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The Ten

Posted by Britta Wilk McKenna on June 2, 2019
Posted in: Blog Entries. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

10 Ways to Improve Your Health and to Minimize Your Risk for (Breast) Cancer

Throughout the past decade, I’ve tracked the latest research on behalf of DCIS MyStory and Breast Cancer MyStory. This post summarizes health risk factors into “The Ten.” These are personal choices – actions – to stay/get healthy and to minimize your risk for disease, especially breast cancer. Though there are other factors, like your family history you cannot change, there are ten lifestyle choices you CAN control. Invest in your future by reading this post, then making the changes you need to live your best life. The Ten is an inventory for living a healthy lifestyle, period – not just regarding breast cancer.  Skim it or read in detail and follow the links to be on your way to making more good choices in your life.

Note: Below is the summary if you just want to scan the list and do a personal inventory. If you want more information and research to back the recommendations, read the entire blog. Yes, grab a cup of coffee, scratch paper and pencil and keep score of where you need to get to work. You have only one life and your body is keeping score.

1.Make healthy food choices.

2.Obtain and maintain ideal body weight.

3.Exercise regularly.

4.Avoid all tobacco products.

5.Avoid alcohol.

6.See your physician regularly and follow recommended screenings.

7.Perform monthly self-exams.

8.Manage your stress levels.

9.Get 7-8 hours of sleep each night; avoid working nights.

10.Reduce environmental risks. (Pollution, lead, radon…)

Here are my reflections on The Ten with research and resource links as the base of my thoughts.

1.Make healthy food choices.  What we put in our mouth fuels our body each hour of each day. Good stuff in, healthy body out. Junk in, problems out. Processed food, meats, snack foods, sugar, soda, artificial sweeteners, fast food and convenient foods we’ve introduced into our diet the past few decades catering to our lives of convenience are to blame. Our growing desire for easy and fast food preparation becomes the culprits of chaos when it comes to our food sources being the “good fuel” to stoke the human fire. Check out this article that backs me up on the benefits of eating healthy: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322268.php and this one too: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322550.php

The best cancer fighting foods can be found here: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324193.php

2.Obtain and maintain ideal body weight. When we carry extra weight, we are just asking for problems.  Whether wearing out our joints prematurely, eating ourselves into diabetes or fueling cancer cells, your body weight matters.  Use a BMI or body mass index to guide you – your height and weight factor into a number (preferably in the range of 18.5-24.9) that is the indicator you’ve got the right weight on your type of body frame. Officially, body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adult men and women. Here’s the translation:

BMI Categories: 
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9 
Overweight = 25–29.9 
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

 If you want to calculate yours, here’s a link: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

Mine has consistently been in the 24’s since I became a mom three decades ago. Yes, I run on the high side of healthy and it is my goal to keep it under the magic 25 advised to be in good health. And I like to eat, so it is a constant struggle. Here’s an article from the Washington Post that links risk of dying from breast cancer with a lower-fat diet: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/05/15/lower-fat-diet-reduces-risk-dying-breast-cancer-study-says/?utm_term=.f92d4b3d7638

Another article from CNN Body fat levels linked to breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women: https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/06/health/breast-cancer-body-fat-study/index.html

My conclusion?  Work with your health care professionals to attain and maintain a BMI under 25.  Yes, you CAN do it and it all starts in the grocery store with your choices there and learning how to decode and order food when you eat or order out.

3.Exercise regularly. Since the first two on the list have to do with food and weight, here is a way to keep your weight down and your physical strength, muscle mass, bone density and fitness up. You don’t have to be an athlete, but you do need to develop a regular routine to follow that works for you, your body, abilities and lifestyle.  Always seek a doctor’s advice before starting any new program and join a class or get a workout buddy for motivation.  As I’ve been a life-long athlete, exercising is not a problem for me, but rather when I have physical limitations and can’t workout, then the pounds (and my bad attitude) surface. Recent research reveals exercise increases well-being by improving gut health https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324193.php and more research from the Current Sports Medicine Reports here: https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/FullText/2017/07000/Exercise_in_the_Prevention_and_Treatment_of_Breast.15.aspx.  The bottom line is get moving and stay moving.

