Health & Fitness Helps Cancer Patients Improve Their Health
Today I would like to share with you a guest post by blogger David Haas. David is a cancer patient advocate who spends time writing and researching for the betterment of others. You all know how I stress exercise during and post treatment. David shares with us some helpful information on the subject. Just remember, during treatment, you need to listen to your body and your mind. Some days you may feel like exercising and some not; this is okay; really….my wish is for you to feel good about it and yourself. Be well.
Health & Fitness Helps Cancer Patients Improve Their Health, by David Haas
Health & Fitness Helps Cancer Patients Improve Their Health, by David Haas
For a person who just received a cancer diagnosis or is experiencing physical pain from cancer treatments, physical activity may seem like the least beneficial thing they can do for themselves. Cancer patients may feel tired after their treatment, and they may not feel up to the challenge. However, becoming or remaining physically active is actually the best thing that a person who is battling cancer can do, and it has benefits that extend far beyond weight loss or increased agility. There is a proven connection between the body and the mind. Consequently, keeping both of them healthy is the best way to achieve a balanced life beyond a cancer diagnosis.
According to an article by the National Cancer Institute, fatigue and physical functioning are factors that directly influence the quality of life for cancer patients. This has the same effect whether someone is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer or going through painful and overwhelming mesothelioma treatment. If a cancer patient is experiencing extreme tiredness from treatments or from mental stress, they may not want to engage in exercise. However, fatigue may soon set in as a result of inactivity. Then, reduced physical functioning is almost sure to follow. Because this will lessen the quality of life for the cancer patient, keeping a schedule of regular physical activity is of the utmost importance.
Along with keeping the body and the mind healthy, engaging in fitness activities while undergoing treatment can also help some patients keep their weight down and their muscles well toned. Weight gain can occur due to some of the medicine that a cancer patient is taking, or as a result of neglecting to carefully monitor their diets. Working with a doctor or fitness expert to create a fitness routine that can effectively address these issues will help to make sure that the patient’s body remains in the best possible condition throughout the process of diagnosis and treatment.
The National Cancer Institute article mentioned above states that there are often more gains in health that happen with cancer patients who exercise than with those who do nothing at all. This should help cancer patients understand the importance of making sure that fitness is a priority. It is understandable that someone who has just finished a chemotherapy treatment or a round of medicine may not always feel up to walking on the treadmill or biking through the park. In these cases, it is imperative that the patient remembers that balance is the key to achieving a healthy body and healthy mind. When balance is the ultimate goal, fitness can become an enjoyable part of any cancer patient’s life.
According to an article by the National Cancer Institute, fatigue and physical functioning are factors that directly influence the quality of life for cancer patients. This has the same effect whether someone is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer or going through painful and overwhelming mesothelioma treatment. If a cancer patient is experiencing extreme tiredness from treatments or from mental stress, they may not want to engage in exercise. However, fatigue may soon set in as a result of inactivity. Then, reduced physical functioning is almost sure to follow. Because this will lessen the quality of life for the cancer patient, keeping a schedule of regular physical activity is of the utmost importance.
Along with keeping the body and the mind healthy, engaging in fitness activities while undergoing treatment can also help some patients keep their weight down and their muscles well toned. Weight gain can occur due to some of the medicine that a cancer patient is taking, or as a result of neglecting to carefully monitor their diets. Working with a doctor or fitness expert to create a fitness routine that can effectively address these issues will help to make sure that the patient’s body remains in the best possible condition throughout the process of diagnosis and treatment.
The National Cancer Institute article mentioned above states that there are often more gains in health that happen with cancer patients who exercise than with those who do nothing at all. This should help cancer patients understand the importance of making sure that fitness is a priority. It is understandable that someone who has just finished a chemotherapy treatment or a round of medicine may not always feel up to walking on the treadmill or biking through the park. In these cases, it is imperative that the patient remembers that balance is the key to achieving a healthy body and healthy mind. When balance is the ultimate goal, fitness can become an enjoyable part of any cancer patient’s life.
Elyn Jacobs
**********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
Hurricane Primer
I haven't found a more recent online version, but this 2006 St. Petersburg Times Hurricane Guide is pretty comprehensive. To supplement whatever's being provided up north.
EDIT: St. Pete Times tweeted me the URL of their 2011 online version.
Stay safe over there.
