October 2009 – Page 2 – Agenda Magazine Archives

Breast Cancer Risk Factors – Knowing Can Make All the Difference

The American Cancer Society’s most recent estimates for breast cancer in the United States for 2009 tell us that 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 40,170 deaths from breast cancer occur each year. In this issue we focus on breast cancer awareness in our attempt to keep you healthy and living a long, wonderfully productive and fulfilling life.

“The chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer sometime during her life is a little less than1 in 8. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 35. Breast cancer death rates have been going down. This is probably the result of finding the cancer earlier and better treatment. Right now there are more than 2½ million breast cancer survivors in the United States.” -American Cancer Society

Breast cancer is simply an uncontrolled growth of confused cells forming in the breast area that was caused by any of so many factors we will discuss. These irregular cells first begin killing surrounding normal healthy cells and tissue, causing a lump or mass to form which we know as cancer. Although we still lack the medical technology to prevent breast cancer completely, we can definitely reduce risk dramatically. Awareness is key to preventing this horrid battle from ever beginning, as early detection can mean the difference between life or death, ladies. I don’t mean to be so grave, but your life is very precious and I choose not to take this subject lightly in the hopes of keeping you smiling for many healthy cancer-free years. Prevention begins with knowing your family history, routine self breast examinations, yearly routine mammograms for women 40 and over, and an annual breast examination by a medical professional.

All women are at risk of breast cancer and those with a family history of this burden are at even higher risk, so please be cautious and responsible with your health. Nearly 10% of breast cancer cases are actually hereditary, commonly resulting from the mutation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. These funny named genes actually help to prevent cancer by making the proteins that keep your cells from growing abnormally, a checks and balances, if you will. Cancer at its most basic level is simply a glitch in your system that has caused imbalance that is growing wildly out of control, destroying good elements and causing progressively more aggressive glitches. You want to catch this “glitch” early, or better yet, create the optimal environment in your body so that this glitch never comes to pass.

A woman should perform a monthly breast self examination (BSE) to catch this glitch fast and stop it in its treacherous tracks. Optimum time for self examination is a week past the end of a menstrual cycle or on the same day each month for women that might have irregular cycles. The BSE is a quick and simple process, and it is definitely worth your life, so no complaining or procrastinating. The following link is directions according to the American Cancer Association:

http://www.cancer.org

You can also always ask your gynecologist or family physician for all the information you will need.

The main idea is to feel for any irregular lumps that would need immediate attention. Be aware that not all lumps are cancerous, as some are merely natural irregularities; but don’t take any chances and get a professional opinion. Your regular physician will also inform your other more powerful examination, a yearly mammogram that needs to be routine for women 40 and on. A mammogram is simply a quick x-ray of the breast in order to rule out all doubt. Women between the ages of 20-39 should take at least one exam every three years. It is recommended that women 40 and older have the exam once a year. Nearly 77% of women with breast cancer are diagnosed at the age of 50 and beyond. Regular exams are critical as the years pass since development of breast cancer only increases with age.

Reducing risks of breast cancer is simple and brisk. Maintain a history of your family, perform routine self breast examinations, get yearly mammograms, and best of all keep your body happy and healthy in the first place to minimize any possibility of this horrible cellular glitch.

Common Lifestyle Risk Factors (Factors You Can Control and Change):

· Lack of physical activity

· Being overweight or obese

· Alcohol

· Not breast-feeding

· Post-menopausal hormone therapy

· Recent oral contraceptive use

· Not having children, or having them later in life

Common Unavoidable Risk Factors (Factors You Can Not Control or Change):

· Genetic risk factors

· Aging

· Gender

· Family history of breast cancer

· Personal history of breast cancer

· Race and ethnicity

· Dense breast tissue

· Certain benign breast conditions

Non-proliferative lesions

“These conditions show excessive growth of cells in the ducts or lobules of the breast tissue. They seem to raise a woman’s risk of breast cancer slightly (1½ to 2 times normal).” – American Cancer Society

Proliferative lesions without atypia

“In these conditions, there is excessive growth of cells in the ducts or lobules of the breast tissue, and the cells no longer appear normal. They have a stronger effect on breast cancer risk, raising it 4 to 5 times higher than normal” – American Cancer Society

Common Risk Factor Myths (Rumors):

The following is a list of controversial, uncertain or unproven rumors for increasing breast cancer risk but have been investigated and found insignificant or dismissible according to the American Cancer Society:

· Working at night

· Breast implants

· Induced abortion

· Bras

· Antiperspirants

· High fat diets (Good unsaturated fats)

Ladies, please be safe and take care of those precious lives of yours. Every day is a gift that we should not take for granted. Respect that wonderful body that takes you down this wonderful journey called life, and it will reward you with a long, fulfilling life to be proud of. For more in-depth information on the various forms of breast cancer, their risk factors, and more information on prevention, make your way to www.cancer.org. Smile, ladies and gentlemen readers of Agenda. The world is better that way.