4.Avoid all tobacco products. I think we all know this is not healthy and creates multiple problems from health to finances.  Don’t start and if you have, seek help to stop.  Too much research on this to pick just one, however take it from the Surgeon General and stay away from tobacco altogether. Research published in Breast Cancer Research from the Generations Study cohort concludes: “Smoking was associated with a modest but significantly increased risk of breast cancer, particularly among women who started smoking at adolescent or peri-menarcheal ages. The relative risk of breast cancer associated with smoking was greater for women with a family history of the disease.”  More from that research found here: https://breast-cancer-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13058-017-0908-4

5.Avoid alcohol.  Yes, you may talk yourself out of this one, but enough research has shown that alcohol not only packs on the pounds, but may also fuel disease. The solution?  Don’t start drinking or quit if you have.  I quit on 12-31-18 and haven’t looked back. Here is my blog about quitting alcohol if you need reasons why or some inspiration: https://breastcancermystory.org/resolute/.  Do you need research to back this up? Though the final verdict may still be out, we do know that alcohol causes inflammation and contains high levels of sugar, both which should be avoided or limited for good health. Here is more information from the research front: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324442.php I guess I just like to crunch my calories now more than drink them…

6.See your physician regularly and follow recommended screenings. This will vary depending on your gender and age. It starts with visiting your physician annually and following through on recommended tests and screenings.  If you don’t, you have nobody to blame but yourself.  Here is a background doc from the American Cancer Society that may be helpful: https://www.cancer.gov/types/breast/patient/breast-screening-pdq As new screening technologies come on the market, they will help us diagnose and treat diseases earlier and more effectively.

7.Perform monthly self-exams.  An extension of visiting your physician, it is up to you to monitor your body and report to your physician any changes you notice.  Don’t rely on the Internet docs to diagnose yourself. Visit the real MD’s who know you and your body. This seems logical, but it seems we are either embarrassed or afraid (or both) to share changes in our bodies that are uncomfortable (for us) to verbalize. Remember, your doctor has heard it all and can only help you if they know what’s going on with your body.  Here is information on breast self-exam and awareness from the Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/breast-exam/about/pac-20393237

8.Manage your stress levels.  This one is easier said than done.  Sometimes we think we are managing stress – work, illness, death of a loved one, financial pressures, but they just manifest themselves in other ways – binge eating, deprivation, isolation, self harm, depression, twitches, declining health. Your body takes its cues from our mind and if you are on overload and not dealing with “it” in a healthy way (think yoga, physical exercise, meditation, talking to a professional or a friend, etc.) it will manifest itself in ways harder to deal with down the road.  Think of stress as a dandelion in your lawn. It sprouts up and calls attention to itself as a nuisance. Once it appears you can either ignore it by mowing it down each week, spray it or dig it up.  But if you dig it up, you MUST get all the roots, or the weed will pop up again and again. The same goes with stress. Here is research about stress using mouse models that shows that stress hormones can help breast cancer grow, spread and diversify, making it harder to treat: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324720.php

and another about chronic stress: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324540.php.  Bottom line is make taking care of yourself a priority.

9.Get 7-8 hours of sleep each night; avoid working nights.  You can convince others you only need 6 hours of sleep, but your body needs time to relax and recharge daily.  Don’t shortchange yourself, your family, your coworkers or friends by picking up the slack by cutting down on your sleep.  Here’s more to convince you to head to bed earlier and rise earlier: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323571.php

as well as research on the link between breast cancer and working night shifts and higher rate of cancer: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320554.php.  It’s not just beauty rest folks.

10.Reduce environmental risks. (Pollution, lead, radon…) The environments we live, work, eat and play in can and do affect our body. Pay attention to your surroundings and minimize exposure to things like lead (think paint in an older home and water in older pipes), toxins from yard chemicals, air pollution, radon (especially important in older homes with basements) and even the non-organic food we purchase at the grocery store. It seems a pain to wash our melons and fruits, however the more our farmers have to battle Mother Nature, the more our food needs to be questioned and prepared properly. Here is a background document from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences: https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/materials/environmental_factors_and_breast_cancer_risk_508.pdf.