Elissa Malcohn's Deviations and Other Journeys Promote Your Page Too 
Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.), Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite, Vol. 3, Deviations: Destiny, Vol. 4, Deviations: Bloodlines, Vol. 5, Deviations: TelZodo, Vol. 6 and conclusion: Deviations: Second Covenant. Free downloads at the Deviations website (click here for alternate link), Smashwords, and Manybooks.
Proud participant, Operation E-Book Drop (provides free e-books to personnel serving overseas. Logo from the imagination and graphic artistry of K.A. M'Lady & P.M. Dittman); Books For Soldiers (ships books and more to deployed military members of the U.S. armed forces); and Shadow Forest Authors (a fellowship of authors and supporters for charity, with a focus on literacy). 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
EDIT: St. Pete Times tweeted me the URL of their 2011 online version.
Stay safe over there.
Read Their Lips
No new taxes ever, for any reason whatsoever, except on working people and businesses looking to hire Americans.
Makes sense to me. I'd reckon that, if they made this a really big issue, Democrats, Liberals, and Progressives might start cracking the false narrative of Republican Tax Relief, kneecap support for the Bush Tax Cuts, gain some desperately needed political capital, and hammer the GOP on a fundamental economic vision for America. This situation, after all, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Barack Obama cut taxes so that working people and small businesses were the primary beneficiary. It also demonstrates that Republicans, who have literally picked "not raising taxes" as their hill to die on in the Debt Ceiling debates, are actually willing to raise taxes whenever it is politically convenient to do so.
And by "raise taxes," I'm using the GOP definition which includes: letting certain tax cuts expire, closing loopholes, ending subsidies, and the spectre of raising taxes at some future time.
So now that we've determined what kind of tax opponnents Republicans really are, all that's left is negotiating. Oh, and spreading the word to the American people before the GOP is able to work its way onto both sides of this issue as well.
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[P]ayroll-tax cuts are the sort of tax break most likely to "get the economy moving again" during a recession. (Because they put money in the hands of people most likely to spend it and therefore boost other businesses. And on balance they lower the cost of adding new workers.) Income-tax breaks at the top end are least likely to create new demand or jobs. (Because they go to people who have a lower "marginal propensity to spend" and are more likely to park the money in the bank.)
Makes sense to me. I'd reckon that, if they made this a really big issue, Democrats, Liberals, and Progressives might start cracking the false narrative of Republican Tax Relief, kneecap support for the Bush Tax Cuts, gain some desperately needed political capital, and hammer the GOP on a fundamental economic vision for America. This situation, after all, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Barack Obama cut taxes so that working people and small businesses were the primary beneficiary. It also demonstrates that Republicans, who have literally picked "not raising taxes" as their hill to die on in the Debt Ceiling debates, are actually willing to raise taxes whenever it is politically convenient to do so.
And by "raise taxes," I'm using the GOP definition which includes: letting certain tax cuts expire, closing loopholes, ending subsidies, and the spectre of raising taxes at some future time.
So now that we've determined what kind of tax opponnents Republicans really are, all that's left is negotiating. Oh, and spreading the word to the American people before the GOP is able to work its way onto both sides of this issue as well.
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Always Right
Republicans are never wrong. They've always got people working the angles, so the Democrats can take the blame.
Remember all the Libya war hate from the Republicans? That was an easy position to go on the news and advocate back when the rebels looked like they were about to get thrown into the sea by Qadaffi's mercenaries, wasn't it?
But now that the Libya intervention seems to have worked, the pro-interventionist Republicans get to blame the President for not getting involved soon enough.
I really like how no one in the GOP even acknowledges that there is a difference of opinion within their own party. That's a powerful media strategy, my friends.
Same as it ever was.
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Remember all the Libya war hate from the Republicans? That was an easy position to go on the news and advocate back when the rebels looked like they were about to get thrown into the sea by Qadaffi's mercenaries, wasn't it?
But now that the Libya intervention seems to have worked, the pro-interventionist Republicans get to blame the President for not getting involved soon enough.
I really like how no one in the GOP even acknowledges that there is a difference of opinion within their own party. That's a powerful media strategy, my friends.
Same as it ever was.
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Behaving Badly
There's a lot of cultural nonsense about how enlightened Europeans are versus the boorish behavior of Americans. Then things like this happen and we're reminded that anyone from any nation or any culture can behave like a total dick.
