The Breast Views Blog: Life

How's this for a cheerful quote:

Life is a sexually transmitted disease with a 100% mortality rate.

Source unknown.

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, .

The Breast Views Blog: Poetry on Motherhood

Feeling poetic?

The Association for Research on Mothering (ARM)is seeking submissions for an anthology of poetry on motherhood to be published in 2007.

Call for Poems

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, .

The Breast Views Blog: A Well-Fitting Bra

Every few months I get an email from someone desperate to find a bra that fits. Inevitably, I direct them to the Professional Bramakers of Canada website.

"Professional Bra-makers have pledged to uphold the ideals upon which our Organization was founded."

They'll also help you uphold your breasts.

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar .

The Breast Views Blog: Ontario Women's Justice Network

I often hear this. "I'd like to do something helpful, but I don't know what to do". This resourse may prove inspiring.

Just as violence against women takes many forms, we can challenge it in various ways. Taking action against violence can mean political lobbying, supporting survivors/victims, applauding activists, sharing your experiences and ideas, or simply living a violence-free lifestyle. This section offers opportunities for acting out against violence.

Ontario Women's Justice Network

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, .

The Breast Views Blog: Non-Toxic Body Care

I do not want to be responsible for a 'Dirty Revolution'. So rather than just report the toxic nasty stuff you'd be wise to watch out for in the cosmetic world, I figured I should fill you in on some alternatives.

Aimee at Sacred Circle Herbs makes the most marvelous body care products. The photo above shows her very divine bath bombs. You toss one of these babies into your bath and not only do you create a fabulous aroma, you get petals dancing everywhere. Her lip balm is tasty and non-toxic. Creams thick and luxurious. Everything I've tried is top notch.

She mail orders, blogs and has a stall at the Guelph Farmer's Market every Saturday morning.

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, .

The Breast Views Blog: International Goof-Off Day

The post title says it all.

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar .

The Breast Views Blog: Deadly Spring Cleaning

Here's a belief that was pounded into me every Saturday morning for much of my life.

Cleaning your home is a very important function of a good person.

But wait. No one told me that cleaning my home may also be bad for my health. Read this CBC story to find out more about this dirty little secret.

Household Cleaners

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, .

The Breast Views Blog: Carcinogens

Here I go and take a week off and instead of coming back to the blogging platform all zen-like, I whack everyone with nasty cancer realities.

Ah well, it's all done with good intentions.

Today's question: WHAT IS A CARCINOGEN? A carcinogen is a chemical known or believed to cause cancer in humans. The number of proven carcinogens is comparatively small, but many more chemicals are suspected to be carcinogenic.

Read further but be forewarned. This may piss you off.
CBC Marketplace: Chasing the Cancer Answer

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, .

The Breast Views Blog: Investing in Prevention

The question of why more money is not invested in cancer prevention is one that sits on the tip of my tongue daily. Here's the very short answer.

HOLLAND: In order to stay viable, any company has to make at least a break-even. They can't potentially invest all the time in charitable undertakings. That's philanthropy.

Who said they have to invest all the time? What about some of the time? Read the full story here.

CBC Marketplace: Chasing the Cancer Answer

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog Guelph.

The Breast Views Blog: Promoting Gender Equality

UNFPA or rather the United Nations Population Fund has a mission.

As an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity, UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.

For the people of the world who believe that women are equal, please spend some time reading this site.

UNFPA: POPULATION ISSUES: Promoting Gender Equality

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog Guelph.

The Breast Views Blog: E-Greetings

This is not my thing. I'm already up to my eyeballs in E-this and that. But please, don't let that stop you.

Feeling festive on this International Women's Day? Perhaps you'd like to send someone an E-Postcard to help communicate your sentiments. Well looky look what I've found.

Post cards are here.

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog Guelph.

The Breast Views Blog: International Women's Day 2006: Status of Women Canada

Find a selection of IWD Day links and loot here.

Go ahead. Bust out.

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog Guelph.

The Breast Views Blog: Chasing the Cancer Answer: update on finding the answer - The Cancer Blog

The Cancer Blog offers the following overview of Wendy Mesley's investigative documentary Chasing the Cancer Answer broadcast last night on CBC.

What are we waiting for?

It is refreshing to hear my own sentiments coming out of someone else's mouth.

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Sue Richards,Blog Guelph.

The Breast Views Blog: Book Contribution Call

This email was sent to me my Liz Armstrong, dedicated cancer prevention hound. If you are a young woman in some stage of a cancer experience, and feel that your story should be shared, which of course it should, this may be the perfect opportunity.

Edited Book Contributions Sought
Working Title: Young Adult Women and Cancer

It is often stated that cancer is an illness of the middle aged and elderly, yet substantial numbers of young people are diagnosed with cancer and undergo treatments. Most will become cancer survivors.

Over the years, the incidence rate of cancer among young adults is increasing. The Canadian Cancer Society argues: ..[w]hen diagnosed with cancer, these individuals [young adults] have most of their potential years of life ahead of them, and so many either spend decades living with the effects (physical, reproductive, social, emotional and spiritual) of cancer diagnosis and treatment or have tragically shortened lives, with major repercussions on their families and on society in general" (Canadian Cancer Society 2005:1)

Nevertheless, cancer is a gendered illness. The incidence rate of cancer for young adult women is considerably higher than for young adult men. During the 1990s the incidence rate for young adult men between the ages of 20 and 44 was 63.5 per 100,000 while for young adult women, in the same age group, the rate was 102.6 per 100,000. Also the cancer mortality rate for young adult women is higher than for young adult men: 22.1 and 17.2 per 100,000 respectively.

