It seems Elizabeth Edwards has a good amount of energy, despite her diagnosis of incurable cancer in March, following a previous battle with breast cancer. Perhaps her energy stems from the fact that she is asymptomatic and feeling quite well.

About her health and her husband's campaign, Edwards says, "I feel good and honestly, the campaign is more helpful. I don't sit at home and worry about what's going to happen to me a year from now, two years from now, 10 years from now. I take a pill in the morning and that's when I think about cancer. No other time of the day do I think about my cancer."

While she does admit she doesn't want to push herself too hard, she doesn't worry about the accompanying her husband, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, on his busy campaign trail. And she doesn't worry about what others might think of her decision to press forward.

I recently received an e-mail from a friend, about a friend of hers who has just been diagnosed with throat cancer. After a little thought about the content of her message, I sat down and typed a response. I share our back-and-forth communication with you today because it may help you, a friend, a family member, someone. And it may motivate some of you to contribute your own wisdom on the topic. If it does, by all means -- please share by leaving a comment.

Jacki,

Hope all is well with you. Nick and I have a close friend that has recently been diagnosed with cancer. It's in his throat and neck area. He had his tonsils removed and showed they are the source of the cancer but he will still be undergoing chemo and radiation.

The reason I am reaching out to you is because I wondered if you had some good recipes for keeping your energy levels up during chemo and radiation. He said he needs to eat a lot of protein -- I want to make him some things, or buy the right food for him that are high in protein -- what should I be doing? How can I help? His throat is going to be very sore due to the location of the cancer and eating is going to be an issue. What do you suggest?

Do you have less energy than you did before cancer? Do you sometimes crash in the middle of the afternoon? If you answered Yes to these questions and wonder why your energy is zapped, you may want to consider something completely outside the realm of cancer. Like your diet.

Canyon Ranch nutritionists say lack of energy is not always related to diet. It can also stem from lack of sleep and exercise, depression, anxiety, low-grade infection, medication, reaction to alcohol, and caffeine withdrawal or dependence. But diet surely plays a part, and sometimes a very large part. So in the interest of energetic and healthy living, you might want to give some thought to these energy-building diet tips.

Start the day with a healthy breakfast. When kids don't eat breakfast, they don't think as clearly and don't do homework as well as their well-nourished classmates. Adults are no different. Everyone needs a jump-start in the morning. It's good for metabolism and blood sugar. It's good for the brain.

I'm a good runner when it comes to the right state of mind and the right weather. I have to feel a spark of motivation to know I'll succeed at running, and I prefer cool temperatures. Something in the low 70s or below is perfect. When it's hot and steamy and humid in my Florida town, I tend to struggle. Like I did today.

I set out for a three-mile run with my head in the game. The air was a bit too warm for my liking, but I pushed myself anyway. For a good long time, I did well. With loud music blaring on my MP3 player and a steady pace, I conquered about 75 percent of my goal. Then something happened. I felt my body slow, and my feet wanted to stop. They almost did. Instead of giving in and giving up, though, I pushed myself to finish. In the end, it felt good.

My advice to you today is this: just when you feel you are fading, fading, fading -- don't quit. Try to get through the moment and you'll likely find some energy to keep plugging away.

The most healthy thing that I have added to my daily menu to fight cancer right now is this simple drink that helps give me energy and gives me antioxidants and vitamins. It helps boost the immune system. It detoxifies and cleanses the body. It gives a quota of daily veggies. It has a high alkalinity that helps balance acid PH levels in the body. It is simple and it tastes good too.

Vicki's Twice Daily Wheat Grass Cocktail
4 ounces of organic tangerine juice
4 ounces of organic carrot juice
1 organic banana
1 8 grams packet of Organic Wheat Grass (I prefer Amazing Grass brand)

Mix together well in a blender until smooth and pour into a large glass.

You can find Wheat Grass in your local health food store.

For those of you living for the moment, you are about to lose 60 whole minutes come Sunday when Daylight-saving time strikes once again.

This may throw you off a bit if you are one to maximize every second, minute, and hour you are afforded in this tenuous life. And while I can't offer you any secrets for recapturing this lost time, I can share some thoughts, compliments of professional organizer Linda Richards of Organize and More, on how you might compensate for Sunday's lost hour.