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Republicans Don't Care About Spending
Worried about government spending? Worried about the deficit? Worried about a balanced budget? Worried about the national debt? Think the USA has a "spending problem" and not a "revenue problem?"
Republicans don't. Otherwise they wouldn't have been sending dozens of funding requests for government projects in their districts.
You know what, I'm down with putting people to work now and getting all these projects funded now. As long as the President publicizes the shit out of the fact that all this government spending is what Republicans ask for when the cameras are turned off. He should sign into law each district's requests and call them Republican Stimulus requests. They are the ones who made stimulus a dirty word, after all.
All that fear-mongering about the state of the country's finances is just talk-talk. They love stimulus and bringing home the bacon just as much as any other politician.
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Republicans don't. Otherwise they wouldn't have been sending dozens of funding requests for government projects in their districts.
You know what, I'm down with putting people to work now and getting all these projects funded now. As long as the President publicizes the shit out of the fact that all this government spending is what Republicans ask for when the cameras are turned off. He should sign into law each district's requests and call them Republican Stimulus requests. They are the ones who made stimulus a dirty word, after all.
All that fear-mongering about the state of the country's finances is just talk-talk. They love stimulus and bringing home the bacon just as much as any other politician.
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Declaration of Victory
In Georgia, politics will no longer be decided along partisan, political party lines. Instead, all decisions will be made based on intraparty politics.
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School's Out Forever
It is time to stop beating around the bush and start talking about what these people are saying and what their goals are: Many mainstream Republicans want to de-legitimize and deconstruct public education as a concept in the United States of America.
This isn't their sole historical property, mind you. There was a time not so long ago when populist Southern Democratic governors stood in schoolhouse doors and fought public education as well. These are old questions, it is an old fight. And Democrats don't have a very good record of holding political allies responsible for the failing state of many public schools across the land.
That being said, there are two questions that must be asked about public school: Do you think that every child in the United States should be offered the opportunity to obtain a basic education? Do you think a government organization is the most effective way to deliver this basic education to the most possible children?
The current answer from the right wing continues to be "no," and "hell, no." That answer dominates the mainstream Republican Party mindset.
Let's not mince words, those kinds of beliefs are not political non-negotiables. Our own national history has often been built on the fights for universal access to basic education. It often took generations of struggle to reform school policy to include one group or another, or to fund one group the same as any other. Once one goal was acheived, it opened up a new host of problems that had to be addressed, and the political debate continued. That debate never ended, it just changed.
Right now, those answers to those two questions are winning the national debate. They are doing so because any political opposition refuses to accept that those questions make up the heart of the debate.
The current crop of Republicans is out to destroy the concept of public education in the United States of America.
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This isn't their sole historical property, mind you. There was a time not so long ago when populist Southern Democratic governors stood in schoolhouse doors and fought public education as well. These are old questions, it is an old fight. And Democrats don't have a very good record of holding political allies responsible for the failing state of many public schools across the land.
That being said, there are two questions that must be asked about public school: Do you think that every child in the United States should be offered the opportunity to obtain a basic education? Do you think a government organization is the most effective way to deliver this basic education to the most possible children?
The current answer from the right wing continues to be "no," and "hell, no." That answer dominates the mainstream Republican Party mindset.
Let's not mince words, those kinds of beliefs are not political non-negotiables. Our own national history has often been built on the fights for universal access to basic education. It often took generations of struggle to reform school policy to include one group or another, or to fund one group the same as any other. Once one goal was acheived, it opened up a new host of problems that had to be addressed, and the political debate continued. That debate never ended, it just changed.
Right now, those answers to those two questions are winning the national debate. They are doing so because any political opposition refuses to accept that those questions make up the heart of the debate.
The current crop of Republicans is out to destroy the concept of public education in the United States of America.
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Poisoning the Food and Water
Who needs all this pesky environmentalism stuff, anyway? We're not even talking global warming climate change anymore. We're talking about all the poison within 100 miles of home.
And for the poison just outside that circle, there's still oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. But don't worry, BP assures us it has nothing to do with them.
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And for the poison just outside that circle, there's still oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. But don't worry, BP assures us it has nothing to do with them.
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Not a Counterpart
First of all, you'll have to forgive me for taking another look at what Van Jones is doing. The hit job against this young man came about back when the right was still creating narratives on cheaply bought credibility, back before all the fabrications about ACORN, the academic cover of Kenyan anti-colonialism, and the absolute fantasy of the Ground Zero Mosque.
