February | 2012 | Tracy Krulik

Dangers of Tattoos

February 29, 2012 12:15 pm \ Tracy Krulik

After I was diagnosed with cancer, Tommie and I made a pact to get celebratory tattoos once I was put into remission. Because I named my first tumor Voldemort, I was planning on getting a Harry Potter lightening bolt tattoo (but not on my forehead). We now know that it’s unlikely that I will ever be cancer free, so that whole tattoo idea has faded away. And it’s a good thing it has!

While interviewing Dr. Tina Alster for an article I’m writing on wrinkle fillers and Botox, we took a detour to discuss her research on the rising concern over cosmetic tattoos. The most frightening issue is that none of the tattoo inks are regulated. Sure, they’re regulated for their original use as, say, ”printer ink or automobile paint,” but they are not FDA approved for injection into the skin.

Adverse reactions to tattoos have been on the rise in recent years, so there is increasing pressure on the FDA to step in. Traditionally, state and local health agencies have been the only ones to regulate tattoo parlors, but they have just focused on sanitation issues and setting age limits. Dr. Alster says much more needs to be done.

If you are considering getting a tattoo, consider these issues:

You could develop tenderness and itching from an allergic reaction to the ink (not so bad, but keep reading).
Some pigments, like pigment red 9, pigment red 22, and pigment yellow 74 “decompose into known carcinogens with exposure to light and laser irritation.”
Lesions like sarcoidosis, B-cell lymphoma, melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma have been linked to tattoos.
MRIs can interact with the ink and cause skin irritation.
The body absorbs the ink, so granules can migrate into lymph nodes. Beyond the terrifying idea that these toxins are leaving the skin and traveling through the blood system, the ink in lymph nodes can complicate a medical evaluation because they look like metastases on a scan.

I wore a belly button ring in college, so I get the desire to wear creativity on our bodies. Just know the risks. As it turns out, I’m a delicate little flower, and I had an allergic reaction to the ring. (Red and pussy is not the sexiest look.)

Health comes down to risk taking. I was willing to gamble that the parlor would use sterile needles if I went for my lightening bolt tattoo, but I’m not willing to gamble that my body won’t reject the ink or that it won’t cause some other kind of cancer. Hence, I’m no longer interested in getting a tattoo. To someone else, the body art is so meaningful that these possible side effects seem less important, and they will go for it.

I say to each his own, but there currently isn’t even a mandate to post a warning sign at tattoo parlors that the inks are not regulated. The FDA needs to do more.

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

Exercise and Mental Health

February 24, 2012 8:55 am \ Tracy Krulik

I’ve been feeling jittery lately — like I’m hopped up on caffeine, but I don’t actually drink caffeine. Last week it took me hours to relax after coming home from a night class, and I notice this “on edge” feeling most days.

Years ago my voice teacher at George Mason University gave me a breathing exercise for singing that usually helps to relax me in times like these (breathe in deeply for 5 seconds, hold it for 3, release it over 10). It’s been helping a bit, but not enough. I gave a brief thought the other day to taking Xanax, which I’ve never tried before. As you know, I’m not too keen on taking drugs unless I absolutely have to, so this didn’t sound like the right approach for me. So I tried the breathing exercises again, but they still didn’t get the job done.

Then the air turned 60 degrees.

While I’ve been regularly lifting weights, going for long walks, and taking short (by my standards) bike rides two or three times a week this winter, I haven’t been getting the level of exercise I’ve grown accustomed to over the past three years. But yesterday I did.

On a beautiful spring-like afternoon in February, Tom, our friend Stacey, and I rode 22 miles with a few lung-filling, leg-burning hills, and I suddenly felt relaxed. Was it the fact that I was disconnected from my phone and my computer for two hours? Was it laughing with friends? Was it the roller-coaster thrill I get when I crest a challenging hill and then fly down in a crouch? I’m gonna go with all of the above, but let’s hear from an expert.

