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Monthly Archives: July 2011

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The Little Truck That Could

July 31, 2011 7:52 am \

Yesterday Tommie and I joined friends from the Oxon Hill Bicycle and Trail Club for a 44-mile ride in southern Maryland. The air felt cool (even a high of 92 can feel cool after riding in 103 degree heat days before), we were feeling good, and our goal was to make it up the final hill on Bumpy Oak Road without difficulty.

Bumpy Oak kicked our butts last week when we encountered it in 103-degree heat, and we knew that it was the heat that bested us rather than the hill. So yesterday, I was committed to climbing it without having to stop for a rest break.

As the climb began to steepen I heard an exhaust motor approaching from behind and looked over my shoulder to see a utility truck struggling to make it up the hill. I shifted into an easier gear as the percent grade increased a bit more while The Little Truck pulled up next to me. “This hill is a piece of cake today,” I thought, reflecting on how well I was breathing. And then the truck farted. I was covered in exhaust fumes and choked a bit.

Should I pull over and let the truck pass so that I can get some clean air? No. I made a commitment that I would not stop until I reached the top of hill, and exhaust fumes or no, I was not going to do it.

Next thing I knew, The Little Truck stalled out. So I pulled ahead. When The Little Truck got its engine going again and pulled up closer to me, we both knew that IT WAS ON.

(Side note: For years I’ve dreamed of producing a short film about an old person on a Rascal scooter traveling about an inch an hour from from the left side of the screen to the right and off. Use that image in your mind to get the pace of our hill-climb drag race.)

I was ahead by a front tire, but The Little Truck was determined. He pulled up within a half a tire, but I was more determined. I pumped harder on my pedals and resumed my full tire lead. We bobbled back and forth a bit, but in the end The Little Truck pulled away. As he made it to the crest of hill, he even found the strength to pass Tommie and beat out both cyclists (and fart on Tommie too).

I made it up the hill without stopping and accomplished my day’s goal. But now I have a new one. If I ever encounter The Little Truck That Could again, I will win that next race.

Well played, Little Truck. Well played.

Posted in: As I See It, Exercise and Fitness

The Dangerous Path of One Wrong Diagnosis

July 29, 2011 7:48 am \

Is there such thing as giving too much information to your doctor? I’ve given a lot of thought to this question as I’ve pondered how my doctors could miss finding a TUMOR ON MY PANCREAS for nearly a decade, and I think the answer is yes.

I’ve learned the hard way that medicine is an art and a science. Doctors have to rely on their own wits to determine what type of tests to use and how to come to a diagnosis and treatment based on the information from said tests. In an ideal world the doctor can shake away any prejudices or personal distractions in order to think clearly when assessing a patient, but we know we don’t live in an ideal world. Doctors are human just like us and make the same types of errors we all make in our business and personal lives, but unlike most of us, their mistakes can have a grave impact on others.

So, how does giving too much information to a doctor possibly help him make a mistake? Let’s take a look.

In 1998 when I first doubled over and vomited for a week, the doctor who saw me in the hospital diagnosed me with “gastroparesis,” a condition which meant that the motor function of my stomach was apparently too slow. We know now that he was wrong. My stomach was fine; my pancreas was not. But he never looked anywhere beyond my stomach.

While I was not by any means “well” after this, the next major attack did not occur again until 2003 after I had moved from Florida to northern Virginia. I found a new doctor in D.C. and told him right off the bat that the last time I had this attack, I was diagnosed with gastroparesis. This clouded the doctor’s judgment so much that despite the fact that a test which checked the motor function of my stomach came back completely normal, he said that “sometimes the tests don’t catch the problem,” and opted to just treat me for gastroparesis again.

A year and a half later, when my health took another major nosedive, this doctor saw an abnormality with my pancreas on a CT scan. He made a cursory attempt to follow up, and when that didn’t show anything of importance to him,  he chalked up the abnormal CT to another false test result and continued treating me for gastroparesis.

I eventually switched to a different doctor a year later and in 2007 when my symptoms were becoming unbearable once again. The new doctor insisted on taking another look at my pancreas and rapidly came to the right diagnosis: I had a tumor on my pancreas.

To be clear, I am not saying that we should hold back information from our doctors, but we do need to understand the power of our words. Today when I visit doctors I tell them my symptoms first and foremost. I was so used to doctors finding nothing of significance on tests that I just wanted my doctors to give me medicines to treat my symptoms as quickly as possible, and I thought that if I explained to them what was wrong with me I could hurry the process along.

Now I question every test, diagnosis, and treatment plan, and I do my research to make sure that I agree with the decisions my doctors are making for me, but I allow them to draw their own conclusions first. As much as Wikipedia makes me think I’m qualified to be a doctor, I am not. (Yet that is. One more mistake by a doctor, and I’m going back to school to get my M.D. so that I can treat myself.)