And as "pro-slavery" Republican Presidential candidates discovered, it isn't difficult to put your name on a petition without realizing what's in it.
Not that I think Jones is out there creating a left-wing response to the Tea Party. That's nearly impossible in the first place. Organizations have been trying to unify the left at a grassroots level for generations without much success; or maybe I should say too much success - many of these organizations already exist, and compete for the progressive activist for funding and involvement.
Secondly, is that really such a good idea? The Tea Party has terrible approval numbers nationwide because A) their unifying message is simply a hatred of all things liberal, B) their marketing has burned through a tremendous number of empty platitudes, and C) they have very little long-term credibility outside their core supporters. Hell, even their charges about Van Jones have probably been forgotten as the outrage machine has found new false emergencies to rant about.
Pardon me if I don't think "the left" ever needs an organization that fits that billing. Hopefully, it sounds like Jones is actually working on something different, and the Tea Party comparisons are going to come mainly from a media standpoint.
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And as "pro-slavery" Republican Presidential candidates discovered, it isn't difficult to put your name on a petition without realizing what's in it.
Not that I think Jones is out there creating a left-wing response to the Tea Party. That's nearly impossible in the first place. Organizations have been trying to unify the left at a grassroots level for generations without much success; or maybe I should say too much success - many of these organizations already exist, and compete for the progressive activist for funding and involvement.
Secondly, is that really such a good idea? The Tea Party has terrible approval numbers nationwide because A) their unifying message is simply a hatred of all things liberal, B) their marketing has burned through a tremendous number of empty platitudes, and C) they have very little long-term credibility outside their core supporters. Hell, even their charges about Van Jones have probably been forgotten as the outrage machine has found new false emergencies to rant about.
Pardon me if I don't think "the left" ever needs an organization that fits that billing. Hopefully, it sounds like Jones is actually working on something different, and the Tea Party comparisons are going to come mainly from a media standpoint.
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Wordle-Play
I wanted to see what would happen if I made Deviations word clouds -- so I went over to Wordle. According to the website, "The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text."
I've combined the six word clouds into a single image here, but they can be viewed separately (at full size and crisper) on my Wordle gallery page.
The clouds make for a neat analysis. I especially like how the terms "Masari" and "Yata" -- the two main peoples of the series -- relate to each other across the volumes. "Yata" trumps "Masari" for almost the entire series, beginning as slightly larger in Covenant. That discrepancy increases in Appetite and increases yet more in Destiny. Both are enlarged in Bloodlines (the longest book in the series), but "Yata" still outshines "Masari." Both drop into the background in TelZodo (which, as the words show, focuses mainly on its title character, along with TripStone), but "Yata" is still significantly larger than "Masari." Only in Second Covenant does "Masari" gain in stature, to the point where its size matches that of "Yata" exactly (by my measurement). The clouds do a nice job of encapsulating that particular dynamic of the epic.
TripStone, the main heroine of the series, maintains a steady prominence through Destiny. That standing decreases slightly in Bloodlines, giving her the same emphasis as BrushBurn. The drama in Bloodlines is as much his as hers, given the disruptive influence of the character Jirado, whose name is the next-largest one in the cloud. Clearly, the action in Promontory takes center stage, contrasting with but not equaled by the drama unfolding in Crossroads (with its major players HigherBrook, Ghost, CatBird, and Gria). Even so, the place name of Crossroads (TripStone's village) is slightly larger than Promontory, a dynamic in itself.
TripStone's slightly decreased emphasis holds steady in TelZodo, but the title character clearly takes prominence. Taken within the context of the individual novels, "TelZodo" ranks the highest in the series. That has mainly to do with the book's narrative style. The other volumes are ensemble pieces, but TelZodo is a Bildungsroman, defined here as, "the story of a single individual's growth and development within the context of a defined social order."
TripStone vanishes by the time we get to Second Covenant, whose story is told by members of the new generation. Her name appears in the book, just not often enough to merit representation in the word cloud.