Resources: www.cancer.org

Written by Anthony Heredia

A Letter from the Editor – What Happens When the Cancer Comes Back?

2009 has been a bittersweet year for a lot of people. Not only did our economy take a dive, but also some very famous people left this world. As life goes on, we continue to fight and win and lose our battles. It’s pretty well known that October has been deemed Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And I am happy to celebrate those women who have fought the battle and won. Statistically, if detected early, breast cancer has a very high cure rate. And those women who’ve fought the fight and won are told if they are cancer-free for five years, their chances of recurrence are slim. So, as if on borrowed time, they wait. They get their mammograms, check for lumps frequently. They worry when they feel tired or listless. The threat of breast cancer returning is always looming over their heads. But what about those women who’ve successfully passed the 5-year mark? They should feel safe, right? Not always.

In October 2006, Agenda Magazine did a special on breast cancer awareness. We profiled survivors, interviewed local do-gooders who helped women with their illness, and interviewed two charities: Divas with a Cure and Bowling for Boobies. I am sad to announce that Edith Speed, the founder of Bowling for Boobies passed away last summer. She had exceeded her 5-year mark, but the cancer came back, and this time it won. It was a shock. It was sudden, and it left me with all sorts of questions.

Edith was my neighbor, our kids played together, and we frequently socialized, either with our spouses or just us girls. I had just chatted with her on facebook, and a few days later I received an email announcing her memorial. How could she have gotten cancer again? She fought so hard to save her life. Edith had a double mastectomy, making sure the disease was wiped clean out of her body with no chance of returning. Yet it did return.

I quickly learned that breast cancer survivors are faced with the possibility of the cancer coming back, as well as an increased risk of developing a new breast cancer. So what happens when the cancer comes back, and how can you prevent it? The following tips may help you keep breast cancer from returning.

1. In clinical studies, tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors have been shown to lower the risk of breast cancer recurrence and lower the risk of new breast cancers for certain women.

2. A diet low in fat not only decreases the risk of obesity, it can reduce your risk of breast cancer. We know that estrogen plays a major role in the development of breast cancer. Fat tissue contains small amounts of estrogen and may increase your risk. There have been conflicting studies about fat intake and breast cancer risk; however, all studies have concluded that obesity plays a big part in breast cancer development.

3. Checking your breasts every month may not reduce your risk of developing breast cancer, but it may help detect breast cancer early. The earlier breast cancer is found, the less aggressive the treatment.

4. Studies suggest that smoking at an early age can increase a woman’s risk. Not only can it be a risk for breast cancer, smoking is a definite risk factor for lung cancer.

5. Limit your alcohol intake—each drink you have on a daily basis increases your risk by 7%.

6. Exercise 3-4 times a week.

7. Include different colored fruit and vegetables to ensure you take in a full range of anti-cancer nutrients. Aim for at least 5 portions per day.

8. Include low fat dairy products such as yoghurt, low fat milk, and cottage cheese, which are rich in calcium and often vitamin D, which helps protect us from cancer.

9. Go easy on well-done, barbecued meats. These can contain some cancer-causing substances.

10. Make sure your diet contains fruits and vegetables and high fiber.

Doing these things listed above, will not guarantee a non-recurrence of breast cancer, but you will reduce the risk. For women who have survived breast cancer and have reached their 5-year anniversary, continue to have regular mammograms and do self-breast exams frequently.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I’d like dedicate this October 2009 Issue of Agenda Magazine to Edith Speed, a fighter and philanthropist who helped women with breast cancer through her Bowling for Boobies charity. May the survival rate increase and the risk of recurrence decrease.

To learn more about Bowling for Boobies, visit the website atwww.bowlingforboobies.com.

Read Anthony Heredia’s article “Breast Cancer Risk Factors.”

Kaylene Peoples, Editor in Chief

Work-at-Home Scams – The 3 Best Scams

More than a million people are victims of work-at-home scams each year. Some, I’m sorry to say, had it coming. They went in with their hearts instead of their heads. Others, however, couldn’t have dodged the bullet even if they tried. The work-at-home scam was just too sophisticated for the average searcher.

