October is Breast Cancer Month

October is Breast Cancer Month.

My friend and co-worker came to work wearing a hot-pink t-shirt which said, “yes, they are fake.”  The  back of the t-shirt said, “my real ones tried to kill me.”  This young woman, wife and mother of two has been dealing with double mastectomy and reconstructive surgeries because of breast cancer.   She is doing well but it’s been a tough 18 months.    

I suspect we all know someone who has dealt with breast cancer.  As all the “pink up” activities go on, let’s stop and support our friends and family members who deal with this cancer.  

By the way, when did you last have a mammogram?  Are you taking care of your health?   For more information about breast cancer, check out

http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/about-nbcf

http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/default.htm and http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/breast-cancer/DS00328

If you are wondering how best to support your friends and loved ones who deal with breast cancer (actually any kind of cancer treatments), Fox News gives some great suggestions in this article, 22 ways to help a friend with breast cancer, at http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/10/12/22-ways-to-help-friend-with-breast-cancer/

 

Three pleasures of vacation

I think there are three pleasures to vacations:  planning and preparing, going on vacation and enjoying it, and sharing photos and talking about it afterwards.  Thank you for letting me show my photos.  I hope you’ve enjoyed them. 

Deep sea fishing on vacation

We went deep sea fishing one afternoon with the Driftwood Fishing Charter out of Oranjestaad.  This new experience was quite enlightening.  The captain and the first mate worked hard baiting and helping our guys catch mahi mahi and sail fish.  (The sail fish were catch and release.  Note the picture)  We had wondered whether the potential rough waters of the Caribbean Sea would make us seasick.  In preparation we called our doctors before we left on our trip and asked for scopolamine patches for each of us to wear while deep sea fishing.  Four hours before we went fishing, we stuck a patch behind our ears.  We motored out several miles into the Caribbean Sea.  The afternoon winds blew and we had some 6-8 ft swells to deal with.  I’m happy to report that none of us became seasick while fishing. 

Add exercise to your vacation

Move and exercise for health while on vacation

We spent much of our time relaxing, but we made time to swim laps in the pools at the resort.  We checked out the Caribbean Sea but found the pools to be our favorite swimming area.  We also spent time shopping and walking around downtown Oranjestaad one day.  We added exercise to each day.