It’s been a busy few weeks sharing great health and wellness tips! I gave a “Juicing and Smoothies 101” talk at Dew yoga, hosted a “Healthy Snacks” demo at Lululemon, and participated in a survivorship forum hosted by the local hospital here in Stamford. And there’s more exciting events coming soon, so stay tuned!!! Anyway, while at Lululemon a man asked, “What are you selling?” Without giving it a thought I happily replied, “health and wellness”. He laughed and went on enjoying some yummy snacks. That conversation got me thinking, what am I selling? In reality, I’m not selling anything at the moment. For now, I’m just sharing. Sharing my journey and sharing what I have learned about food and what it means for health and wellness. For me, this was all sparked by my cancer diagnosis. Since taking a more conscious and active role in our health and wellness, both my family and I have experienced extraordinary benefits from our change in lifestyle. So I am sharing in part to thank those who shared with me, and in part to “pay it forward” so that others might benefit too. But also because I truly believe that what I am sharing has the potential of saving someone’s life! Why wait until the ball drops and you find yourself diagnosed with cancer, heart disease, or diabetes? You can fight these diseases before they ever get diagnosed. And while you are actively doing everything you can to prevent these diseases, you can experience […]
Read MoreThere are so many things I want to do…Yoga, biking, running, swimming, being with my family, hiking, camping. Then there are things I have to do. Work, get the kids ready for school, make the breakfast, lunch, dinner (and yes Tim helps, A LOT), laundry, you get the picture. When I try to fit it all in and add a little extra ( passover dinner for 23, workshops, driving 3.5 hours to spend time with a friend, all in one weekend), I get a little stressed. Mind goes into overload. I use my breath but can’t get my mind to settle. Finally, the body gives out and wham, sick in bed for a whole day and feeling crappy for two more. Now sitting here writing this blog post I realized with all the mental chatter, I didn’t even find the time to sit quietly and settle. I have been dabbling in mediation. A little here and a little there. I have signed up several times for Deepak Chopra’s 21 day mediation. So far I have completed 7 consecutive days, and should be on day 14 but only on day 10. During those first 7 days, I felt much more ease and peace. Now the mind is in overload and the body feels it. How can your body stay strong and fight when it’s over producing hormones to keep you calm. Adrenaline increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure and boosts energy supplies. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugars […]
Read MoreThree years ago when I went back to work and was on my road to recovery, health and wellness, I started working with a little boy who had a ton of issues. They included a lack of typical motor development, fine motor development and sensory issues. Around this same time, I had started juicing and taking gluten out of my diet and was sharing my experience with this boys mother. With the hope that a diet change might help her son, she took gluten, dairy and a bunch of other things out of his diet. Within weeks, a difference could be seen. His congestion, which was another one of his issues, was now minimal. Stomach issues that he had for years slowly got better. And remarkably, even his motor development began to catch up. Watching the changes in this boy made me understand more clearly than ever the direct link between the food we eat and our health and wellness. With added enthusiasm, Tim and I slowly started taking other things (refined sugars, dairies) out of our diet and adding more plant-based foods. We loved the way the food we ate made us feel. But even more so, we felt empowered by the choices of food we were eating. The more we learned about the foods we ate, the more we learned that they were powerful medicines to fight against disease. Cancer was and is all around me, my family and Tim’s family. The thought of my children being predisposed to […]
Read MoreRecently, some good friends of ours got the terrible news that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember so well when we got the news. It’s such a blow to your world. So many questions and fears immediately start filling your head. One that seems universal is the question, “what will happen to my hair?” On the eve of is wife shaving her head, my friend emailed me for a quick pep talk to help them through it. Here is what I (a bald man), had to say. Ahhh, the hair. Yeah, it’s a bit shocking to see at first. You’ll see bumps and scars that you never knew were there. And it’s going to be as bright a white as it can be. It’s not an attractive look on a woman. I look back now at pictures of Aimee when she was bald and am startled. But I don’t remember giving it too much thought back then. Maybe the key is how you look at it. Loosing the hair is not a sign of sickness, but of health, or at least progress towards health. If your wife ever was “sick”, surly it was when the cancer was in her, before being removed by surgery and drugs. It’s not a sign of something being wrong, but of something being right… The chemo is working! Your wife is taking powerful drugs, and they are doing their job, killing off any fast growing cells that could be cancer. The hair is […]
