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By Mom Unplugged, July 27, 2007 6:59 pm

As some of you may already know, Whymommy of Toddler Planet (a woman in her 30′s, mother of two young boys) has recently been diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. This is not a type of cancer that is familiar to most of us.

Of course we all know we are supposed to do monthly self-exams and have a physical once a year and mammograms over age 40…yes, yes, yes. This type of breast cancer however, does not usually present with a lump. It is a different animal altogether, a vicious, rapidly-spreading beast that tends to strike younger women.

Knowledge is power, so here I republish one of Whymommy’s posts on the subject. Please feel free to copy her words for your own blog. Whymommy’s goal is to spread the word and educate women (and men who have a woman in their life) about this cancer we never hear about.

Here is what she says:

“We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

Thank you.

P.S. Feel free to steal this post too. I’d be happy for anyone in the blogosphere to take it and put it on their site, no questions asked. Dress it up, dress it down, let it run around the place barefoot. I don’t care. But I want the word to get out. I don’t want another young mom — or old man — or anyone in between — to have to stare at this thing on their chest and wonder, is it mastitis? Is it a rash? Am I overreacting? This cancer moves FAST, and early detection and treatment is critical for survival.”

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By Mom Unplugged, July 12, 2007 7:54 pm

I have been very silent for the past couple of days, but we were away in Albuquerque for our annual visit to the pediatric ophthalmologist. During the long drive home, I was pondering my next post. Since most of my readers probably have children, I thought that children’s eyes might be a good subject for a post. My experience with my oldest daughter has taught me a lot that I did not know before…and that you may not know either.

When my oldest daughter (now 6) was 1, we took her to a pediatric ophthalmologist to have a congenitally blocked tear-duct surgically opened. During our initial visit, the doctor did a thorough eye exam, including a vision test. Many people (including me before this event) do not realize that it is possible to test the vision of an infant.

During the exam he discovered that not only was my daughter far-sighted, but her two eyes had a huge difference in the level of vision. This latter issue, as I learned, is a real problem that if left untreated, can actually cause blindness in the eye with the worse vision.

During childhood, if there is a big difference in the quality of vision between the two eyes, the brain will use only the good eye and will ignore information from the bad, or “lazy” one. This is known as amblyopia, or lazy-eye. Many people do not realize that a child does not have to exhibit an actual misalignment of the eyes in order to have “lazy eye.” My daughter had absolutely no physically obvious manifestation of any vision problem.

Common treatment consists of patching the good eye to force the “lazy” eye to be used, or prescribing glasses for the same purpose. My daughter is being treated with glasses, which she has had since age 1.

Apparently, 2 to 3 out of every 100 children are affected by this condition. What is scary to me is that routine, very early vision testing is still fairly unusual.

The earlier treatment occurs, the better. My understanding has always been that treatment must occur before age 7 or 8, otherwise it is too late. However, a study by the National Eye Institute (NEI) found that children up to age 17 can still derive some degree of benefit from treatment, although dramatic improvement seems to be less likely as age increases.

Of course, although I have had many “careers” in my lifetime, I am not a doctor! I am simply trying to pass along what I learned from this experience with my daughter - get your children’s eyes tested at as early an age as possible, even if everything seems fine!

Having learned about this issue with my oldest, I have had my two subsequent children tested early. My son first went to the pediatric ophthalmologist at age 1 (and was retested at 3, and again today at 5 to rule out any possible vision changes), and my second daughter had her first visit today (at age 18 months). Fortunately, the two younger children, so far, seem to have absolutely uniform, normal vision.

The little ones hate being tested, especially the eye drop part, but the whole process is quick and painless. The chance of detecting and preventing a potentially severe and irreversible vision problem seems well worth suffering through a few moments of uncooperative behavior! I also recommend seeing a pediatric ophthalmologist if possible, since they are used to dealing with unwilling patients and are perhaps more familiar with the vision issues of childhood.

Resources and information:

NEI Amblyopia Resource Guide

30 second video animation of Amblyopia and treatment by patching

Find a Pediatric Ophthalmologist

The American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus

Prevent Blindness America

Taking Care of Your Child’s Sight

Thanks to the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health for the anatomical diagram of the eye.

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By Mom Unplugged, June 28, 2007 10:15 am

One of the wonders of the internet is how people who would otherwise be complete strangers can connect with one another. The reality of this slammed me in the face again earlier in the week when I learned that one of the bloggers that I really enjoy, whymommy, has been diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer.

I don’t know her personally, but I am shocked nonetheless. Although this intelligent, funny lady is a stranger to me, I am thinking of her often and wish to offer my support in any way I can. That is why I am writing this post.

I debated as to whether I should write this, since her cancer is her private business. However she is blogging daily about her feelings, and wants “positive comments and wishes of strength” to help her “stay focused and positive.”

That is why I write. If you feel so inclined, please stop by Toddler Planet and offer your words of encouragement and support. No sympathy or pity please.

She would also appreciate a prayer from those who pray, or healing light and energy from those of a more “new age” persuasion. Whatever your practices and beliefs, let’s get together and pass along our collective strength to whymommy.

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By Mom Unplugged, June 25, 2007 10:46 am

Another good reason to unplug your kids is to reduce the amount of marketing that they are exposed to. One more interesting story on NPR this morning (in addition to the children’s book recommendations that I posted about here) is entitled: Child Obesity Concerns Prompt Shift in Food Ads.

The story quoted some frightening statistics: 2 to 7 year-olds see an average of 12 food ads per day (approximately 4,400 ads per year) and 8 to 12 year-olds see an average of 21 food ads per day (approximately 7,600 per year). Of course most of these ads promote candy, junky snacks, fast food, soda, and sugary cereals. (Kaiser Family Foundation study: Food for Thought: Television Food Advertising to Children in the United States).

Much research has been done that establishes a link between childhood obesity and TV watching. The current thinking on this, is that it is not just the passive, sedentary nature of TV watching that contributes to obesity, but also the fact that the TV encourages children to want to consume the types of food that they see in the ads.

I am sure that this logic is debateable, however I would think that there would be very few parents who would object to a reduction in the marketing of unhealthy foods to their children, regardless of the reasoning behind that.

There is currently no legislation governing the marketing of food to children. The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a consumer advocacy group that is trying to convince food companies to stop marketing junk food to first graders. Apparently the FTC is also pressuring the major food manufacturers to limit their marketing of unhealthy food to kids.

Last fall, eleven food companies (including Kraft, Kellogg’s, Coke, and General Mills) agreed to voluntarily limit the marketing money they spend on unhealthy ads and use more of that money to promote healthier foods. I do not know if there is any proposed timetable for the change, and having no TV I can’t say if there is a noticeable change in the types of food ads kids see (cynical me suspects not).

The food companies are worried that if they don’t set some voluntary guidelines for themselves, there will certainly be legislative, or even court action. Such non-voluntary restrictions might be stricter than limits the companies could set voluntarily now.

Stay tuned. I imagine that we shall be hearing more about this in the coming months. In the meantime, consider ad-avoidance another HUGE benefit of unplugging your kids!

To hear this interesting story in full, click here.

Photo courtesy of morguefile.com and photographer ppdigital.