These days con artists don’t just create work-at-home scams, they create systems that will damage the lives of their victims long after they have pulled out of the scam. Below are some ways con artists take advantage of you.

1. The “send in your resume” scam. This is a difficult scam to detect because it appears to be legitimate. After all, the company is asking for prospects to email them a resume and cover letter. This is something all legit companies do. However, it’s your email address they want.

Once you email them with your resume or to ask for more information, they will attach a malware to their email. This allows the con artist to gain free access to the job seeker’s computer, including passwords and personal email.

Because many people who work online have PayPal accounts, hackers can gain access into these accounts and drain them. They also gain access to the victim’s address book, thus sending the scam to their friends and family or in severe cases, death threats.

Another clever tactic used in this “send in your resume” scam is to ask for a lot of personal information, such as full name, address, sex, telephone-cell-fax, bank account number, copy of Driver’s License or Passport, and occasionally, a Social Security Number.

Once the con artist has obtained this information, it is sold to an identity theft ring.

2. The “I love you scam.” This scam doesn’t start out as a work-at-home scam but is designed as such. It starts with someone, usually in a singles chat room, approaching you to chat. These con artists form bonds with their victims and deceive them into thinking that they love them.

They then pitch a home business idea, or those that are already in business tell them they need their help. Because the victim feels as though they are in love, they can’t or don’t say no.

The con artist then requests money for the business, or the victim is made into third party receiver of funds or packages. The packages are always stolen or were bought with fake credit cards. Because the victim “loves” the con artist, they continue to send money or packages without questioning why they’re not seeing a dime.

In the case of receiving funds, their bank accounts are drained. Victims are always left heavily in debt, and because you are handling stolen goods, this scam can get you prosecuted.

New age work-at-home scams are far more sophisticated than purchasing a box of junk. They leave the victim heavily in debt; destroy their credit rating, as well as your reputation. Fortunately, there are more resources today for victims of work-at-home scams. For example, http://www.fraud.org is an excellent resource for someone dealing with a work-at-home scam.

Written by Jeff Casmer

How Love Happens: The Biology of Bonding

Love, or the lack of it, changes the young brain forever.” Thomas Lewis, M.D.

“There is more hunger for love than for bread.” Mother Theresa

BIOLOGY: The scientific study of living organisms in all its forms and developmental processes

BONDING: A relationship of ongoing mutual attachment between parent and child that begins at birth and establishes the basis for all other relationships

You may question how the way your parents loved you as a child could dictate your love life today. After all, most of us have a hard time remembering what we did last month, including the name of that guy we found on http://Match.com, then met for coffee . . . once. But, your first step in making sense of the nonsense of 21st Century dating is to understand that your earliest family relationships programmed your brain for grown-up intimacy.

Admittedly, Mother Nature did begin with rather primitive requirements for family bonding. To be blunt, before dinosaurs came along, there was precious little of it going on. Take for example, reptiles, whose offspring arrive by egg, and pre- or post-hatching, Mommy Dearest either eats them or leaves them to their fate by simply slithering into the sunset. Not much bonding there. Not much of a brain, either. The reptilian brain neither thinks nor feels. (I know what you’re thinking . . . some men could qualify in this category. But, on with our story.)

Over the next few hundred million years, as brains expanded, so did the quality of bonding between mates and offspring. The earliest mammals evolved with a limbic brain, (our “flight or fight” center), which gave them the ability to feel emotion. Granted, this early brain had a rather short emotional list, namely FEAR for its survival. But, delving more deeply into the limbic brain’s significance, today’s medical students classify its functions as the Famous Four Fs: Feeding, Fighting, Fleeing, and sexually reproducing!

Ah, but leave it to clever Mother Nature to know there had to be something even more wonderful than the FOUR Fs. With another few hundred million years, the amazing limbic brain was overlaid with the even more amazing neocortex (the thinking brain), and nature was on its way to L*O*V*E*. From that point on, mating and maternal instincts began a quantum leap, developing ever more elaborate courting rituals, longer pregnancies, and laser-focused protection of offspring. Eventually, the human brain would be gifted with our unique abilities to shower our beloved mate and children with the language of love, such as music, poetry, love letters, lullabies, and whispered sweet nothings in the night. But, again, back to our story.

Mammals, especially the higher-evolved primates, bond in mutually nurturing social groups, with plenty of touching, rubbing, nibbling, prancing, preening, and shameless cavorting. These behaviors naturally lead to bonding, which often results in babies, who attach like glue to their mothers to be nursed, protected, and nurtured until capable of fending for themselves.

