Hank Bauer, wounded World War II Marine and New York Yankees legacy, died on February 9 at the age of 84. The cause of death -- cancer.

Bauer, who managed the 1966 Baltimore Orioles to their first World Series title, was a three-time All-Star Yankees outfielder during his time with the team that won nine American League pennants and seven World Series titles in just 10 years. Bauer, a Yankees fixture from 1948-59, set the Series record with a 17-game hitting streak. His record still stands.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner says, "Hank Bauer is an emblem of a generation that helped shape the landscape of our country. He was a natural leader and a teammate in every sense of the word, and his contributions went well beyond the baseball field. His service to the Yankees, his country, and his family shows why I have been so privileged to call him a friend."

Bauer's baseball accomplishments, which also include playing two seasons with and later managing the Kansas City Athletics and scouting for the Yankees and Royals, are not his only claims to fame. He also earned two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts for his courageous dedication to the United States.

Enlisting in the Marines shortly after Pearl Harbor, Bauer was wounded in Okinawa when he was hit in the leg by shrapnel just 53 days after he arrived on the island with 64 other men. "Only six of us came out," said Bauer who signed with the Yankees minor league after his discharge and sported his Marine Corps crewcut throughout the baseball career that landed him with the likes of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and a young Roger Maris.

During the same week Bauer lost his life, two other players of his time also passed away -- Steve Barber, who pitched for Bauer in Baltimore and Lew Burdette, who played against the Yankees in the 1957 and 1958 World Series.

Bauer is remembered by many.

"I am truly heartbroken," says Berra. "Hank was a wonderful teammate and friend for so long. Nobody was more dedicated and proud to be a Yankee, he gave you everything he had."

Peter Augustini's wife Jodi is fighting Stage IV breast cancer. They have three children, Charles, 10, Caroline, 7 and Max, 2.

Augustini is organizing a fundraiser to benefit the research Dana Farber Cancer Institute is using to help his wife fight breast cancer. He wanted to help Jodi and others fighting her type of aggressive breast cancer, referred to as Her-2 positive breast cancer.

Augustini decided to take on a holiday, Valentines day, that some people seem to think is a commercially contrived holiday. Augustini says "This is the chance to do something meaningful".

You can purchase a three inch wooden heart for your Valentine via the Share your Heart Fundraiser. The proceeds will benefit a fund specifically set up to fund research into a cure for Her-2 neu form of breast cancer. The research involves work on a drug called herceptin, which is attracted to specific proteins found only in cancer cells in the body.

The hearts are $5 each. You can also purchase a package of 10 for $20 and a package of 25 for $40. The hearts come unpainted and ready to decorate.

Share Your Heart Valentines are available for order vial the Dale, Wheelock and Memorial School Web sites, www.medfield.net or by e-mail to paugustini@cera.com.

Beverly called Dr. Jeremy Geffen in a state of panic. She had just been diagnosed with breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes, just had her breasts removed, and was terrified of her recent diagnosis -- high grade infiltrating ductal carcinoma.

Beverly, age 44, was told by her doctor that she would need chemotherapy and radiation. She had heard horrible stories about chemotherapy. And having never been sick a day in her life, she was scared. So when a friend told her about a caring doctor she heard speak at a conference, Beverly knew she had to locate him. She tracked down his phone number, picked up the phone, dialed, got Dr. Geffen on the phone, and asked him to help. He did.

Beverly was a complete stranger to Dr. Geffen, author of The Journey Through Cancer: Healing and Transforming the Whole Person. Yet she was like so many people he knew -- people with cancer, confronted with the greatest challenges of their lives, seeking more than just physical remedies, grasping for someone who really cares.

Dr. Geffen received calls like Beverly's every day. And the number of calls seemed to increase with time. It's no wonder really. Cancer is a growing presence -- and more and more people like Beverly are confronting the disease. More and more people like Beverly are seeking more than just science to cure their ailments. And in an effort to harness a little compassion in their lives, patients are reaching for alternative methods of healing -- for their minds and hearts and spirits. Yet few disclose to their doctors their secret missions for fear they will be dismissed.

