Health & Wellness After Cancer and During a Pandemic

Dealing with the challenges of health and wellness after cancer treatment is tricky enough, but managing it in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is an even bigger obstacle. One survivor details how she tries to take it one wellness win at a time.

BY SHIRA ZWEBNER

PUBLISHED MAY 28, 2020

A native New Yorker, Shira Kallus Zwebner is a communications consultant and writer living with her husband and three children in Jerusalem, Israel. Diagnosed in 2017 with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, she's fighting her cancer battle and blogging about the journey at hipstermomblog.com

When my hematologist-oncologist suggested that we have a telemedicine appointment last month, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I couldn't bear to face him, to see his expression when he noticed just how much weight I've put on since the start of coronavirus quarantine. It's funny, not once during treatment for stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma did he even broach the topic of my weight. Even though my cancer was discovered during pre-op testing for bariatric surgery, we never discussed what I saw as the elephant in the room. Me. When I asked him what I should be eating, or avoiding, during treatment he told me to eat whatever I wanted. I pressed him about sugar, how the internet told me that sugar would feed the cancer cells and send me to my death. But he ignored it and told me that I should eat whenever I felt hungry and, well, I could eat whatever I wanted.

I put myself on a strict diet during chemo though, working with a naturopath I had never met, following a meal plan created for a male cancer patient fighting leukemia. I made myself vegan protein shakes and cut out all sugars and complex carbohydrates, opting for quinoa and oatmeal to replace pasta and rice. I soaked all of my fruits and vegetables, and when my blood count was too low and I was neutropenic, I would instead eat cooked vegetables only. I made bone broths and signed up to take the course offered by the Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, to learn how to fuel my body properly during treatment. I discovered that fasting on chemo days helped me with nausea and so I began a cycle of fasting for 24 hours at a time to ensure that I wouldn't vomit or feel sick after treatment. Steroids, fasting and chemo made my body weak, my metabolism sluggish, and my weight loss stalled.

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The Impossibility of Forgetting Cancer

Chemotherapy killed my veins, and quarterly blood tests won't let me forget that. How it's impossible to ever forget the changes cancer brings. 

BY LAURA YEAGER

PUBLISHED MAY 26, 2020

As well as being a cancer blogger, Laura Yeager is a religious essayist and a mental health blogger. A graduate of The Writers’ Workshop at The University of Iowa, she teaches writing at Kent State University and Gotham Writers’ Workshop. Laura survived cancer twice.

One of the things that I as a cancer survivor wish I could do is forget I had cancer.

Oh, to sink back into pre-cancer days, beyond the treatments, the pain and the fear. I would love to return to the innocence of 2010, a year before my breast cancer was found. But this is impossible for me to do because there are so many reminders that I endured two bouts of the disease.

For one, I don't have any breasts. That's a big reminder. And then, there are the scars all over my chest and back. There's the little port scar on my arm. But the most annoying reminder is the fact that every time I get a blood test, the phlebotomist can never find a vein. They say chemo "kills" your veins; well, it did mine.

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Feeling Lonely? Socialize from a distance

Precautions Are Nothing New for Patients with Cancer During COVID-19

COVID-19 has dramatically altered the lives of millions across the globe, but for patients with cancer, the new restrictions and new challenges are ones they have already managed to handle. 

BY KIM JOHNSON

PUBLISHED MAY 18, 2020

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.

Cancer causes a certain amount of hysteria in one’s life and the lives of those who care about them. As I have watched the news, like so many others regarding COVID-19, I can’t help but think back to the times that my sister had cancer. While the COVID-19 pandemic is much bigger than a cancer diagnosis, and the impact is being felt on a global scale, a cancer diagnosis changes the world of the diagnosed and their family. The comparison of how people have reacted to this virus and how one reacts to cancer is not lost on me. 

When my sister was diagnosed, everything changed, and it changed often.

The uncertainty that came with her illness was one of the hardest parts. Initially diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, that diagnosis lasted less than 24 hours when her first biopsy revealed that is was actually stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma that was ravaging through her body. In the days that followed, everything seemed to change by the hour, and while the rate at which things changes slowed, the fact that they changed never did. 

