Former Green Bay, New England, and Cleveland football player Joe Andruzzi has just completed the first of a 12-step series of chemotherapy treatments for Burkitt's lymphoma, a form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Andruzzi, married and dad to four children, was released by the Browns on May 2 so he and his family could move to New Jersey. Then last week, Andruzzi began experiencing abdominal pain and other symptoms. He consulted with the Browns' medical staff, underwent a colonoscopy, learned an abnormality was found, and then headed to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston where he was diagnosed with Burkitt's.

The cure rate for Burkitt's -- a rapidly growing, rare form of cancer that strikes only 100 people in the United States each year -- is about 80 percent if patients receive intensive therapy, according to the National Cancer Institute. The other patient survival factor is the stage of the disease. Andruzzi's stage has not been publicly reported.

Green peas are bursting with nutrients. They provide very good amounts vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin B1 or thiamine, vitamin A vitamin B6, B3, and B2 and lots if dietary fiber, manganese, folate, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc and potassium. Green peas are that little food that is supercharged with nutritional and can supercharge your health.

Green peas are one of the important foods to include in your diet if you oftentimes feel fatigued and sluggish. That is because they provide nutrients that help support the energy-producing cells and systems of the body. They provide nutrients that are important for maintaining bone health. With its great source for iron green peas build normal blood cell formation and function. Low amounts of iron can result in anemia, fatigue, decreased immune function, and learning problems.

Vicki's Green Pea Salad
2 cups fresh green peas. (You can substitute with a 16 ounce package of frozen green peas. Rinse and thaw them for use in the salad.)
1 cup chopped fresh cauliflower ( make sure pieces are chopped about the same size as the peas.)
1 - 8 ounce can sliced water chestnuts (drain and rinse thoroughly and cut into strips)
1 - 8 ounce container sweet grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes sliced in half
1/2 onion minced
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon dry dill

Whisk together the lemon juice, dill, and mayonnaise.
In large bowl mix all of the vegetables. Pour in the mayo and dill dressing and toss.

Don't give up that daily cup of coffee just yet. Studies show drinking coffee may reduce your risk of developing Parkinson's disease, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, and colon cancer. It's even been linked to a decreased risk of inflammatory and cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women.

Why? According to an article in the March 2007 issue of Ladies Home Journal, it's because coffee contains large amounts of flavonoids and antioxidants -- and these combat a whole bunch of illnesses.

Now drinking too much coffee can have adverse side effects, like restlessness, anxiety, and headaches, but limiting yourself to one to four brewed cups per day seems to be a safe practice. Although for those with high blood pressure, consuming between two to four cups per day maybe a bit risky because coffee causes blood pressure to rise immediately after consumption. And all coffee drinkers should fight the urge to add sugar, flavored syrup, and whole milk to to their beverages.

A daily cup of tea seems to be healthy too. Researchers are investigating its use in the prevention of cancer, and we already know both black and green tea have significant quantities of disease-fighting flavonoids -- although not as much as coffee.

Business is business. Maybe it's about making a difference in the world of consumers but mostly, it's about making money. I get that -- and if I owned my own company and offered some sort of product, surely my goal would be to reap a financial reward. And if I wanted to increase my reward, I guess I would consider new markets, new advertising, and new techniques for hauling in loads of cash.

So I see what's going on with the new Camel No. 9 cigarettes, in their hot-pink fuscia and minty-teal green packages with the slogan Light and Luscious. I understand this brand is targeting female smokers with enticing wording that Camel maker R.J. Reynolds executives say is meant to suggest dressed to the nines, putting on your best. I even get that it's a pretty savvy strategy. But somehow, it all seems so wrong.

In a world where more women die of lung cancer than breast cancer -- by a large margin -- how can anyone, even business people whose sights are set on profits, feel OK with the decision to encourage women to smoke?

Think about these passages that just recently published in a New York Times article:

Wall Street analysts praise the introduction of Camel No. 9, in regular and menthol flavors, as a further step by the R. J. Reynolds, a unit of Reynolds American, toward a new marketing strategy. The goal is to refocus on the biggest, most popular -- and most profitable -- brands, which include Kool as well as Camel.

"What we're about is giving adult smokers a choice," says one executive, "with products we believe are more appealing than existing products." The introduction of Camel No. 9 is part of plans to "focus on products that are 'wow,' " she added, "that add fun and excitement to the category."

Fun and excitement? Believe me, there's nothing fun and exciting about cancer. Now if I could only package that truth and market it to the world. I suspect I'd be a rich woman -- and I don't mean financially.

New research has stated that eating a bowl of watercress, a salad leaf, can significantly reduce DNA damage to blood cells.

The report was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and it involved 30 men and 30 women, half of whom were smokers. They ate a small bag of prepared salad for eight weeks, in addition to their regular diet.

The results of the blood tests on the participants showed a 22.9 percent reduction in DNA damage to white blood cells. Damage to DNA is considered by experts to be an important trigger in the development of cancer.

The benefits of watercress were especially notable among smokers.

