Brunch for Breast (cancer awareness)

The Brunch for Breasts fundraiser for The Pink Ribbon Place was a huge success!! About 70 people were served spectacular brunch dishes by Chef Clements and his amazing Omakase staff from 9a.m. to 2pm on Sunday. Over $1,400 was raised for the breast cancer resource center. And I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one drinking those "Cure" Royales and Mamm-osas! Finally, I get my "drink for a cause" event. We knew I'd sneak that in there somehow.

Sunday was a busy day all in all. Chris and I were troopers and spent from 9:30 to 2pm at the brunch, dining with several different folks including my dad and step-mom (Jim and Nancy McElhannon), then the good and great and also cute Dr. Amer Karam (who almost got the long distance travel award by coming from Westwood, but then a breast cancer survivor showed up from Lancaster--her niece works at Omakase-- and tore the award from his precious and skilled hands; luckily this was only metaphorically), the lovely Sheena Meder and her friend Vanessa, and Chris's mom Trudi Kern (a 17 year survivor). 

Post-brunch I worked with  videographer Rees Evans (a friend of committee member and BC survivor Meredyth Meredith --yes, that's really her name) to start capturing our "survivors" for a film he's putting together. We were able to film 7 survivors out "living life" (which meant walking, shopping, running, playing tennis, golfing, playing with her daughter and playing with her dog....guess which one I was?) and then turning to the camera to say "17 years" or, however long they'd been kickin' cancer's butt. I was floored to meet a totally adorable, cute, fashionable smiling young woman who turned out to be a survivor reporting in for her filming. She's 28 and was diagnosed at age 25. And she was the one filmed out running--because she's a marathon runner. Wow. So impressive. And yeah, this disease touches everyone. The film is meant to be a message of hope to women facing the diagnosis themselves. It will also be the lead-in (no idea if that's the technical term) for the video of the "professionals panel" were putting together on November 9th. Doctors from each of the areas one encounters in BC treatment (surgeon, anesthesiologist, oncologist, radiation oncologist, plastic surgeon for reconstruction) will be present to discuss their role, give practical coping advice and answer questions the live audience may have. The video will become part of The Pink Ribbon Place's library as a resource. It's looking like it will all work out great. With any luck we'll be able to give at least a little support, reassurance and hope to others dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis.

And I am pleased to report I have walked Seamus 7 out of the last 8 days. Woo. Hoo. It's not a marathon we're walking but hey, at least I'm up and moving. I'm less pleased to report that I'm now pulling on my hair trying to make it actually grow. Okay, not quite...but I'm thinking about it. And according to Facebook, I only have about 12 months of hair growing before my 30th high school reunion will be here. Umm...fat and shorn? No, no, I don't think so. (Did I say 30th?? I meant 20th. I'm sure that's what I meant....)

PS the photos are not from the actual brunch; Brein's food looks (and tastes) even more amazing than that. I was too busy to remember to take photos at the brunch! Next time..

On Being Aware of Breasts

(Imagine the random hits I'm going to get on this blog because of that title. 13 year old boys and sundry fetishists, welcome. Or, er....not.)

It's October 1st. And so begins Breast Cancer Awareness month--as decreed  by U.S. President Obama (okay, and all of our Presidents since 1985 apparently). And here's part of his declaration:

"NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2009, as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I encourage citizens, Government agencies, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other interested groups to join in activities that will help Americans understand what they can do to prevent and control breast cancer."  (you can read the whole thing by clicking on President Obama's name above).

If my President asks, I must, of course, respond to the call. So let me share with you what I can to help prevent and control breast cancer.

First, and foremost, ladies...do those self exams. And gentleman...yeah, it can happen to you too. So no helping with our exams until you've at least done your own. And here's my best reason for emphasizing the importance of the self exams: I had a "perfectly fine, no cancer detected, nothing suspicious here" mammogram on July 22, 2008. In late November of 2008 I felt a thickening in my breast ("right breast, 10 o'clock"--that's the medical term for where it was. ;-) ) and by December 23, 2008 my second mammogram came back as "highly suspicious of malignancy."  And, of course, it was indeed breast cancer and a rapidly growing aggressive one at that. Note that timeline. There wasn't any misreading of my July mammogram. Nothing can be seen on that film. 5 months later and a 1.7cm tumor is clearly visible. Imagine if I had waited until it was time for my annual mammogram? Right. So don't you do it either. Self exam! A little self awareness never hurt anyone.