 

Posted in: As I See It \ Tagged:

Pilates and…: Me!

July 28, 2011 7:36 am \

Balanced Body Pilates Reformer Instructor Training

Today the summer edition of the Balanced Body COREterly eNewsletter will be hitting inboxes around the world, and it will include an article by me: “Pilates and…: Fighting Cancer, Finding a Career.”

I began taking Pilates a few months after my pancreas surgery to try to wake up the abdominal muscles my surgeon cut through to remove that nasty tumor. The article talks about how Pilates has helped me heal from my surgery as well as allow me to discover a new career where I can help others be strong and healthy too.

Has a sport or practice like Pilates helped you overcome physical or mental obstacles? I’d love to hear your story.

Posted in: As I See It, Exercise and Fitness, My Story

Planking

July 27, 2011 7:44 am \

While giving a lesson to a new Pilates student yesterday I told him that we were going to do some planking now. “Planking? Like on Facebook?” he asked. I had no clue what he was talking about, so he said to google it.

Where have I been? How is it that I had no idea that people were taking pictures of themselves lying flat as a board in all kinds of crazy places? I’m on the internet all the time. I’m a web addict. How have I missed this?

Wonder if I can find a way to plank while riding my bike…

Posted in: As I See It, Exercise and Fitness

Killing a Rare Inoperable Tumor

July 26, 2011 8:18 am \

After writing yesterday about stopping cancer by blocking tumor blood vessels, I read today’s Washington Post article “Risky Business” on how doctors used that same concept to stop an inoperable tumor growing on a woman’s heart. It’s an amazing story that shows the creative techniques doctors are now able to employ to combat cancer.

Damn alien tumors trying to take over our vital organs. Not anymore! We’re coming after YOU!

Posted in: As I See It \ Tagged:

Another Promising Cancer Treatment

July 25, 2011 8:18 am \

Stumbled upon this post that discusses the development of drugs which could block blood vessel growth in tumors. By blocking the blood vessels, the tumors cannot get the oxygen and nutrients they need to develop, so the disease simply stops in its tracks.

This type of treatment is incredibly advantageous for someone like me with a disease that cannot be “cut out.” Once my neuroendocrine cancer spread from my pancreas to other organs, surgery to cure the disease was no longer viable because there would inevitably be cancerous microcells floating around that would not be visible by scan. Those microcells could later grow into full-fledged tumors, so it’s safest for the long-term to do as little cutting as possible. In addition to half of my pancreas, we almost took out the right lobe of my liver but opted not to for this reason.

Eugene Woltering, M.D, with the LSU Health Sciences Center, hopes that this line of treatment “could one day lead to cancer being treated more like a chronic disease.” Sounds good to me. Keep up the good work, Dr. Woltering!

Posted in: As I See It \ Tagged: , ,

Philly Livestrong Challenge: The Countdown Is On!

July 24, 2011 8:07 am \

We are four weeks away from the Philly Livestrong Challenge, and Tommie and I seriously kicked up our training this weekend.

As you may know, I’ve been training with James Morrison at Bally Total Fitness for years, because the man is a genius and keeps my body pain-free (as pain free as a walking overuse-injury-girl can be). So on Friday I mentioned to him that since we recently did a ride as challenging as the Livestrong 45-miler and found it pretty easy we decided to go up one level and switch our registration to the 70-miler, which includes 5,400 feet of climb. I asked James what we could do in the gym to help me achieve this goal, since the highest I have yet climbed on any one ride is 3,300 feet. I figured James would say more squats or come in twice a week rather than once, etc. Nope. James said we needed to climb in the gym.

Normally James has me pair up sets of exercises, for instance rowing and squats– use a machine to row 12 times, then get up and do 12 squats, and then repeat that whole thing 2 more times. Rather than a second weight-training exercise, James is now having me climb on a spinner. He dragged a spinner bike around the gym with us, and after each set of lifts I then had to climb hills on the bike for 2 minutes. We’re going to train up to five minutes of climbing, and I’m going to do most of that standing. I have never had more fun in a gym than I did on Friday. Can’t wait to go back next week. (Although, I’ll admit that I’m a bit scared. That was HARD, and it’s only going to get HARDER!)

Then yesterday, Tom and I met up with our favorite ride leader, George, from the Oxon Hill Bike Club in southern Maryland. The planned ride was 42 miles, but at 8:30 a.m. it was already 90 degrees. So the group thought it might be a good idea to switch to 32 miles and get out of the heat sooner. We agreed that we would stop at a particular intersection around mile 15 and make the final call then.