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This Week at the Crescent City Farmers' Market

There’s Still Time to Place an Order for the Bucktown Drive Thru! | May 25, 2020

FRESH & LOCAL: There’s Still Time to Place an Order for the Bucktown Drive Thru! The weekly no-contact Bucktown Drive Thru market begins this Wednesday and there’s still time to place an order! Drive Thru markets are different than traditional markets, but not complicated: Order and pay online during the order window for the Bucktown Drive Thru market. You must place an order in advance to shop at this market. We’ll email you a placard to print and fill out with your name and the vendors who you’ve shopped from to place in your windshield the day of market (this helps us expedite your visit once at market) Arrive and drive through the market and the vendor will place your order in your trunk Repeat as needed! Our opening day vendor lineup includes: Blue Tara Blueberry Farm Faust Farms Fleur Dough Lis Bakery Four Winds Seafood Honest Foods Co - bread and baked goods Isabel’s Tamales and Produce Joe Fekete Family Farm Mizell Farms - plant starts Ollies Tamales Pickled NOLA Powers BeeKeepers Spicy Lady T&R Dairy Farm When you arrive, staff will guide you to enter the market, make sure your placard is complete and in your windshield, and help you pop your trunk if needed. All vendors will be wearing face masks, sanitizing hands between customers, and respecting social distancing guidelines. There will not be product displayed for purchase - the market is only for orders to be picked up. Place your order now! We look forward to getting some sun and fresh air with you out on the lakefront, and appreciate your support of our local food producers!

GOOD FOOD WORD OF THE WEEK: While Market Umbrella is known for our farmers markets and fresh food access programs, food systems work touches on many social, economic, and environmental issues. The Good Food Word of the Week seeks to shed some light on these parts of our work and the way we talk - demystifying the jargon.

Free and Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) This week’s Good Food Word is Free and Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) - This federal program provides meals at school to students from families whose income is 130-185% of the poverty level. In New Orleans, 82% of students are considered economically disadvantaged, one indicator of which is eligibility for FRPL. One of the major disruptions of coronavirus has been to students’ access to food through school, pushing many to the brink of food insecurity.

PICKS OF THE WEEK: Only 1 week until GiveNOLA Day! We are only a week out from New Orleans’ annual community day of giving - GiveNOLA Day - which will take place on June 2! The portal is open now to make your pledge today that will help ensure Market Umbrella has the critical resources to respond to new challenges and new opportunities in our local food system in these unprecedented times. Please, schedule your gift now for GiveNOLA Day! Your gift will not only support the future and growth of the organization and the farmers, fishers, ranchers, and more that we represent, but also will allow us to continue to facilitate aggregated produce box deliveries; organize drive thru, pick up markets; and offer programs like Market Match (which is available for both the delivery box and drive thru markets) that doubles the buying power of vulnerable families in our community.

CCFM Box Crescent City Farmers Market has partnered with Top Box Foods and the Refresh Farmers Market (SPROUT NOLA) to provide you with healthy, local, and affordable food delivered to your home. The CCFM box contains a variety of mostly produce items from CCFM vendors, and is now offered once weekly. Ordering starts Tuesday and runs through Friday for a Tuesday or Wednesday delivery the following week. Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for updates on when sales launch. Order online at Top Box Foods New Orleans. When you get your box, tag us in a pic of all the great dishes you make with it - we love new recipes! Market Match, our program that doubles SNAP dollars spent, does apply so SNAP users can purchase the box for only $20! Choose “pay at pickup” and Top Box will contact you directly to process your SNAP payment.

Pandemic EBT P-EBT, short for Pandemic EBT, is a program set up to assist families with children who would normally receive at least one meal a day at school. Anyone who qualified for Free and Reduced Price Lunch before coronavirus is eligible for $285 per child. Families who did not qualify for FRPL previously but who’ve been financially impacted by coronavirus may qualify for partial benefit. To apply for FRPL, reach out to your school who has an application for that, normally provided at the beginning of every school year. To apply for P-EBT, follow this link to the Department of Child and Family Services application and apply by June 8th.

VENDOR OF THE WEEK: Huckleberry Fred’s Creamery New vendor alert!! If you rolled through the Sunday Drive Thru last week, you may have noticed a new vendor as you rounded that last curve. Introducing Huckleberry Fred’s Creamery! If you are a lover of goat’s milk you’re gonna want to ruminate (get it? We know it’s baaaaad but we can’t help ourselves) on this vendor’s product list. From chèvre to milk to cheesecake Fred’s has got your goat… but in a good way! If you missed them this week, you can find them again at the Drive Thru on Sunday. Place your order early. They sell out quickly!

RECIPE OF THE WEEK: Ratatouille Who doesn’t love ratatouille? (The movie and the meal!) While it may sound like a very intimidating dish, it’s actually not that challenging to make. Classic ratatouille is made up of eggplant, tomatoes, squash, and zucchini, making it the perfect dish to celebrate the taste of summer. Beautiful and healthy, you can’t go wrong! If you don’t have the patience to slice all of the veggies into thin disks, you can chop them up into chunks for a modified dish. Just be sure to adjust the cooking time. Enjoy! What’s your favorite dish to make after visiting the Crescent City Farmers Market? Share your recipes with us on Instagram or Facebook or even Twitter and it might be featured in our weekly newsletter!

