WHAT IS DENSE BREAST TISSUE

I had an extremely emotional, yet gratifying day today. I testified in support of Nevada Assembly Bill 147 in front of the Heath and Human Services committee at the Nevada Legislature. The goal of the 20130311-220247.jpgbill is the make it mandatory for doctors to inform their patients if they have dense breast tissue. “What?” you say. What is this “dense breast tissue” you speak of? Never heard of it? That’s weird because 40% OF YOU HAVE DENSE BREAST TISSUE. And that puts you at a higher risk for getting breast cancer. Why? Because dense breast tissue can hide tumors. Tumors are grey, dense tissue is grey. The cancer blends in and often times can’t be seen. Yet no one talks about dense breast tissue. Well, I sure as hell am… and here’ s why.

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in November of 2010. 6 months prior, she had a clean mammogram. So just last week, I called her surgeon. I asked, first off, if she had dense breast tissue. “Yes, she had heterogeneously dense tissue,” was the reply. Next question. Is there any way her tumor started the day after she had her last mammogram and in 6 months spread to her neck and 38 lymph nodes? “No” was the reply. For a cancer cell to multiply and become 1 centimeter, it takes 5-9 years. MY MOM HAD THIS CANCER GROWING IN HER BREAST FOR AT LEAST 5 YEARS AND IT WAS NEVER PICKED UP WITH A MAMMOGRAM. Holy Shit! That’s all I could say to myself. Holy shit, holy shit… my mom didn’t need to die! If she was told she had dense breast tissue, I guarantee she would have done an additional ultrasound screening. That ultrasound would have likely picked up her cancer years before it had metastasized so aggressively and she would be alive today. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. I believe every woman has a right to know if she has dense breast tissue. Then she can decide if she wants to pay for the additional ultrasound screenings (insurance doesn’t cover this type of screening, go figure!).

20130311-220254.jpgDr. Nancy Cappello, from Conneticut, is the woman who brought the issue of dense breast tissue to light.  She has dense breast tissue and was diagnosed with a late stage breast cancer in 2004.  She got similar legislation passed in Connecticut and also created the organization www.areyoudense.org  This is one of the only places you can get understandable information about this issue (yes, you can read medical journals but trust me they are no fun!).  She also testified at the Nevada Legislature today and I couldn’t be more impressed with her determination to inform women. 

And that’s where I stand.  I don’t want to tell the medical field how to do their job.  I really don’t.  In fact, I have a doctor friend who I respect who has sent me tons of literature opposing  bills like these.  But for me, it comes down to my gut instinct that WOMEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW.  Then you can make your own decisions about what you do with that information.  I can’t turn my back on that belief and the belief that had my mom known about her breast density she would be alive today.  Here’s my final word:  FIND OUT FROM YOUR DOCTOR WHAT TYPE OF BREAST TISSUE YOU HAVE!  Only a mammogram can determine this.  Size, shape, feel… it doesn’t matter.  It’s tissue you are born with.  Your doctors knows the answer to what type of tissue you have…. shouldn’t you too??

 

 

 

HD MAKEUP PART 2

So yesterday, I said I didn’t like my new HD makeup. That not entirely true! For a non makeup gal, this stuff by Colour Basis is makeup for morons. I have a jar of eyeliner gel and a brush that says eyeliner gel brush. Brilliant!! I can literally do my face simply by reading the labels on my brushes. That I like. What I don’t like is this thin little pencil that’s white. White is an odd color for a pencil, even I know that! And this pencil is odd! You put it ON your lowered eyelid. Not UNDER it, like we all did in a sparkly shade of blue in 7th grade! Apparently, it’s an old modeling trick to make your eyes look brighter. It probably came from that Twiggy girl who ruined girls’ body images for decades… Because this stuff is ruining my ability to anchor. The moment I put it on it blurs my vision! So for the last week I’ve been trying to anchor with far less than my normal 20/20 vision. You too can give this a try!! Simply smear Vaseline on both eyeballs and try reading your TV’s closed captioning.

Ok take a look for yourself.

Here’s my left eye without the white eyeliner (sweet blemish above the eye!  WTH??? I guess I didn’t apply enough of the blemish remover with my blemish remover brush!!):

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Here’s my right eye with the Twiggy inspired crap!

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And now compare side to side:

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(is it just me? Or do I appear to be having a stroke on my left side?? )

Ok! If you all comment that, YES Wendy! You look 12 cups of coffee brighter eyed with the Twiggy liner then I will just consider it a hazard of the job. But if you can’t tell the difference, I’m ditching that Twiggy crap… And eating an entire cheesecake too!

And next week, I’ll take you through my entire process… from sans makeup to full HD ready!  Stay tuned for that episode of fun! 

