Happy Birthday to me...

Love.

sluts...

Results are good.  Phew.

Eyes have it...

Scare of my life today.

I've had a horrible pressure in my eye and I couldn't look at anything bright for the last week, and it has been getting progressively worse. I am not one to get on Web MD but I was so curious that I did it. Intraocular lymphoma is a condition of the eye which is fairly uncommon but possible in NH lymphoma patients. I had completely convinced myself that I was in trouble, would be needing an MRI, surgery, and lose an eyeball. Went to an ophthalmologist and after much ado about nuttin', I have a stye.

Cancer is just one big pain in the ass, I tell ya. Most of it is due to the mind-bending imagination of absolutely and utterly nothing. Tomorrow at 9:30AM is chemo # 8 and the results of my cat scan.

Meow.

Attack of the maternity camisole...

It is one thing to have cancer. The fear, the daily loss of energy and uncertain future is quite enough, but then if you add a body image issue it becomes even worse. I guess women who have lost their breasts "get" this but at least they can do reconstruction. The swelling in my abdomen is just there, and the inflammation is taking forever to go down.

I started some serious Pilates. Every moment of it is quite awful (not to mention humiliating) but I am feeling much stronger in my core, so it is a superb empowerment. I'm not silly enough to think I could get some six-pack abs or anything but it has made a huge difference in the way I feel. Hey... if I feel like a super model it may be good enough for me at this point. The mirrors at zumba are the testament to my imperfect body, but I compare myself to the forty-year-olds every day.  I am not sure why I do this. I have come to realize at sixty that most of the women my own age are far too mature, serious and settled for me. Most of them wear practical shoes and eye glasses from the eighties. I like inappropriately high shoes with ankle straps, funky glasses, and far too much cat eye makeup. My granddaughter, Reese, is transfixed by my obsession and we play "makeover" every time she comes by. Last time, I forgot that she is only four-years-old and I let her play with my lipsticks. She didn't quite get the rolling motion of the tube and (consequently) destroyed four new Laura Mercier lipsticks. The joy on her face was worth the lumpy texture left to their tips.

Every morning, I talk to my friend, Brenda, on the phone, put it on speaker and place the iphone inside my bra... walk around and clean up the house and talk. That's the one good thing about boobs. They hold up all kinds of things and I am like one of those madames who puts receipts, phones, pens, ipods, lists, and granola bars in my bra. (not all at the same time, of course). Only women with big boobs understand this phenomenon. I've had people stop me because my iphone will light up and they must think I am like Tranformer-grammy because there is a light square shining from inside my chest. I forget when I put it there that it lights up. I work out that way all the time - iphone inside my bra with white cords coming out of it attached to my ears.

This odd lymphoma body has led me to the maternity stores. If you have an abdomen as large as your hips you have no other choice than to shop maternity. I found this embarrassing over the last few years, but I had no choice with my tumor baby hiding inside with no chance of delivering the damn thing except when I found a GOOD doctor.

Now that I can wear regular clothes again, I did discover that maternity camisoles will stay on my list of things to buy because they are longer... and who doesn't love a longer camisole other than all women. So yesterday, my chatty Cathy self is talking to Brenda as I am trying to dress myself at the same time... and finagle the two camisoles as the phone and headphones are stuck inside my bra. I began to laugh because it was one of those Lucy moments. I don't think there are too many sixty-somethings who talk on the phone and become utterly twisted (like Christmas lights) while wearing layered maternity camisoles so they can hold their technology inside their cleavage. 

Oy.

blah blah blah blahhhhhhhhhh...

I am so glad that I have attention deficit disorder. I forget completely that I have cancer most of the time. Not a bad gig.

I don't want that medication they make to clear up this problem of mine. I am forgetful, disorganized, I eat too fast, ramble around in space panties most of the time, and talk too much. But I can't remember how sick I am. Isn't life a wonderful puzzle?

Fight like a hungry monkey!

Eat Stop Eat and Life Extension

One Monkey will mess you up, the other…not so much

The above picture was taken from the article “Proof mounts on restricted diet” found on the BBC news website.
Obviously, there is a difference between these two monkeys…
The best way I can describe it is as follows – When you look into the eyes of the monkey on the right, you see there is a WHOLE LOT OF FIGHT left in him. The monkey on the left…nothing.
Here’s the kicker… Both of these monkeys are OLD…27 to be exact (In monkey years..these guys are geriatric). The difference is the one on the left ate more over his lifetime then the one of the right who was calorie restricted.
So just as the title of the article says..the evidence for the life-extending properties of calorie restriction is definitely mounting.
But it’s not just life extension. It’s quality of life.
Look at the two monkeys again. They are the same age…one just…well, one still ‘has it’.
And if you don’t find the top picture convincing, check out this photo:

So it’s not just extending your life, it’s extending the quality of your life.
Now there are people who don’t like the idea of calorie restriction.
To quote directly from the article:

“Monkeys may be a close relation but there are significant differences which means not everything we see in them can be translated to humans,” said Catherine Collins, spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association.