The research concluded "The results support the theory that consumption of watercress can be linked to a reduced risk of cancer via decreased damage to DNA and possible modulation of antioxidant status by increasing carotenoid concentrations."

So, I think next time instead of skipping over the watercress for the arugula I will grab both!

Bubble bubble boil and trouble, look what the soft drink industry scientists have conjoured up as a way to boost the sagging sales of the sugary calorie-laden beverages an emerging weight conscious nation has begun to reject in favor of healthier choices in quenching thirst.

Hoping to appeal to the battle-of-the-bulge crowd and school administrators looking to ban soft drinks from school vending machines, beverage makers like Coca-Cola, Nestle, Snapple and Celsius are hoping consumers will be drawn to try drinks said to boost metabolism and burn up to a 100 calories per drink. Made with green tea and caffeine, the new product does not come cheap. A four-pack of Celsius costs $6.99, according to the price quoted in the LA Times New soft drinks claim to speed up metabolism.

Granted, based on previous research findings, the antioxidant epigallo catechin gallate (EGCG) found in green tea holds some promise in cancer prevention, but loose-leaf green tea is far less expensive than the new soft drinks being marketed as a replacement to obesity-inducing soft drinks. The new drinks are also causing some scientific eyebrow raising as to the true weight loss the consumer might realistically expect to experience.

I am not against healthier drinks, but in this case, it seems as if the simple exercise of moving more, eating less and drinking eight ounces of water a day might be as effective, if not more effective, in maintaining a healthy weight. For the antioxidant benefit of EGCG, a cup or two of green tea. I could be wrong about the new soft drinks, but at this point in time, I remain hesitant to embrace negative-calorie magic bullets.

I am curious: Will you try the new drinks? Do you think they are worth the price?

I still can't believe I got breast cancer. I really can't believe it's been two years since my whole journey began.

I found a lump in my breast on November 16, 2004. It took eight days of doctoring and worry before the mystery that lingered beneath the skin of my left breast unfolded.

Ever since that November day, I have been documenting my struggles and triumphs with a disease that turned my life upside down.

It all started exactly like this.

On November 16, 2004, I felt a lump in my left breast while taking a shower. I have always been aware of what my breasts feel like. I have a lot of dense tissue -- so dense that the surgeon who performed my breast reduction had trouble separating the tissue to take some out and leave some in.

My breasts always seem lumpy to me and I never knew if I'd be able to tell the difference between normal and abnormal tissue. Four years ago I had a mammogram because of something I felt. It all turned out fine -- it was just the dense tissue. All of my annual GYN visits have revealed nothing abnormal. But I've always been aware and curious which is why I found something in the shower. I knew it was not normal.

It was hard and felt like a small green pea. It moved around and for the first few days, I had a hard time locating it. Once I became obsessed with it, I could find it immediately.

Testicular cancer, cancer in one or both of the testicles, usually occurs in young men and will strike about 8,250 of these men this year. About 370 men will die.

A man's lifetime risk of developing this cancer -- that typically shows up in only one testicle -- is 1 in 300, securing it as one of the less common cancers in the United States. The chances of dying from testicular cancer are 1 in 5,000, making it one of the most curable forms of cancer. Yet it is still the most common form of cancer in men ages 15-34. It is also a cancer commonly characterized by denial and embarrassment. As a result, it is one of the least mentioned cancers.

Goddesses Don't Buy Green Bananas is a heart felt compilation of extraordinary photos of some extraordinary women. The Goddesses that are photographed in this book are real women; they are wives, mothers, daughters and friends. Lesley Daley, the author and photographer, published her book after her thirty five year old husband was diagnosed with cancer. Lesley says that those who have faced this life threatening disease have inspired her to do this project.

Last week I did a post about Courtney Nicole and her battle with leukemia. Courtney's mom gives updates on her daughter daily and I'm happy to say that she tells us she is getting stronger everyday. Of course they are not out of the woods yet at day +26 after her bone marrow transplant -- but things are definitely turning around for the better. I mention Courtney because she is featured in the book as The Goddess of Spunk and Cheerleading.

This book is a tribute to all women who's lives have been touched by cancer.

This is a bummer. I have been diligently drinking my green tea thinking it can maybe be of some use. According to an article recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, consumption of green tea does not appear to have an effect on cancer mortality.

On the flip side, green tea seems to reduce the risk of overall death and death due to cardiovascular disease.

Researchers from Japan followed patients from the Ohsaki National Health Insurance Cohort Study. It included 40,530 adults between the ages of 40 to 79 years. The participants had not been diagnosed with cancer, stroke and heart disease when the study began.

The study showed that the consumption of green tea had no effect on cancer mortality among these patients. It was good news that it did help those with cardiovascular disease.

I have heard so much about green tea and the antioxidants that I would really like to read more studies to see if maybe it can be of benefit. I still like green tea and will continue to drink it because tea is one of my favorite things.

I have a cabinet full of supplements I've never taken. I've never been convinced they will do much for me -- other than add an easy-to-forget routine to my day -- and doctors have typically advised me that a healthy diet will deliver just about everything I need for optimal functioning. I still wonder sometimes if I get enough calcium and at times I have taken iron supplements when doctors have determined I lacked appropriate iron levels. But I have never wondered about all the other pills and powders and liquids that claim to promote health -- and sometimes prevent cancer. And after reading a recap of a study in the September 2006 Oprah magazine, I am further convinced that supplements are just not for me.