So, the critical key to survival of higher-ordered species is to meet the infant’s biological desperation for parental protection. In humans, such consistent early bonding fulfills our life’s first and most crucial task . . . to learn it is safe to TRUST. How our infant brain learns this lesson builds the platform for all intimate relationships to follow.

Mother Nature planned long ago that little ones are to be protected by the big ones, so she did not equip our baby brain with the ability to cope with stress. Rather, as an infant, your sense of safety and survival depended on feeling peaceful, aka: knowing your protectors were close enough to protect you. In your first thousand days, you were more vulnerable, physically and emotionally, than at any other time of life.

You had no way to express yourself, other than with emotions. Without language, your neocortex (the thinking brain) could not rationalize why Mommy didn’t come when you cried. You could not predict that in five minutes she’d be picking you up and wiping your tears away. You felt life in the moment, without any means to understand what was happening to you, or why. And, with every experience, your feelings programmed your limbic brain with your first impressions of life on this planet.

It all came down to chemistry, that word we toss around as we decide if love is really love. Ironically, once upon our baby days, chemistry was literally all that mattered. Chemistry set the course in our brains that set the course of our lives. Here’s why:

When a mother holds her infant, both brains synchronize in a shared overdose of oxytocin and serotonin, the hormones of love and peace. This brain state of “baby bliss” is nature’s brilliant idea for bonding their relationship for life. In this brief window of time, these bonding hormones cause the mother to fall so deeply in love with her child that her brain becomes hard-wired to protect him for the rest of her life, just like the lioness with her cub. For the infant, mother love is his first love. Her consistent nurturing imprints his brain with his first impression of this strange new world. Feeling safe in her arms sews the seeds for trust, the foundation of adult intimacy, as she bathes his brain in bliss.

As a woman, you experience these very same hormones. When you believe you’ve found your prince, it is oxytocin that takes your emotions to euphoria with just the thought of him. When he loves you in return, serotonin joins the mix, and your shared sense that it’s safe to trust the other cradles your emotional intimacy. Needless to say, blending serotonin and oxytocin makes quite a love cocktail! Maybe even better than a Cosmo!

But, if this love fest is interrupted, nature’s perfect plan takes a detour. When the mother is physically and/or emotionally inconsistent, the baby’s limbic brain too soon senses a disabling threat to its own survival, replacing the bonding hormones with cortisol, the stress hormone. Perhaps you can relate such panic to the times you feared the man you deeply love is slipping away from your life. Your limbic brain pounds you with cortisol-inducing survival questions, like “How can I live without him?” Somehow, you muddle through the grief process and find a way to start over. But, for a baby, when bonding collapses, the limbic brain answers this most legitimate question with deathly terror.

An early life of connect/disconnect, attach/detach, bond/separate care giving interrupts normal emotional development. As the child grows, the unpredictability of his earliest, most vulnerable relationship now creates his unconscious war of psychic survival between fear of abandonment versus fear of not belonging, fear of love versus fear of losing love. In this double-bind dilemma, fear of intimacy overrides the natural longing to bond. As an adult, this wounded soul has no significant experience, or limbic programming, as to what love even looks or feels like. Any attempt at intimacy is doomed, creating suffering in both lover and beloved.

When one’s childhood was fear-based, it’s not hard to imagine feeling terror at the mere thought of intimacy’s demand of vulnerability. Imagine this monologue deep in the recesses of the brain: “I’m so lonely, but if I decide to love someone, they will abandon me. But, I’m deathly afraid of being alone. Without someone, I won’t survive. But if I decide to care for someone, they will abandon me. So, I will sabotage them before they sabotage me. But, I’m afraid, deathly afraid, of being alone.”

Such push-pull craziness often creates dynamics of rigid “black and white” thinking, addictions, controlling power struggles, rage, introversion, pessimism, narcissism, suspiciousness, lying, and impulsivity—every bit of it dictated by fear.

How tragic that the most intricate, complex, miraculous, transcendent creation, the human brain, has evolved over millions, perhaps billions, of years, yet can be so easily tripped up by emotional neglect suffered, primarily, in the first thousand days of its life. Tripped up, but not destroyed.

A wise man once noted, “Knowledge is power.” Perhaps, as you read this article, the suffering of friends, family, lovers, maybe even your own suffering, finds the answer as to why such a life has struggled so much. But, is that life’s longing for love doomed to fail forever because of the failure of others?

Amazingly, the answer is “no.” Modern brain research has proven that positive, self-nurturing choices change our brain, rewiring neural pathways, and transforming limbic patterns of cortisol panic to peace. When one courageously chooses such deep reprogramming, the childhood wounds that have sabotaged any hope of trusting another human being, the core of intimate relationships, can begin to heal.

