The Giving Heart

Dear Blogger Family & Friends,

The Pink Crusader welcomes you with Holiday Hugs and warm Christmas Cheer! You'll have to step around the gift wrap and trimmings as we get ready to decorate and place the presents under the tree.....Remember, no peeking!

"Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first....Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart."-- George Mathew Adams

December 2007 is off and running, and so are we...all the way to the mall! Now that the holiday shopping is heavily underway, it is impossible not to be drawn into the energy of the season. From Black Friday to Cyber Monday and everything thereafter, we dash in and out of our favorite stores, armed with checklists, coupons and cunning strategy...each purchase presenting its own set of challenges and each shopper determined not to fall short of their goals. We are penny-pinching, bargain-browsing, coupon-clipping, window-watching, saavy shoppers and we must hold on to our positions and advertised specials, no matter what!

From a practical view, holiday shopping requires time, energy and money...usually more than our savings will allow. And, when funds fall short of expectations, it is a prudent reminder that we should not give gift-giving more attention than it deserves. Most shoppers are in the same boat. It's so easy to get hung up on the wrong stuff and be tempted to stray from our budgets. It's more important to honor a friend or loved one with a kind word, unexpected phone call, or home-baked goodies rather than getting frustrated or discouraged. Above all, keep a positive attitude and don't spoil the fun for them or for YOU!

Being sensitive to those among us who are too delicate to fight the traffic and frenzied crowds, there is always online shopping...a more civilized, less chaotic way of accomplishing the same goals. While we all want to find that perfect gift for that special someone at discount prices, there's no written law that prevents us from choosing our battlegrounds. If you keep a positive attitude, then you've already won half the battle. And, best part, you can browse the internet in the comfort of your home and your pajamas......cool yule, dude!

For the 11th-hour procrastinators, there is still a truck-load of time to make a list, set a budget and execute a gameplan. In a pinch, gift cards are life-savers, but don't bail by taking the easy way out...Put your fantasies, daydreams and bonus time to good use! And, above all, remember that it may take more than one day to accomplish your mission!

Once the shopping is finished and the hard work is out of the way, it's time to wrap the presents! Just keep an open mind and let your creative juices take over...this is supposed to be fun! There is nothing quite as festive as the colorful display of neon bounty under the tree. We all love to channel our x-ray vision and guess what's hidden inside the decorative gift wrappings, boxes, and bags. We love the cheery packages dressed in sequins, glitter and mosaic accents....so joyful they seem to shout, "If you don't hurry up and open me, then I'll just have to open myself!"

In the end, when Christmas day has come and gone, and the crumpled swirl of discarded gift wrap, ribbon and bows litter the floor, we know the lingering tidings of gladness will not be about clothes, electronics, gadgets or jewels. Rather, we will be grateful for our full and happy hearts.

Oh, one more thing...as long as you are at it, remember to do something special for yourself this season. You deserve it!

Next Week: Smells of the Season
Please submit your favorite holiday recipes and any amusing culinary stories you'd like to share in next week's edition of the Pink Crusader. Editing deadline is Friday, December 7th.
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SURVIVOR UPDATES:

Cynthia (Sunni) Smith

We are sad to inform you of the passing of "Sunni" Smith on November 21st. Sunni, a former Rosebud, will be honored in a memorial service on Thursday, December 6th, at Bradshaw-Carter, 1734 W. Alabama, Houston.

Cheryl P. Donlin

Our thoughts and prayers go to good friend and survivor Cheryl P. Donlin as she begins treatment for a recent recurrence. Well-wishes to Cheryl and her family may be sent via e-mail to cdonlin@tejaslabs.net .
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FYI:

From Josie Sethi:
The Faces behind Breast Cancer update

Be sure to catch our online interview this Saturday, December 8th at 5:42pm (Central Time), at http://www.wsradio.com/copingwithcaregiving . Hosted by Jacqueline Marcell, author of the best-selling book, "Elder Rage," this Internet-only radio program is heard live worldwide and will be available anytime for one year via the online archive. (Free downloads of Windows Media Player or Real Player are available at the website.) Note: This program is not broadcast on regular radio and listeners cannot phone-in questions.

Good News! The Faces behind Breast Cancer can now be ordered directly through Amazon.com. Be sure to spread the good word and visit online at
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/102-6282655-7021736?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Faces+behind+Breast+Cancer&x=12&y=24
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From Bev Slaughter:

Hello -
My high school friend that I am walking with in the Houston - Avon Walk sent
me this online article regarding a Party she is having in Frederick, Maryland to raise funds for the walk.
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=68374
You will notice (in the picture) that she is holding a copy of
"Faces behind Breast Cancer" with my face showing. :) She asks for your prayers for blessed success. - Bev
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From Karen Funk:

If you go to this web site, http://www.letssaythanks.com/ you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second. Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them...
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From Cheryl P. Donlin:

Once again the Universe has provided what I need when I need it! A most wonderful book has come into my life: Fine Black Lines: Reflections on facing cancer, fear and loneliness by Lois Tschetter Hjelmstad. It is available on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Black-Lines-Reflections-Loneliness/dp/0963713981

This lady speaks my language and her words reach right into me, striking responsive chords that are perfectly suited to my second-diagnosis situation. It's part journal, part poetry, part photographs. To give you a taste of her writing, I've inserted two of her poems below that really spoke to me:

You Will Be Just Fine
Please do not trivialize
My suffering.

