Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom!! I miss you so much.

Witches of Menopause

           In lieu of the upcoming Halloween Holiday... I thought THIS was very appropriate!!!

                                                  Stay Safe out there this Saturday!

BRCA Genes Defined

BRCA1 and BRCA1 (/ˌbrækəˈwʌn/^[1]) are a human gene and its protein product, respectively. The official symbol (BRCA1, italic for the gene, nonitalic for the protein) and the official name (breast cancer 1, early onset) are maintained by the HGNC. Orthologs, styled Brca1 and Brca1, are common in other mammalspecies.^[2] BRCA1 is a human tumor suppressor gene^[3][4] (to be specific, a caretaker gene), found in all humans; its protein, also called by the synonym breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein, is responsible for repairing DNA.^[5]

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are normally expressed in the cells of breast and other tissue, where they help repair damaged DNA or destroy cells if DNA cannot be repaired. They are involved in the repair of chromosomal damage with an important role in the error-free repair of DNAdouble-strand breaks.^[6][7] If BRCA1 or BRCA2 itself is damaged by a BRCA mutation, damaged DNA is not repaired properly, and this increases the risk for breast cancer.^[8][9] Thus, although the terms "breast cancer susceptibility gene" and "breast cancer susceptibility protein" (used frequently both in and outside the medical literature) sound as if they describe an oncogene, BRCA1 and BRCA2 are normal; it is their mutation that is abnormal.

BRCA1 combines with other tumor suppressors, DNA damage sensors, and signal transducers to form a large multi-subunit protein complex known as the BRCA1-associated genome surveillance complex (BASC).^[10] The BRCA1 protein associates with RNA polymerase II, and through the C-terminaldomain, also interacts with histone deacetylasecomplexes. Thus, this protein plays a role in transcription, DNA repair of double-strand breaks^[9] ubiquitination, transcriptional regulation as well as other functions.^[11]

Methods to diagnose the likelihood of getting cancer of a patient with mutations in BRCA1and BRCA2 were covered by patents owned or controlled by Myriad Genetics.^[12][13] Myriad's business model of offering the diagnostic test exclusively led from Myriad being a startup in 1994 to being a publicly traded company with 1200 employees and about $500M in annual revenue in 2012;^[14] it also led to controversy over high prices and the inability to get second opinions from other diagnostic labs, which in turn led to the landmark Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Geneticslawsuit.^[15]

Source: Wikipedia 

Optimal Health

After my mom lost her 9 year battle with Ovarian Cancer, I went on a downward spiral with my depression and health. I turned to food for comfort. I was gaining a lot of my weight back and "eating my feelings".

I took a good look in the mirror and said to myself " You will get a hysterectomy so that you don't get ovarian cancer, but you are on a very unhealthy path in your life"

I would undergo surgery to avoid sickness, but then gain weight and continue to be obese because I was sad? That was very counterproductive of me. Something had to change!

My health coach reached out to me with a program that saved me! I have lost 37 lbs in 3 1/2 months and I feel better than ever! I am also a Health Coach now. I am paying it forward. I want to help people acheive optimal health, like my coach has been doing for me.

I would've done anything to make my mom healthy. ANYTHING.

It's time to make America Healthy again! Stop the sickness before it begins.

Please reach out to me if you, or someone you know, is sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.

Want to acheive optimal health? I can help you!

Movin' on up

We are now officially living in "North Country".

It's beautiful up here. I wish my mom could've seen our new house and this area. She would've loved it. I can feel her presence here though (weird since it's somewhere new), but as I decorate and put personal touches on the house, so much of her comes through in that.

She was SUCH a talented decorator and so crafty (during the days before Pinterest made EVERYONE crafty). She definitely passed down that love of crafts to me, although the execution of said crafts  isn't quite the same! Lol. She would spend hours and days doing a craft that I would have done in 30 minutes. Needless to say, hers's always looked WAY better. Haha

In our last house, I had my mother's ashes, picture and some keepsakes on our dresser in our room. I loved it and it comforted me at night (which is the only moments of the day I have to myself to think and reflect). The only thing is, it felt kind of "shrine-esque". Also, nobody else really saw it or could appreciate it since it was tucked away in the Master bedroom.

In this house I'm thinking of dispersing the items throughout the house, so it's a little bit of her presence in each room, keepsakes here, ashes there, pictures over there.. You get the idea!

Anyone have any great tips for keeping a lost loved one's memory alive in your new home without having the shrine feel to your house? I'm open to all tips!

How are my readers doing? We'll be ready for visitors soon! Any friends and family wanting to explore "North Country" we have a guest room! (Sans shrine) 😉

Much love!

Chill out hottie!

If you have Ovarian cancer (or even breast cancer) or maybe you're a BRCA-teer like me, and have had a hysterectomy, you are blessed with menopause and all it's amazing side effects! :-) YAY!

You know what though? I'd so much rather be in menopause and avoid cancer, than the alternative! (for those of you who are fighting the good fight, your chances of beating this are so much greater if you've had a hysterectomy, or at least a bilateral salpingo oopherectomy)

So what do we all know about menopause? HOTFLASHES of course! I am an expert on them now.

If you are new to hotflashes, you may wonder how you can stay cool during the summer months...

• Drink ice water.

• Aviod caffeine (caffeine can trigger hot flashes)

• Avoid spicy foods (can also trigger hot flashes)

• Have cold meals instead of hot food (trade the soups in for cold bisques and the hot pasta in for pasta salads! Have your herbal tea iced this summer, it's refreshing)

• Crank that A/C!

• Swim (it's great exercise AND it will cool you to the core!)

• Portable fan

• Use a bed sheet instead of a heavy quilt at night

• Run your errands early before it gets hot, or at night after the sun goes down

• Utilize that automatic start for the car! It's not just for the winter! Cool off your vehicle before you even get in!

• Wear your hair up and avoid wearing hats. (Heat escapes through your head and feet.. Wear sandals and avoid headgear that can add to the blazing inferno that is now your body)

• Cold Showers

• Eat popsicles! (they have less calories than ice cream!)

• If your stressed and frazzled, stop, take five minutes to cool down and take deep breathes.. This one is key! If you're going a mile a minute like us girls tend to do, the stress of it all can cause a hot flash and make it even MORE stressful!

• Eat ice (don't tell your dentist I told you to do this!)

• Sit in front of a fan. (lol This is ow I ate my dinner tonight!)

"The Book of Excuses"

My mother used to always say that she could write a whole book of excuses.

Excuses for being late, missing appointments, cancelling plans, you name it.. she had an excuse for it.

I think my favorite was when she would call her doctor's office and tell them she couldn't make it because she was too sick!! Mom, really?!? DUH!!!!! That's why you have to GO TO THE DOCTOR!!! We would laugh til we cried about it.There's a thousand more just like it too.

Of course everyone close to her knew about this incredible talent that she possessed. I, of course, always knew when she was using one of her amazing "one liners" on me, so they never worked with me! She never needed an excuse for me though. Sometimes it felt like we were on a whole other wave length.. Our own special kind of crazy ;-)

What is the best excuse you've ever come up with to get out of something?!?

I always wanted to write a book about my mom's life and my journey with her.... I just had a momentary thought... The title of that book would be... "The book of excuses"

I've toyed with "The funny story behind mom's cancer" but she was so much more than her cancer.. WE were so much more than her cancer. "the invincible woman" would've been suitable, til she passed...

"My guardian angel", but that title wouldn't sell books..

Who am I kidding.. pfft. I'll never get around to actually writing a book!

....but hey! Just in case I do.. I have a title!