Beverly knew of Dr. Geffen's belief in holistic healing, his desire to treat the whole person and not just the organs and tissues and cells. So when she asked for his guidance on what treatment protocol to follow -- conventional, alternative, or complementary -- she was a bit surprised at his response.

Dr. Geffen told Beverly that conventional medicine was her best line of defense. Science tells us these methods work -- and abandoning them could be tragic. Dr. Geffen told Beverly that chemotherapy and radiation, when used skillfully and sensibly, can be truly beneficial. But he also suggested she pursue complementary therapies related to diet, nutrition, exercise, and stress relief.

Dr. Geffen believes in balance. And he teaches through his Seven Levels of Healing how we all can achieve balance when considering how to scientifically and emotionally heal our bodies.

Dr. Geffen will detail throughout the chapters of his book how Beverly represents all the strengths and vulnerabilities of the contemporary cancer patient, how Beverly is every one of us.

To read previous posts on the same topic, visit:
The Journey Through Cancer: What Is The Purpose Of Medicine
The Journey Through Cancer: Introduction
Sunday Seven: Seven Levels of Healing on Cancer Journey

Stay tuned for:
The Journey Through Cancer: State-Of-The-Art Medical Care

Yesterday, we featured Antioxidant supplements: cancer prevention fairy tale or fact? posting on an opinion piece Dr. Lisa Melton wrote concluding that something is lost in the extraction process of antioxidants into supplement form that prevents antioxidant supplements from offering much in the way of health value. That antioxidant-rich foods offer a health benefit is not in question, and continuing research indicates that what you choose to eat can give your body a boost to better health.

While the researchers sort out the antioxidant supplement debate, and before your next trip to the grocery store, UPI issued a press release today announcing the results of a newly published study that ranks the concentrated antioxidant value per serving of 1,113 foods and beverages.

Topping the list? Per serving -- one cup of blackberries, eight-ounce serving of Welch's 100 percent Grape Juice, one cup of Ocean Mist artichoke hearts, one-ounce of walnuts and one cup of strawberries. Interesting to note, according to the researchers from the University of Oslo, Norway, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and the University of Minnesota, the top five outranked the traditionally considered powerhouses of antioxidant foods and beverages including blueberries, red wine, chocolate, coffee and tea. Stiil powerhouse antioxidant foods in their own right -- just did not make the top five in this study.

Ford is calling all warriors to bang your drum -- paint your face -- run -- walk -- and fight for the breast cancer cure. Ford and Ford dealers are recruiting Warriors to ramp up the fight against breast cancer. As the Ford for Warriors in Pink page states, "Ford Warriors in Pink can be found at the Komen Race for the Cure events as always, only now they will arrive as a united front, as one in Warrior gear."

The Warrior gear are symbols and each one carries a meaning. War Paint is worn by Warriors ready to enter battle; The Warriors represent the power and the courageous who fight against breast cancer; Wings honor the angels who have passed after their fight against breast cancer; Crowned Warriors remind us that breast cancer touches the lives of both genders; Feathers represent kinship and are traditionally used in battle; Hearts represent the love in the lives of breast cancer fighters, their family and friends; Chevron is a French word meaning rafter and signifies protection and Plants represent life, growth and survival.

Recently, someone remarked to me that they could not write about cancer every day. During the 30 second I Run video spot featured on the Warriors in Pink web page, there is a little girl who holds up a handwritten sign that says, My Mommy's going to make it. That is why I can write about cancer every day. As a breast cancer survivor, I believe, and I survive and I fight for all the mommies -- so one day little girls won't have to lose their mommies. That is how I can do it. Every day -- for as long as I survive. If you want to join a positive and powerful campaign in the fight against breast cancer, check out  In Every Woman there is a Warrior in Pink.