“And there should be some serious reservations about cutting calories so dramatically, particularly for anyone under the age of 30. Any such diet would need to be very balanced to avoid malnutrition, and it would be a long-term commitment.

“People would have to weigh up whether they are prepared to compromise their enjoyment of food for the uncertain promise of a longer life, and a life which could be dogged by all sorts of problems – including osteoporosis.”

Of course, I understand why they did this…

Journalism 101, find someone (anyone) who will give an opposing view point.
OK so the point of all this…
The dietitian missed a HUGE point.

Calorie restriction DOES NOT have to be a “compromise of the enjoyment of food for the uncertain promise of a longer life”

Eat Stop Eat is a form of Calorie restriction (a term I HATE, but more on that later)
It’s true. Flexible Intermittent Fasting is an easy and effective way to reduce your overall calorie intake while still enjoying the foods you eat.

The other thing is that it’s a mistake to say the longevity is ONLY about living a longer life. It’s about living a younger life too.

Personally, I’m not sure I want to live to 200, but I do know, that when I get older…I want my great grand kids to look into my eyes and think “Man, great grandpa Pilon still has some fight left in him!”


 The ‘osteoporosis’ that the dietitian bought up this is one of the reasons we weight train. Bones are like muscles, they respond to the challenge. Keep loading them and they will stay strong for a long time.
PPS- The reason I hate the term ‘calorie restriction’  – If evidence suggests that eating ‘normal’ leads us to being overweight with a high risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, where as eating ‘restricted’ doesn’t…well…then shouldn’t restricted be ‘normal’ and ‘normal’ be “sorry, we messed up an overestimated how many calories a human needs”???

from bradpilon.com

Eat Stop Eat

Put together by Brad Pilon, Eat Stop Eat is really basic:

1. Once or twice a week, don’t eat for 24 hours.
2. Start your fast in the morning, at lunch, or at dinner. It doesn’t matter as long as you don’t eat for 24 hours.
3. Break your fast with a “normal-sized meal.” Don’t try to make up for the lost calories by feasting.
4. Exercise regularly.

Who should try it?

People interesting in fasting for the therapeutic benefits (cancer protection, autophagy, life extension, etc.) would probably get a lot out of this method, as opposed to people interested in the body composition benefits.

Going a full 24 hours without food is a much tougher slog than going for 16 hours. In my experience, going lower-carb and higher-fat makes longer fasts easier, so I’d have to say a low-carb Primal eater would do better than most.

*I don't want to do this but am going to once a week. I had a nice breakfast and will not eat again until tomorrow morning. Don't get near me, bitches."

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-fast-part-six-choosing-a-method/#ixzz1sroOmWop

This is from my guru: Mark Sisson from marksdailyapple.com

Why Fast? Part Two – Cancer

“Everyone has a physician inside him or her; we just have to help it in its work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well. Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food. But to eat when you are sick is to feed your sickness.” – Hippocrates

and:

“Instead of using medicine, rather fast a day.” – Plutarch

or even:

“No kibble today, thanks. I’m feeling a bit under the weather.” – Fido

For thousands upon thousands of years (during most of which overweight, let alone obese, people were fairly rare), therapeutic fasting was a common protocol for the healing of many a malady. From famous sages like Plato, Aristotle, and the aforementioned Hippocrates and Plutarch to cancer patients unable to eat during chemotherapy to pet dogs and cats who suddenly lose once-voracious appetites upon falling ill, it seems like the natural response to – and perhaps therapy for – major illness is to stop eating for a while.

Now, “natural” is not always good. “Is” does not necessarily imply “ought.” But I think the persistence of this phenomenon throughout nature demands that we look a little more closely into whether or not there’s something to it. From babies putting items they found on the ground into their mouths to introduce novel bacteria to their bodies, to weight lifters craving meat after a hard workout to introduce protein to their hungry muscles, to pregnant women experiencing strong food aversions to minimize the chance of introducing a toxin or poison to the growing fetus, I’m generally of the opinion that there’s usually a physiological explanation for most of our odd cravings and behaviors. I see no reason why a sudden lack of appetite wouldn’t have a similar explanation – especially one that transcends species. What if skipping meals for a day or two kickstarted internal healing in some way? Is that really so outlandish? You already know where I stand on the importance of lessons learned from watching our animal companions, and I think this time is no different.