Harvard Medical School has a whole lot to say about the mental health benefits of exercise. Here’s some of it:

The mental benefits of aerobic exercise have a neurochemical basis. Exercise reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. It also stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body’s natural painkillers and mood elevators. Endorphins are responsible for the “runner’s high” and for the feelings of relaxation and optimism that accompany many hard workouts — or, at least, the hot shower after your exercise is over.

Behavioral factors also contribute to the emotional benefits of exercise. As your waistline shrinks and your strength and stamina increase, your self-image will improve. You’ll earn a sense of mastery and control, of pride and self-confidence. Your renewed vigor and energy will help you succeed in many tasks, and the discipline of regular exercise will help you achieve other important lifestyle goals.

Exercise and sports also provide opportunities to get away from it all and to either enjoy some solitude or to make friends and build networks. “All men,” wrote St. Thomas Aquinas, “need leisure.” Exercise is play and recreation; when your body is busy, your mind will be distracted from the worries of daily life and will be free to think creatively.

Almost any type of exercise will help. Many people find that using large muscle groups in a rhythmic, repetitive fashion works best; call it “muscular meditation,” and you’ll begin to understand how it works. Walking and jogging are prime examples. Even a simple 20-minute stroll can clear the mind and reduce stress. But some people prefer vigorous workouts that burn stress along with calories. That’s one reason ellipticals are so popular. And the same stretching exercises that help relax your muscles after a hard workout will help relax your mind as well.

After I showered and had my post-ride snack (delicious samosa from my favorite food truck Rolls On Rolls) I realized that I finally felt at ease and quite simply happy — without any anxiety, stress, or jitters. It became clear to me that over the past few months, I haven’t been getting the level of exercise my body needs for wellness — not just for my physical health, but for my mental health too.

I already knew about the correlation between exercise and mental health, but I had never before felt the results quite so dramatically. It’s a bit wet outside this morning, but the air is still warm, so after I get a few chores done, I’m putting on my kit, grabbing my gorgeous road bike, and hitting the trails. The rest of the day should feel nice and mellow after that.

Guess I’m going to have to toughen up and ride my bike even on very cold days. Freshbikes will be making some money this weekend when I stock up on the additional cold-weather gear I will need to keep me riding the rest of winter. Big question: Will I finally swallow my pride and blow my nose like the real cyclists do on the bike? It’s too gross for me to explain if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Google it.

Posted in: As I See It, Exercise and Fitness \ Tagged: exercise, health care

Opening Pandora’s Box

February 22, 2012 8:40 am \ Tracy Krulik

I have a problem: I don’t like drama. It’s ironic, because I used to be an actor, and I write about subjects which stir up all kinds of emotions in people, but I really just want a nice, quiet, simple life.

That’s why I unfriended a sorority sister on Facebook last night. I won’t share the details with you, but the essence is that she has posted numerous negative comments in an offensive and flippant manner. Last night’s posting was about religion — well, actually about my non-religion: atheism.

Welcome, Irony!

I just said that I don’t like drama, and what do I do? I tell the WORLD that I’m an atheist. I’m already in trouble because I don’t eat animal products (HEATHEN!), and here I am bringing more hell fires upon myself. I’m about to make things far worse.

Let’s talk about abortion!

Because I truly don’t like drama, I’m just going to focus on one issue of the debate. Of the fifty stars on the banner I chose to live in one of the biggest whack jobs: the great commonwealth of Virginia. As you must know by now, our esteemed delegates are pushing through a bill which would require women to undergo an ultrasound prior to having an abortion. What you might not know, and what a number of those delegates have only recently discovered (if the Washington Post is correct) is that said ultrasound is an invasive procedure. A woman takes a long cylindrical probe, places a condom on it, inserts it into her vagina, and moves it around — with others in the room.

I was already outraged that men would push through a law that would violate me and my rights so egregiously, but then I learned that many of the lawmakers didn’t actually understand how this ultrasound thing that they would force upon me worked. And these are the same people who are supposed to be fixing the health care crisis?