Destiny, a drug that can be considered a character in itself, sneaks into Covenant as one of the smallest words in the cloud. Its size grows considerably in Appetite and considerably more in its title volume, Destiny. It drops back down in Bloodlines, to smaller than it had been in Appetite. It drops out of the TelZodo word cloud entirely (despite the role that Destiny Farm plays in that book), but it roars back to life in Second Covenant. Not only does "Destiny" hold more within-novel prominence here than in any other Deviations book, but it outshines all of Second Covenant's sentient characters.
The Covenant, a religious system that is also a character in its own right, undergoes its own journey. Its small size in its title volume is deceiving; the religion, constantly in the background, drives the action. By the time of Appetite it has been destroyed and has shrunk in that volume's word cloud. It vanishes entirely from the word cloud for Destiny.
But it peeks back in for Bloodlines, achieving the same size it had possessed in Covenant. It barely makes a showing in the TelZodo word cloud, a tiny blip between "now" and "away;" and it appears again, matching its original strength, in Second Covenant.
The gods, absent from the word clouds for the first three volumes, stake their claim in the Bloodlines word cloud, stick around in unbeliever TelZodo's word cloud, and make their best showing in the word cloud for Second Covenant.
I could play with this every which way. Wordle's a neat tool for studying story dynamics.
Elissa Malcohn's Deviations and Other Journeys Promote Your Page Too Vol. 1, Deviations: Covenant (2nd Ed.), Vol. 2, Deviations: Appetite, Vol. 3, Deviations: Destiny, Vol. 4, Deviations: Bloodlines, Vol. 5, Deviations: TelZodo, Vol. 6 and conclusion: Deviations: Second Covenant. Free downloads at the Deviations website (click here for alternate link), Smashwords, and Manybooks.
Proud participant, Operation E-Book Drop (provides free e-books to personnel serving overseas. Logo from the imagination and graphic artistry of K.A. M'Lady & P.M. Dittman); Books For Soldiers (ships books and more to deployed military members of the U.S. armed forces); and Shadow Forest Authors (a fellowship of authors and supporters for charity, with a focus on literacy). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
I've combined the six word clouds into a single image here, but they can be viewed separately (at full size and crisper) on my Wordle gallery page.
The clouds make for a neat analysis. I especially like how the terms "Masari" and "Yata" -- the two main peoples of the series -- relate to each other across the volumes. "Yata" trumps "Masari" for almost the entire series, beginning as slightly larger in Covenant. That discrepancy increases in Appetite and increases yet more in Destiny. Both are enlarged in Bloodlines (the longest book in the series), but "Yata" still outshines "Masari." Both drop into the background in TelZodo (which, as the words show, focuses mainly on its title character, along with TripStone), but "Yata" is still significantly larger than "Masari." Only in Second Covenant does "Masari" gain in stature, to the point where its size matches that of "Yata" exactly (by my measurement). The clouds do a nice job of encapsulating that particular dynamic of the epic.
TripStone, the main heroine of the series, maintains a steady prominence through Destiny. That standing decreases slightly in Bloodlines, giving her the same emphasis as BrushBurn. The drama in Bloodlines is as much his as hers, given the disruptive influence of the character Jirado, whose name is the next-largest one in the cloud. Clearly, the action in Promontory takes center stage, contrasting with but not equaled by the drama unfolding in Crossroads (with its major players HigherBrook, Ghost, CatBird, and Gria). Even so, the place name of Crossroads (TripStone's village) is slightly larger than Promontory, a dynamic in itself.
TripStone's slightly decreased emphasis holds steady in TelZodo, but the title character clearly takes prominence. Taken within the context of the individual novels, "TelZodo" ranks the highest in the series. That has mainly to do with the book's narrative style. The other volumes are ensemble pieces, but TelZodo is a Bildungsroman, defined here as, "the story of a single individual's growth and development within the context of a defined social order."
TripStone vanishes by the time we get to Second Covenant, whose story is told by members of the new generation. Her name appears in the book, just not often enough to merit representation in the word cloud.
Destiny, a drug that can be considered a character in itself, sneaks into Covenant as one of the smallest words in the cloud. Its size grows considerably in Appetite and considerably more in its title volume, Destiny. It drops back down in Bloodlines, to smaller than it had been in Appetite. It drops out of the TelZodo word cloud entirely (despite the role that Destiny Farm plays in that book), but it roars back to life in Second Covenant. Not only does "Destiny" hold more within-novel prominence here than in any other Deviations book, but it outshines all of Second Covenant's sentient characters.
