I had a lumpectomy. It all turned of fine. I have two scars -- one underneath my armpit, one across the side of my left breast -- and while they are sometimes obvious if I wear a sleeveless shirt, they don't really bother me so much.

Some women -- about one-third to be exact -- are bothered by their lumpectomy results. Even though lumpectomy is intended to conserve the breast, these women say they are so unhappy about how their breasts look, they would consider reconstruction surgery.

According to a study presented at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Plastic Surgery 2006 conference in San Francisco, 28 percent of breast cancer patients stated they were dissatisfied with the cosmetic outcome of surgery. Of these, 46 percent believed their physical appearance was worse or much worse after surgery. Interestingly, 26 percent of these unsatisfied patients still said surgery gave them an improved sense of body image. Plastic surgeons believe this disparity stems from the relief of having had cancer removed from their bodies, leading them to feel better even though they were not happy with how their breasts looked.

A chemical found in hard plastics -- such as CD cases, baby bottles, food-storage containers, and even electronics parts -- has been loosely linked to incidences of breast cancer. Popular opinion cautions that if we were not worried about this news yesterday, we should not be worried about it today -- because studies are preliminary and nothing is definitive at this point. But there are definitely two sides to the debate over how harmful these hard plastics may be.

The chemical in question -- a pseudo-estrogen called bisphenol-A (BPA) -- appears to be absorbed by breast tumor cells, according to a new study published in the August 28 issue of Chemistry & Biology. Previous studies have linked small exposures of BPA to prostate abnormalities in mice that suggest a link between the plastic chemical and human prostate cancer. Some studies even theorize that embryonic and fetal exposure might influence mental retardation and birth defects. And because this pseudo-estrogen is a synthetic material that in human cells can trigger estrogenic effects, breast cancer now comes up as a disease that may result from this questionable chemical.

Critics say that average levels of the chemical found in urine is infinitesimally small -- about one part per billion. Some say the results of this research come from in-vitro studies that one expert says can never fully explain human disease. Yet the real crux of the matter, according to another expert, is that we are surrounded by all sorts of chemicals that are pseudo-estrogenic -- not just BPA -- and it's the cumulative effects that we do need to worry about.

Right now -- at this very moment -- my two boys have turned our living room into a mess of blankets and pillows and stuffed animals. They put on their jammies and closed all the blinds and are pretending it's bedtime. But it's actually lunch time, so they have spread out paper plates and plastic silverware and bags of chips and boxes of crackers all over the floor -- on top of all their bedding. I delivered them their lunch platters and lemonade and there they sit, in the room next to me -- chattering away, stuffing their little mouths, full of life. And I am in awe -- of the simple joy that comes from a living room camp-out and picnic, of the beauty these children bring into my life. I am mostly in awe of the fact that no matter what cancer takes from me -- my hair, moments of health, my innocence -- it cannot ever take this very moment from me. And that makes today a happy day.

Internationally-known celebrity tattoo artist Mario Barth of Starlight Tattoo has announced a $1 million dollar challenge to local businesses and people in the northern New Jersey community to help raise money to benefit the CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation for childhood cancers.

The Starlight Tattoo website has published statistics that in the last 20 years, the incidence of childhood cancer has grown nearly 27 percent, and scientists and researchers have been unable to account for the increase, or even why cancer in children occur. Barth, who is a father, says "Children are our future. We need to take care of them and nurture them, and show every child of every means that people really do care. Childhood should be a time of learning and fun, not pain and struggle. Every little bit helps."

Barth is a tattoo artist to celebrities including Lenny Kravitz, Jason Kid, members of the Wu Tang Clan, Nikki Six of Motley Crue, members of My Chemical Romance, members of Il Nino, radio host Wendy Williams, comedian Rich Voss and NFL Giants players Jermaine Taylor, Kendrick Allen and David Diehl.

The winner of over 200 international awards for innovative trends, Barth is a consultant and practitioner for Hackensack Cosmetic Surgeons for reconstructive micro pigmentation on cancer patients. He invented and created a series of special inks for use in reconstructive surgery to help patients adjust with a more natural dermal appearance after major operations. To learn more about Barth and Starlight Tattoo, and how to donate to a worthy cause in fighting childhood cancers, visit the Starlight Tattoo website.

Radiation treatment for breast cancer can create painful burning side effects on the skin. A 30-second process called LED photomodulation, which is a low-energy light treatment used to reduce wrinkles and stimulate collagen to regenerate in the repair of skin cells, has now been successfully tried in a small study on women undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer.

Ninety-five percent of women who received the treatment had only mild or no burning and pain. The women breast cancer patients who received LED treatment also reported an improvement in their surgical scars.

"Nobody had thought about preventing it, and I think it is wonderful to prevent something rather than have to take care of it later," said Dr. Maitland DeLand, a radiation oncologist.

Not yet a readily available treatment, the researchers are hoping this study will influence cancer centers to include LED photomodulation as part of radiation treatment for breast cancer. To read more about the treatment and background into the study, go here.

"I will never forget what the experience has taught me....who I am, who I want to be, who I can never be again. It was a hard time but I'd rather have the really hard stuff than to never know what I know now." -- Sheryl Crow, Letter from the Road.