We are in trouble when ignorant people make decisions for us. I’ve always said that I want my elected officials to be smarter than me. I’m lowering that threshold now. How’s bout we just get people into office who care enough to understand even the basics of a mandated medical procedure?

Okay, I’ve said my peace. Pandora’s box is now open. Bring on the drama.

Posted in: As I See It \ Tagged: health care, religion

The Skinny on Being Skinny

February 21, 2012 9:53 am \ Tracy Krulik

I emailed my oncologist yesterday to ask if he thought I should come in for scans now rather than wait until May. (After my last six-month scan in August I graduated to nine months.)

The reason I was concerned was that over the last six months I’ve lost about 10 pounds. I’m down to 103 pounds — the thinnest I’ve been since my gallbladder broke down twelve years ago. I’m only 5’2″, so 103 pounds is perfectly acceptable, but since high school I haven’t been this tiny except when I was vomiting daily.

I’m eating a LOT of food nowadays. One of my biggest problems is that I eat too fast. When something is sloppy I snark it down as fast as possible to minimize the mess, and when something is tasty? SNARK! Lately I’ve been eating a lot of delicious foods, and some sloppy ones too, and I’ve noticed that I’m a bit out of breath after speed-eating and feel (as I like to say) ungerschtuffed.

If I eat too much food too quickly almost every time I eat, how can I possibly be losing weight?

I’ve been to the endocrinologist recently and had blood tests a plenty, so it’s not my hormones, my thyroid, or anything else he checked.

I’m not sick to my stomach. I have no pains. My energy level is skyscraper high, my skin is glowing, hair looks shiny, and I find new muscles every day.

And yet, yesterday I emailed my doc to see if my cancer might be flourishing, because the clothes I wore in high school fit me again. Happily, Doc said that unless the weight loss is accompanied by new symptoms of nausea, pain, vomiting, or diarrhea I don’t need to worry. What a relief.

Want to know why I believe I’m losing weight? I stopped taking birth control pills for one thing, and two, I have focused on eating nutrient-dense foods. So even though I’m filling my gut with a lot of food, it’s all good for me. (I’m working on slowing down and eating smaller amounts, BTW.)

Rather than snack on packaged trail mix which comes ladened with added oils and sugars, I eat a variety of unsalted nuts and fresh or (unsweetened) dried fruit. Because I want to put only the purest ingredients into my body I read every label now, and I am shocked by all the additives even in seemingly healthy snacks in Whole Foods. My doctor told me to eat plain ol’ raw nuts from the bins in the market, and he was right. Packaging usually means extra salt, sugar, and oil. No wonder people have so much difficulty finding a healthy weight. Even the “healthy” stuff is unhealthy.

But I digress.

Bottom line: I’m healthy. I’m glad I checked in with my doc to confirm my suspicions that if I feel healthy I must be. That rule has worked well for me for the past four and a half years, and I’m gonna stick with it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready to lift weights with my trainer and then hop on my bike. The air is warmish today, and I feel so good that I want to go play like a kid.

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

Split Pea, Fennel, and Spinach Soup

February 17, 2012 8:13 am \ Tracy Krulik

After all these years, this soup is the first recipe I’ve ever made from a magazine. I’m not sure why I’ve given more credence to hard cover books than to glossy magazines, but I have — until now.

Vegetarian Times (March 2012) hit one out of the ball park with its Split Pea, Fennel, and Spinach Soup. I made this deliciousness on Valentine’s Day, so to put the world back into balance, I’m going to have to make something red or pink for St. Patrick’s Day.

This is the first split pea soup recipe I’ve seen which purees the peas rather than leave the soup chunky. I’m a fan. Well, I’m a fan of chunky too, but this really worked for me. I hope you enjoy it too!