A report from ConsumerLab.com (CL), a company that tests and certifies supplements, suggests that some people might be ingesting too much lead as they try to keep cancer at bay. CL randomly selected various green tea preparations from store shelves, websites, and direct marketers and found that two out of four contained what is considered unacceptable levels of lead. Green tea products they recommend avoiding are Futurebiotics Premium Extract Standardized Green Tea tablets and Herbal Select Standardized Green Tea Extract. Products found to be totally free of lead are Life Extension Mega Green Tea Extract, Nature's Bounty Green Tea Extract, Pharmanex Tegreen 97, and Puritan's Pride Green Tea Extract.

Experts believe that some supplements may help prevent cancer. But most testing is done on food so we can't be entirely sure about the safety of supplements. Their advice is this -- make a change through a healthy diet rather than supplements. This is just what I plan to do.

I ran on my treadmill today while listening to a song by the band Green Day. I have always liked the song -- Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) -- but I like it more at this moment in my life than ever before because it speaks about looking back on the past in light of unexpected journeys -- and because my unexpected journey with breast cancer makes me look at everything differently. And when I look back at my life one day, I want to say that I had the time of my life. And that's why I like this song. And that's why I share it here today. Because I hope that in the end, we all can look back with the crystal clear knowledge that we had the time of our lives.

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

Celebrities have a way of motivating the public to take action. They help dictate fashion trends and set standards for mostly unattainable body shapes and sizes. They add hype to political views and philosophies and make influential statements about all sorts of issues. Like breast cancer. With its backing from celebrities like Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow and Kylie Minogue -- all breast cancer survivors who are speaking out and raising awareness -- breast cancer has burst onto the media scene and is receiving powerful, positive attention. Kylie Minogue's public diagnosis spurred so many women into getting their breasts checked that the Medical Journal of Australia reports a 40 percent increase in bookings for mammograms. But sometimes, celebrity diagnoses don't elicit a response at all.

Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last month -- yet the announcement barely registered on the public's radar. Perhaps he does not command the same kind of reaction as pop singers do. Or perhaps it's the type of cancer that keeps his public battle on the sidelines.

The breasts are a visible icon of femininity -- out in the forefront for all to see. And so the issue of breast cancer is in the forefront. The pancreas, on the other hand, are hidden behind the stomach and are out of sight -- and out of mind. When Apple chief executive Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, he didn't even know where to find his pancreas. And so this organ does not attract much fanfare -- and therefore does not attract the funding and research that breast cancer does. Which is sad because this cancer is not just hidden inside the body. It's also a hidden killer. It can't be felt like breasts can be felt. And there is no easy way to detect it, like with mammogram and other imaging techniques. Often a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer -- the fourth leading cause of cancer death in Western societies -- comes with a death sentence. And more and more, breast cancer diagnoses come with promising expectations of survival.

We may not know as much as about pancreatic cancer as we do breast cancer. But there are some behaviors that may contribute to this deadly disease. So in the spirit of prevention, consider this:

• If nobody smoked, 25 percent of pancreatic cancer cases wouldn't happen.
• Alcohol consumption can increase the risk by 15 times.
• Some studies link high meat consumption and low vegetable consumption to incidences of pancreatic cancer.
• Folate, the B vitamin in green leafy vegetables, oranges, legumes, and whole grains seem to reduce the risk. But folate supplements don't seem to have the same healthy effect.

The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) cleared the way for Herceptin to be prescribed on the National Health Service for women with aggressive HER2 breast cancer following surgery. Herceptin will be paid for by the state health insurance. NICE Chief Executive said that Herceptin is "clinically and cost effective".

Herceptin was recently only used for breast cancer patients with metastatic disease unless the patients had participated in a clinical trial. It has shown now to reduce the risk of recurrence in HER2 positive breast cancer when given as adjuvant therapy.

The challenge is to make sure that all newly diagnosed patients, wherever they live, have access to the HER2 test so they can get Herceptin without delay.

Charlie Emrich, in Glowing chickens bring hope in fight against cancer, calls fluorescent chickens, "cool in a creepy, mad-scientist sort of way." When you consider that scientists have combined jellyfish DNA with chickens to create illuminated birds, you can kind of see it from Emrich's descriptive perspective.

The purpose of chickens that glow, is that scientists can track antibody-based therapies that might prove valuable in treating human cancers.

UC Davis Cancer Center Dr. Joseph Tuscano explains that, "One of the problems with modern drugs is that they're not very specific. Even aspirin is not very specific. Antibodies, on the other hand are highly, highly specific meaning that, like an archer's arrow, they can effectively target a disease. Antibody-based therapies are one of the biggest advances in cancer treatment in the last 40 years."

Emrich quotes researchers of the project and takes you through the purpose and process of genetically-modified glow-in-the-dark chickens in the potential development of antibody-based therapies to one day treat cancer here.