Read MoreToday I got to watch my oldest son graduate from Pre-K. It was the first of what I am assuming are going to be a lot of graduations. The best part of today was the fact that I actually got to see it. When I first heard my diagnosis I was pretty scared. But it wasn’t until about the 50th phone call that I realized cancer could potentially = dying. During the initial stages of my diagnosis, I got the impression that my cancer was pretty straight forward and “treatable”. But really, I had CANCER. Cancer kills people every day. It hit me, during a conversation I was having with a very close friend that I may actually die. I know we are all going to die someday but I could potentially be dying. How could that be? I was only 38, had finally found the man I loved and respected who loved and respected me back and had two very little children. I couldn’t die now, I was just getting started. I remember saying to my dearest friend, that she would have to look out for my children and Tim. How would they manage? Who would take care of them? How was this actually happening to me? That question I asked myself several times a day. I am a good person, why me? What had I done wrong. But then I would suck it up put on my happy face and look at my children, play with them, hold […]
Read MoreWhen we are born, some of us have hair some of us do not. Some heads are very round, some bumpy, big foreheads, little ears, big ears, all colors and textures. As we grow so does are hair. We either like it or we don’t. When I was in high school all I wanted was curly hairs. So I went to the salon and got curly hair. I kept it long, cut it short, at one point one side was short and the other long (even have pictures some where to prove it). The color of my hair started as dirty blond, turned a little browner naturally and then came the hair dye. First at sleep away camp I used a little Jolen lip bleach, with a touch of lemon. Turned out it works well to get blond, my only problem was the application was sloppy and I looked like a skunk. Rosewood was my second, it was a brown with a hint of red. My best friend Carlene, applied it to my hair while we roasted on the roof of our apartment. When I moved to NYC after college I really needed a change so I went black. NOT a good idea, had to have it stripped out of my hair to get my real color back. Then came the short pixie cut with bleach blond. So as you can see I am all for hair change. EXCEPT when it is not by choice!!!! When Dr. Lo told me […]
Read MoreSo my first triathlon was 4 days prior to my diagnosis. It was a great experience and I did it because I wanted to get back in shape after having my babies. I did not have any special training plan, just went out each week and swam, biked and ran as often as I could. I did pretty good finishing the 2009 Ironclad Sprint Triathlon in Glen Cove NY, my hometown n 2 hours and 2 minutes. Immediately after my treatments were over I was given the opportunity to get back in shape with a “free for cancer patients” program at a place called KT Health and Fitness. It was provided by Stamford Hospital’s Bennett Cancer Center and was an amazing start to my recovery. My trainer, Brian, provided me with the support, encourage and strength training I needed to get back in shape. After I was done with the three months, three times a week of free training, I signed up for a masters swim class at our local JCC. There I was able to build on my swimming skills and towards the end of the class we did a mock triathlon which was great. After having my last surgery in May of 2010 and feeling all banged up again I needed a new goal. So again I took a swim class and got back to the gym. This year I signed up for 4 triathlons in honor of my four months of chemotherapy to raise money for Stamford […]
Read MoreSo, as I said in my story, I was diagnosed with stage 2 Breast Cancer. It all happened so fast and my GYN, Dr. Ghophrany was an amazing quarterback to get the game going. She scheduled and arranged my first appointments within a day of my first communication with her. I met with my breast surgeon, Dr. Menassah, and then my plastic surgeon, Dr. Passaretti. They all worked together so well all I really needed to do was show up for my big day. On June 12, 2009 I had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction. Boobs, I thought, who needs them anyway. And people out there are “dying” for fake ones anyway, why should I die because of the real ones. The surgery went as expected and I really was relived to be the one in the operating room out cold and not in the waiting room with my mother, aunt, father and his wife, and my father-in-law and his wife, and Tim and thankful for him his best friend Jason. When I woke up I was even surprised to see that my boobs were still there. Dr.P does amazing work. No nipples at that point but full boobs. The hospital stay was pretty uneventful with the exception of one panic attack. My amazing support system was there for every moment (with the exception of the panic attack! Which was my own fault. Shouldn’t have tried to be the tough gal. My memories of those days are a little blurry […]
Read MoreI am often asked how do I do it. With my two little boys and one big one (Tim, my awesome husband), my days are packed full. My days begin with getting my children ready for “school” (toddler programs with extended daycare). I drop them off and am running to my first client. I am an Occupational Therapist and work with children four days a week. After my work day is over I pick up my boys, do some kind of activity with them, get dinner ready and anxiously wait for Tim to get home. Then the hand off. Tim is my biggest supporter and source of strength. When I need a boost he is always there to give it no matter what it is. When he gets home and he takes over. Most days that is when I am off to work out – run, swim, bike, yoga, strength, what ever I need to do he supports me in getting it done. My goal in life is to live a long time!
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