Join Living Beyond Breast Cancer for the next national teleconference, Bone Health After Breast Cancer, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Tuesday, September 11.

Adam Brufsky, MD, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, will give an overview of the topic of bone health for women after breast cancer diagnosis, including:

• Causes of bone loss
• How to measure bone health
• How breast cancer treatment impacts bone loss
• Strategies for monitoring bone health before and after treatment
• Using exercise, fitness and supplements to keep bones strong
• Bone-strengthening medications

Riedel Crystal USA has created a special limited edition wine glass with a soft pink stem and a clear bowl. A set of two of the Pink Vinum glasses sell for $50 on the Living Beyond Breast Cancer website.

If you purchase them here right on the LBBC website, 100% of the proceeds will support the educational programs and services for women effected by breast cancer.

As a national education and support organization, LBBC's goal is to improve your quality of life and help you take an active role in your ongoing recovery or management of the disease, regardless of educational background, social support or financial means. They hope the information and support offered on this site brings you comfort, empowers you to ask questions and enables you to make sound choices about health care that will help you manage a breast cancer diagnosis, through treatment and beyond

Join Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) for their next national teleconference, Follow-up Testing: What You Need to Know, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Thursday, August 16. Virginia F. Borges, MD, of the University of Colorado Health Science Center, will answer your questions about follow-up testing after initial treatment, including:

• An overview of follow-up testing guidelines and insights into future tests
• Uses or limitations of screening tests
• Emotional impact of follow-up testing
• Routine follow-up tests for other health matters affected by treatment
• Creating a plan to monitor your overall health
• The role of follow-up tests for women with advanced (metastatic) breast cancer

Dr. Borges is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Health Science Center. She specializes in the treatment of breast cancer, and her research interests include the study of new biologic therapies for breast cancer, development of cancer vaccines and improving the quality of life for people affected by breast cancer. In addition to her clinical practice and research efforts, Dr. Borges volunteers as a medical facilitator for Casting for Recovery.

After the presentation, Dr. Borges will answer questions

Advertising executive and author Lois Wyse died Friday at her Manhattan home of stomach cancer. She was 80.

Perhaps best known for her famous slogan, With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good, Wyse -- who founded Wyse Advertising with her first husband Marc and went on to win the J.M. Smucker Company account -- was also the brains behind this name: Bed, Bath & Beyond. The small retail chain began as Bed and Bath. Wyse thought it would fare better with a more complete name.

Wyse was a powerful woman in business. Her company was chosen to create the first television advertising campaign for New Woman magazine. She was was the first woman on the board of the Consolidated Natural Gas Company and the Higbee Company, and she was a founding member of both the Committee of 200, a group of women with executive jobs, and of Catalyst, a women's research organization.

Venous Thromboembolism, also know as a blood clot, is something that cancer patients should be aware. There is now a medicine approved for recurrent blood clots by the Food and Drug Administration called Fragmin. Fragmin is a type of heparin, for long term prevention of blood clots.

Blood clots form when red blood cells, platelets, white blood cells and other blood components form a mass within the blood vessel that can block the flow of blood back to the heart.

Chemotherapy treatments and hormonal treatments can increase the risk of blood clots occurring. Talk to your doctor, especially if you have a personal or family history of blood clots. A blood thinner might be recommended.

Symptoms can include:

• swelling
• warmth
• pain or redness in your legs
• chest pain
• trouble breathing

If you have any of these symptoms call your physician right away.

Living Beyond Breast Cancer will hold a free teleconference, Follow-up Testing: What You Need to Know, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Thursday, August 16.

Speaker Virginia F. Borges, MD, will discuss follow-up testing after initial treatment, including follow-up testing guidelines, insights into future tests, the uses or limitations of screening tests and the emotional impact of follow-up testing. She also will explain the need for routine follow-up for other treatment-related health matters, creating a plan to monitor overall health and the role of follow-up tests for women with advanced (metastatic) breast cancer.

Dr. Borges is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Health Science Center. Dr. Borges specializes in the treatment of breast cancer and her research interests include the study of new biologic therapies for breast cancer, development of cancer vaccines and improving the quality of life of people affected by breast cancer. In addition to her clinical practice and research efforts, Dr. Borges volunteers as a medical facilitator for Casting for Recovery.

This free program will feature a presentation by the speaker and a 45-minute question-and-answer session with participants. Participants can listen over the phone or use their computer.

To register, visit Living Beyond Breast Cancer's website at www.lbbc.org or call (610) 645-4567

This networking event called Let's Talk About Sex: Reclaiming Intimacy After Breast Cancer will focus on sexuality and intimacy after a breast cancer diagnosis.

Join Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) on Wednesday, May 30, 2007, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Philadelphia Marriott West in West Conschohocken, PA.

Featured speaker Kara Nakisbendi, MD will provide a candid and caring discussion about intimacy after a breast cancer diagnosis and how to reclaim sexuality to improve quality of life.

