Prophylactic Mastectomy: Angelina, Sharon and Me
Posted: May 14, 2013 Filed under: Breast Cancer, Health & Fitness | Tags: amoena, angelina jolie, brca, Breast, breast cancer, breast implant, mamogram, propylactic mastectomy, sharon osbourne, tattoo 4 Comments »
Angelina as Lara Croft
I was engrossed in making a presentation on the Part of Fortune for class this morning and completely missed Angelina Jolie’s announcement that she had had a prophylactic mastectomy until it was brought to my attention by a friend who asked if she could use a quote from me in light of it!
Once I looked the article up, I was thrilled that she had gone ahead with the surgery since I had thought about it back when she’d lost her mother to Ovarian Cancer, a related cancer. What shocked me was reading so many negative comments from people who don’t understand the context of a decision like hers. Sharon Osbourne received the same negative feedback when she made the same decision last year and it just amazes me how cruel and shallow people can be. I guess they are just proof that some people never really make it out of middle-school.
Their situations point up some differences between 1993, when I had my surgery, and 2013. In 1993, the BRCA gene test was new and no one was quite sure what percentage of cases it would account for, so I didn’t even have the test. We mostly discussed family medical histories. I had a traditional mastectomy which removed all breast tissue, leaving large scars. Reconstruction at a later time was offered but I preferred to stick with external prostheses and to cover the scars with tattoos. Angelina chose a skin sparing, immediate reconstruction option which she says left her with only small scars. Her cancer risk is slightly higher than mine but I am sure her results are more aesthetic than mine were pre-ink. Sharon had implants removed and I don’t know if she’s replaced them or not.
I’ll discuss why prophylaxis IS a reasonable way of dealing with cancer in another post, K?
Here is a link to Jolie’s New York Times piece.
And a link to Sharon Osbourne.
Amoena makes external breast prostheses.
Happy MayDay!
Posted: May 1, 2013 Filed under: Calendar, News | Tags: Avery Coonley School, cornucopia, holidays, May Day, Maypole, Salvation Army, thanksgiving 2 Comments »
I was privileged to attend the Avery Coonley School for a number of years and one of our traditions was the May Pole dance. The fifth graders got to demonstrate the weaving of the maypole ribbons as part of the Spring Fair celebration in front of the reflecting pool. It was a fun, boisterous affair and the tipsy Maypole in the picture is exactly how I remember ours ending up. 
All things considered, I preferred the solemn Thanksgiving festival at the opposite end of the year, when we would march in procession through the auditorium (the archway in the pic) by class, with each class singing a different song or hymn, every student wearing matching brown cloaks and each carrying fruits or vegetables of some kind, that would be added to a Cornucopia display on the stage, and given to the Salvation Army afterward. It was simple and very moving.
Click here for the official Avery Coonley School site
And here for the Avery Coonley Wikipedia Article
April Showers…
Posted: April 30, 2013 Filed under: News | Tags: camellia, flowers, garden, lilac, rose 2 Comments »April Showers Bring May Flowers
The crocuses and tulips are gone and we are on to the next batch… Camellias, Lilacs and Wood Hyacinth.
The Roses, Irises and Heliotrope should be up in June!
Free Video Clips on Spring Rituals
Posted: April 1, 2013 Filed under: Calendar 2 Comments »Yes, I am a Teaching Company Junkie.
No, I am not an affiliate and I don’t get a kick-back or anything, but I received this today and decided that rather than just tell you about it I would share it here. I miss walking Freya and listening to lectures on Alexander the Great, Chaucer and Jung.
What topics do they have?
- You’ll see from the 12 offered below that they have a wide selection!
Are they really that good?
- Simply, yes. These teachers are the best as voted by their peers, students and Universities.
Who would listen to these?
- Anyone taking a college course would benefit from peripheral information (that is how I used them).
- If you ever thought you might want to teach, write or “speak” you should listen just to get these lecture’s “lecture patterns” into your head.
