Ben Simons, SeaBee, WW2 Photo © Dora Simons

Veterans' Day is being celebrated today, but after the mass shooting at Ft. Hood, and other events going on this week, my thoughts are circling around our veterans and what they may face during military service and after.  My father, Ben Simons, signed up with the SeaBees when he was just days away from his 18th birthday.  The son of hard-working people who grew up in the dustbowl of Oklahoma, Dad was determined to join up and make a difference - and come home to a better life.  He spent almost three years in the South Pacific with the SeaBees, got married to my mother when he returned, and went to college on the G.I. Bill.  He became a civil engineer, and to this day still has a fine eye for lines, dimensions, and well-built roads and bridges.  He seldom speaks of his time in the Navy, but always remembers it in positive terms when he does mention it.  For the record, Dad is my hero.

Many war veterans experience PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome.  Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, upsetting memories, or physical responses to trauma that are similar to the fight or flight reaction.  When a person has PTSD, they may find it hard to talk about it, or might avoid the place or people related to the trauma.  PTSD can make you feel disconnected from other people, or as if death is around every corner.  You may feel jumpy, easily irritable, or be prone to emotional outbursts.  If these symptoms sound familiar to you, it's because breast cancer survivors can also experience PTSD.

After I fired my first oncologist, I could barely stand to drive by that cancer clinic, or even go near the part of town where it was located.  My heart would constrict, I sometimes felt nauseous, I would feel like weeping.  Eventually, as I moved past those feelings, I felt happy when I passed that way.  Mainly, I was happy that I never had to go there again and have the experience of being a widget on a cancer treadmill - a widget that had never fit into their program!  Maybe I had a light case of PTSD, it's hard to say from a distance of seven years.

There are many treatments available to anyone who has PTSD.  Therapy can be tailored to your particular type of trauma, and medication may also help.  I recently read about EMDR - Eye Motion Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy.  It requires a trained therapist to successfully treat PTSD with EMDR.  But one veteran of the war in Iraq calls EMDR a cure for PTSD.  It has helped people recover from abusive childhoods, from catastrophic loss of loved ones, sexual abuse, chemical dependancy, and from the psychological impact of breast cancer diagnosis.  Getting help for PTSD can be part of recovering from treatment for breast cancer.

If you're a veteran of the armed services, I salute you and thank you for your service.  You've put your life at risk for my freedom.  You've made this country a place that people all around the world would love to live in.  And if you are a breast cancer survivor, I also salute you, as a fellow veteran of the war on cancer, no matter where you are in the fight.  Let us fight on, until the world is free for all to live in, and free of cancer.

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First it was just bottled water in those bisphenol A (BPA) plastic bottles. We were told not to drink water that "smelled like plastic" or that had sat in sun-warmed bottles. They told us that the BPA in hard plastics could cause prostate and breast cancers, diabetes and heart disease, as well as reproductive problems. BPA is everywhere: baby bottles, toys, and packaging for some microwaveable foods. So now we use BPA-free bottles, toys, and nuke our food in glass containers. That's good!

But what if your food is already tainted with BPA plastic? Well, next time you look into a can of beans, soup, tomatoes, or baby formula, check out the inside of the metal can. If it has a white coating on the inner surface, you may be seeing BPA right in there with your food. Now, aside from heating a can of bean directly over a campfire in case of emergency, most of us don't cook food right in the product cans. But when canned foods are processed and sealed into those cans, what happens to the BPA in contact with your beans, soup, or Similac Infant Forumla?

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a man-made hormone that acts like estrogen, binding to the same receptors that Tamoxifen or natural estrogen would target in your body. So canned foods packaged with epoxy and BPA coatings are like getting sex hormones in a can. Most cases of breast cancer are fueled by estrogen, which is why we need to be aware of products that may look innocent and healthy, but may be potentially harmful. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control say that low levels of BPA exposure are safe for humans. The American Chemistry Council agrees with the FDA and the CDC, but they also speak for the plastics industry - a significant economic power, as so many products in our world are formed of plastics, wrapped in plastics, or blended with polymers.

Consumer Reports magazine did a study, published in December 2008, that revealed levels of BPA in Del Monte Fresh Cut Blue Lake Green Beans, Progresso Vegetable Soup and Campbell's Condensed Chicken Soup. You'll also find BPA in cans of Nestle Juicy Juice, tomatoes, citrus products, and acidic drinks like cokes. BPA may also be used to line canned alcoholic beverages, so in addition to alcohol raising your estrogen levels, the BPA may be kicking in, too.

Current FDA guidelines, which were formulated in the 1980's, state that the upper limit of safe exposure to BPA is 50 micrograms of BPA for each kilogram of body weight. Word has it that the FDA is revising their BPA guidelines and will get those out to us soon. Dr. Steven G. Hentges, of the CDC, says that our average exposure to BPA is about "1,000 times below government safety limits." But Dr. Urvashi Rangan of Consumer Reports thinks that if a young child is drinking several servings of canned Nestle Juicy Juice every day, "a child still could exceed a level that Consumers Union thinks would provide an adequate margin of safety."

I can remember when canned food came only in glass jars. Milk was delivered in glass jugs. Fresh fruit and vegetables might arrive in wooden boxes or burlap bags. Meat was cut to order and wrapped in paper. Were we as a nation healthier then? Perhaps we were. Nowadays, I use a stainless steel travel mug, a BPA-free water jug, and I microwave foods in paper or glass containers. But I will also be looking for foods that are not packaged with BPA epoxy coatings, because I just don't want to put my health at risk. Just as I try to live green and detoxify my personal environment, I'll try to keep my food and drink as pure as I can.

Does the idea of BPA in your canned or bottled foods bother you? Leave a comment or visit my Forum to discuss BPA, diet, and cancer risk.

