taxes back into the system.

Other clients, especially those who experienced a disability later in life, were so confused that they wanted me to do everything for them and didn’t know where to start.

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Tip of the Day: Cook at home more often

Cook at home more often. If you don't usually cook, start gradually. Make it a goal to cook once a week and work up to cooking more. Meal planning made easy Kitchen Time-savers

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