You who are healthy
You whose mortality is as yet
Only dimly perceived --
Please do not say
"You will be just fine."

I may well be -- someday --
but I do not know...
You do not know...

1991

No Lifeguard on Duty
it is difficult
when one is drowning
to wave to the people
on shore

one wants to be
friendly, of course,

but perhaps it is
more important
to keep
swimming

December 1990
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From Susan G. Komen for the Cure:

2008, 3-Day Walk Dates now Available
The Breast Cancer 3-Day® is a 60-mile walk for women and men who want to make a personal difference in the fight against breast cancer. Participants walk 60 miles in three days and help raise millions of dollars for breast cancer research and patient support programs.

Each night of the event, walkers experience an incredible mobile city that's more than just sleeping tents and warm showers, where they can eat, relax and renew their spirit with their fellow walkers.

The Breast Cancer 3-Day benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. For more information visit http://www.the3day.org/ , or call 800-996-3DAY to walk the Breast Cancer 3-Day in a city near you.
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From Rosemary Barr and Donna Fong:

Freezing Bone Cancer Tumors Reduces Pain,
Mayo Clinic Study
Re-printed from Reuters News - 2007

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Cryoablation, a procedure most commonly associated
with destroying kidney and prostate tumors by freezing them, has been
shown to offer durable pain relief of cancer that has spread to bone.
The procedure freezes and shrinks or destroys cancerous tumors in or
near bone.

"Cancer patients are living longer and we need to be able to manage
their pain over a long period of time," says Matthew Callstrom, M.D.,
Ph.D., a radiologist at Mayo Clinic who will present his latest
findings on cryoablation for pain management at the Radiological
Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting this week (Nov. 27).

Each year in the United States approximately 100,000 people develop
cancer that spreads to the bone (metastasizes). This type of cancer
causes extreme pain and often cannot be managed by narcotics or other
standard treatments. New approaches in pain management are needed to
help patients living longer with cancer, achieve a higher quality of
life. In this study, cryoablation was used to treat 34 patients whose
primary cancers had spread to the bone. These patients either did not
have success with conventional pain management treatments or refused
such treatments. Eighty percent of the patients experienced a
clinically significant reduction in pain. Furthermore, the treatment
appears to have lasting effects: 24 weeks after undergoing the
procedure, patients still reported significantly lower levels of pain.
"Two key parts of this study are that the reduction in pain lasts and
their quality of life improves after receiving the treatment," Dr.
Callstrom says.

These results are important for two reasons: first, cryoablation
worked after other treatments failed to provide adequate pain relief;
second, cryoablation provides long-term pain relief. Radiation therapy
is considered the gold standard in pain management for patients with
focal pain associated with metastatic cancer, but it provides only
short-term relief for many patients or fails altogether, he states.

Dr. Callstrom recently received a $900,000 grant from the National
Cancer Institute to lead a nationwide study to compare cryoablation
and radiation therapy as treatment for pain associated with metastatic
cancer. This will be a randomized study in which patients will receive
either cryoablation or radiation therapy.

Doctors use imaging tools, such as CT, to guide small needle-like
probes into the tumor. Gas is then circulated through the probes,
supercooling the tumor and turning it into a ball of ice.

The procedure calls for a probe inserted directly into the tumor with
ultrasound or CT imaging guiding the way. It is a minimally invasive
procedure in which only a ? inch long cut is required to insert the
probe. Patients are usually sedated for the procedure and released 24
hours later. The recovery time is short and patients typically start
experiencing pain relief within a few days to four weeks after
treatment.

Patients in this study had primary cancers that included colorectal,
renal cell, bronchogenic, squamous cell, adrenal cortical, ovarian and
thyroid carcinomas, paragangliomas (tumors that arise within the
sympathetic nervous system), melanoma and desmoid tumors (tumors of
tissue that surrounds muscles).