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Medical Marijuana Photo © Getty Images

President Obama has changed the policy that allows federal prosecutors to pursue those who sell and use medical marijuana, when the state laws permit. At present, only 14 U. S. states have legalized the medical use of marijuana - which means you need a prescription for it, and access to a pharmacy certified to dispense it. This does not relax the laws governing recreational use of pot, so don't head out to your greenhouse and start harvesting a little extra weed to sell, even in a state where medical marijuana is legal. The new policy on pot simply says that federal prosecutors should stop targeting people who use or sell medical marijuana, when it is done so within the boundaries of state laws.

Thirty years ago, when my husband's mother was taking some experimental chemotherapy for a relapse of breast cancer, she was very ill with side effects. There were not many premedications to help ward off nausea and vomiting back then, but there were drugs that could be taken after these symptoms began. She wanted to live, to be there for her newly-engaged daughter, her newly-wed son, her devoted husband, and her elderly mother. Already petite and slender, she lost weight from side effects and loss of appetite, and said that one of the drugs she was given impaired her perception of colors. The world seemed to look black and white, itself a hard thing for an artist like her to bear, so she stopped taking that drug. But her other side effects continued as she soldiered on, making as little complaint as possible. Her husband said admiringly, "She's tough!" But a couple of her wilder nephews thought they could help. They put out the word that a little marijuana was needed, and the next time they visited her, they hustled into her room and closed the door. She accepted some home-made marijuana cigarettes as graciously as she could and promised to try it. Later, she said that it didn't help her side effects, but was fun while it lasted. She finished chemotherapy and used her last six months doing things that were very important to her - spending time with loved ones. After she died, just before her 50th birthday, we found some leftover marijuana in a jacket pocket - I don't remember how it was disposed of - but it gave us a chuckle. My mother-in-law was a beautiful, elegant, well-mannered educator and artist, and the thought of her lighting up a curled paper of pot doesn't seem to go with my image of her.

As for her being caught and prosecuted, can you see the cops coming in and busting a 90-pound sick, bald, night-gown swathed breast cancer patient? Her husband was in the Police Reserves, so perhaps he could have gotten some leniency for her. But if she had been arrested, they would have had to take her down to the cop shop on a gurney. That would not have made the local police look very good, now would it?

For some cancer patients, medical marijuana may be a real blessing. For others it may seem like a legal loophole for addicts to claim a medical necessity. I never wanted to try it, myself. How do you feel about medical marijuana? Leave a comment or take a poll to voice your opinion. Is it still the "evil weed" - or is it time for a change, at least for medical marijuana?

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Michelle Obama Photo © Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla

"In this country, getting sick shouldn't mean going bankrupt," declared Michelle Obama to members of the House and Senate as well as cancer survivors. "If you've already fought cancer, you shouldn't also have to fight with insurance companies to get the coverage that you need at a price that you can afford." Speaking to a group gathered in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden on October 23, the First Lady said that it is "unacceptable" that insurance companies can charge higher rates or refuse to cover people with pre-existing conditions, like breast cancer. Sharing the spotlight with Second Lady Jill Biden, Mrs. Obama addressed a gathering held to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Usually a BCAM event focuses on the basics of breast cancer - like prevention, early detection, raising awareness, and promising new research, all details that Jill Biden, who helped found the Biden Breast Health Initiative would have been familiar with. The BBHI is raising awareness and providing education about breast health, breast self-exams, and healthy lifestyle choices - all aimed at prevention. Perhaps Mrs. Biden spoke about the basics, but her speech didn't get as much attention.

Michelle Obama used the occasion to talk about healthcare reform - a hot topic and one her husband wants very much to drive through the legislature. I'm glad she cares about insurance issues, even though she and all the First Family are on the presidential private insurance plan (possibly the world's best coverage). I'm glad she knows that having cancer treatments can cause financial stress and sometimes ruin. It's nice that she wore a pink ribbon and had big pink ribbons hung on the North Portico columns for the weekend.

But Mrs. Obama chose to skip all the basic information about breast cancer, and instead did her own spin on the event, using breast cancer as an issue to help sell healthcare reform. I understand, she is the First Lady and she's got to support the President. That's all fine and good. But as the headliner at a Breast Cancer Awareness event, couldn't she set aside the debate over legislation long enough to talk about the drop in deaths from breast cancer and the increase in survival rates? As a black woman, couldn't she have mentioned the exciting new research on Triple Negative Breast Cancer? I think she could have talked about new imaging technology, or about making early detection safe and affordable.

Michelle Obama's emphasis always came back to healthcare reform and insurance issues. "We have a health care system in this country that simply is not working for too many people with breast cancer and too many people who are surviving with breast cancer," said Mrs. Obama, "That's why it is so critically important that we finally reform our health care system that is causing so much heartache for so many people affected by this disease. Now is the time."

I agree that our health care system needs help - and that uninsured people especially need better care, regardless of income - cancer ignores your position on the social ladder as well as the size of your wallet. But the heartbreak of breast cancer is that we still have no cure, no effective prevention, no clear understanding of why genes mutate and allow cancer to develop, no strong measures to protect our environment from toxic pollution that correlates with cancer outbreaks, and not enough targeted treatments that kill cancer without wrecking the quality of life for the hundreds of thousands of women and men that are diagnosed every year. I'd rather hear Mrs. Obama boost more research and praise what progress we have made, than have another pitch for healthcare reform, especially at an event honoring survivors of breast cancer. What do you think? Should she have stayed on the topic of the day? Or should she keep touting insurance legislation? I know it's hard to tease these two things apart, but gee Mrs. Obama - pin on your pink ribbon and please stick to the basics. We still have a long way to go for the cure.

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