Next, of course, do get those annual mammograms. They at least help you know what's normal in your breasts. If something is there it isn't going to go away just because you are ignoring it. There isn't a single case of cancer being ignored into remission. Those cancer cells are nasty little bastards that would love to be left alone to do their dirty work. Don't let them!! The sooner it's caught, the better. Why take any chances?

Those are sort of the obvious "breast cancer awareness" items. But it really wouldn't be me if I didn't have a few more things to say, now would it?

Let's talk about those pink ribbons.

I was never really a fan of pink--and I mean baby pink (I'm fine with fushcia, hot pink, all that). It's completely consistent with my life in general that I would get a disease that is notorious by it's pink ribbon branding, just so it could attack even my aesthetic sensibilities. Apparently, I have Estee Lauder to thank for this.   According to Wikipedia (and how could that be wrong??)

"In 1993 Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estée Lauder Companies founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and established the Pink Ribbon as its symbol, though this was not the first the ribbon was used to symbolize breast cancer.^[2] In the fall of 1991, the Susan G. Komen Foundation had handed out Pink Ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors."



[And note that that the big company basically stole the ribbon idea from what was then a start up little foundation where one sister was honoring the memory of her late sister! Of course, Susan G. Komen Foundation seems to have survived and thrived. As has the pink ribbon.]

The month of October finds pink ribbons on absolutely everything! (Note photo). To a very, very ridiculous extreme. This morning I noted that Yoplait wants me to send in my pink ribbon bedecked yogurt tops (clean, they are careful to request) and they'll make a contribution to Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Really, Yoplait? Why must I wash a piece of foil, package it up with 20 other pieces of washed foil, pay postage and waste and envelope so you can donate...what, 20 cents? Maybe? Why couldn't you, dearest Yoplait (maker of my pina colada morning fix) just donate $X for every Yoplait yogurt sold in October? Or maybe just, um, donate money and then tell us you did it. Could it be that you know folks (or at least not the sane, busy ones among us) are not actually going to wash foil pieces and send them to you, so in actuality you get great "press" and advertising and you look like you're supporting important breast cancer research, but in reality...not so much.

And that's not even the worst offender. You can pretty much buy any piece of crap/ tchotcke bedazzled with a pink ribbon. And when you do, maybe, maybe 1/8 of a cent winds its way down to an organization that might be doing something about breast cancer. Maybe. Believe me, I get all sorts of emails and solicitations to buy things with pink ribbons and a lot of it is just so ridiculous and so clearly not actually benefiting anyone except, obviously, the manufacturer. Now,  I do own some of the pink ribbon festooned items. I will admit.  I have awesome wine glasses with not only pink ribbons, but rhinestones!! And I have another set with pink stems! And I love them, don't get me wrong (although let's be clear, in both cases the pink is definitely of the hot pink variety--some were gifts from friends who know me well; note, they are after all wine glasses!), but I have no delusions that money went to any breast cancer organization. And that's my point. If you are buying these pink ribbon items because a) you like them, or b) you think your friend/sister/relative/ co-worker who is dealing with breast cancer will like it and know you thought of her, fine. No worries. Buy away. But....if you really want to help breast cancer research, or breast cancer patients directly, please consider helping an actual existing local organization that you can see and talk to and verify the existence of.

I'm quite involved, at the moment, with one of those local agencies and we just named the Inland Agency's Breast Cancer Resource Center  "The Pink Ribbon Place"--precisely because everyone does indeed know the pink ribbon symbolizes breast cancer awareness. And believe me, we're running with the pink ribbon symbol. But we're doing it to raise money that will directly benefit people diagnosed with breast cancer and needing a place to turn for support. The Pink Ribbon Place will run support groups, have a lending library for books on breast cancer, have information, scarves, wigs, prosthesis available, and really is working toward being a center that can help a person dealing with breast cancer every step of the way. So yeah, we're going to exploit that pink ribbon, too. Starting with a Brunch for Breasts on October 11th at Restaurant Omakase from 9a.m to 2pm. $40 per person and $20 from each meal will go directly to The Pink Ribbon Place. (That's a lot of tin foil mail-ins right there!). If you live near Riverside, consider supporting the event. Your donations really will count. And, you'll have an incredible meal...check out this menu:
October 11th
Brunch For Breasts
9:00am - 2:00pm

eggs benedict
soft poached eggs, apple bacon, hollaindaise
breakfast sandwich
brioche, arugula, tomato, apple bacon
pumpkin pancakes
maple crème fraîche

polenta brûlée
polenta cooked with fontina cheese
all served with assorted fruit & our breakfast potatoes

our grilled cheese
brioche, gruyere

lobster salad 'on a roll'
maine lobster, tarragon, lemon, crusty roll

chicken apple sausages
smothered in apple & onion

omakase burger
brandt beef, garlic aioli, onion, tomato
all served with assorted fruit & duck fat fries

chocolate 'gooey' cake
ginger - sea salt ice cream

apple croustade
whipped marscarpone

pumpkin pound cake
cream cheese ice cream

pain perdu
french toast with caramelized quince
$40 per person, $10 for specialty drinks