Post Script: Smile, laugh, enjoy life and do the best you can to control what you can. This blog was not meant to make you paranoid, but rather to share knowledge so you can be more aware. Remember, you are the author of your life and are writing your next chapter now. I am hopeful it is a very long novel and you have the needed information to make the best choices you can in the pages ahead.  

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On Becoming Unbusy

Posted by Britta Wilk McKenna on May 17, 2019
Posted in: Blog Entries, breast cancer mystory. Leave a comment

“Busy” seems to be an entirely acceptable answer today to the standard question, “How are you?”  But busy is only a state we put ourselves in. A frenzy. Busy is the whirlwind of places to go, things to do, people to please and its power over you makes you a slave to the busy god. As if busy was something to aspire to be or a status to achieve. Is busy somehow an indicator of success and not being busy failure?  Nope. As a past subscriber to Busy, Inc., I know it well. And now I’m here to share with you the value of becoming “unbusy.” As I write this blog on my beloved front porch, I revel in my unbusyness.  I know it won’t last forever, but for now, it is the time I need to recover and recharge for the next big thing. 

Last summer I made the decision to move on from a job that kept me very busy indeed. Add in volunteer work, family life, friends, home and health challenges and that word – THAT word, “busy” was a joke among my family members about me.  “Mom can’t do that because she is too busy.” Busy became an excuse and a source of contention. In becoming unbusy, I realized that busy should not be something to be achieved, but rather relieved. In part due to the timing of a career shift and also because family matters needed to be attended to, I made the conscious choice to leave busy behind and focus on new priorities. 

The timing of a former student reaching out to me around the holidays was not coincidental. In fact, that same person mailed me the book, “Essentialism” that put my feet upon the path of becoming unbusy and gaining focus.  It was my unbusy primer. Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism – The Disciplined Pursuit of Less  – shares that “success brings new problems – the undisciplined pursuit of more. The anecdote of that problem is the disciplined pursuit of less, but better.” So what gives? Sometimes all we need is a nudge. 

The book “Essentialism” was my nudge delivered at just the right time. I created space to think and to see the bigger picture of my life and how my talents could be shared in my next chapter. Essentialism also teaches the art of saying a slow yes and a quick no. Too often we say yes without really thinking through if what we are taking on distracts us from what we should be doing or is a step that moves us closer to our intended goal. Focus on the few things. Say no when other people say yes and follow the disciplined pursuit of the essential. The idea of saying “no” does take practice. It means whittling away commitments to the core few. It means looking more deeply into yourself to start imagining a future path that focuses on leveraging your strengths and values.

Remember, you are the author of your own life and in becoming unbusy, you take control of the most valuable asset you have – your time.

Becoming unbusy was, and still is challenging for someone who thrives on being busy.  But it is amazing how much of your day can be filled with meaning when your purpose is self-prescribed.  Life is full of unexpected potential when you can spontaneously say, “yes” to coffee or lunch with a friend. Or when you can make dinner for neighbors on a weekday, babysit your grandchild and run errands at 2 pm on a Tuesday. Yes, the busy life would have crammed all that into one jam-packed weekend in between mowing the law and doing laundry.

Becoming unbusy is truly transformational.  It allowed me to binge watch season 1 of Marie Kondo during the polar vortex and in turn to reorganize our entire house. Yes, our entire house and it took me some three months, concluding with a garage sale, trip to Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul and family artifacts distributed.  The feeling of lightening the load just adds to the gifts that becoming unbusy bestow. Some have asked me if I’m retired. No, I am not retired, just taking a life sabbatical, a gap year or a pause. This time of unbusyiness is a gift supported by my loving husband who has patiently helped me navigate the waters of work and family life for over three decades. Thank you Steve.

