Health tip: “Chillin” may have a whole new meaning...

For those suffering from insomnia, the nights can seem long and fraught with frustration.  And the following days can seem unending.  Too often, those with insomnia lay awake while their brains seem to be on a runaway train—planning, problem solving, trying to remember the name of the childhood teacher in 3rd grade, counting sheep—in other words, working.  And working generates heat.  Researchers have begun to...

Cancer massage: Is it safe?

So, we all know that massage can help reduce the feelings of stress and it can help reduce the problems that stress can cause in the body—anxiety, pain, fatigue, insomnia, constipation. But for many years, massage was considered inappropriate at the least, and possibly even dangerous, for many people who seemed to need it the most—those people facing cancer.   In recent years, many studies have shown that cancer...

Health tip: Pay attention to your gut

Most of us never give a thought to our intestines until they send a loud and clear message that something is not right. We have long neglected our gastrointestinal health and have forgotten what many cultures have long known–the state of our gut has a profound influence on our overall health. It would seem that the gut is more responsible than we ever imagined for our mental well-being, our health and how we feel. It’s time to pay attention to this unknown but critical brain.

What is Health Recovery Consulting?

What is Health Recovery Consulting? A health recovery consultant, sometimes known as a Patient Navigator or Patient Advocate, works with patients, families and caregivers as they journey with, through and beyond treatment for long term illnesses, such as cancer, hepatitis, or multiple sclerosis. A Health Recovery Consultant works directly for and with the patient, family and caregiver, to provide information and research, advocate on your behalf, find solutions to problems and identify potential needs and provide resources and guidance during and through treatment and you re-enter life.

Health tip: Find YOUR doctor, not just A doctor.

For anyone who is suddenly diagnosed with a serious illness or the possibility of a serious illness, determining what steps to take next can be overwhelming. Finding the right doctor, at a time when our mind is spinning, can seem truly beyond our ability. When we are faced with a potential serious long term or life-threatening illness, it becomes critical that whatever doctors we choose to work with are doctors that we trust and like and feel really comfortable with. An advocate can be anyone--a friend, a partner, a child or parent, or a professional who is trained to help.

What’s wrong with being a Cancer Survivor?

After I was diagnosed with cancer, a friend of mine, who had also been diagnosed with cancer some years earlier, invited me to join a training and fitness group for anyone who had experienced cancer called Capital of Texas Team Survivor. It was a wonderful message to me that I would survive the cancer experience, which in that time of fear and uncertainty was a very positive message. But not everyone thinks the term cancer survivor is positive. Truthfully, this really surprised me. It had been such an empowering idea for me, I was confused why it wouldn't send a positive message to anyone.

Vulnerability. Submission. Trust.

Vulnerability. Submission. Trust. Those are the messages my little rescue foster dog is sending when she lays on her back and shows her tummy. And I am gentle and I smile and I rub her tummy and tell her she is a good girl. And she is rewarded for her trust. How different I felt thinking about lying on my back and showing my tummy when I was schedule for abdominal surgery for cancer. Vulnerable, yes. Submissive, yes. Trusting--kind of. About to be violated--totally.

Health tip: Size doesn’t matter but density ...

An article published recently in the Los Angeles Times, Breast Density Linked to Cancer Risk, reports that density of the breast tissue is a bigger indicator of breast cancer risk than family history.