- Anyone deeply interested in a topic of a historical nature, Politics, History, Religion, would benefit more from taking real College-level courses than from reading websites or consumer-level books on the topic.
Are they expensive?
- Some are, but they have frequent sales, and if you don’t need the actual, physical “thing” on your bookshelf you can just download the audio and the course guide very reasonably.
- Your library probably has Teaching Company courses if you want to try a complete course without necessarily owning it.
The question people usually ask is… DVD or AUDIO?
- I find that for me, Audio is best because I listen in the truck or when I walk. Courses on DVD are great if you want to watch on your TV or computer, or with someone else.
- We have WWII and the History of Western Civilization on DVD and they are great, lots of maps, art, scenery.
- I have more than several but less than many on audio and listen to bits and pieces all the time, even on short drives.
Check out these video clips for a wee taste of their offerings, then be sure to <share> this post so your friends can watch them too!
 |
Dear Inga Thornell,These 12 video clips have been specially selected so you can enjoy gems from some of our most popular Astronomy, History, and Fine Arts courses.Watch and you will
Watch these video clips and get insights into Spring rituals. Feel free to forward this email to friends and family who might also enjoy them. As always, thank you for being our customer, and we hope you continue to enjoy The Great Courses. Your passion for learning is our reason for being! Sincerely, |
What a gorgeous Spring Weekend!
Posted: April 1, 2013 Filed under: News | Tags: Chicago, Crocus, easter, Easter Week, history, holidays, Passover, seattle 2 Comments »Seattle certainly demonstrated some spectacular weather for Easter and Passover celebrations this weekend. I always equate crocuses with Easter because they were usually just blooming by then in Chicago, but ours bloomed back in February here.
The Hyacinths and Tulips are putting on a show right now along with the Cherry blossoms that you can see all over town. What a beautiful time of year! In fact, while much of the country is still dealing with snow, we could have started camping weeks ago. I hope you enjoy these small samples from the garden:
Happy 3 year Blog- Versary to me!
Posted: March 28, 2013 Filed under: Blogs & Blogging, News | Tags: blog, Publishers, Templates, Tool, Wordpress, WordPress.com 1 Comment »
Isn’t it sweet of WordPress to remember our anniversary?
How well I remember the old days of composing in Word, then doing FTP- upload to FrontPage online, then trying to correct all the formatting errors that crept in and trying not to blow a proverbial gasket before Scott could get around to fixing whatever I couldn’t track down.
WordPress and I have had a few scuffles — the pixel spaces around pictures still don’t stay after they are saved, carriage returns don’t stay put and widgets that work in blogger don’t here but generally, every new version shows continual improvement and I am very happy. It has been a rewarding relationship that has enabled me to keep in touch with old friends, meet new ones and most importantly, allow me to focus on sharing my interests instead of worrying about publishing tools and methods. Thank you for a great three years, WordPress!
Welcome Spring!
Posted: March 20, 2013 Filed under: Astrology, Calendar | Tags: Calendar, chocolate, Christian Easter, easter, eggs, equinox, holiday, March Equinox, Northern Hemisphere, Ostara, Roman mythology, Spring, Spring Equinox, The Equinox tradition, Wheel of the Year, Ēostre 1 Comment »
The Equinox Tradition:
Spring is the dawn of the new zodiacal year in the Northern Hemisphere. Don’t you just love the word “equinox?” I have to decide each time whether to say it with a short or long “e”. The equinoxes are the two times during the year when the dark of night and the light of day are in balance or equal. Another name for the Vernal Equinox is Ostara, from the name of a German Goddess of fertility, Oestarae.
She is the deific equivalent of the Greco-Roman goddess, Aurora, the personification of the sunrise. Consider that the Sun rises in the East and her name is where East and Easter both come from. The Christian Easter date was decided by the Council of Nicaea to fall the first Sunday after the first full Moon occurring on or after the March Equinox. This effectively removed its observance from conflicts with either Ostara or Passover. Read the rest of this entry »