I wish for everyone the time you need to pause, to learn the art of the quick no and the slow yes and to welcome the opportunity to become unbusy.  Even if it’s an hour a day, a day a month or focused time away, revel in just being present with your thoughts. Put away your technology, shut off the TV and turn inwards instead. Spend time with no agenda, write down your dreams, start a journal and be guided by your ideas.  Becoming unbusy allows dreams that have been buried, latent for years or decades, to resurface and be revisited. You are worth the investment and will find your better self once you allow vulnerability and boredom to make an appearance.

Remember, you are the author of your own life and in becoming unbusy, you take control of the most valuable asset you have – your time.  As for me, it’s time to read and write more, for personal inquiry, for family and friends and to dream about what’s next.  I hope to see you on the road to unbusy soon and if you get there, ring me up for coffee or stop by for a chat on the front porch.  The invitation has been extended, how will you respond?

Resolute

Posted by Britta Wilk McKenna on December 28, 2018
Posted in: Blog Entries. Leave a comment

New Year’s resolutions have not been my favorite “thing.” It’s about as welcome as giving up something for Lent (which I prefer instead to add something meaningful to my life rather than give something up). But this year I’m using the New Year to be resolute – to stop talking about it and start living by example. I’m giving up alcohol. No, it’s not because of a drinking problem, but it is a choice based in research.  A decision that has been discerned over the past few years as research has moved from being presumptive to conclusive.

“Moderate alcohol consumption has been linked to an approximate 30-50% increased risk in breast cancer.”                                          

US National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health

Yes, the evidence is in black and white. Now it’s up to me to reduce my personal odds. No more alcohol. But in the process of making this decision, I was faced with personal insecurities like: What do I drink at networking events? What about open bar parties, weddings, celebrations and toasts where the expectation is that you consume to be socially appropriate? Helping to convince myself, I’ve built my case by focusing on the benefits, landing on five good reasons why I am giving up alcohol: 

  1. Reduce cancer risk:  Yes, the biggest reason I’m abolishing alcohol is staring me right in my face – alcohol is connected to a higher risk of getting cancer. And the other four reasons are a bonus.
  2. Save money:  Have you ever looked at your bar bill when eating out? It is likely to exceed your food bill. Making this real on a weekly basis, consuming $10 worth of alcohol a week (home/eating out) rings up to $520 (or likely more) per person annually. I’m already starting to think about what good can be done with that chunk of change.
  3. Save calories:  Alcoholic drinks are packed with calories. An average glass of wine (that would be 6 oz mind you not a full glass) carries about 140 calories. Many of our medical challenges today – cancer, diabetes, and more are linked to our diets and an overweight America. I have been known to enjoy a frozen margarita, so thought I’d share the breakdown of calories, sugar and carbs: 410 calories, 59 grams of carbohydrate, 52 grams of sugar, and 570 mg of sodium. Wow! I can eat a whole meal for that….and when you drink a lot, you tend to make poor food choices as well, and so you overeat.  Think about this as calories to allocate elsewhere in your diet.
  4. Lose weight: Fewer calories and more sober food choices means I’m more likely to maintain or lose weight instead of gain it. That’s good news for middle agers like me who struggle to keep the creep off every year.
  5. Live sober: No drinking means you are living (and driving) sober. Does it mean I won’t be “fun” anymore? Certainly not. I am, however, reducing the chance of unintended consequences – a damaged reputation or a digital imprint that can come back to haunt me personally and professionally. We all know somebody who has made that mistake.

So, now I’ve put it out there, both as a statement of my intention and also to challenge others to do the same for any or all of the reasons I’ve shared if that seems right for you. As temptation is part of being human, I’ll need your support not to slip along the way. With the New Year looming, I encourage you to be resolute in having your thoughts follow through to action. Whether it’s alcohol or something else, take a stand for yourself and your future.

Cheers to the New Year ahead and being resolute about things that matter.

P.S. I’m retaking the Personal Health Profile that I created in 2012 based on current research and compare my previous score as a non-drinker. It may be a good place for you to review your health habits for the New Year as well.

P.P.S. Do you have a tasty, low calorie, alcohol free drink suggestion for me to try? I don’t drink pop much or at all (Coke or soda depending on where you live), and do like fresh fruit, so if you have ideas and recipes, please share them. I’ll be making mocktails in the New Year until I find one I can call my new signature drink. Reviews will be posted via social media (Breast Cancer MyStory and DCIS MyStory Facebook and twitter).    