This study is funded by Endocare Inc.
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DAILY REMINDER #1:
"Fund Free Mammograms" Go to The Breast Cancer Site at http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/tpc/EEB_0115_BCSm
and help fund free mammograms for the homeless, working-poor, and un-insured women. It costs nothing to you, except one daily click on the pink "Fund Free Mammograms" button. You can even request automatic reminders via e-mail. Please make your free click now, and thanks for your continuing support! The Breast Cancer Site, One Union Square, 600 University Street, Suite 1000, Seattle, WA 98101 Phone: 1-888-811-5271

NOTE: WE DID IT! WE FUNDED 500 MAMMOGRAMS IN NOVEMBER!
Since we reached our goal, your clicks triggered an extra gift of an ultrasound machine to help women in need. Thanks! As we enter the giving season, we'd like to extend our support abroad in recognition that breast cancer is on the rise internationally. We're all in the fight together. Please keep clicking...

DAILY REMINDER #2:
Help eliminate Breast Cancer with a daily click at
http://breastcancer.care2.com/ebc-about.html
You'll be one of the first people to participate in the largest virtual mountain climb in the world! With every click, (or "step") you generate a donation to
eliminate the environmental causes of breast cancer--for free. Sponsors pay for your click and fund The Breast Cancer Fund's programs focusing on environmental links to breast cancer. It only takes a second! The Breast Cancer Fund is the leading national organization focused on identifying – and advocating for the elimination of – the environmental and preventable causes of the disease. For more details on the organization’s work, visit www.breastcancerfund.org
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UPCOMING EVENTS: Mark Your Calendars and Save the Dates!

PINK RIBBONS PROJECT SHOPPING EVENT
Shopping for a Cause Thursday, December 6th, 6-9 PM
Cynthia Ann and Cotton Club have joined forces with Pink Ribbons Project for breast cancer awareness! Lets mix then mingle for a good cause. We will be having a silent auction as well as a percentage of the evening's sales going to Pink Ribbons Project. Please be our guest for this wonderful shopping event at Cynthia Ann & Cotton Club. A percentage of the proceeds will be given to Pink Ribbons Project to improve the availability of education and research for Breast Cancer.
Please RSVP at Cynthiaanncollections@hotmail.com
3941 San Felipe, Houston, Texas 77027, 713-522-9101

KNOCKOUT ROSES
A support group for women diagnosed under 40
2nd Monday of each month, @ 5:45
December 10
The Rose, 3400 Bissonnet.
Contact Amy Rigsby, Technical Director of The Rose
713-660-6675.

ROSEBUDS II MEETING
December 13th, 5:45 - 7:30 pm
Breast Cancer Support Group Meeting
For those who have had or are at high risk for recurrence
and/or metastasis, 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month
The Rose, 3400 Bissonnet.
Open to all Breast Cancer Patients/Survivors
Future Meetings: December 27

JOIN US FOR A SPECIAL HOLIDAY TEA!
Sat. December 15th &; Sat. December 22nd
at Serenitea Tea Room and Gift Shop.
13889 Southwest Freeway Sugar Land, TX

Share the joy of the holiday season over a cup of steaming hot wassail and spiced pecans along with a delicate assortment of finger sandwiches; gingerbread with honey nut cream cheese, egg salad with watercress, spinach and pimento stack-up, ham and pear with walnuts, and the classic cucumber sandwich. You will also enjoy classic English scones with a twist, chocolate chips and orange. And for dessert try the mini traditional rum fruitcake, chocolate-dipped shortbread biscuits and grapes. Add a pot of tea...your choice from the Tea Selections menu. Plus, a special gift for everyone, compliments of Serenitea! By Reservation Only. Phone: 281-491-4588
Cost is $30 per person + Tax and Gratuity http://www.sereniteatearoom.com/

FACES BEHIND BREAST CANCER BOOK SIGNING EVENT
Come and meet the author and participants for a special holiday book event on Tuesday, December 18th, from 11am - 3pm at Appearances Boutique, located in the Mays Clinic at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 2nd Floor. We encourage everyone to invite friends, family and co-workers since this will be the last book event of the year.

ROSEBUDS MEETING
December 18, 5:45 - 7:30 pm
Breast Cancer Support Group Meeting
The Rose, 3400 Bissonnet.
Open to all Breast Cancer Patients/Survivors
1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month
http://www.rosebudssupport.org/

THE ALICE THOMSEN LYMPHEDEMA AWARENESS GROUP of Houston Meetings are scheduled on the 3rd Tuesday of every other month at the American cancer Society Building,6301 Richmond (between Hillcroft and Fountainview) at 7:00pm. Next scheduled meeting is Januaruy, 2008.
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"SHARING is CARING"
As always, The Pink Crusader welcomes your comments, stories, poems, events and photographs! Posts are updated each week. Please send your written contributions to thepinkcrusader1@aol.com .
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"Somehow, not only for Christmas, But all the long year through, the joy that you give to others, is the joy that comes back to you. And the more you spend in blessing the poor and lonely and sad, the more of your heart's possessing, returns to you glad."

-- John Greenleaf Whittier

Until next week stay strong, stay well and keep on dancing with a ho, ho, ho and fa la la la la!

Love, Josie
The Pink Crusader
thepinkcrusader1@aol.com