The power to confront our most wrenching pain, to trust ourselves first, to know who we truly are and what we truly deserve, to choose to nurture our health, our hearts, our thoughts, and our dreams releases within the human brain a flood of hormonal bliss to one hundred billion thirsty brain cells, generating the life force that is greater than nature’s potency to push a fragile flower through asphalt! It’s called love and this is how it happens.

The following resources have profoundly supported millions of men and women in healing the emotional wounds of childhood. I highly recommend them.

RECOMMENDED READS:

* HOMECOMING: Reclaiming and Healing Your Inner Child , by John Bradshaw
* FAMILY SECRETS: The Path from Shame to Healing , by John Bradshaw
* A GENERAL THEORY OF LOVE , by Drs. Lewis, Amini, and Lannon
* TOXIC PARENTS: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life , by Susan Forward
* BECOMING ATTACHED: First Relationships and How They Shape Our Capacity to Love , by Robert Karen, Ph.D
* TOUCHING: The Human Significance of Skin , by Ashley Montague
* MAGICAL PARENT, MAGICAL CHILD, The Optimum Learning Relationship , by Michael Mendizza

RECOMMENDED DVD’S:

* March of the Penguins
* The Weeping Camel

Written by Morgan Delaney

The Lost Symbol – Dan Brown

Dan Brown

For generations, Peter Solomon, a 33 degree Mason, and his male ancestors—all of whom were Masons of the highest degree—have been entrusted with a secret that could literally change the world. Some years ago when this secret was threatened, he gave his friend and mentee Robert Langdon, the famous Harvard symbologist of past Dan Brown novels, a package for safekeeping. Now, Langdon has been tricked into bringing this package into the open.

In Dan Brown’s latest thriller, The Lost Symbol, a consummate villain, known only as Mal’akh, has gone to great lengths throughout these years, in preparation for this moment in which he will seek revenge for what he deems to be past ills. Upon becoming a 33 degree Mason, he was expecting to be told the secret alluded to in the inscription: “All will be revealed at the 33rd degree.” When no secret is forthcoming, he embarks upon his deadly plan of revenge. Buried somewhere in Washington, D. C., symbols exist that are supposed to lead to the decoding of this secret.

Great writing! I loved it. I didn’t think Dan Brown could top The Da Vinci Code, but he has done just that with his newest novel, The Lost Symbol. Unfortunately, it seems that as with The Da Vinci Code, some people are missing the point. This is fiction layered onto fact! And what a wonderful job Dan Brown has done. The architecture of Washington, D. C., the art work, the basic premises of the Masons . . . have all been so well researched that everything he has created here is plausible, even though it’s fiction. Readers need to remember this. As he did with The Da Vinci Code, he tells us at the beginning what is fact, expecting us to know that out of fact he has created fiction. I suspect that many people did as I did while reading. So caught up with our capital and all of the twists and turns, I found myself many times going to Google to check the facts, which I always found to be there as described.

From the first page to the last I loved it. Even after the great chase, I was still in thrall, right down to the last word. I am already anticipating Brown’s next novel.

Reviewed by Lee L. Peoples

Location and the Human Spirit

” It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated . . . it is finished when it surrenders.” Ben Stein, Actor, Lawyer and Writer

I’ve recently moved to the desert, Palm Springs, that is. Before I moved but after I found a place, I was looking forward to taking massage therapy classes in September and maybe meeting a few friends along the way. Sadly, things didn’t work out as planned. The funding for the school fell through and I found myself scrambling to make my own ends meet.

This has been a tough summer. Aside from having a wonderful time while my daughter has been out here visiting me, I’ve been a little lonely, sometimes a little depressed. Money was scarce, and I was new in a new place. Isolated from family and friends, I had to go within to find a sense of balance.

It gets hot out here. I mean hot! Walking outside in August is like walking past the open door of a very hot oven. So being inside in the nice cool air conditioning, whether at home, the library, or the movies, is the best place to be. Because it was so hot, I was afraid to go out by myself, and the dilemma was that I hadn’t made friends yet. But that would change.

I never thought Palm Springs would be so good to me, but after being here about thirty days, I started meeting people, making friends, and doing work I love. My intention was to make the best of this place, but it has come to make the best of me.

I love my little condo. In spite of the heat, it remains at least 15 to 20 degrees cooler than the temperature outside. Living in my last home was like being in a cave. The sun never came through, no matter how many windows and doors I opened. Here I look out my balcony and see a lot of sunshine.

