With this month being Breast Cancer Awareness month, most of us, unfortunately, have been touched by breast cancer in some way. We may know a friend, sister, or mother who has been stricken with breast cancer. The more awareness and fundraising we create the more research can be done in finding cures. According to most doctors, the best preventative medicine is early detection. This is true in my mom’s case.
My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in May of 2000, and in June she went in for a mastectomy. Following the surgery was a long and tough road ahead, as she continued treatment with chemotherapy. Not only was she going through the tough chemo treatments, but my dad was too. His cancer came out of remission in February and he began his chemo treatment near the same time. So needless to say, the refrigerator was filled with “his and hers” chemo medicines on opposite sides of the fridge so as not to mix them up. Both survived those treatments, and my mom is still cancer free to this day.
You can click on the short video that I created for you here – Laura Mak\’s Breast Cancer Wisdom Tip
Not only is early detection important, but also based on research from Harvard Nurses Health Study, go ahead and lace up those shoes and get active. Exercises are no longer discouraged like they were 15 years ago. Now it has been shown that exercise can halve your risk of breast cancer recurrence. That is amazing and inspiring to me!!
Exercise is a potent weapon because it naturally decreases the levels of inflammation, reduces stress and helps you maintain a healthy body weight. It can even change your body chemistry so it creates an environment less suitable for cancer to evolve.
Moreover, being active during your lifetime can have a significant impact on your body. According to Harvard School of Public Health, a long time overall active lifestyle can reduce your risk of breast cancer by about 23%. With a statistic like that it certainly makes me think twice about skipping the gym or my walk.
While there are several Breast Cancer awareness foundations that you can donate or contribute to I thought I would share a few of my favorites with you, so you can decide which may impact or inspire you.
ShopWarriorsinPink.com -It’s bright. It’s beautiful. The new 2011 line of Warriors in Pink wear and gear. When you wear it, you say loud and clear that you are a Warrior in the fight against breast cancer. The line continues to feature the Warrior symbols representing strength, hope, love and courage. And, as always, 100% of the net proceeds help support Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
SavetheTatas.com – This company provides a great shop of items for men, women, youth, accessories, and more. If you don’t want to shopr or you want to participate even more you can host your own Save the ta-tas® Fundraiser, purchase Save the ta-tas® Donation Party Favors, or they have team & event discounts.
Many of their authorized retailers participate in our Donation Matching program, doubling the donation we would give. Culturally, they usually understand a donation in terms of “profits” or “proceeds.” Ta-tas® Brand knows that sometimes little or no profit is made on an item, so they want their customer to be assured they make their committed donation regardless. This is why they calculate our donation by the actual sale price, not the profits made.
Donations are used primarily to support independent scientific research. They are a product brand, and not experts in reading and selecting grants, they have formed a valuable partnership with Concern Foundation. The Concern Foundation matches their donation allowing them to double the funding!
ThriveSurvive.org – This is the newest of the organizations that I am actively working with. This one actually provides information and resources for young adult cancer survivors in the post treatment phase of survivorship. They are a growing population with documented special medical and psychosocial needs. Access to real, relevant, practical information is hard to come by and the community in Los Angeles is disjointed. Many young adult survivors feel alone, too young for most post-treatment services and too old for pediatric services, often never having met another person who has been through what they have been through.
Thrive/Survive aims to create a portal community to enable real-life meetups of young adult cancer survivors, in addition to clear, concise access to information such as understanding local medical practitioners, financial resources (including lenders and property managers willing to work with medically bankrupt survivors) and lifestyle information (cancer-friendly yoga, dietitians and more).
Be sure to visit any of these websites if you would like to give back to breast cancer awareness research. Stay healthy and definitely keep exercising!
**For more training routines you can check out my fitness and inspiration book, “Fast and Fierce Fitness Made Fabulously FUN!” This is a twelve week program, complete with exercise descriptions, photos of each movement, motivational guidelines, tracking system, progressions for each level of fitness, weekly upgrades on fitness programs, and most of all, FUN creative workouts that leave you more energized, looking great, and feeling fantastic!!! Or if you would like a more specialized program to specifically meet your needs and goals be sure to check out my online training programs or online nutrition.
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