Luckily for us, we aren’t just flailing around and making guesses. Modern science has deigned research into the phenomenon, particularly regarding cancer, worth pursuing. According to Valter Longo, a cancer researcher from USC, “normal cells” go into survival mode during starvation. They display “extreme resistance to stresses” until the “lean period” ends, much like an animal in hibernation mode. Cancer cells, on the other hand, are always “on.” Their “goal” is to grow and reproduce and consume resources. For cancer cells, there is no novel survival mode to switch on. If this is the case, fasting should both improve our resistance to cancer and our body’s ability to survive it (and the treatments used against it, like chemotherapy).

Though human trials are scant (you can’t exactly inject people with cancer cells and then try out different therapeutic protocols, the animal research is intriguing. Let’s take a look into the literature, shall we?

Animal Trial

In one of the earliest studies, forty-eight rats were split up into two groups of twenty-four. One group ate ad libitum for a week, while the other group underwent alternate day fasting. After one week of the various dietary protocols, both groups were injected with breast cancer. At nine days post-injection, 16 of 24 fasted rats remained alive, while just five of 24 ad-libitum fed rats lived. At ten days post-injection, only three of the 24 ad libitum-fed rats survived; 12 of the 24 fasted rats remained alive. Pretty large disparity, right?

That was in 1988. It wasn’t until the late 90s that more promising research was undertaken. That’s when Longo began studying in earnest the phenomenon of increased cellular resistance to oxidative stress during fasting. Figuring that since chemotherapy exerts its effects on cancer by inducing oxidative stress (to all cells, not just cancerous ones), and fasting triggers survival mode in normal cells but not cancer cells, he conducted a study on mice to determine whether fasting protected the healthy, normal cells from chemotherapy’s side effects while leaving the cancer cells sensitive to the treatment. Tumor-ridden mice were either fasted or fed normally 48 hours prior to a large dose of chemotherapy. Half of the normally-fed mice died from chemotherapy toxicity, while all of the fasted mice survived (PDF). Furthermore, fasting did not improve the survival rate of cancerous cells, meaning it only protected normal, healthy cells.

Research has continued. Longo found that “starvation-dependent stress” protects normal cells, but not cancer cells, against the effects of chemotherapy. Even a “modified” alternate day fasting regimen, in which mice were given 15% of their normal calories on “fasting” days, reduced proliferation rates of tumor cells. This “85%” fasting regimen was even more effective than the full 100%. And most recently, Longo et al found that fasting both retarded the growth of tumors while sensitizing cancer cells to the effects of chemotherapy – across a wide range of tumor types. Most importantly, they concluded that fasting could “potentially replace or augment” certain existing chemotherapy regimens! That’s not some crazy fad diet guru spouting off about ancient traditional wisdom, folks. That’s a cancer researcher.

Human Trial(s)

There has been just one of which I’m aware: a 2009 case study that delivered promising results. Ten cancer patients – four with breast cancer, two with prostate cancer, one each with ovarian, lung, uterine, and esophageal cancers – underwent fasting prior to and after chemotherapy treatment. Fasting times ranged from 48-140 hours prior to and 5-56 hours after; all were affective at reducing side effects of chemotherapy.

In the first case, a 51-year old woman with breast cancer did her first round of chemotherapy in a fasted state of 140 hours. Other than dry mouth, fatigue, and hiccups, she felt well enough to go to work and resume her normal daily activities. For the subsequent two rounds, she did not fast and instead ate her normal diet, and the side effects were extremely pronounced – severe fatigue, diarrhea, weakness, abdominal pain, nausea – and prevented her from returning to work. For her fourth round of chemotherapy, she fasted, and the side effects were again minimized. And it wasn’t just the subjective effects that improved with fasting, but also her physiological markers. Total white blood cell, absolute neutrophil counts, and platelet counts were all highest after the fasting regimens.

More human trials are underway, however. Hopefully we’ll eventually know whether the loss of appetite commonly reported during chemotherapy treatment is a bug or actually a built-in feature (I’m leaning toward the latter, personally).

Other Possible Protective Mechanisms of Prevention

Improved insulin sensitivity. As I showed in last week’s post on fasting and weight loss, intermittent fasting improves insulin sensitivity and reduces insulin resistance. Insulin resistance has been linked to several cancers, including prostate, breast, and pancreatic. Metabolic syndrome, which fasting seems to help prevent and reduce, is linked to cancer in general.

Autophagy. While autophagy – the process by which cells “clean up” cellular “garbage” – has a complex relationship with cancer, it’s generally a positive process that protects cells from excessive oxidative stress. Fasting has been shown to induce “profound” neuronal autophagy, as well as general autophagy.

Fasting versus caloric restriction.

It’s true that caloric restriction appears to offer anti-cancer benefits, but there are a couple ways in which fasting might be superior:

1. Fasting (acute bouts of caloric restriction) is easier than CR (chronic caloric restriction) for most people. As I mentioned in last week’s post, fasting – for some – is just an easier, more natural, more effortless way to reduce your calorie intake. That can pay huge dividends when it comes to weight loss, and it appears likely that it will help with cancer, too. If fasting is easier than constantly counting your calories, fasting is going to work better.