It is windy here. As the wind encourages the palms to sway, its sound soothes me. I find that opening the doors in the morning enhances my meditation. I have begun to find my balance out here.

I have found people to be friendly and welcoming. This has not always been true for me, as I’ve spent many a day alone in other places I’ve lived. I’m tempted to believe it’s because of where I live. But recently I considered that maybe I’m ready for a change, and the change has come.

To embrace change is a challenge. I find routine very soothing. I know what to expect and so there are no surprises. Why I decided to walk out from the cliff, I’ll never know.

In the tarot the fool steps out from the cliff to fall perhaps to the rocks below. Will he be crushed, or will he somehow be saved from a certain death? I’ve been so lonely at times that I couldn’t stand it. And then I’d take a walk or listen to the wind. Somehow I made it through one moment and into the next. And I’ve begun to embrace being alone and all its benefits. I’ve begun to enjoy my own company. I never thought I’d be enough for me. The fool learns to take it one step at a time, and who knows, maybe there will be a branch to break his fall.

I’ve had owls perch on my balcony and humming birds fly so close to me I could catch them. I’ve even seen the full moon in all its grandeur from my window, and recently I’ve discovered hiking in the desert . . . with friends of course. I’m still not going to go there alone. Making friends has been the most joy of all.

I’ve begun to laugh and my heart has begun to expand. By experiencing my joy within somehow others have come along to share that joy with me. Funny how you realize the sun was shining the whole time you were sitting in the dark. You just couldn’t see that it shone from within. I’ve begun to feel it from deep inside me. I hope you can take a moment and discover this within yourself. I’m sure I’ve discovered some new thing. What a novel idea that joy can come from within! Isn’t that what we’ve always been told? Yes. And now I believe it!

I’m happy that I did not surrender to the loneliness. Otherwise I wouldn’t experience the expansive moon on the moonlight hike I’m going on with a few friends tonight. Maybe you can join me sometime!

Written by Lisa Trimarchi

Healing with Fashion

How does fashion relate to Breast Cancer Awareness Month? As I was trying to conjure thoughts for this column, I was so stumped. I felt that talking about fashion was trivial compared to a cause that is so big. Breast cancer has devastated so many lives. But then I sat back, took my fingers off the keyboard, rested my chin in my hands, and took a sip of coffee.

Then it came to me!

Because fashion inspires others to start over and reinvent their look, this couldn’t be more relevant to breast cancer survivors. For these women, rebuilding their lives entails being healthy, happy, and stylish.

Shopping (especially shopping sales and clearance racks!) is a popular outlet among those who are weighed down or lifted up with emotions; and I can imagine that breast cancer survivors may feel both highs and lows as treatment concludes. Whether you were the one diagnosed with breast cancer or are a loved one who experienced its suffering with someone throughout her treatment, it may be time to take a deep breath, put on some cute flats, and head on down to the local mall. It may be time to treat yourself to a new wardrobe or update your already-fabulous style.

As for where to find affordable pieces to invest in, think such stores as Target, JCPenney, and Old Navy. For personalized care and customer service, Nordstrom offers you excellence. But before you get going with spending your hard-earned dollars, make a shopping list of your essentials. If you or your loved one underwent a mastectomy or a double mastectomy, specific types of undergarments may be the first items to purchase.

However you approach shopping, remember not to overspend! That is my number one tip. Feeling reinvigorated with new fashion is an understatement, but you never want to go home broke. After all, don’t you want some money left over for your next trip? Treat yourself well, and be kind to your bank account in the process. Healing with fashion doesn’t have to leave your wallet empty.

Tragedy is prevalent in so many lives, and recovery is a blessing. This column is dedicated to those who lost their lives to breast cancer, those who are beginning treatment, and those who have survived.

Written by Elana Pruitt

Dr. Andrew Ordon of the Daytime TV Show, “The Doctors” – Improving the Quality of Life Both on and off the Show

“You better understand proportions and lines and contours. We are artists and the human body is our canvas.”—Dr. Andrew Ordon

Dr. Andrew Ordon is the co-host of the popular television show, “The Doctors”. He was handpicked by Dr. Phil McGraw, and works alongside his prestigious colleagues of varying fields, Dr. Travis Stork, Dr. Jim Sears, and Dr. Lisa Masterson. He affects the lives of so many people on a daily basis with their extensive medical knowledge. It’s no question that he was the obvious choice for the Emmy-nominated show now in its second season.