What you need:

2 cups chopped fennel (1 bulb or 5 fennel stalks, fronds removed)
1 large onion, chopped (2 cups)
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 tablespoon)
1 cup dry white wine, divided
15 oz. dried green split peas (picked over, rinsed, and drained)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
5 oz. baby spinach leaves

What to do:

Heat saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add fennel and onion, and sauté 8 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup wine, and simmer 2 minutes. Add split peas, 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds, thyme, bay leaf, and 7 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 50 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add remaining 1/2 cup wine, and cook, uncovered 10 minutes, or until split peas are tender. Stir in spinach, and cook 2 minutes, or until spinach is wilted.
Remove bay leaf, and puree soup with immersion blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Toast remaining 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds in small skillet 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Serve soup garnished with toasted fennel seeds.

Per 1 1/4-cup serving: 227 cal., 13 g protein, 2 g total fat (<1 g sat fat), 42 g carb, 0 mg chol, 481 mg sod, 21 g fiber, 3 g sugars.

Posted in: Recipes \ Tagged: plant-based, vegan, vegetarian

North Carolina’s Nuggets War

February 16, 2012 12:54 pm \ Tracy Krulik

Did you hear the one about the kid who went to school with a mom-packed lunch and was told to eat cafeteria chicken nuggets instead? It’s not funny, because it’s true.

The Carolina Journal reported this week that a school official told a preschooler that her packed lunch (turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice) was not up to code and made her eat a cafeteria lunch. The internet (myself included) erupted in anger, because we believed this was state policy. We all assumed that The Man was dictating what we eat.

Here’s what (I believe) really happened:

The North Carolina Division of Child Development has a “Child Care Center Handbook” which includes detailed information on nutrition. It states:

“Proper nutrition plays a crucial role in the health and development of children. Nutritious foods should be offered throughout the day to ensure children are getting the nourishment and energy they need to learn, grow, and be healthy. Research shows that there are crucial relationships between nutrition and health, and health and learning. This makes it especially important for caregivers to show children what it means to eat for good health, including how important it is to eat a variety of foods, and to provide proper nutrition through the meals and snacks served in child care. The purpose of these requirements is to establish the minimum nutritional requirements for children in child care (emphasis mine).”

Minimum nutritional requirements. A noble cause, no?

The handbook states what those minimums are:

What I was looking for, and found, was the term “meat alternative.” You see, the Carolina Journal reported that lunch “must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.” This was the part of the story that enraged me. The government is insisting that children eat meat? If I had children, with all I know about the benefits of a plant-based diet, I would not feed them meat. But the handbook, I’m so thrilled to say, recognizes that not all people eat meats, and allows for meat alternatives. Bravo.

The article is correct in its assertion that North Carolina’s school children must drink milk with each lunch or dinner. I’m not pleased by this. But I did some digging. North Carolina’s nutritional minimums are based on the USDA’s guidelines, and the new “Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs,” which will go into effect on March 26, 2012, allow for children to drink milk substitutes or decline milk entirely if they choose. I hope that North Carolina will take note and change its guidelines accordingly.

Overall, what we’re witnessing is a multi-pronged game of telephone. First, the school employee who was tasked with inspecting lunches to make sure the kids are getting enough nutrition, clearly did not understand the policy very well and screwed up. While I don’t believe that feeding a child a turkey and cheese on white bread sandwich is healthy, it certainly meets the state’s guidelines. (As a side note, I continue to be amazed that people exist who think that a fried processed food like chicken nuggets is healthy, but clearly they do — this school official certainly does. I wonder what her kids eat.) [Note: the school official has not been named, but I'm going with "her" for the heck of it.]

Then we have the Carolina Journal’s turn at telephone. The initial article was full of so many holes that the editor has updated the story with more correct information. I would say that they have not yet done enough fact checking, because they are still not reporting correct information by stating emphatically that the program dictates kids eat meat.

From there, all of us Facebookers and Tweeters, propelled the telephone game even further spreading more and more incorrect information akin to the speed and reach of the Captain Trips’ super flu in Stephen King’s The Stand.