Join Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) for a free educational teleconference titled Medical and Quality-of-Life Updates from the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The teleconference will be held on Monday, June 11, 2007 at 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (EDT). You can participate by using any telephone or by computer using Real Network Player or Windows Media Player. Register online at www.lbbc.com or call 610-645-4567.

This teleconference brings to you groundbreaking research presented at the largest annual conference of cancer professionals in the United States. Some topics discussed will be:

• Advances in surgical, hormonal and chemotherapy treatments
• Using diet and nutrition to improve quality of life
• Clinical trials measuring the long-term impact of treatment on health and well-being
• New information on how to treat and manage metastatic breast cancer

Following the speaker presentation there will be an interactive question and answer session.

OK, we all know young women get breast cancer. But the way some talk about the pair -- young women and the deadly disease -- it would seem finding a young one living with this type of cancer is like locating that needle in a haystack. Many a young woman -- like me -- have heard doctors and nurses and technicians and family and friends remark, "you are too young for the disease," and then dismiss cancer suspicions as needless worry.

The median age for women diagnosed with breast cancer is 65. But think about this fact, published in the Spring/Summer edition of Beyond: Live & Thrive After Breast Cancer.

More than 240,000 women in the United States age 40 and under are living with breast cancer. Each year in this country, more than 14,000 women 40 years old and younger are diagnosed with breast cancer, says Boston oncologist Ann Partridge, M.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

That's a lot of young women. That's a lot of breast cancer. And yet, mammograms still are not recommended for women under the age of 40.

Tomorrow, the second issue of Beyond: Live & Thrive After Breast Cancer hits newsstands. And I, for one, can't wait to pick up a copy of the Spring/Summer edition of this positively powerful publication.

If you read the first issue -- the Fall/Winter magazine released in October -- you know what this glossy book has to offer. There are personal stories and interviews, shared wisdom and sound advice. There are exercise tips and health tips and survival tips. There are stories about chemo brain and fertility and relationships. There is information about breast cancer research and resources and products that are tried and true.

I want to tell you so much more -- but really, I want you find out for yourself just how moving and soothing this magazine can be.

So plan to get your copy -- tomorrow -- and tell all your friends to do the same. If you need a gift for a loved one newly diagnosed or someone who has long survived this disease, try this on for size. Buy a few copies and donate them to your favorite doctors' offices -- a fresh magazine can do wonders for any waiting room. Share one with a neighbor, a relative, a new acquaintance.

Do what you can, will you -- to both reap the benefits of this solid source of inspiration and help sustain the life of this magazine? Because magazines are only as strong as the readers who embrace them. And trust me, this is one catch we cannot afford to lose.

When you are diagnosed with cancer you may experience an array of different emotions --fear, anxiety, depression, anger, worry and many others. Some cancer patients or survivors may feel alone or unable to talk to friends or family members about how they are really feeling.

Research has suggested that writing can help with the healing process after cancer. Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) is hosting a networking meeting for women affected by breast cancer called Healing with words: Writing the Breast Cancer Experience.

Alysa Cummings, MLS, CPT, of Pink Ribbon Poetry, will explain how women affected by breast cancer can use writing to heal. Attendees will hear a presentation by members of Pink Ribbon Poetry. Following the presentation, attendees can choose to share in a poetry therapy group and learn about online resources for writing their stories.

The networking meeting will be held on April 26, 2007, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Cherry Hill Library in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. A light dinner and refreshments will be available after the networking event. To register for this free event, visit LBBC's website or call the office at 610-645-4567.

It does not matter what kind of cancer you have been diagnosed with, this therapy can work for anyone, you can take advantage of writing in a journal in your own home. It can help heal your mind on so many levels. Try it out. You will be pleasantly surprised at the release it can give you.

The second issue of the magazine Beyond: Live & Thrive After Breast Cancer will hit newsstands March 20.

The magazine, one of many targeting individuals with manageable conditions and diseases, such as allergies, heart disease, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis, stands out as an upbeat, positive, feel-good package of information and inspiration.

University of Mississippi journalism professor Samir Husni says magazines of this sort that succeed are the ones offering up a good dose of chicken soup for the soul. This is definitely a magazine good for the soul.

Beyond editor Martha Miller Johnson calls the magazine a purveyor of hope and information, a source of reliable facts, figures, and features for the growing community of survivors living with breast cancer. Beyond is for "the women who has been through her initial treatment and now sees her life through a different prism," says Johnson.

"Her body's changed, her skin's changed. To her, it's not a death sentence; it's a condition she just has to live with. More and more women are living with breast cancer."

The soon-to-be-released publication spotlights breast cancer survivor Deanna Favre with husband Brett Favre and includes stories about breast cancer and black women, chemotherapy and weight gain, and the most important questions to ask your doctor.