Dr. Ordon is the author of Revealing the New You, A guide to Plastic Surgery, and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Plastic Surgery. He contributed to one of the best known textbooks in the field of plastic surgery, entitled Facial Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. He also has an extensive list of papers, presentations, and honors to his credit. He has been a featured guest on major television shows, including 20/20, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Hollywood, BBC, 48 Hours, Phil Donahue, NBC News, ABC News, and Sally Jesse Raphael, to name a few. He has been quoted in articles in many of the top beauty magazines such as Allure, Mademoiselle, Redbook, Glamour, and Prevention.

How did you get involved with the show?

This is a spinoff of the DR Phil Show. DR Phil did it on the psychological side, and we did it on the medical side. We have to give credit to his son Jay McGraw, who really came up with the concept; and he is the executive producer. So it’s basically a talk show format for doctors, different specialties, talking about medicine and health topics.

Let’s talk about your specialty.

I’m a plastic surgeon. I guess I brought the right thing to the table. I was in the right place at the right time and they picked me to be the plastic surgeon on the show, and what is a plastic surgeon? I think a lot of people out there have a misconception that we’re just beauty doctors doing facelifts and noses all day long. We’re reconstructive surgeons. We’re trained in doing far more complex operations, cleft lips and pallets, burns, hands, facial trauma, so I’m the real deal. I’m a board certified plastic surgeon, also a board certified head/neck surgeon with seven years of training after medical school to be the specialist that I am.

What made you decide that you wanted to go into plastic surgery?

I knew you were going to ask me that question! Why did you become a plastic surgeon? That’s a very popular question. You know as medical students, we rotate through each one of the disciplines. We do some pediatrics, we do some psychiatry, we do some OBGYN. You feel what fits for you. It has to do with your personality. It has to do with . . . really what you want to do. And what I do is not as much saving lives, although sometimes I do that. It’s more about improving the quality of life. And the other thing is I knew I wanted to be a surgeon. I consider myself artistic, and I don’t think there’s any question plastic surgery is the one specialty that mixes art and medicine.

Do you feel that being on the show has broadened the scope for plastic surgery for you?

No question. Being on the TV show “The Doctors” has made me a better doctor. Just because I have to prepare for all of these shows that deal with a lot of medical topics within my field and outside of my field. So it’s like studying for midterms before every show to learn the latest. As part of the show we try to be cutting edge—what’s new, what’s the latest medicine? So, I’m staying on top of that. The show has made me a better doctor.

What are some of the questions you get asked on the show?

One of the more common questions is, “Hey, plastic surgery . . . I don’t think I’m ready to go under the knife. Surgery isn’t for me. What other things can I do?” It’s always a recurrent theme on the show; nonsurgical treatments starting with basic skincare, then going on to fillers, injectables, laser treatments, as well as some of the other non-invasive treatments.

As a plastic surgeon, if you see someone, do you automatically start calculating what kind of work they need on their face?

I would have to say yes. And it’s not like I would ever go up to somebody and say, “Hey you know what? I need to fix that nose.” Some doctors do that, which I really don’t think is right. But my eye is trained. I look at facial features. I look at the balance of certain facial features. I look at bodies. My eye is trained to do that. Maybe a decorator will walk into a room and the first thing they’ll look at are window treatments. My eye is trained to look at faces and bodies.

So it’s not like you can just turn it off. What makes a good candidate for plastic surgery?

As surgeons we have to know when to operate and when not to operate. It starts with a patient who’s doing plastic surgery for the right reasons. Although you’re changing physical things, the real operation is up here in your head. It’s just feeling better about yourself. It’s an emotional treatment as well as a physical treatment. The patient has to have realistic goals, meaning wanting a change that fits with the rest of their body that is natural, not creating something that is freakish or artificial, not trying to totally change the person that they are. I think those are all red flag reasons not to do plastic surgery.

What advice would you give someone who’s seeking plastic surgery? Like say you have a typical woman coming in. Maybe she wants breast augmentation or rhinoplasty. Are there things that she needs to do first?

For any person considering plastic surgery there are a couple of things they would want to go through on the checklist. And I touched on it briefly. Make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons, have realistic expectations, don’t expect it to change your life, don’t go looking for changes that are just so over the top that it’s going to change who you are. And then do your homework. Make sure you ask all the questions before surgery. Make sure your surgeon is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, that he does a lot of the procedures that you are interested in having, that he has hospital privileges in a hospital and has the privileges to do all of those procedures.

What would you say are realistic price points? Are there general prices for certain surgeries?