The Covenant, a religious system that is also a character in its own right, undergoes its own journey. Its small size in its title volume is deceiving; the religion, constantly in the background, drives the action. By the time of Appetite it has been destroyed and has shrunk in that volume's word cloud. It vanishes entirely from the word cloud for Destiny.
But it peeks back in for Bloodlines, achieving the same size it had possessed in Covenant. It barely makes a showing in the TelZodo word cloud, a tiny blip between "now" and "away;" and it appears again, matching its original strength, in Second Covenant.
The gods, absent from the word clouds for the first three volumes, stake their claim in the Bloodlines word cloud, stick around in unbeliever TelZodo's word cloud, and make their best showing in the word cloud for Second Covenant.
I could play with this every which way. Wordle's a neat tool for studying story dynamics.
Terri's Big Dream
Today's guest post is by Terri Wingham. Thank you Terri for sharing your dream with me. I have heard countless women saying that their lives and focus changed dramatically after cancer, and that their old lives seem empty. Her dream may inspire you to join in or find your own dream.
"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting, he thought, as he looked again at the position of the sun and hurried his pace." - One of my favourite quotes from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting, he thought, as he looked again at the position of the sun and hurried his pace." - One of my favourite quotes from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
Then, October 27, 2009 arrived and as I sat on a scratchy purple couch outside the doors of one of the cavernous conference rooms at the Vancouver Convention Center, a doctor's voicemail pried the fingers of control open and I watched life as I knew it, slip right through.
Some of you know the rest of the story...18 months of treatment including 3 surgeries, 4 round of chemotherapy, baldness, a flat chest, hot flashes, depression, and disillusionment....what a ride. But, then...on New Years Day of this year, the heavy fog surrounding my heart lifted and for the first time ever, I listened to the Hell Yes in my gut and came up with a crazy dream to go to Africa .
If you visit the My Story page on A Fresh Chapter, you will read my (still unanswered) email to Oprah and learn about the book I am sweating through writing. But, today, I want to tell you about a different dream, a MUCH bigger dream that might involve you or someone you know. If I can just get past the anxiety building in my chest and string letters into sentences so I can share it with you, I know I will get one step closer to making it a reality.
I can hear you saying, as you think of all of the other things you need to do today, "C'mon already....what's the dream?"
So, here it is.
I want to start a Not For Profit to help other cancer survivors volunteer internationally. If you have a few moments, please come visit my new page entitled My Big Dream where I tell you more about why I think this experience might heal other survivors in the way it healed me.
I would love to hear your thoughts, positive or negative, about this idea because I don't pretend to know what will work for everyone. Each of us who have faced cancer have handled the experience in our own way and come through it with a different perspective about what we need to move forward. This idea is still a red faced, naked, newborn baby and I know your input will help shape it through the sleepless nights and dirty diapers of its infancy...
In order to start making this dream a reality, I am officially giving up my apartment in Vancouver
I'm not suggesting that all of us should quit our jobs and travel the world in the hopes of starting a Not For Profit. But, I would love to bring you with me as I figure out a way to partner with a volunteer organization and then raise awareness for this new venture by traveling the world, volunteering in Asia, Africa, and maybe even South America and then putting the structure in place to help other people dream big, post-cancer, reinvent your life kind of dreams.
So, what do you think?
If you want to get involved or have any ideas around shaping this Not For Profit, please email me. I would LOVE your support and to hear your feedback. I have no idea how to make this happen, but recent events in my life have taught me that Courage is Not the Absence of Fear and if I dream a big dream, anything is possible.
Elyn Jacobs
Terri Wingham is a blogger, world traveler, friend, sister, aunt, daughter, wine lover, post-wine booty shaker, writer, dreamer, and breast cancer survivor. Terri’s current address is in Vancouver , Canada , but after her recent return from 10 weeks in Africa , she is itching to finish her book, pack her bags, and travel the world while she starts a Not For Profit to help other cancer survivors volunteer internationally. Follow Terri’s adventures on her blog: A Fresh Chapter. http://www.afreshchapter.com/.
Elyn Jacobs
**********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
Scandal
I'll send y'all over to Georgia Sports Blog for the proper introduction to the college football news that just hit the web.
University of Miami's having a bad day. Please, don't take a picture.
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University of Miami's having a bad day. Please, don't take a picture.