My goal with this post is to clear up at least some of the misinformation. The disease has already spread beyond any hope of cure, but maybe with this we can begin to appreciate the North Carolina Division of Child Development for trying to ensure that the children are fueled with nutrition. We know that school cafeteria food is often far from nutritious and healthy, but it seems to me that North Carolina is trying to fix that problem. I applaud them.

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

The Long-Term Risks of Medications

February 13, 2012 9:06 am \ Tracy Krulik

We all ask our doctors what side effects might occur from newly prescribed mediations, but how often do we think about their long-term risks? If you’re me, you think about them a lot.

This behavior is new to me. I’m a doctor’s child who grew up in a house of medications — my dad has arthritis and my mom has type 1 diabetes and severe asthma. We had medications on the counter, in the cabinets, and in the fridge. And when I was vomiting and doubling over in pain for nine years while that pesky tumor grew on my pancreas, I took antacids, proton-pump inhibitors, gastric motility medications, pain killers, and anti-nausea medications. I also took three or four allergy medications daily.

I blindly trusted that my doctors were looking out for my best interest, but when I realized that all those medications were simply masking the symptoms from a deadly root cause, my outlook changed.

One of the pain killers I took for my abdominal pain was Elavil (A.K.A. Amitriptyline). Though originally intended as an antidepressant, if taken at low doses, Elavil tricks nerve endings so that you don’t feel pain. It really works. And to this day, I have doctors who prescribe it to me when I get some kind of pain for which they cannot find a root cause.

An endocrinologist recently expressed concerns to me about taking Elavil. He finds it troubling that rather than find that root cause my other doctors still have me take a pill to mask it. I initially went to this endocrinologist to try to get a handle on my questionable low blood sugar episodes and whether they could be attributed to my cancer. Well, it turns out that Elavil can wreck havoc on the endocrine system — causing “changes in sex hormone concentrations and blood glucose.”

My first oncologist had me taking drugs to stop my tumors from secreting insulin thinking that that was the reason my blood sugar kept dropping. What if my taking Elavil was the actual cause? This drug might very well have caused my oncologist to misread my symptoms and treat me with another toxic medication, which I did not need.

For a terrifying view of the long-term dangers of taking pain killers, read this NY Times story about NFL players taking Toradol. HBO’s Real Sports recently aired a fascinating segment on the same story. NFL players trusted that the team doctors knew what they were doing when they administered Toradol to them, but now many former players are experiencing regular symptoms ranging from dizziness and blackouts to kidney failure. The NIH has this warning posted about the drug.

So what’s the takeaway? When we need to take medications (i.e. to stop the tumor from growing on my husband’s brain), we are fortunate to have the powers of Western medicine. But all medications come with risks — short-term side effects as well as long-term toxicity. My goal is to minimize my medications to only those that I absolutely need. And yes, Friend-Who-Takes-Seven-Advils-At-A-Time, that even means that when I have a headache I try to knock it out with exercise before I reach for a pain killer.

Do you really need all of your medications? Take stock of what you’re putting into your body and give it some thought.

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

Are Some Oils Healthy?

February 9, 2012 8:57 am \ Tracy Krulik

Last week a post on Facebook infuriated me. Shocker. I know.

Elevation Burger, the restaurant chain posted this:

“Did you know that February is American Heart Month? Well it is, and we want to share with you a recent study from Spain published in the British Medical Journal that found no association between the frequency of fried food consumption, when olive and sunflower oils are mostly used, and the incidence of serious heart disease. The chief reason why we fry our french fries in olive oil free from trans-fat!”

A fast-food chain that sells burgers, fries, soft drinks, and milk shakes was promoting American Heart Month. That point alone pissed me off.

Beyond that issue, said burger chain was citing a British Medical Journal study discussed in this article in The Telegraph. Essentially the study showed that in people who ate a Mediterranean diet, consuming foods fried in sunflower or olive oil “is not linked to heart disease or premature death.”