MARKETS THIS WEEK: UPTOWN Market Closed BYWATER Market Closed OCHSNER Market Closed MID-CITY Market Closed BUCKTOWN Market Closed DOWNTOWN Market Closed

Crescent City Farmers Market, 200 Broadway Street, Suite 107, New Orleans, LA 70118 SafeUnsubscribe™ cmsimone1@gmail.com Forward email | Update Profile | About our service provider Sent by markets@marketumbrella.org in collaboration with Try email marketing for free today!

Getting Cancer Amid COVID-19

Receiving a cancer diagnosis is scary enough, but amid the COVID-19 pandemic it has even more challenges. But cancer survivors can help ease their worries by listening and sharing their experiences.
 

BY WILLIAM RAMSHAW

PUBLISHED MAY 22, 2020

William Ramshaw resides in the expansive Pacific Northwest. He is a six-year survivor of pancreatic cancer and has written a memoir Gut Punched! Facing Pancreatic Cancer.

Only a couple of months ago when someone got their C-word news, this news spread like a smoldering ember ignites bone-dry grass. Now, someone’s cancer news has been upended by a new C-word known as COVID-19 or the coronavirus.

During his six-month follow-up, a friend of mine, who like me has thus far has survived pancreatic cancer, was told by the social worker who oversees his well-being, “You're soooo lucky you're not going through chemo now.” During my own chemo, I remember my doctor’s dire warnings to be careful about who I was around as some bug rather benign for them could kill me. Rather than being some benign bug, this coronavirus is a serial killer.

As if getting cancer wasn’t harsh enough, now this. What can we cancer survivors do to help those just starting their cancer journeys?

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Sunshine, a Vital Key to Wellness

Vitamin D is vital for anyone, but for people with cancer it can be especially vital even during social distancing rules.

BY BONNIE ANNIS

PUBLISHED MAY 21, 2020

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.

When the Coronavirus was first discovered in the United States, the American public was warned to stay home and practice social distancing. These orders were issued by local and federal governments due to the seriousness of the disease and to help prevent its spread.

As thousands followed that advice, sheltering in place became the norm. Many took it to mean we were to stay indoors in order to be safe.  

For me, staying indoors for weeks at a time, was difficult. Day after day, the isolation took its toll. I enjoyed the outdoors and relished my daily walks. Without them, I began to struggle with feelings of lethargy. Perhaps the lack of energy was due to inactivity but more than likely, it was the result of a Vitamin D deficiency. 

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Contactless Materials Pick-Up & Drop-Off Services Available Now

Having trouble reading this email? View it in your browser. Contactless Materials Pick-Up & Drop-Off Service Available Now You can begin placing new holds now with pick-ups beginning as early as Tuesday, May 26. Follow the steps below to enjoy our new contactless pick-up and drop-off service. Step 1 - PLACE A HOLD - Explore our online catalog and place items on hold online or by calling any Library location. Step 2 - CALL - Once you've been informed that your materials are ready for pick-up, call the location where you put the items on hold to receive location-specific contactless pick-up instructions. Materials will not be ready until after you call the location. Please note some items may take longer than normal to be ready for pick-up. Step 3 - ENJOY - Late fines are not being incurred at this time so enjoy your materials a little longer than usual if you like. Step 4 - RETURN - Return the materials to the Library by placing them in the return containers located outside. Step 5 - REPEAT - Do it all over again. Place more items on hold and come see us again. We've missed you. Those who currently have materials on hold can begin contactless materials pick-up now, once they have called the location where the items are on hold to receive location-specific contactless pick-up instructions. Returning Materials Materials may be returned beginning today during Contactless Materials Pick-Up & Drop-Off hours. All book drop boxes remain locked. Materials should only be placed in designated return containers.      Materials Donations Materials donations are not being accepted at Library locations. Materials that are left outside will be discarded. The Friends of the New Orleans Public Library are accepting donations BY APPOINTMENT ONLY at the Carriage House behind Milton H. Latter Memorial Library. To schedule an appointment, call 504-345-9563 or email friendsnopl@gmail.com. For more information, including frequently asked questions, visit our website. Need assistance or have questions? Ask a Librarian online by clicking on the Ask A Librarian button at the top of our website. Contactless Pick-up and Drop-off Locations & Hours Mondays – Saturdays from 10am – 5pm Algiers Regional Library East New Orleans Regional Library Milton H. Latter Memorial Library Main Library Norman Mayer Library Robert E. Smith Library Mondays – Fridays from 10am – 5pm Central City Library Children's Resource Center Library Cita Dennis Hubbell Library Rosa F. Keller Library & Community Center Mid-City Library Nora Navra Library Nix Library Contactless pick-up and drop-off services are not currently available at Alvar Library or Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. We are working to make holds from those locations available as soon as possible. Keep up with New Orleans Public Library events, news, and more.

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