Sheryl Crow has returned to performing after her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment last spring, and she keeps an online diary. In the latest post Letter from the Road: The C, The Food, A Star, she shares some of her thoughts about being a cancer survivor and tips from her nutritionist. A few of the tips I already knew, some came as a surprise. Here is a sampling of what Sheryl said her nutritionist Rachel Bellar taught her:

• Don't drink water from a bottle that has been sitting in your car. Heated plastic will bleed toxic substances that can be carcinogenic.
• Do NOT cook in olive oil at high heat. This too is carcinogenic. It is fine to saute in olive oil but if you are browning or frying, use canola oil.
• Spices that are cancer preventative, particularly prostate and colon cancer, are cinnamon and tumeric.
• A high omega 6 diet consisting of fish, colorful vegetables, high fiber foods have proven to be cancer preventative. In Asian and Eskimo cultures, the rate of breast cancer is shockingly lower. Whenever you have a choice, go with color -- brown rice instead of white -- sweet potato instead of regular potato.
  

Basically, bright dark and green. I knew that olive oil is good for you, but I did not know that it is dangerous to cook with it at high heat. To read more tips, and to find out about the star in the title of her latest diary entry, go here.

The new Netscape launched today, offering a voter news-based format that looks sweet. I will like it better once they get all the kinks worked out and the news is a bit more fresh. As a blogger for Life Sciences, I first visited the Health & Fitness channel. The most voted for story is linked to The New Scientist's Organic ketchup helps fight cancer. Two years ago, in January 2005, it was reported that Agricultural Research Service researchers analyzed 13 different ketchup brands for lycopene content -- lycopene is a very well-known cancer prevention nutrient -- and found the organic brands of ketchup had more lycopene. One brand of organic ketchup had about five times as much lycopene per weight as a tomato. The darker the ketchup the better.

Jay Garcia made a valid point when he commented, "Organic ketchup in a plastic bottle sorta defeats the purpose unless of course you're putting it on an organic hamburger." I'd have to agree with Garcia. Maybe the ketchup companies have that figured out by now and are offering organic ketchup in a type of container that isn't linked to increased cancer risks. Otherwise, does sort of defeat the purpose.

Back in April, Lorien, a runner and a lawyer, was training for a marathon when she went to see the doctor because she wasn't feeling good. A month later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She began blogging Cancer Grrrl as the place to post her breast cancer experience. The title of her first post is taken from a Bladrunner quote, "NOW you know what it's like to live in fear." It's going to be a good blog, I can tell. She is open, and honest, and isn't shy about sharing exactly what is taking place with each procedure. A good blog for the newly-diagnosed who might wonder -- what's next?

Lorien also has a sense of humor, essential I believe to survivorship. When something as serious as cancer happens, there is a survival mode your brain seems to snap into that starts to see a great deal of irony and absurdity, the silly and the surreal, and the gently humorous, in places you might not have previously noticed.

If you go to visit her at the Cancer Grrrl blog, be aware that she has proclaimed this the International Week of Denial -- where for one week, everything that sux in life gets DENIED. She invites you to join her in the timeout week from any evil realities, and if you cannot make the whole week, she suggests you at least make a day of it. I am so taking at least one day this week to abandon any notion that anything is wrong.

via Marjory & Gordon's Beating Breast Cancer blog ...

Prostate cancer has been on the rise for the last thirty years. A small but growing group of scientists are beginning to prove with research what environmentalists and activists in the cancer community have been saying for some time -- the link between environmental toxins that mimic estrogens in the body and reproductive cancer is not coincidental. University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Cincinnati researchers have just completed a study that shows a direct link between the chemical, bisphenol A or BPA -- that leaks from plastic products we use in daily life -- to the development of prostate cancer in later life.

According to the researchers, these findings could have major implications for human disease, and could, at least in part, explain why the prostate cancer rate has surged. Used for about half a century, BPA is a key component in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic and is one of the world's most widely used industrial chemicals. Unlike carcinogenic chemicals that can cause profound damage to DNA and trigger cancer, BPA seems to cause subtle changes that are passed from one generation to the next generation. It all starts in the womb. To read more, go here.

I remember as a college student walking into the shower in the community bathroom of my residence hall and noticing a plastic placard hanging from the neck of the shower faucet. It listed step-by-step instructions for completing a self-breast exam. I paid no real attention to this sign, took my shower, and went on with my day filled with classes and friends. I was 19 years old and believed breast cancer was no concern for me at this young age. I'm sure I believed breast cancer would never be a concern for me at all -- ever.

I found my own lump in the shower 18 months ago -- a small, pea-sized, hard lump that I felt when washing and examining myself for anything out-of-the-ordinary. I think of that placard often and hope more young women are paying attention to these life-saving tips.

A friend asked me recently to help him locate these signs for the college students he works with. I found them, thanks to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and I am thrilled that they hang in the showers on at least one college campus.

Although I did not pay attention in the showers on my own college campus, these placards did influence me -- because 16 years later, I remember them. This is the very essence of awareness, I think.