 

 

 

THE LITTLE TICKLE

Ok, this post IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. In fact, most of you should stop reading right now! I mean it. Especially all you men. This is not for the light of heart. TMI comes to mind. Ok, for those of you who can handle it, here ya go! You know that feeling, that little tickle, when you forgot to put in a tampon? SEE I TOLD YOU TO STOP READING!! Anyway, when you get that feeling, you hope you’re still at home, sipping that last Godly drop of coffee before rushing out the door. You hope no matter where you are you’re in a black skirt. And you certainly hope, when that little tickle comes you can get discreetly and quickly to a bathroom to stop the gush that is coming any moment. Well… that little tickle happened to me today ON LIVE TV! Presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney, was in Reno and right as he took the stage… tickle tickle tickle! Now, when that happens, you slightly freeze, right? You hope if you don’t move the situation won’t get any worse. So there I am trying to take notes, not moving from the shoulder down… for 45 minutes! And once he left the stage and we signed off, I had to pretend to stay busy until everyone else left the studio. No way was I going to risk walking in front of anyone. Finally, I was able to get to the bathroom where I took care of the business I should have taken care of before I left the house today. The one saving grace is I did have on a black skirt

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DUMPSTER DIVING

At work today, I got caught dumpster diving.  Yes, I was diving through the nice, clean, unstained, blue paper recycling bin, looking for old scripts so I could log my story.  See, once I go out and shoot a story, I have to write down every single thing every single person I interviewed said.  That’s “logging.”  Hint to you… if I interview you, the less you say the happier I am!  So after being caught dumpster diving from my chief photographer, Jeff… Jeff emailed me this article from the New York Post.  Wow!!!  I’ve got nothing on Kate Hashimoto. 

dumpster diving

Caught dumpster diving at work

She loves ‘Ew!’ York

Trash diver reveals tricks of living almost free

  • By KATE STOREY
  • Last Updated: 4:14 AM, October 16, 2012
  • Posted: 2:37 AM, October 16, 2012

Kate Hashimoto was picking up a few groceries at the Upper West Side Food Emporium when she ran into a friend.

“Hey Kate, you like wraps? Here’s a chicken wrap,’’ her pal said. “But be careful, it’s kind of wet.”

They weren’t in the grocery aisle. They were in front of the store, digging through three overflowing trash bins.

Hashimoto Dumpster-dives for all her food, doesn’t use toilet paper or do laundry, and hasn’t bought toiletries in 10 years.

She doesn’t have to live this way — she’s an employed CPA.

“I’ve always been frugal, but it was when I was laid off in the dot-com crash that I became extreme,” Hashimoto explained.

GOODIES: Kate Hashimoto shows off her finds yesterday.

Astrid Stawiarz
GOODIES: Kate Hashimoto shows off her finds yesterday.

“No job is guaranteed, so I live as if I could be fired at any time.”

Manhattan, she said, is a gold mine for Dumpster divers.

“Consumers in wealthy areas expect their products to be perfect, so upscale stores throw out a lot of items that are still good.

“New York can be the most expensive place to live, but it can also be the least expensive if you know how to work the system.”

Hashimoto let The Post spend a day with her learning how to live way below your means.

She lives in Harlem, where she bought a studio in 2010 and paid it off in nine months, but treks down to the Upper West Side three times a week for good, free food.

Her other money-saving methods include using soap to wash herself after using the toilet, taking surveys online to earn gift cards, participating in medical trials (she got free birth control for 5 years and took part in a herpes vaccine trial for cash), testing products for free samples, cutting her own hair, washing her clothes while she showers, and running to work to avoid using a MetroCard.

“I was extremely angry about the latest round of subway fare hikes,” she said.

Hashimoto does have her limits. Her furniture is a collection of found freebies — but she won’t take an old mattress for fear of bedbugs, and sleeps instead on used yoga mats.

And she won’t stay in a relationship for free meals.

“I’ve been in a relationship where I stayed because I was getting freebies and gifts, but I got out of it,” she says. “It’s better to be single and Dumpster-diving than to be with someone you can’t stand.”

Hashimoto shares her secrets on tonight’s 10 p.m. premiere of TLC’s “Extreme Cheapskates.”

What Kate Spends Per Month:

On food: $15

On clothing: $0

On toiletries: $0.17 a month on toothpaste

On her $200,000

condo: $237

She puts into savings: $4,000

Into 401(k): $1,000

Goal: $250,000 in savings by next year or so

 

MY EYELASHES HAVE FANGS

Aging eyelashes???? Seriously do they age right along with us???  Here’s why I ask.  I’m sitting at my desk putting on mascara, the show starts in 15 minutes, and I’m having serious eyelash issues.  For a few days now a single lash on my left eye shoots at a 45 degree angle across all other lashes.  I’ve applied 20 strokes with my handy Great Lash wand, and STILL, it will not go back  in its proper row.  And NOW the tips of my right eyelashes are curling down, no matter how hard I try to curl them up!  It literally looks like my eyelashes have tiny fangs chomping down on my lower lid everytime I blink.  Are my lashes just getting old and cranky and wanting to live by their own rules just as we people do?  Abuse against the elderly can’t be tolerated, but these babies have got to shape up!Aging Eyelashes