Fingerprints

Posted by Britta Wilk McKenna on November 3, 2018
Posted in: Blog Entries, breast cancer mystory. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

It was a year ago today that my father passed away. In reflecting on the first year without “dad,” I didn’t have to look much farther than my home to feel close to him. Surrounded by artifacts that were once his, I realize that things cannot replace true presence. My heavy heart longs for a hug or a father-daughter talk over a cup of coffee in his Georgia sunroom. It is this coffee mug (pictured) that has deep significance today. A mug that was made by my mother, gone now 35 years, and enjoyed daily by my dad for decades. Drinking coffee from it today I steep in the memories as the year mark tolls.

IMG_3280

The feeling of grief and emptiness is all too familiar – the first year is the hardest when you lose a loved one. You have to learn how to live through every day and every holiday without them – Father’s Day and his birthday were the toughest. The first and hardest year is over. As I feel the warmth of dad’s coffee cup, I’m reminded that my dad left his fingerprints everywhere – on his family, church, community, friends, volunteer work, Bosnian refugees, students, published papers and colleagues. Yes, his fingerprints are everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

After recently re-licensing my dad’s car this fall, the Georgia plates switched to Illinois, the car is now officially mine (fourth try is a charm…) A few weeks ago I decided it was time to deep clean my new set of wheels. This cleaning was not just a vacuum and wash, but an elbow grease, deep cleaning with Armor All effort from hood to trunk. Discovering a wayward grocery receipt wedged in a seat, I paused to read what was purchased at the Marietta Kroger. It was evidence of my dad’s favorite snack foods, which made me smile. Touching his empty sunglasses case and a handmade sewing kit in the glove compartment made me feel calm in a weird sort of way. I half expected dad to come out of the house and sit down next to me. Dad’s presence was palpable as I reorganized the trunk and checked out the first aid kit he always kept in each car for emergencies. He was always prepared.

Closing the trunk, I sat back in the front driver’s seat to do some detail. As the cleaner-soaked rag rubbed round the bumps of the steering wheel, I froze with an awful realization. I was rubbing off my dad’s fingerprints. Horrified, I teared up feeling like I was wiping away his presence. The finality of death hits you when you least expect it. Grief comes in waves that you cannot anticipate or control. The tears flowed uncontrollably. Staring into the rag, I wondered where fingerprints go and contemplated their power to tell stories as evidence that “I was here!” I finished cleaning the console, rugs, and dashboard then just sat in the stillness of the quiet, clean car. Sitting still was both therapy and a gift. My mind went to work reflecting on stories of fingerprints left behind. Two came to mind in a car ride that never left the garage.

Dad and LEO

Last summer our grandson, Leo visited the house and in his active and inquisitive nature pulled himself up on my dad’s antique bookshelf with glass panel fronts. Leo walked clumsily along the windows, using the bookcase to stabilize himself. Before I could snap a picture, (grandma takes a whole lot of pictures), he plopped down and crawled off. Even though I missed the photo of my grandson peering into the bookcase at his great grandpa’s antique artifacts, I discovered something that Leo left behind – his tiny fingerprints on the glass bookshelf. Juxtaposed in front of my dad’s treasures, the evidence that life goes on was tangible. Our fingerprints are both unique and quietly remark, “I was here.”

The other day on an outdoor walk, my route meandered through the Batavia Riverwalk, a linear park along the Fox River that my family and our community spent eight years lovingly building. As I paced along the brick walk, memories of donating sweat equity on Saturday workdays came flooding back. I could hear the stories, see groups of volunteers, and a feel a sense of community accomplishment. Although our physical fingerprints are long gone, the Riverwalk represents the culmination of our collective hands that still stands today for the community to enjoy. Tens of thousands of fingerprints joined together to built this wonderful gathering park. And my fingerprints were there too with echoes of “I was here.”