And the specialty drinks? Mamm-osas and Cure Royales!! And yep, 1/2 the proceeds from those will benefit The Pink Ribbon Place as well! Drink for a cause! Does it get any better than that?

This time last year, I didn't even know I had breast cancer. This time last year, I couldn't even feel a lump. Now, I'm proud to say I'm an 8 month survivor. (They start counting from surgery--since that was the last we saw of any cancer in my body). I like to think it's all behind me but it's obviously an experience I'll never forget. As Chris's mom Trudi (a 16 year survivor) said to me early on, I'm part of a club now. And the club's color is pink. Okay then. Bring on the pink! [But let's not forget the awareness part too.... Self exams, people. Do it.]

[Update: I didn't know this when I posted the above last night, but apparently there is a website all about what they call " " pinkwashing""." It's called "Think Before You Pink. Huh. I'm not the only one who gets crabby about pink! It's a project of Breast Cancer Action...and I have no idea who that is, so now  of course I have to wonder, is BCA for real? Wait...is this blog real...am I real...?? More coffee, please.]

Easter Risings

While the thought of say, Green Eggs and Ham, probably would have done me in, I was feeling good enough for Easter Brunch with Chris and his family today--Omakase, of course. It's like we're addicted; but we knew Brein and Roryann could handle whatever my stomach was doing and Chris's sister Kati's temporary vegan-ism--it was a Lent thing. It's over now. Well, hers is. My issues are alive and well. So, here we are, proof positive I was out and about 3 days after the new chemo. And yes, I was still rockin' the Britney/ Mod Squad look. What else would you wear to dine on herb salad, Croque Monsieur and almond strawberry tartlet? Exactly. Ooh, and there was homemade ginger ale, which was oh so helpful to my tummy. Even if Chris's dad was a little disturbed by the chunk of ginger in the bottom of my glass. Ginger is to the upset tummy what baking soda water is to indigestion. This is what you think about on Easter too, right? Okay, look, there are rising-ups that should be avoided on Easter. That's all I'm saying.

Before I get to the less pleasant details of this new chemo, here's Chris and his mom and sisters (okay Googlers, that would be, left to right, COURTNEY KERN, KATI KERN, TRUDI KERN and CHRIS KERN....please tell me you had figured out that last one yourself) as we strolled the Mission Inn. It's the Riverside tour; it has to be done.

So this new chemo...it's Taxol instead of Taxotere, you may recall. And I was switched to it on Thursday with, oh, about 30 minutes warning, during the stethoscope tango I was doing with the good doc. I was surprised to start feeling queasy Friday night and all day yesterday. Of all the side effects chemo brings, that just hadn't been one of them. I sort of feel like I've had my share, so I wasn't really expecting that one. But then I went online last night and looked up Taxol. Hmmm... seems that's a really common side effect of Taxol. More than the others. Gee...wouldn't that have been nice to know? Perhaps I would have taken the extra anti-nausea medicine earlier. Oh, and it causes...I'm just going to go with "the opposite digestive problem from the one I'm used to." Also, would have been good to know ahead of time. Like, say, 12 hours ahead of time. But you know, chemo is just one of those things you drop by the doctor's office for on a whim and then head on out. It's not like you need to prepare or, you know, plan for anything. I'm clearly just a big wimp. In a headscarf. (It's pretty cute though, isn't it? That's the one Gary and Rich sent).

I'm going to take the anti-nausea medicine now. Which is also a sedative (fun, fun times). So, depending on which of those two things wins out, I will either crash and sleep for the next 12 hours and therefore this is it for the blog posting, OR, I will rally, have a small dinner, perhaps even go on a little walk with Seamus (the Easter Beagle, dontchaknow), and then return to finally give my highly anticipated "Tips from a Breast Cancer Wimp Who Is Doing it All Wrong." Yeah, I know which one your money is on. (Mine too.)