That's Fit

It's not about the bike, said Lance Armstrong in his book about his fight with cancer. In the fight against breast cancer, though, it is about the bike. It's a bit about chocolate too. And let me tell you, after a 220-mile bike ride from Hershey, Pa. to New York City, riders are going a deserve a bite of the sweet treat this starting city is famous for.

The Hershey's Tour de Pink bike ride, benefiting the Young Survival Coalition -- a non-profit network dedicated to the issues unique to young women and breast cancer -- aims to spread hope and awareness while promoting a healthy lifestyle. Four days of riding from October 3-6 is all it takes. If you can't make it to the big event, you can virtually tackle your miles at home.

The Virtual Ride challenges riders to pedal 220 miles from now until October 6. Start logging the miles you cover on quick rides through your neighborhood or on your stationary-bike excursions. Participate as an individual or form a team. It doesn't matter, as long as you register and ride. Raise a minimum $250 and you'll receive an official Hershey's Tour de Pink jersey. One-hundred percent of the money raised will go to the YSC.

It's all about skin this month -- May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. And while everyone who makes periodic appearances in the sun is at risk for skin cancer, there are certain folks most at risk. If you fit one of these categories, say the editors at Family Circle magazine, you should be especially cautious about your sun protection.

• You have fair skin that burns easily; blond or red hair; or blue, green, gray, or hazel eyes.

• You have more than 50 moles on your body.

• You have a family history of skin cancer or have already had an episode yourself.

• You have had severe sunburns as a child or teen.

• You live in a state home to lots of sun, like Florida, Arizona, or Texas.

• You spent summers in occupations with sun exposure, such as lifeguarding or construction work.

• You have used tanning beds frequently.

• You take a medication that increases your sensitivity to the sun.

Uh Oh. I fit all but two.

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Are you aware? I am, as I look at my husband's left hand, fresh out of surgery to remove a squamous cell cancer, in all of its stitched and bandaged glory. I am aware when I look at my pale, pale skin and attempt to cover up as much as possible before heading out into the blazing Florida sun. I am aware when I lather my blond-headed little boys with sunscreen, hide in the shade at my neighborhood pool, and think back to all the skin cancer-y spots my grandma was forever having frozen off her her aging body. I've had a few frozen myself. And my sister just last year had two basal cell cancers carved right out of her chest. Her scars are constant reminders of summers spent basking on the beach.

Skin cancer should not be taken lightly, no matter how strongly you believe the disease won't happen to you. Of all the cancers out there, you might think this one is no big deal. You'd be wrong. Just ask Miss Melanoma who lost a toe because a mole on her foot turned up as melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Ask anyone battling the disease and fighting off death. There were an estimated 59,940 new melanoma cases in the U.S. in 2007 and 250,000 cases of squamous cells carcinomas, the second most common type of skin cancer. Basal cell cancer, the most common form, strikes one million people each year.

Skin cancer should alarm you. Because if left undetected, it can kill you. Awareness is key. So do you part this month. And every month. Inform yourself. Your family. Your friends. All the information you need -- how to prevent it, how to detect it, how to treat it -- can be found right here at The Skin Cancer Foundation.

On April 20, in celebration of the April 22 Earth Day, families nationwide will celebrate our great planet by participating in the Green Apple Festival. If you live near one of these eight cities, you can plug into the music and environmental awareness that will be powering these simultaneous festivities.

Chicago: Lincoln Park Zoo
Dallas: Fair Park
Denver: City Park
Los Angeles: Santa Monica Pier
Miami: Bicentennial Park
New York: Central Park
San Francisco: Golden Gate Park
Washington DC: The National Mall

If you can't attend, do something instead to honor our Earth. Mix it up, like this post recommends. Enjoy a picnic in your favorite local park. Engage in a little eco-running -- tote a trash bag along on your neighborhood jog and pick up any litter you come across. Plant a fruit tree. Start our own compost pile, send a free e-card to friends and family, or simply get outside and marvel at the world around you. And by all means, eat a green apple. It's a Super Food, you know.

People with type 1 diabetes are usually diagnosed when they are children, after their pancreatic beta cells stop producing insulin. This cessation has nothing to do with weight, diet, or even blood sugar fluctuations at its onset. It simply happens, and it does so for reasons unknown.

To raise awareness about type 1 diabetes, thousands of people from around the blogosphere are participating today in the Raise Your Voice campaign. It's incredibly inspiring to see so many people, from so many walks of life, banding together in efforts to help bring this lesser-known and oft-overlooked type of diabetes to the fore.

Help spread the word by telling everyone you know to Raise Their Voices, too!!!

Rigel recently talked about the phenomenon of being 'awake' during surgery -- it's an issue that has gained lots of attention due to a new movie, aptly titles Awake. It's a rare but very real event, and it's extremely frightening.

So how do you protect yourself? Truth be told, there's not much you can do -- it's mostly up to the hospitals -- but according to CNN, here are some factors that you should discuss with your doctor before going under the knife:

• Brain monitors: Are they available in the OR?
  
• Weight: It's thought that women and those who are slim are the one who experience anesthesia awareness the most.
  
• Age. The older you are, the less anesthesia you need
• Existing disease. Your risk of awareness increases depending on what conditions you have
• Medications. Tell your doctor about any medications you are on, even herbal supplements and vitamins. They can also increase your risk.
  
• Type of surgery. Those undergoing cardiac, obstetric and trauma surgeries may be at a slightly higher risk of for awareness.
  

For more info, check out Dr. Gupta's blog.

Bulimia nervosa, like anorexia nervosa, is an eating disorder that centers around control. One of the most common eating disorders, bulimia is characterized by consuming large amounts of food and then ridding the stomach of its contents by way of vomiting, over-exercising, or use of laxatives.