Think about this:

• Go to bed 15 minutes earlier and get up 15 minutes earlier starting a few days before the time change.
• Move any important meetings to later in the week so you body isn't as tired.
• Snack on healthy foods such as fruits and nuts to replenish energy.
• Shorten your to-do list to your top three to five priorities.
• Print out a copy of your calendar and appointments for March and make sure your computer has a patch to handle the earlier time change this year.
  

What a gift it would be if it were possible to sleep through cancer, literally sleep through the entire experience -- from diagnosis through the end of treatment -- and wake up on the other end of the bad dream. Unfortunately, this isn't possible. We must be alert and aware and active in our own plans for survival. All we are typically permitted are now-and-then naps and nighttime sleep -- if we can manage to actually sleep at night.

My sleep was never disturbed during my cancer journey. Night after night, just after my head hit my pillow, my body drifted right to sleep -- only waking for brief trips to the bathroom and to get out of bed the next day. I might have had an occasional sleepless night. But for the most part, I count myself as one lucky cancer patient, blessed with restful and regular sleep.

Not all cancer patients are privileged sleepers. And with all I was enduring during my own cancer ordeal -- emotions, hospitalizations, treatments, side effects, and pain -- it's a wonder I was able to manage so well in the sleep department.

Sleep is critical for maintaining strength and energy while fighting cancer -- while living life in general really. When nighttime sleep is disrupted, interrupted, or downright impossible, normal functioning and healing are compromised. So the quest for good, quality sleep should make its way to the top of your cancer to-do list. And if you are not sure just how to begin such a quest, consider these seven strategies for sleeping through cancer -- compliments of Marie-Helene Savard, doctoral student in psychology, and Dr. Josee Savard, associate professor and researcher of psychology at Laval University Cancer Research Center in Quebec, Canada.

• Set aside at least one hour to relax before going to bed.
• Go to bed only when you feel sleepy -- which is not the same as fatigue.
• If you can't fall asleep or can't go back to sleep after 20 or 30 minutes, get out of bed and leave the bedroom. Do something else -- and only go back to bed when you feel sleepy again. Repeat as necessary.
• Get up at the same time every day -- regardless of how much sleep you got. Use an alarm clock to wake.
• Use your bedroom only for sleep and sexual activities. Avoid reading, working, watching TV, or listening to the radio in the bedroom.
• Avoid napping. If you must take a nap, do so before 3:00 PM and for less than one hour.
• Keep realistic expectations about sleep -- avoid worrying about the amount of sleep you should have or the amount of time it takes you to fall asleep -- and try to become tolerant of your lack of sleep.

Sweet dreams.

Calorie counting may be a bit tedious for some -- like me -- but for others, it may be just the ticket for the management of weight and overall health.

Charles Stuart Platkin, author of the new book The Diet Detective's Count Down, takes calorie counting one step further and offers the exercise equivalent of a nutritional label.

His 341-page book offers charts that detail the number of calories, fats, and carbohydrates in more than 7,500 foods and drinks and then translates these details into what it takes, in terms of minutes, to burn the calories with walking, running, biking, swimming, yoga, or dance.

Platkin, a syndicated nutrition and fitness columnist, says he is not trying to encourage people to count every calorie consumed in a day and to exercise until each calorie melts away. His goal is to help those who exceed their daily calorie budget -- the number of calories they can eat each day without gaining weight.

The Count Down goes like this -- you consume one martini at your New Year's celebration, pushing you beyond your allotted calories for the day. All you have to do is walk it off the next day in a mere 71 minutes. Or you can run it off in just 39 minutes. If a single cracker with one slice of Genoa salami and cheese tempts your palate, go for it -- then plunge into a 55-minute yoga class.

Before taking a stab at the diet detective's approach, there are several considerations to take into account. First, the book is based on a 155-pound person. A person carrying more weight would burn more calories per minute, and a person carrying less weight would burn less. Second, a person's basal metabolic rate (BMR) must be calculated -- Platkin offers formulas for this task -- so it's clear how much activity output is required by each person. And third, the exercise equivalents are based on scientifically researched metabolic equivalent tables that try to measure what is being burned versus a person's resting metabolic rate. So this is not just a crazy gimmick. It's science -- with a touch of personal perspective too.