Price points do vary geographically from coast to coast. Typically in larger city areas, prices may be a little bit higher. In an area where rents are higher, you have to pay employees more. These all reflect what a surgeon’s fees will be . . . higher fees in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, that’s pretty normal. With what’s happening in medicine, though, a lot of non-plastic surgeons are jumping on the cosmetic surgery wagon. And that’s where the consumer has to be really careful. Anybody can call themselves a cosmetic surgeon and I don’t think the public realizes there’s a difference between a doctor who does cosmetic surgery and a true plastic surgeon. You’ll see it in the paper: “Get your breast done for $3,999.” Well, I can’t do your breasts for $3,999. Somebody is doing that, and they may not have the same qualifications that I do. To charge that low amount of money, they have to be cutting corners. As a consumer, don’t just look at price because it is your body. Potentially, it is your life.

Has there ever been a question that you couldn’t answer on the show?

This is my 30th year doing plastic surgery. I’ve been asked some pretty wild ones, some pretty strange ones. I’m not going to say that I’ve heard it all. Because there’s always something different that’s going to come up. But what I’ve seen on the show, I’ve been able to handle pretty well.

You know it’s a really good dynamic of personalities on the show. How would you gage your overall experience on “The Doctors”?

I’m loving the experience. I have a real passion for what I do as a plastic surgeon. That’s the role I play on TV, being myself as the plastic surgeon. I try to bring that same passion to the TV show and even go to the next level because it is TV and you always have to keep thatenergy up and you have to project even more and you have to sustain it. It’s been a challenge and you have to sustain it.

I kind of liken you and your skill to an artist. Wouldn’t you almost have to be?

You better understand proportions and lines and contours. We are artists and the human body is our canvas. It is an artistic eye. You either have that or you don’t. It’s actually doing the procedure technically to achieve that goal.

Highest High

The reconstructive surgeries that I’ve done on kids—cleft lips and pallets, congenital deformities in children—I gave them a second chance that really will last them the rest of their lives. But I think the true highest high was the unveiling of my ultimate makeover on the show. This was a woman I did everything: face, nose, chin, body. She was a self-admitted ugly duckling. She wouldn’t go out of the house. She wouldn’t take pictures. I did this ultimate makeover and we had the reveal on the show. It highlighted everything I do, and doing it in that setting was the single biggest event I had as a plastic surgeon.

Have you had any disappointments in surgery?

Surgery is not an exact science. Complications do occur. You can’t always predict how somebody is going to heal. Having to go back and do things a second time is a part of all plastic surgery. There are complications and there are revisions.

Are there any particular medical conditions that if someone wanted to get surgery, you wouldn’t allow it?

Most plastic surgery is elective surgery, meaning it’s not life-threatening. You only do it when everything is the right conditions. You have to be healthy and cleared by your doctor: no healing problems; no clotting problems; diabetics have a greater risk for infection and poor healing; high blood pressure can affect surgical outcomes; and smoking . . . that’s a big one. Some surgeons will not do a facelift on a smoker because it does affect the blood vessels, which can affect the healing. As a consumer, if you’re at risk for any of those reasons, you should think twice.

Tell me about the cleft lip healings and your philanthropic endeavors.

So I’m in this Beverly Hills office with a great group of doctors. We all have our niche. Nasal specialist, eye specialist, and together as a group, we’ve formed a charitable foundation. It’s called Surgical Friends Foundation. It’s us as a group giving back our skills as reconstructive plastic surgeons and people that wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity. We do it here in our Beverly Hills office. We donate the office as well. Or we go to certain areas and actually do the surgeries. We have a couple of trips on the books going to St. Vincent the Caribbean, Cambodia next spring, so it’s gotten off the ground. We’ve already done a number of reconstructive cases and it’s all about giving back.

Is there any one specific case where you’ve helped a child you’d like to share?

I can think of one particular case. This was an orphan, a very sweet young lady. She was from South Korea, who was brought in by a church group. She didn’t have the opportunity to get this done in her country. We did a cleft lip and cleft pallet repair. She stayed a month during the healing with people through her church, then went home. She didn’t speak any English and where she came from was so different from the environment she was put in, and we were able to fix her problem, give her a new lease on life and then send her home.

You’re literally changing lives.

We recently did a case where somebody actually had bitten off the end of somebody’s nose. This person didn’t want to leave his house. He became extremely depressed. Giving him back this nose gave him back his life.

To learn more about the foundation, visit www.Surgicalfriends.org.

Also visit Dr Ordon’s website at www.drordon.com.

Get daily information about “The Doctors” at www.thedoctorstv.com.

Interviewed by Kaylene Peoples