Why pick up a copy of Beyond's Spring/Summer issue this March 20? Because breast cancer attacks so many aspects of our well-being, says one survivor of the disease.

"It's your identity, it's your sexuality, it's your womanhood. Fertility. For many of us, it throws us into menopause early," she says. "Every aspect of your emotional and psychological well-being is impacted by cancer and the treatment. So that kind of puts it in its own category, I think. So you combine that with the fact that there are so many women going through it, and I think you do have a market there for something like this."

I couldn't have said it better.

Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) is hosting a free educational teleconference for women affected by breast cancer, women at high risk for developing breast cancer and caregivers.

Breast Cancer Genetics: The Role of Genetic Tests and Family Risk Assessment will give the facts about genetic counseling and testing. Learn how the results could impact your health choices and your life.

Topics to be discussed:

• When and why to consider genetic testing
• Goals of genetic counseling and how it can help you understand your risk and test results
• Effectiveness of medical and surgical prevention methods
• Strategies for monitoring the health of women at risk for developing a second breast cancer or other cancers
• Ways to lessen anxiety about testing and communicate effectively with family members
• Laws that protect you from insurance and job discrimination

All LBBC teleconferences begin with brief speaker presentations followed by question and answer sessions with participants.

The teleconference will be held on Thursday, March 29, 2007. 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EDT

Luanne Austin says chemotherapy is not all it's cracked up to be. She doesn't mean it's cracked up to be something really great but is far from such a thing. She means it's cracked up to be something pretty horrible but is really not all that bad.

Austin says the day her doctor announced she would receive chemotherapy was almost as bad as the day she learned she had breast cancer. That's because she had heard nothing but bad things about the treatment. She expected to be laying in bed with her life in the balance -- nauseated, vomiting, sick -- as the "cure" killed her.

All expectations aside, Austin decided to tackle chemotherapy with a positive attitude. This may seem a daunting task -- turning a dreaded chemotherapy protocol into a not-so-bad experience -- but Austin mastered the task. And here are seven of her positive thoughts about a treatment that is not all it's cracked up to be.

• Austin talked to people who had traveled journeys similar to hers. What she learned is that many women continued working through treatment. Some suffered very few side effects. One woman even told Austin her experience was super. Austin was inspired by the positive women she tracked down. And now she inspires others.
  

• Austin did some reading. She learned that chemotherapy drugs target quickly-dividing cells, like cancer cells, red and white blood cells, blood platelets, and digestive tract cells. Learning about the process helped her realize chemotherapy was intended to make her well, not make her suffer.

• Austin learned how to support her body through treatment. She came to understand that the best chance of surviving breast cancer comes from conventional medicine -- surgery, chemotherapy, radiation -- but that alternative treatments can complement the traditional approach. She recommends the book Breast Cancer: Beyond Convention and considers her pursuit of a healthy diet, exercise, supplements, and a good night's sleep some of her most helpful chemotherapy add-ons.

• When Austin felt weak, tired, and just plain zoned out, she retreated to her bed with a good book and a cup of tea. Instead of considering it a setback, she called this downtime a good excuse to spend hours reading.

• Austin found relief from her nurses. They were terrific, she recalls, and professional and friendly and respectful too. Getting to know her medical crew -- and receiving hugs from them at the end of her treatment -- confirmed chemotherapy has some good points.

• For Austin, God -- who carried her through her whole journey -- was instrumental in her positive outlook. She felt lifted up and carried, she says.

• And then there's love -- pure and simple love from her husband and family members -- that allows her to conclude that chemotherapy is not so bad. "I'd have to say chemotherapy hasn't been all that bad," she says. "Not bad at all."
  

There are about 150,000 women in the United States living with advanced breast cancer. Musa Mayer and Susan E Grober, consultants for the study called Silent Voices: Women with Advanced (Metastatic) Breast Cancer Share Their Needs and Preferences for Information, Support and Practical Resources, say that over the years many of the women living with metastatic disease have expressed that they feel isolated, marginalized and alone.

The study found that nearly one-third of the women living with advanced breast cancer do not know where to access programs or medical treatments and emerging research. This study's finding is among several that could impact healthcare professionals and advocates who serve women living with Stage 4 disease.

Women in the study said that many of the support and information networks for breast cancer focus mostly on early-stage disease. The information on metastatic disease is often hard to find. There is not one website dedicated to bringing together the existing resources on advanced breast cancer.

A survey was given to the women in the study. Here are some of the findings:

• 75 percent of the women look for information about advanced breast cancer either daily or weekly.
• 69 percent said they find it helpful to listen or read about the experiences of other women living with advanced disease.
• 44 percent prefer online support groups while 38 percent prefer in-person groups.
• 57 percent of women with the lowest level of knowledge about their advanced breast cancer report feelings of anxiety, whereas only 19 percent of those with the highest level of knowledge report anxiety.