As I finish writing this blog, I catch a glance of a computer screen laden with fingerprints. Feeling the urge to clean them off, I am struck by the thought that there are so many more things that need our fingerprints on before they are wiped away for good. And so I ask, “What is it you need to leave your fingerprints on in this world?” More importantly, “What are you doing to make that happen?” Because fingerprints don’t last forever, unless they are the kind that leave an indelible impression, just like my dad’s left on me.

Size, Grade and Stage

Posted by Britta Wilk McKenna on September 2, 2018
Posted in: Blog Entries. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

laptop shot BCMS

Growing up I was a good student, but had to apply myself for A’s. Correction, gym was very easy for me, but math was not. I have yet to be in an interview where my potential employer asked me what my grade point was, so what was all the hard work for anyway?

But with cancer grades DO make a difference with treatment. Below is information to help you understand what size, grade and stage means.

The following information is from http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk

Cancer size and grade

Size

The size (diameter) of breast cancer is usually measured in centimetres.

Although – in general – the smaller the cancer the better, size doesn’t always give the whole picture about how fast the cancer is growing.

For example, a small cancer may grow very quickly or a larger cancer may have been growing slowly over a long time. Sometimes there may be more than one area of breast cancer. In this case, each area is measured.

Multi-centric means there is more than one area of breast cancer in different quarters of the breast.

Multi-focal means more than one area has been seen but only in one quarter of the breast.

Treatment options

You are more likely to have chemotherapy if your breast cancer is larger than 2cm (about three quarters of an inch), but this will also depend on the other results from the pathology report.

This is because larger cancers may have been there for longer before being found so may have had more chance to spread.

Grade

Cancer cells are graded according to how different they are to normal breast cells and how quickly they are growing.

In your pathology report this may be called differentiation.

There are three grades:

  • grade 1 (well differentiated) cancer cells look most like normal cells and are usually slow-growing
  • grade 2 (moderately differentiated) cancer cells look less like normal cells and are growing faster
  • grade 3 (poorly differentiated) cells look most changed and are usually fast-growing.

With ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) the three grades are usually called low, intermediate and high instead of 1, 2 or 3.

Treatment options

People with grade 3 invasive breast cancers are more likely to be offered chemotherapy to help destroy any cancer cells that may have spread as a result of the cancer being faster growing.

More information is from http://www.breastcancer.org

Grade is a “score” that tells you how different the cancer cells’ appearance and growth patterns are from those of normal, healthy breast cells. Your pathology report will rate the cancer on a scale from 1 to 3:

  • Grade 1 or low grade (sometimes also called well differentiated): Grade 1 cancer cells look a little bit different from normal cells, and they grow in slow, well-organized patterns. Not that many cells are dividing to make new cancer cells.
  • Grade 2 or intermediate/moderate grade (moderately differentiated): Grade 2 cancer cells do not look like normal cells and are growing and dividing a little faster than normal.
  • Grade 3 or high grade (poorly differentiated): Grade 3 cells look very different from normal cells. They grow quickly in disorganized, irregular patterns, with many dividing to make new cancer cells.

Having a low-grade cancer is an encouraging sign. But keep in mind that higher-grade cancers may be more vulnerable than low-grade cancers to treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which work by targeting fast-dividing cells.

Be careful not to confuse grade with stage, which is usually expressed as a number from 0 to 4 (often using Roman numerals I, II, III, IV). Stage is based on the size of the cancer and how far it has (or hasn’t) spread beyond its original location within the breast.

Stage is usually expressed as a number on a scale of 0 through IV — with stage 0 describing non-invasive cancers that remain within their original location and stage IV describing invasive cancers that have spread outside the breast to other parts of the body.

Understanding Breast Cancer Stages

Your pathology report will include information about the stage of the breast cancer — that is, whether it is limited to one area in the breast, or it has spread to healthy tissues inside the breast or to other parts of the body. Your doctor will begin to determine this during surgery to remove the cancer and look at one or more of the underarm lymph nodes, which is where breast cancer tends to travel first. He or she also may order additional blood tests or imaging tests if there is reason to believe the cancer might have spread beyond the breast.