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All Hat & Fake Cattle
If Democrats, Liberals, and Progressives had two ounces of sense to rub together, they'd make Rick "Miracle Man with a Silver Bullet" Perry's campaign for President the poster child for both the policies that got America into all our current messes and the politics of right-wing cognitive dissonance.
In fact, they could go after Perry for not being a fiscal conservative and only playing one when the cameras are rolling. That would, of course, make the "Perry is the Next Bush" politics far more credible than the crap they are likely thinking of running.
Such a focus will be far more credible than the coming campaign against the Confederate States of America some of those never-squander-an-opportunity-to-lose-the-South professional bloggers and activists are doubtlessly planning on running. It would also allow the DLP to actively challenge the very right-wing narratives and political marketing that have been so effective since 1994.
HT: Andrew Sullivan.
Perry is going to be the nominee. He is the embodiment of the current Right-Wing, GOP, Tea Party alliance. He displays all their strengths and weaknesses, and could give President Obama and what Democrats remain an actual foil to run against and turn their own numbers around.
And they don't even have to make stuff up to do it.
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In fact, they could go after Perry for not being a fiscal conservative and only playing one when the cameras are rolling. That would, of course, make the "Perry is the Next Bush" politics far more credible than the crap they are likely thinking of running.
Such a focus will be far more credible than the coming campaign against the Confederate States of America some of those never-squander-an-opportunity-to-lose-the-South professional bloggers and activists are doubtlessly planning on running. It would also allow the DLP to actively challenge the very right-wing narratives and political marketing that have been so effective since 1994.
HT: Andrew Sullivan.
Perry is going to be the nominee. He is the embodiment of the current Right-Wing, GOP, Tea Party alliance. He displays all their strengths and weaknesses, and could give President Obama and what Democrats remain an actual foil to run against and turn their own numbers around.
And they don't even have to make stuff up to do it.
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Bonkers: The Democrats & Congress
It doesn't matter that John Boehner is as unpopular as Nancy Pelosi on the generic ballot or whatever.
A. Pelosi's unpopularity all came from one side of the aisle, unifying an opposition and allowing them to sell that unpopularity to independents. There is no similar marketing campaign to turn independents against Boehner.
B. If Democrats are somehow able to make Boehner's popularity an issue in national congressional elections, they'll be asking independents to exchange his leadership for....Nancy Pelosi. In a contest between two incredibly unpopular choices, the incumbent has an edge, and the best marketing has an edge. The GOP has both.
C. Republicans and Independents-who-vote-Republican will not express their displeasure with incumbent Republicans by voting for Democrats.
D. District boundaries matter. Both in how many likely voters live in each district (favors the GOP) and how much campaign infrastructure can be organized for Congressional elections (favors the GOP).
E. You have to have electable Democratic candidates to run in those Republican-leaning districts, and they have to be able to organize campaign infrastructure.
The Republicans will maintain control of the US House of Representatives. They will actually increase their majority. The Senate will be under the control of the GOP, possibly to a supermajority. The President can get reelected, but only if Democrats nationwide start realizing how many disadvantages they are actually facing in 2012.
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A. Pelosi's unpopularity all came from one side of the aisle, unifying an opposition and allowing them to sell that unpopularity to independents. There is no similar marketing campaign to turn independents against Boehner.
B. If Democrats are somehow able to make Boehner's popularity an issue in national congressional elections, they'll be asking independents to exchange his leadership for....Nancy Pelosi. In a contest between two incredibly unpopular choices, the incumbent has an edge, and the best marketing has an edge. The GOP has both.
C. Republicans and Independents-who-vote-Republican will not express their displeasure with incumbent Republicans by voting for Democrats.
D. District boundaries matter. Both in how many likely voters live in each district (favors the GOP) and how much campaign infrastructure can be organized for Congressional elections (favors the GOP).
E. You have to have electable Democratic candidates to run in those Republican-leaning districts, and they have to be able to organize campaign infrastructure.
The Republicans will maintain control of the US House of Representatives. They will actually increase their majority. The Senate will be under the control of the GOP, possibly to a supermajority. The President can get reelected, but only if Democrats nationwide start realizing how many disadvantages they are actually facing in 2012.
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Why Redistricting Matters
Georgia was a de facto one party state. Now they're a de jure one party state.
2023. At least a few people realize what's going on here.
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2023. At least a few people realize what's going on here.
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