We headed out, and Tom and I found our way to the front of the pack with one other guy who also did not get stopped at the first stop light. After a few miles I realized that without much effort I was riding faster than my normal pace– especially on hills. By the time we made it to that designated intersection, Tom and I were alone, and when we looked down the road, there was no one in sight for miles. Before we had a chance to discuss whether we wanted to wait for the group (since we were not familiar with the area and didn’t know how to shorten the cue sheet), we were swarmed by these painful tiny red bugs who were sucking our healthy blood. Decision made: regardless of the heat, we would ride the full 42 miles.

The next 10 miles were incredibly rewarding. The rest stop was located at a beautiful church atop a hill overlooking the Potomac River, and then when we headed out again we found ourselves on John Wilkes Booth’s escape route after shooting President Lincoln. Thank you Maryland’s historic signs!

When we finally made it back to our car we discovered that the temperature was 103 degrees. This would explain why we had to stop under trees every mile or so for the last 15 miles. At times we actually got a bit dizzy, and a random water vending machine in an empty parking lot with a massive dead spider by the coin slot saved us for the last 10 miles. As usual the steepest hill of the ride appeared three miles from the end, which almost took me out, but we did it. In Satan’s sauna, we rode our bike 42 miles over 1,500 feet of climb. I’d like to not do that again.

Gonna head to the Pilates studio this morning for a bit of cross-training. I have some extremely tired muscles that could use some lengthening. God love ya, Joe Pilates.

Posted in: As I See It, Exercise and Fitness

Brinker’s Perfume Blunder

July 22, 2011 7:56 am \

Found this article interesting today. Breast cancer survivors have expressed concerns about seeing Susan G. Komen founder Nancy Brinker on the Home Shopping Network selling her new perfume, Promise Me.

The two main issues are, first, that fragrances can make someone undergoing chemotherapy feel sick to their stomach, develop headaches, and become dizzy. Second, there is concern that there might be carcinogenic chemicals in the perfume. Valid concerns I’d say.

In response, “Brinker says she’s listening to women’s concerns. She says she has asked Promise Me’s manufacturer to look into reformulating the perfume to remove any irritating scents. And she’s confident that its ingredients are safe, noting that none of them have been proven to cause cancer in humans.”

I could tear apart Ms. Brinker’s response noting things like, “just because an ingredient has not been proven to cause cancer does not mean it cannot cause cancer,” but I don’t need to go there. When you’ve grown an organization as powerful as Susan G. Komen your actions will be scrutinized. Little mistakes might appear more massive under the microscope, but with our without magnification I’d say this perfume venture falls into the category of “blunder.”

What’s your take?

Posted in: As I See It \ Tagged:

Scenes from my Vegetable Garden

July 21, 2011 7:07 am \

Living in a condo building might make it tougher to grow a vegetable garden, but it’s far from impossible. Our unit includes a west facing roof terrace with exposure also coming from the north and south. Turns out that vegetables love sun, and so Tommie and I have had great success growing our own foods. Thought I’d share some pics:

Posted in: As I See It \ Tagged: ,

T. Colin Campbell on Bill Maher

July 19, 2011 7:47 am \

Did you get a chance to watch Dr. Colin Campbell on “Real Time with Bill Maher” last week? Though not his best interview, Dr. Campbell still made a few comments that even surprised me.

To review, Dr. Campbell co-authored the book The China Study, which presents research that correlates consumption of animal protein with diseases such as cancer and heart disease. He is also featured in the recently released documentaries Forks Over Knives and Chow Down.

You can view the eight-minute video yourself, but I thought I’d share a few highlights.

  • On whether humans need meat and dairy in their diet– Dr. Campbell said that the jury is still out on that issue. There are still those who believe we do, but he doesn’t buy it. From his research, he’s found that humans are far healthier without consuming animal proteins.
  • On the famous “Food Pyramid”– Dr. Campbell’s exact words: “It’s a joke.” His candor here really surprised me. He continued on to say that we cannot trust the government and experts to give us the best information on food and health. He’s seen too many instances where politics trumped science. Scary stuff.
  • On the meaning of “whole food”– ”The way nature provides it.” Taking natural sugar and combining it with processed flour and oil? That’s not a whole food, “that’s a donut.” :)
  • On why the film is named “Forks Over Knives”– I’d say I’m a moron for not understanding the title, but Bill Maher was on the same page as me. (Maybe we’re both morons?) We thought the forks represented eating plant-based foods and the knives were for cutting meat. Nope. The knives represent scalpels. Get it? Eat the right foods so that you don’t have to go under the knife.

 

Posted in: As I See It, Nutrition and Health \ Tagged: , , , ,