Cancer stage is based on four characteristics:

You also may see or hear certain words used to describe the stage of the breast cancer:

  • Local: The cancer is confined within the breast.
  • Regional: The lymph nodes, primarily those in the armpit, are involved.
  • Distant: The cancer is found in other parts of the body as well.

Sometimes doctors use the term “locally advanced” or “regionally advanced” to refer to large tumors that involve the breast skin, underlying chest structures, changes to the breast’s shape, and lymph node enlargement that is visible or that your doctor can feel during an exam.

The stage of the breast cancer can help you and your doctor understand your prognosis (the most likely outcome of the disease) and make decisions about treatment, along with all of the other results in your pathology report. Cancer stage also gives everyone a common way to describe the breast cancer, so that the results of your treatment can be compared and understood relative to that of other people.

Your doctor may use another staging system known as TNM to describe the cancer. This system is based on the size of the tumor (T), lymph node involvement (N), and whether the cancer has spread, or metastasized, to other parts of the body (M). TNM is discussed later in this section.

Pausing

Posted by Britta Wilk McKenna on June 24, 2018
Posted in: Blog Entries. Leave a comment

So this year just happened…I became a grandmother…my dad passed away…I was a keynote speaker in Taiwan at a STEM education conference…my family cleaned out and sold my dad’s Marietta home…IN2 won a Chicago Innovation Award…I had a pacemaker implanted…my husband and I hiked the Inca Trail in Peru…and I resigned my leadership position at work.

These are some of the highlights from the past ten months of my life. It is only now, when I sit on the front porch to pause and write this blog, do I realize what a life shaping year it has been. Seven weeks ago I posted to the universe that I’m open to what’s next. Since then I’ve been listening, exploring possibilities and resting up.  What previously had been relegated to the sidelines is presenting itself. Coming out of the fog, I can more clearly see what’s been “tuned out,” neglected, forgotten or put in a pile to deal with later. This same pause has me inventorying personal strengths and calibrating opportunities.

Yes, I’m pausing.  And in that pause there is the realization that I am the author of my life’s choices.

Pausing just long enough to be hungry again. I’m a builder who loves to ideate, create, innovate, collaborate, construct, cut the ribbon, pause and move on to the next big thing. But I also need to remember to embrace the pause when it arrives. Because it is during the pause that my soul is awakened, listening to possibilities and hearing the voices I’ve blocked out because I’ve been “too busy” or “will get to it later.” Time to really look at my garden, to realize in the pause there is beauty in uncertainty and joy in possibilities. There are boards to paint, miles to walk, books to read, friends to catch up with and weeds to pull.  Not just the feisty kind in the garden, but the weeds of life – people who create unhealthy conditions for personal or professional growth or ones that steal the sunlight away. Yank!  They are gone once you realize you are the gardener of your possibilities. The pause helps me reflect, refuel and recharge.

Yes, I’m pausing.  And in that pause I am exploring what it means to be a middle-aged female servant leader with limited time on Earth.

When the sounds of your body clock start ticking louder you need to pause more. When your physical body continues to break down and needs to be tuned up, pause with purpose. It is each trial that forges the steel of conviction hotter and stronger. The trial that battles the frailty of the human body, growing ever more apparent with each passing year.  Yes, the pause fuels the fire.  The pause provides the rest needed for the next “buen camino” and energy to tend to the weeds and chart the course ahead.

Yes, I’m pausing.  And in that pause I am enjoying being a learner again, excited about taking on new roles.

I haven’t felt this urge to learn since I went back and got my master’s degree a decade ago. Being a student of life is both invigorating and humbling, as there is so much to learn and so little time.  The pause, my poignant professor, reminds me that as humans if we aren’t learning, we are not growing and if we are not growing, we are falling behind.

Yes, I’m pausing.  And in the midst of pause the realization that its OK to just pause is part of my learnings.

In the pause we find meaning and purpose. The pause is then a gift of time to block out the noise that envelops us constantly.  I haven’t watched television in a month and you know what?  I haven’t missed it. Instead, hours have been spent pouring over books and plucking weeds from my life’s garden.  I’m encouraging you to do the same. Pause, to see where the gap guides you to next. Just don’t pause too long; the world needs us to hit “play,” to engage, to be change makers and to live with purpose.