The most common cancer for young adult women is breast cancer (34%). Other "common" cancers are cervical, thyroid and melanoma. A cancer diagnosis during the young adult years, when one's peers forge ahead on the road to independence can have a devastating social, psychological and physical impact. There are many issues, both short and long term, that young adult women may need to address. For example, they may struggle with body image, fertility, sexuality, financial and relationship issues, work, study and independency problems etc. Not all young adult women with cancer will survive and some will need palliative
care.

Up to this point, young adult women with cancer, compared to childhood cancer survivors and older adult cancer survivors, have been somewhat neglected in research and the literature. We feel it is important that the stories and experiences of young adult women with cancer are being told.

For this edited book collection, we are seeking manuscripts that discuss a broad range of experiences related to the cancer "journey," including what may cause cancer of young adult women between the ages of 20 and 40. The manuscripts could be a critical or theoretical assessment of diagnostic and treatment options or cancer care in general as well as individual experiences with social, psychological and physical issues related to cancer, its causes or its treatment. We invite quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research based manuscripts, personal stories of cancer survivors, philosophical and theoretical essays as well as poetry.

Please send your WORD manuscript of 6000 words or less, excluding tables and references, in hard copy before August 1, 2006 to:

Editor Baukje (Bo) Miedema (PhD),
Director of Research,
Dalhousie University Family Medicine Teaching Unit, Dr. Everett Chalmers
Regional Hospital, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5N5 Canada
E-mail: bo.miedema@rvh.nb.ca

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Sue Richards,Blog Guelph.

The Breast Views Blog: Breast Implant Story

Victoria at I'm Out of Estrogen and It's Not Pretty has recently posted an account of her experience with saline breast implants.

Tell Your Friends, Save Your Daughters

This should be required reading for all women.

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Sue Richards,Blog Guelph.

The Breast Biews Blog: Group warns against cancer-causing chemical

This morning, when I logged on to the web, my intention was to follow up on a story I'd listened to with Wendy Mesly on cancer prevention. I wanted to direct CBC News MarketPlace to The Environmental Working Group and their work. EWG are making an effort to reveal the cancer causing ingredience in ...oh where do I start....toothpaste, shampoo, sunscreen...you know, the stuff in your bathroom.

I was happy to notice that MarktPlace blog Market Murmurs had a story posted on their blog that referenced EWG. Here it is for your reading pleasure.

Group warns against beverages that may contain cancer-causing chemical

Sue Richards


Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Sue Richards,Blog Guelph.

The Breast Views Blog: My Menopause Blog

I'm doing my media campaign today.

Guelph, Canada: March 1, 2006
For Immediate Release

Menopause Blog is Hot

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada recently reported that approximately four million Canadian women have now reached menopause. By 2026, it is estimated that women over the age of 50 will make up 22 per cent of the Canadian population. Statistic presented by the North American Menopause Society tells a similar story for U.S. women.

In short, the women of the world are heating up. Many of these women are looking for understanding, information and relief.

Sue Richards, author of MyMenopauseBlog.com was one of those women. After becoming a member of the peri-menopausal club and having no clue of what was happening, Richards started on a quest for knowledge about symptoms, natural remedies and treatments.

"My first need was to confirm I wasn’t going crazy. After I calmed down and accepted my new life stage, I simply wanted a heads up on what I could expect and what to do."

Richards decided to do her own research and share the results with other women by way of a blog, an on-line weblog, she writes daily. Blog popularity is currently surging. Technorati, the top blog authority, tracks over 28 Million blogs, in a blogosphere that is doubling in size every 5 and a half months.

Richards' blog postings include valuable information about the stages and symptoms of menopause, including details of clever and amusing ways to deal with the 'change'. Her trademark 'smart humor' is liberally sprinkled throughout the posts, along with cartoons and Richards' photographs. A social science graduate from the University of Guelph, she honestly delves into the psychology of menopause and aging offering insights and asking questions. Books and products that cross her path, get reviewed.

My Menopause Blog started quietly in July 2005 as a Blogger blog. In February 2006, after Richards found she had developed a following of readers, the blog moved to its new domain, www.mymenopauseblog.com, with a refreshed look and new features thanks to Barking Dog Studios of Guelph.

Publisher of the fine art photography, breast health calendar Breast of Canada, Richards is no stranger to the 'dome of silence and shame' that gets mixed into women's health issues. Using her creative sensibilities, writing skill and social entrepreneur tendencies, Richards hopes that My Menopause Blog will serve as a touchstone for women who need to know that they will survive and that they are not alone.

"I feel so much better since I started the blog. If nothing else, my attitude has improved and I'm not as confused about what is going on with my body anymore. Plus I'm so much more open about this whacky experience. If I'm having a hot flash, I don't try to hide it. In fact, I'm working on a meno-stripper routine," jokes Richards.

Other MyMenopauseBlog.com features include Club Meno, a listing of links to other menopausal bloggers, paid advertising by Google, a comprehensive post filing system of specific categories, over 160 posts and a place for readers to leave their comments.

For more information about MyMenopauseBlog.com please contact:
Sue Richards at: artjam@artjam.org

Link: http://www.mymenopauseblog.com
Link: http://www.breastofcanada.com

Sue Richards

Tags: The Breast Views Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar,My Menopause Blog,Sue Richards,Blog Guelph .