Eating to excess (called the "binge") is comforting to bulimics. But eating too much causes them to feel out of control. They also feel guilt, shame, and a fear of weight gain which causes them to "purge." This "binge and purge" cycle is extremely dangerous and can lead to serious and long-term health problems, like tooth decay, gum disease, loss of tooth enamel, osteoporosis, kidney damage, heart problems, and even death.

Because bulimia is harder to recognize than anorexia -- the symptoms are more subtle and bulimics are not always thin -- awareness is critical. Please consider these symptoms and physical effects of bulimia.

It never hurts to do a little review on a topic that affects so many women, and some men too. The topic: Anorexia.

Anorexia Nervosa, a type of eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight and leading to a restriction of food and dangerous weight loss, is one serious disease -- between one and two of every 10 cases of anorexia leads to death from starvation, cardiac arrest, medical complications, or suicide.

Anorexia can halt the physical and emotional growth of teenagers and can lead to premature osteoporosis, infertility, increased risk of miscarriage, and low-birth-weight babies. Anorexia may be especially deadly for women with insulin-dependent diabetes if they omit or under-use insulin to control their weight.

I am happy for October and the overflow of breast cancer awareness packed into each of the month's 31 days. But I'm always a bit relieved when these days come to an end. It means I can get back to living, free of the bombardment of facts of figures, and cutesy slogans, and of all things pink.

I'm lucky to be surviving breast cancer and not another form of cancer. Breast cancer gets attention, funding, programming, and lots of great press. But it makes me feel selfish, spoiled, like I'm hogging too many of the resources that could be spread around to others doing battle with their own deadly diseases.

Where are the other awareness months? Actually, there are a few -- March is the National Colorectal Awareness Month, September is the Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month, May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month -- but we don't know much about them because people aren't shouting from the rafters about these critical causes, like they are about breast cancer.

Although great strides have been taken in recent years in spreading awareness and information about breast cancer, it seems there is a lot of confusion about what the symptoms are. Besides the well-known "lump," do you know what else to look for? And do you know what symptoms don't usually mean breast cancer? Apparently 25% of women wrongly believe a persistent cough is a sign of breast cancer.

For an easy to read run-down of the most common breast cancer symptoms click here, and if you ever have any questions or concerns make sure to ask/see your doctor!

Since October is breast cancer month, I recently wrote a post on some of the best websites about the topic and asked readers to contribute their own favorite sites. One response I received directed everyone toward the Survivor Celebration site.

Part of what I like about the site is that it gives information on the 2007 Survivor Celebration Tour, a 23-day cross-country adventure that began in New York on September 23rd and reaches its final destination in Los Angeles on October 15th, after stops in a range of cities including Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

A team of doctors and experts traveling in a pink Survivor Celebration bus are making the trek to raise awareness about breast cancer. If you'd like more information on the tour, visit the website, which also offers survivor stories, personal blogs and photos, information on local support groups and much more.

Though we've made so much progress in the war against cancer in the last few decades, it seems today like the disease is more rampant than ever. So when Prevention Magazine asked the question Are we winning the war on cancer? I had to read.

The short answer: Yes. The disease might seem more prevalent, but the treatments and diagnosis have come a long way in recent years. And awareness is at an all-time high -- more and more people are adopting healthy habits that have been shown to prevent cancer, such as maintaining a healthy weight, eating a diet rich in fruits and veggies and low in fat, getting the recommended amount of exercise and limiting exposure to toxins and hormones in food.

For more info, read the full article.

October is breast cancer month so before you pin on your pink ribbon and head out to enjoy a lovely fall day, take a look at a few facts and sites, and learn a bit more about the disease. Risk factors include lifestyle habits like drinking alcohol and smoking, and heredity also influences whether or not you'll get the disease. The good news is you can work to prevent breast cancer by eating a healthy diet, limiting alcohol intake and not smoking.

If you're interested in learning a lot more about breast cancer, take a look at some of the sites listed in this piece. As it's a Canadian article, many of the websites are Canadian but the information listed applies to women everywhere. Two sites mentioned in the article that I found interesting were the Breast Cancer Support Services Inc and the Breast Self-Exam website.

The first offers a range of frequently asked questions (with answers) about the disease as well as help on how to deal once you've been diagnosed. The latter gives step-by-step instructions, along with illustrations, on how to examine your own breasts in order to find any suspicious lumps.

Do you know of any helpful sites that you can share?

Men and women all over are prepping to walk and run their butts off this October, all in the name of breast cancer and the month dedicated to this deadly disease. There's the Avon Breast Cancer Walk, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and Susan G. Komen 3-Day, to name a few. These events will raise awareness, funds, even hope. This is all so important. What I like about these charitable causes, though, is that they center around fitness.

There seems no other appropriate way to honor those fighting and losing their battles with breast cancer than by pounding the pavement. Exercise is critical in the prevention of cancer. It helps alleviate the burdens of cancer treatment. And it helps ensure survival of a disease the American Cancer Society reports will strike 178,480 women and kill 40,460 women in the United States during 2007.

If you've not yet registered to make your own strides, consider walking or running in a local event. Or just start walking and running. It's good for breast cancer. It's good for your health.

It's not exactly new (first developed about 50 years ago) but the Feldenkrais Method is still being used today to help people "promote more efficient movement with less pain, enhance flexibility and stability, and improve well-being." It's used for a variety of different people including those fighting serious diseases to average adults just looking to maximize fitness and body awareness. It focuses pretty heavily on becoming deliberate and conscious in how you move your body, and is available in both group classes and individualized lessons.

This sounds like it would be good for me, and if you want more info too try this link to learn more and find a Feldenkrais Method class or instructor near you.