 

Mixed Blessings

Posted by Britta Wilk McKenna on December 25, 2017
Posted in: Blog Entries. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

Since my last post in July the time has been filled with mixed blessings. Incredible highs and unbearable lows. Let’s start with the biggest high first as just thinking about it brings a smile to my face. In August, I became a grandmother to a beautiful grandson, Leo. Witnessing your son and daughter-in-law’s transformation into parenthood and meeting your first family legacy is beyond words. Many friends have tried to share their joy with me when they crossed the threshold into grandparenthood, but until you enter this era on your own, you just don’t quite understand. A new level of love overflows into your life and creates new room in your heart. I remember having our first child, wondering if I had room in my heart for new love. Being a grandparent is yet another depth of love. I’m looking forward to this new role and relationship and relish my new title.

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This fall I was blessed with news of a work-related award – a Chicago Innovation “People’s Choice” Award for IN2, IMSA’s innovation center. More good news was the anticipation of an overseas speaking engagement at two STEM+ conferences in Taiwan in November.  I was floating in a sea of blessings until the raft got a leak.

While preparing to receive the award, I received news that my dad had a minor fall at home. A trip to the ER to get checked out, then overnight in the hospital for observation was just “to be safe.” Something in my gut told me to hop a plane to be with him. I thought I’d be checking him out of the hospital and spending a quiet weekend with him at home. Instead, I arrived the next morning only to find my dad had experienced a larger stroke in the hospital and couldn’t speak well or swallow. The hospital stay triggered a downward spiral that spun out of control with each passing hour and day. Ten days later it was dad’s choice to go home for hospice. Our family surrounded him for a full week of love and support. And dad finally got to meet my grandson, his great grandson, Leo in person which gave me unspeakable joy and I was able to hear my dad tell my son and his wife, “You have a beautiful family.”  Indeed dad, I am blessed.

Dad and LEO

Yes, dad was home.  I sat with him for hours on end pouring through photo books, Christmas letters and reliving favorite memories.  In his time, Dad passed on to his heavenly home on November 3, 2017 with family bedside. Death leaves the living with a hole in our hearts, sucks your energy and envelops you with a realization of mortality. It seemed dad, at 91, would be with us forever. I am forever thankful for the time we had.

It is only now, while preparing for his Memorial Service and sifting through photos and memories that I have started comprehending the blessings of having a loving father. This time also gives me pause to remember my incredible mother, Edwina, gone now some 34 years. And also the gift to dad and our family of being “lucky twice,” as my grandfather Frick put it, when dad met and married Ruta. Dad’s death has brought back much pain – the death of Ruta to the worst of diseases, ALS, the death of my father-in-law, Leo, of my sister-in-law, Nancy to lung cancer and of course my mom and both sets of grandparents. The heavenly choir is getting a new voice this Christmas, but my heart aches without him.

Even though death is part of life, it is such a hard pause. Death is the great realizer of what we have not anymore. I could wallow in what I have lost, but instead choose to celebrate what was and the many blessings dad bestowed on me and my family. So many gifts. So yes, I choose to live on and to find my smile once again. And to live with new purpose as the legacy of a great, wise man who made a difference in the lives of so many. I will remind my grandson to “be home when it’s dark in the trees” and that “nothing good ever happens after midnight” to preserve family wisdom. I steamed a figgy pudding and baked my mom’s shortbread, which brings back sweet memories with each bite. Loves lives on in these family recipes and traditions, which I intend to honor and preserve. Thank you to dad and to all my family who have been good and faithful servants. Your memories anchor me and remind me that we are put on earth to be Christ to one another, to help our neighbors and to give back.

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In this time of family togetherness and holiday celebrations, take time to count the blessings in your life while they are right there in front of you. And make it a point to be a blessing to others as well. Be the gift. You will never regret giving your time and resources to make a difference in other people’s lives. Blessings in the New Year ahead for all of us. #merrychristmas2017 #happynewyear