2. Fasting is more effective in a shorter amount of time. Whereas studies on caloric restriction and cancer employ weeks- and months-long CR regimens, studies on fasting and cancer employ hours- and days-long fasting regimens. In most cases, fasting just seems to require far less time to be effective.

It’s an exciting time for fasting and cancer research. While it’s still viewed in most circles as an “alternative” modality, fasting is now being seriously considered as a possible treatment (both adjunct and even primary) for various cancers, including breast and prostate. I can’t wait to see what comes out in the coming years.

Of course, my own feeling is that fasting is both easier and more effective if you have made the transition to a Primal Blueprint way of eating. In other words, when you have up-regulated those fat-burning systems and down-regulated the reliance on glucose, many of the other issues that can make fasting less appealing to “sugar-burners” tend to go away: cortisol levels out, muscle protein is spared, hunger subsides naturally and energy is steady.

What does this mean for you – the person who either has cancer and wants to get rid of it or who doesn’t have cancer and wants to stay that way? Researchers like Valter Longo can’t officially recommend it to cancer patients, but it seems well-tolerated and basically safe. If you or anyone you know has cancer, suggest fasting as a possible strategy. As long as a person keeps their oncologist apprised of the situation and any relevant research on the subject, it might prove helpful. And if you’re currently cancer-free, consider implementing occasional (intermittent) fasts, just to be safe. I know research like the stuff I’ve just outlined has convinced me that it’s definitely worth a shot, and there’s little if any downside.

For those of you readers who currently practice fasting, do the potential cancer benefits motivate and drive you? If you aren’t currently fasting, does this evidence make you want to? *Thanks, Mark!*

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fasting-cancer/#ixzz1siAmOH6g


I am not a fan of fasting but I may give this a try... this is some good evidence for sure!

HAIIII YAAAAAH WAAT CHAAAA

I think that illness has many origins, most of which we have no clue. I want to figure it out – did I eat the lead paint from my crib? Am I sitting on Dioxin riddled farmland? Did I not wash my strawberries correctly? Am I so stressed that I don’t even know it? I feel relaxed but is it that inner stress from “certain” relationships (you know) the people in your life you want to suggest that they move to an iceberg in Anarctica. I have several of those.

In order to remove the stress from my life, I have decided to go with something I heard on the radio. It is called the karate chop of truth. Most of us will be offended by things but dance around the person out of politeness, talk about them behind their back, avoid their presence, say mean things you would normally never say, become completely defensive or take it to a new hillbilly height and just smack them upside the head with a frying pan.

I have decided at sixty-one-years-old that I will now be practicing the karate chop of truth. It is like ripping off a Bandaid rather than feel the pain slowly and methodically. I have someone in my life who (I have come to realize) makes me feel terrible every time I leave their house. If it isn’t my hair, it is my weight. If it isn’t my weight it is how dirty my car is. The list goes on and on, and I have finally decided to make it stop. The latest offense was telling me that their cousin died in the 90’s of Non-Hodgkins and that back then they only had a 30% chance of living and that I (now) have a 70% chance of living. What a complete dickhead. This person has said this four times now and I am ready for the karate chop of truth. It will be difficult, but in order to rid myself of this unneeded stress and raised level of cortisol, I must get in control of this thing.

I plan on telling this person that I have been holding out on my karate chop of truth (yes, I am using this phrase) but have held it back, thinking it might be rude or sting a little. I want them to know that my honesty is very important now to my health and that I am not allowing certain things in.

 HIYAAAAAAAA.

I don’t have to hurt their feelings. I just need to say, “Please don’t bring up statistics again. They aren’t a positive encouragement and I avoid Wikipedia for that reason.” Or.. “no, I’m not 112 lbs anymore. Yes, I am more Nigella than Giada and I can’t zip those pants, and I don’t want you to bring this up to me againnnn.” Or… “I don’t want you to puff out your face and tell me that that is what I looked like last year on the steroids.” WAAT CHAAAA!!!!!

This is a great way to eliminate stress. It is probably better than a my Xanax and a Mojito combined.

I get my results from another scan next Thursday so the stress level is at an all time high. I am not sure what the docs are going to say. I get the “good” chemo unless the cancer has come back but if so, I get the nasty, scary, evil drug. I have a positive attitude and know I can get through either the good or bad. Do I want to be bald again?  No. Do I want battery acid coming out of my butt? No. But between my green eating habits and the karate chop of truth… I may lick this thing. No wait… I change that. I’m GONNA lick this thing.

HAIIII YAAAAAH WAAT CHAAAA!!!!!