Platkin, clinically obese for most of his life, lost 50 pounds a few years ago and came to realize that people just don't know what a calorie is. He wishes the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) would include exercise recommendations on food labels and says, "I think that we are so confused in general as a population as to what's healthy and what's not, we confuse the term healthy with low-calorie. Sometimes they don't mesh. There's so much confusion out there that I think that it needs to be more defined. We need to have some sort of reference points so that people can make decisions before they consume."

Until the FDA delivers on Platkin's wish, he is taking matters into his own hands for those who choose to borrow from his wisdom.

Some of his wisdom includes eating calorie bargains (air-popped popcorn) instead of calorie rip-offs (potato chips) and substituting mustard for mayonnaise on a burger -- it will save 2,000 calories per month for someone who eats fast food three times per week.

Platkin's hope is simple -- he wants people to ask themselves whether certain foods are worth the cost. Is it worth a 54-minute run to burn the 510 calories in a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese? How about a 144-minute walk to rid yourself of a Subway six-inch Meatball Marinara sandwich?

It's a worthy hope, I think -- although this method is still a bit tedious for me. I think I will stick with my own formula -- eating moderate portions of what I enjoy and intensely exercising several times per week. I don't need to know how many calories I am consuming. I don't even need to know how much I weigh. As long as my clothes fit and my fitness routine keeps me sweating, I'll be a happy girl.

Cell phones don't cause cancer, according to a major study from Denmark that tracked 420,000 Danish cell phone users -- many of them users for more than 10 years and some for more than 20 years.

In the largest ever study to yield good news about the safety of cell phones, scientists matched phone records to the Danish Cancer Registry -- a listing that records every citizen who gets the disease -- and on Tuesday, the study results were revealed.

Cell-phone users are no more likely than anyone else to develop cancer.

But the lead researcher of this massive investigation says doubts will surely linger. There is really no biological basis for concern about radio waves, he says. But people still worry.

Cell phones beam radiofrequency energy that can penetrate the outer edge of the brain, causing suspicion about the origin of various cancers. Most research has found no link between cell phones and cancer, but the phones have never been given a definite clean bill of health either.

"As the body of evidence accumulates, people can become reassured that these devices are safe," says one cell phone researcher.

There is a downside to cancer. There's the distressing diagnosis, the shocking realization that something evil is invading cells and tissues and organs. There's surgery and treatment and loss of hair, loss of blood counts, loss of energy, loss of wellness, loss of future plans and intentions. There's the fear of recurrence and the fear of death and the fear of surviving. Cancer is dark and dismal and daunting. There is no room for argument. There is a downside to cancer.

But there is an upside to cancer too. Really, there is. And a growing body of research suggests cancer changes many people's lives -- like mine -- for the better.

"Cancer gives some survivors a renewed sense of confidence and greater appreciation for their own endurance," says one professor of medicine and public health. "The adversity of treatment may give people the sense that 'I've come through this and I'm stronger.' " Yes!

This same professor says cancer also leads survivors to question their priorities -- and to better manage them. Yes!

She also says survivors tend to find the coping strategies they develop during therapy can help them handle other life problems. Yes!

Many cancer survivors and their families turn to helping others dealing with the disease. It's part of the healing process to give back. And it feels good. Yes!

Cancer almost always is a blessing. This may not be apparent while in the trenches of a cancer fight. But when the smoke clears and the dust settles, blessings emerge. Really, they do.

Chemotherapy can upset the digestive system. It can cause nausea and vomiting -- although I never did throw up during my own chemotherapy, thanks to medication for these side effects. Chemotherapy can diminish overall feelings of wellness and can cause sore gums and mouth sores and dry mouths. Clearly, chemotherapy can ruin an appetite.

But patients receiving chemotherapy need to eat. And they need to drink. They need to maintain nutrition and energy and strength during a physically taxing time. And so the challenge facing many entrenched in chemotherapy is how to eat when the act of chewing, swallowing, and digesting food is so completely unappetizing.

Barbara Curtis shares in a chapter of Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul a recipe that made a difference for her sister during her worst days of chemotherapy.

Her recipe -- for chemo popsicles -- includes essential ingredients. Fruit and tofu provide phytochemicals, protein, and liquids for depleted bodies. The cool popsicle soothes sore mouths and settles stomachs. And the ease of putting together this simple snack is nothing short of tempting.

My advice -- save this recipe. And savor it too.

