As Leroy Sievers says, "Most of you know me as someone with cancer. Google my name -- and yes, I confess, I've done that -- more often than not, it comes up linked to one other word: cancer. But what about all the other things I've been?"

Sievers has been a journalist for most of his adult life. He's also been a baker, a short-order cook, a teacher, and an aspiring author. Yet cancer is the word most often used to describe this man.

But maybe not for long.

Could it be that Sievers -- a man whose life has been derailed by a deadly cancer traveling throughout his body, a man who has been contemplating death with each passing day -- may soon be rid of cancer altogether?

Actually, Sievers already sees glimpses of cancer falling to the wayside.

Having undergone a new procedure called Radio Frequency Ablation -- where needles are stuck into tumors, burning them away from the inside out -- Sievers sees a brighter future. He's seen his latest scans. He's seen the black holes where tumors once lived. He's seen that no new tumors have appeared. He's seen that he may actually survive cancer.

Months ago, this man, who blogs his cancer journey for NPR, was told he would likely not survive the year. Now he realized he may outlive this prediction. And while this is great news, Sievers finds himself a bit unsure about a life without cancer.

"Will I be somebody who used to have cancer?" he says. "I think most cancer patients don't ever think it's really gone. It's just hiding, waiting to jump out and scare us when we least expect it. Will I be able to resume my old life? To rebuild my battered body into what it was before? I don't know. But I know this disease has changed me dramatically in so many ways. I am a different person. Hopefully a better person. You cannot go through an ordeal like this and not be profoundly affected."

Now that's what a call a fresh perspective.

To read previously-written posts about Leroy Sievers, click here.

The primary recipient of the 2006 grants for Curing Kid's Cancer is the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. Curing Kid's Cancer is a charity that raises money for leading edge pediatric cancer research. The organization was inspired by nine year old Killian Owen's battle with leukemia. The $100,000 grant was given to Johns Hopkins for research into new targeted therapies for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Curing Kid's Cancer has two national grassroots programs -- Coaches Curing Kid's Cancer and Teachers Curing Kid's Cancer.

The programs fund the development of cutting edge therapies which will revolutionize childhood cancer treatment by replacing traditional chemotherapy.

Curing Kid's Cancer aims to raise both awareness and money to find cures for all types of childhood cancers. Their objective is to turn this killer disease into a curable one in our lifetime.

This is a sad ending -- mostly because of the reason for the ending. The Guelph Mercury published a feature story about the Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute ending its annual garage sale to raise money for cancer research because, basically, the organizers are burnt out on the abuse of the public who took advantage of the garage sale.

For the past five years, the school has accepted donations for the annual garage sale. In five years, they have raised $50,000 dollars for cancer charity. Each year hundreds of students volunteer their time, and according to the story, most of them are doing it because they have had a parent who has been diagnosed with cancer. But people began to use the fundraiser as a way to dump junk that had little resale value.

Then, this year, during the sale, a woman took off with one of the school handcarts that wasn't for sale. The organizers will have to pay out of pocket for a new one. Even when the woman was confronted, and told the nature of the annual sale to raise money for cancer, she refused to hand over the trolley. That's when everyone finally said they had enough, and called it quits. The feature in its entirety, is here.

ABC News Health has just published an investigative story reporting over 25 percent of the staff at a Wisconsin school have been diagnosed with cancer and the state Department of Health has decided against investigating the high incidences of cancer at the local elementary school because they don't suspect a toxic source. I have read cancer statistics and I don't believe I have ever stumbled across a percentage that high that was considered normal -- or anything to brush off as to determining cause. Understandably, teachers, parents and students at West Elementary School are afraid and upset. In the last five years,  28 of 102 of the elementary school staff members have been diagnosed with cancer.

According to the news report, teacher Heidi Swetlik and her husband showed other teachers dirty air filters they had pulled from the school's heating and ventilation system. "This is what scares us and has scared us for quite some time," Swetlik said. According to State health officials, who ran some tests, said they found only improper chemical storage, ventilation system problems, and mold. They also said the numbers at West Elementary are not out of the ordinary. There are not out of the ordinary? In fact, they say they've investigated about 40 cancer clusters in Wisconsin and found none linked to the environment inside a building. None? Cancer Cluster 101: cancer clusters are usually linked to environmental causes.

Tom Sieger, of the Bureau of Environmental Health, is quoted as saying that statistics show cancer clusters are nothing more than coincidence, and added that proper diet and exercise are important to prevent disease. What? He needs to check with the EPA about the causes of cancer clusters. "Our information on causation of cancer is imperfect," Sieger said. "But what we do know is there are certain things we can do every day with regard to our diet, with regard to exercise." No way. He did not really say that -- did he? Yes -- yes he did. Sieger has it all figured out. It's the teachers fault they have cancer. What is going on in Wisconsin?

For a gardener, this is an exciting time of year. There is planning and planting and anticipation of the continuous summertime harvest bounty of fresh organic vegetables straight from the good earth of a home garden. If you have children, or grandchildren, it is an excellent opportunity in education and the lessons of tending and growing and benefiting from homegrown food. The wisdom of the garden and the gardener is the knowledge of life and living.

The Edible Schoolyard has brought all of this and more into the schoolyard at Martin Luther King Junior Middle School, where public school students are provided with a one-acre organic garden and a kitchen classroom. An explanation of the program is posted on The Edible Schoolyard website, where students learn how to grow, harvest, and prepare nutritious seasonal produce. Experiences in the kitchen and garden foster a better understanding of how the natural world sustains, and promotes the environmental and social well being of the school community.

As far as I can tell, much of the program is published online as a resource for parents and teachers interested in launching a similar program in community-area schools. I think, while reviewing the  extensive resources, that a parent could take advantage of the information and create an individualized homeschool-based program for their child, or children, if the local school does not provide this, or a similar program -- and include cancer prevention nutrition information about the organic produce grown -- for a lifetime of good health.

The Environmental Protection Agency has created the SunWise School Program and SunWise Kids, as an environmental and health education program offering teaching tools for schools, communities and kids in learning about sun safety. From building shade structures to sun protection advice, the program is designed to appeal to kids.

The SunWise Kids website lets kids know the skin cancer risks caused by too much sun exposure and how to protect themselves from sun damage. Kids will find a trivia game and action steps to take to be sun safe. There is the Survivor's Challenge and SunWise Action Steps. In addition, there is a UV Index scale that allows kids to learn more about each UV level. The SunWise Kids website resource includes an educational area on the ozone layer that explains how we got to where we are in the increased dangers of sun exposure.

If a school joins the SunWise Program and orders a UV meter, they will receive the SunWise toolkit that includes activities and a UV sensitive Frisbee that changes color when exposed to the sun. With the meter kids can measure how much UV radiation reaches their town. Kids can enter the UV information on the SunWise web site. Then they can look at the data and compare UV numbers with the National Weather Service's UV Index. For more information, go to SunWise Kids.

Photo credit: Coastline Adventures. If you fancy hats, a cool place to shop for hats.