I heard a man interviewed on the news the other night who said the side effects of chemotherapy make him feel so poorly, so unlike he once felt. Recently, however, he discovered a remedy that makes him feel better, more like he did before chemotherapy took its toll on his well-being. His remedy -- reflexology.

Reflexology does not erase the side effects of chemotherapy, but it can provide relief for patients whose lives are altered by chemotherapy-induced nausea, pain, fatigue, and anxiety.

Reflexology, or zone therapy, is the application of pressure, stretch, and movement to the feet and hands in order to break up patterns of stress in corresponding parts of the body. There are many theories about how this practice actually works -- one is that applied pressure signals the nervous system to initiate changes in the brain which promotes inner balance. Still, all theories operate according to the belief that reflexology reduces stress and anxiety and lessens overall wear and tear on the body systems. And many medical professionals are incorporating this therapy into their cancer care programs.

Some doctors are not so quick to embrace this complementary therapy that has no real scientific backing. They believe reflexology is nothing more than a pseudoscience, offering the same benefits as massage.

The enthusiastic man I watched on the news is not concerned with popular opinion on the zone therapy he receives on his feet. It makes him feel better -- and that's all that concerns him.

My sister recently ran into the surgeon who removed my breast cancer tumor almost two years ago -- on December 3, 2004. He asked my sister how I was doing, recalled the unprecedented rash I developed from the latex and Tegaderm tape used during my lumpectomy, and then talked about how terribly busy he has been.

This surgeon -- who spends countless clinic hours with women whose breasts are somehow diseased and then spends day after day in operating rooms trying to remedy these diseases -- said he is amazed and at how many breast cancer cases are consuming his time. It's sad -- the amount of women showing up with breast cancer -- but there is a silver lining to this cancer cloud, because according to this surgeon, the vast majority of these breast cancer cases are early stage. This means they were caught swiftly and quickly. And for the women behind these cases, there is a good chance of long-term survival.

And so maybe all the pink and all the press surrounding breast cancer is working. Maybe it's inspiring women to pursue self-breast exams, clinical exams, mammography, and other screening options. Maybe all the persistence and passion about breast cancer is the reason for this early detection -- the key to a good prognosis.

My surgeon closed his chat with my sister by telling her to call him if anyone in our family ever needs anything. But he told her he hopes he never has to hear from us. My sentiments exactly.

I am struggling to find healthy lunch items for my kindergartner who has been a picky eater since the day he was first introduced to food. He won't eat a sandwich -- well, he will eat a peanut butter sandwich but for some reason he thinks it must be warmed in a microwave. But microwaves are not available in his school cafeteria, so peanut butter sandwiches won't work -- nor will anything else that must be heated to satisfy Joey's picky palate. And he won't eat lunch meat or cheese or tuna fish or anything that seems to fill most kids' lunch boxes. He does eat fruits and vegetables -- which is primarily what I send him with to school -- but it seems he needs something more. Something with a kick of protein. But I'm stuck. So today I went to the grocery store in search of the magic item that will both satisfy Joey and satisfy even the smallest of nutritional needs. I ended up with yogurt.

I have never been a huge fan of yogurt because it's loaded with sugar. But yogurt does contain some vitamins and some calcium and a little bit of protein -- 5 grams -- and I opted for the light, fat-free variety which makes me feel better about my purchase. And tomorrow, my experiment begins. If the yogurt container is missing when I open Joey's lunch box after school, I will assume he has eaten the yogurt. If the container is still in the lunch box -- and is still full of yogurt -- I will start back at square one. And I'll just hope he doesn't figure out that he can toss the whole unopened yogurt container right into the trash. Surely, a five-year-old wouldn't think of that. Okay, yes he would.

Even though Joey may not take to my yogurt idea, something good has already come from my purchase of 10 servings of Yoplait Yogurt -- each one features a lid reading Save Lids to Save Lives with a pink breast cancer ribbon printed on the pink foil top. I didn't even notice this until I was in the check-out line, but now I know that for every pink lid I send in, 10 cents will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Yoplait will contribute up to $1.5 million and guarantees a $500,000 donation. So regardless of Joey's decision regarding the yogurt, someone will benefit from this purchase -- if only I can convince Joey to save the lids.

And so somehow, helping fund a cure for breast cancer seems easier than convincing my child to try new foods. Both are difficult ventures. And hopefully, a remedy will one day surface for both.

Chemotherapy is a good remedy for killing cancer cells -- and I hope every day that it did its job and killed all cancer cells that may have floated away from my original breast cancer tumor. But one not-so-good side effect of this good remedy is the beating that healthy cells take in the process of this life-saving treatment. It will be a red-letter day when chemotherapy can target only cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells unaffected. And this day may be a bit closer for patients in Taiwan who find they are in the early stages of relapse with nasopharynx cancer.