Chemo Popsicles

Fresh-squeezed orange juice, one 8-ounce glass
Frozen mangoes, 1/4 package, or 1 cup frozen berries
1/4 square tofu, medium firmness
One banana
Add passionfruit juice or other fruit juices for flavor

Put all ingredients into a blender. Blend to liquify. Add more juice if mixture is too thick -- it should be as thick as a smoothie. Pour blended mixture into Tupperware or plastic popsicle molds and freeze.

Deep within the pages of ancient texts detailing the remedies used by Chinese medicine practitioners, is there a cure for cancer waiting to be rediscovered? The global pharmaceutical company Merck thinks there might be a reference or two to natural cancer-fighting products used by healers then that is obscurely hidden and not known now in modern western medicine.

Merck has entered into a deal with Hong Kong's Chi-Med to look for evidence of promising products that the pharmaceutical company can research and test in clinical trials. According to the article Merck looks for ancient Chinese cancer cure written by Susie Mesure, "Western pharmaceutical companies are increasingly outsourcing their drug discovery work, with many looking east for the solution to medical mysteries that Western doctors cannot solve."

Traditional Chinese Medicine, TCM, is a practice of medicine that combines medicinal herbs, nutrition, meditation, massage, exercise and acupuncture with an applied philosophy in the harmonious balance of yin and yang for treating illness. In all fairness, because this system of medicine has developed over thousands of years, and my understanding limited by Western educational influence, the definition I have given is a very brief, and possibly incomplete, overview of TCM. If you are interested in learning more about TCM, begin by visiting Traditional Chinese Medicine at Wikipedia.

Chi-Med will be scanning information in a library of 10,000 natural substances for those that might hold potential in a cure for cancer. It will be interesting what they find.

I'm headed for a Saturday morning workout with my fitness trainer. For one hour, I will physically challenge my body and emotionally charge my spirits. I will sweat and pant and if I am required to do the inner thigh exercise, I will scream. I will also whine -- it's in my nature -- and I will push, pull, bounce, balance, lift, squat, lunge, and run until it's quitting time. I will fall short on some of my exercise expectations. And I will surprise myself and exceed others. In the end, I will feel accomplished, strong, motivated, and ready to tackle the day.

I'm making a comeback. I have come back from the depths of cancer and all of its accompanying treatment, and I have invited this powerhouse of a girl to transform me. She has accepted the challenge -- and she has helped me evolve from a weak, shaky, dizzy cancer patient to a semi-strong, 5K-running breast cancer survivor with biceps that are almost visible at a close distance.

This spunky fitness girl -- also an accomplished kick boxer, wife, and mom of two little ones -- has accepted another one of my challenges. I asked her to share some of her health and fitness expertise so that we all may reap the benefits. And so she kindly extracted some important tidbits from her vast library of knowledge and concisely crafted the responses that follow.

Take it from Fitz Koehler -- exercise and healthy eating habits are key for survival. For all of us. Cancer survivors included.

Why is fitness important for everyone?

100% of the population needs to exercise in some way. For the most part, if you're not working to get stronger, you're going to get weaker. Whether it's tummy time as an infant, gym class as a kid, weight training as an adult, or short walks as a senior, in order to live well and live long, we must eat well and exercise. Plus, a fit lifestyle prevents so many horrible ailments and diseases -- heart disease, some cancers, diabetes, GERD. Who wants any of that?

I am in a slump. I feel tired and slow and unmotivated. And ever since October 14 -- when I ran in the 5K Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event -- I can't seem to find the inspiration to exercise. I am making myself do it -- here and there -- but my usual drive and push and spunk are missing. Typically, I crave exercise and feel lethargic if I don't accomplish some sort of daily physical challenge. But for the past week or so, I have no craving, no desire to walk or run or lift weights, no appetite for my usual fitness routine. I am just plain tired.

Fatigue is a common side effect of cancer treatment -- even years after treatment ends, according to some experts. So perhaps my drop in energy and enthusiasm is due to the cumulative effect of my own treatment for breast cancer that just ended in June. My treatment spanned almost two years. Maybe it's no surprise my body is lagging behind my expectations for physical health.

Experts also say exercise helps combat fatigue. I believe this -- it's why I usually like exercise. It boosts my adrenaline, perks me up, makes me feel alive. If only I could get back into the swing of things, these feelings might come flooding back. But right now, I am not even thinking about how to find my old groove. I am just too tired.