The most important part of the above statement is “in people who ate a Mediterranean diet.” The study was performed in Spain. Not England. Not the United States. Mediterranean diets include a much higher quantity of vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats from nuts, and are vastly different than the more commonly consumed low-nutrient Western diets.

What Elevation Burger fans would not have learned had they not read the The Telegraph article for themselves was this:

“Fried foods from modern American-style takeaways were different, they argued, because these tended to have been cooked in re-used oils, higher in transfats. In addition, such takeaways tended to contain much more salt, known to increase blood pressure and heart disease risk.”

So basically, people who are eating a nutrient-dense diet don’t seem to have an increased risk of heart disease if they eat food fried in olive or sunflower oil (according to the one study). But the same cannot be said for people who eat low-nutrient Western diets, because they were not included in this one study.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman provides excellent information on why consuming processed oils are not healthy for you. And to put it in a nutshell (See what I did there? “Nutshell?”) Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn says this about whether it’s good to consume processed oils:

“NO OIL! Not even olive oil, which goes against a lot of other advice out there about so-called good fats. The reality is that oils are extremely low in terms of nutritive value. They contain no fiber, no minerals and are 100% fat calories. And above all they contain saturated fat which immediately injures the endothelial lining of the arteries when eaten. It doesn’t matter whether it’s olive oil, corn oil, or any other kind of oil. You should not consume any oil if you have heart disease.”

Why was I so irate about Elevation Burger’s post? Cherry picking quotes that don’t tell the full story is irresponsible and dangerous. You could argue that fans of their page should click on the link to read the article for themselves, but we all know that most of the time we read headlines and comments in our Facebook feeds and move on to the next post.

The bottom line is this: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Should we never consume processed oils? Well, if we are already high risk for heart disease or stroke, then many doctors would say no. Do I never consume oil? Of course not. I use one or two tablespoons of oil in most dishes that I make, and every once in a while I’ll eat some fries in a restaurant. I understand the risks though, and I know that after I eat those fries I’m gonna feel like crap, and I always do.

Eat what you want, but be sure to make an informed decision about what foods you put in your mouth.

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

I’m Baaaaaaaaack!

February 8, 2012 2:17 pm \ Tracy Krulik

Sometimes you have to take a step back to clear your head, and I definitely needed these past two weeks away from the blog to clear mine.

I started a new master’s degree writing program at Johns Hopkins on January 25th, and while I didn’t have any immediate deadlines, I felt like I needed to take a break to try and figure out what type of writing I want to be doing.

There was a part of me that was ready to pull the plug on writing about my health, because while I do write about the fact that I have cancer, the irony is that I live to NOT focus on cancer. Mine isn’t merely a cancer story; it’s a story about living life the healthiest way possible. My cancer diagnosis and my battle to fight cancer in a medical system that failed me have helped me to find great health. That’s my story. It’s about health and happiness and bikes and veggies and cats and an awesome hubby.

What I realize is that I love writing, but I don’t want to be pigeonholed into writing only about health and wellness. I will continue to do so on this blog, but I hope to be able to expand my writing into a variety of areas through freelancing and perhaps another book down the road.

My first assignment for class is to write an 800 to 1000 word profile of someone in the local area. I decided to write about Rachan Malhotra, the owner of Rolls On Rolls — a healthy Indian street food truck in Washington, D.C. Going in I thought the piece would be about the health aspects of Rachan’s business, but as I listened to his stories, a more interesting theme emerged. My hope is that I’ll be able to sell the story to a D.C. magazine or newspaper after I get my professor’s feedback. I’ll keep you posted.

I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying writing about something new. I have enjoyed writing my story and sharing my experiences with you, but it feels great to allow someone else to take the spotlight for a change.

Since I’ve been on break I have done some microblogging here and there on Facebook and Twitter, but I am back to blogging in full once again.

Thanks for sticking around!

Posted in: As I See It \ Tagged: writing

Monthly Archives: February 2012