On Wednesday, National Taiwan University Hospital introduced a new high-tech laser procedure -- potassium-titanyl-phosphate or KPT -- to vaporize cancer cells. Doctors use a small endoscopic camera and easily manipulate the laser to precisely eliminate the cancer cells in the back of the nose and the soft roof of the mouth -- without harming healthy cells. The procedure takes roughly 90 minutes and requires a two-day stay in the hospital. This procedure should only be used in the early stages of relapse, though, and first-time cancer patients should still seek chemotherapy. And while those in later stages of relapse can still receive the treatment, it will only relieve discomfort without solving the problem.

To date, there have been 16 successful KPT treatments for this disease that about 1,000 people in Taiwan contract each year.

Some women have chosen herbal remedies to relieve menopause symptoms over concerns about health risks associated with hormone replacement therapy (HRT). One of the herbs used is black cohosh.

After reviewing all the data on black cohosh, used by women to relieve menopausal symptoms of hot flashes, insomnia, excessive sweating, palpitations, headaches, poor sleep, depression, and irritability, Britain's Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has decided to require black cohosh products come with a warning about the potential for liver damage.

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.

Dimericine, a lotion created to be used the day after a sunburn to protect against some forms of skin cancer, might win FDA approval in the next two years. It's not a magic bullet that allows sun worshippers to return to the old ways of tanning without consequence. Spend too much time in the sun and wrinkles are inevitable. The pain of a sunburn will still hurt even using this new cream. And skin cancer is still a risk -- perhaps just less so.

Dimericine is more of an emergency morning after measure, if you spend more time in the sun than you should the day before and have a burn as a result, or you missed a spot when applying the sunscreen lotion and were not aware until it was too late to prevent the sunburn. The cream will repair some of the damage to the skin a sunburn causes. If the cream is approved, and becomes available, experts still recommend that all the sun safety rules be followed when spending time in the sun. Sunscreen, wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, long sleeves, seeking shade and staying out of the sun during peak hours between 10 am and 4 pm.

To read more on how and why to practice sun safety, go to skin cancer prevention kits for kids, shading kids from the sun, and pediatricians need to educate parents about sun exposure risks.

As Dr. Alexander Sun watched his mother fighting lung cancer and suffering in pain, with chemotherapy failing to stop the progression of her cancer, he developed an herbal soup for her to drink that he thought might help. Three months later, surgeons removed a tumor and she lived cancer-free for another 17 years. Dr. Sun, a biochemist, went on to conduct two small clinical trials with his soup, called Selected Vegetables/Sun's Soup, and reported positive outcomes for most of the cancer patients in the trial. In fact, the results were impressive, according to Dr. Sun's tests. There are some questions regarding the size of the trials, as both involved few participants, and most used the soup as a complementary therapy while undergoing conventional treatments at the same time.

Some of the ingredients Dr. Sun used to make his soup have been proven in separate research studies to have some anti-cancer properties. The ingredients are: soybean, the medicinal shitake mushroom, red date, scallion, garlic, lentil bean, leek, mung bean, hawthorn fruit, onion, American ginseng, angelica root, licorice, dandelion root, senegal root, ginger, olive, sesame seed and parsley.

The National Cancer Institute has documented information on the human clinical studies that were conducted, with additional information about Sun's Soup. I found it interesting that they do not rule out the effectiveness of the soup, only that the data is too limited to make a conclusive statement regarding the soup. I understand Sun's Soup is sold freeze-dried as a dietary supplement.

Shhh. It's a secret. University of Manchester researchers are testing an herb that will help alleviate severe hot flashes, and other menopausal symptoms, associated with the chemoprevention hormone treatment women with estrogen-positive breast cancer are prescribed. At this time, the herb cannot be identified because the researchers are conducting a double-blind study. No one -- not doctor or patient -- is allowed to know if the women in the study are being given the herb or a placebo. The symptoms of chemo-induced menopause, and chemoprevention drug-induced menopause, are especially troublesome for women with estrogen-positive breast cancer. These women cannot take the traditional HRT drugs prescribed for the general population of women suffering menopause symptoms because it raises the risk of breast cancer by raising the levels of estrogen. Part of HRT is estrogen. So here are the clues to which herb it might be:

1. The herb is a member of the mint family.
2. The herb is classified as a phytoestrogen.
3. It is a traditional herbal remedy of Mediterranean women going through menopause.
   

Any guesses?