Tattoo for Breast Cancer

My Facebook friend, Melissa Novak just posted a photo on her wall that really moved me.  Look, I'll be honest I'm not one for tattoos.  I don't have one, so pardon my ignorance. But I do want to share this photo.

As we all know Facebook has little robots in the background who will remove images that are not appropriate, but I can make a promise right now - I will never remove this one from my blog...

I work in the Breast Medical Oncology department at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and witness the horrors women - mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, etc. face day in and day out.  And even today, I will never understand what it's like to live with this horrible disease - Breast Cancer.

I'll let the image speak for itself...

Hello Everyone, This Tattoo was done for a woman who had breast cancer ! Facebook keeps removing the post in 24hour as an offensive photo do to nudity. However we feel this woman is both brave and strong so were going to post it anyways and ask for your awareness and support ; Please like and share this photo quickly to show your support for this and many other women who have lost so much. ( Kind Comments are welcome ) thanks !
Custom Tattoo Design

 

Chili Today, Gone Tamale

Well, my Chili didn't win first place, but overall it was the most authentic and most flavorful chili of all!  Granted, I feel I should have won since it was the first one that disappeared off the table. LOL.

The judges were people from other departments at M.D. Anderson with no affiliation to Breast Medical Oncology, because last year there were complaints the contest was rigged.

So it was a first for me on two different levels.  One, I created the cream corn and mozzarella cheese tamales hoping they would turn out great, and they did!  Second, I have never entered a cooking contest before - yep, this was my first time. :-)

The three judges read the results aloud starting with 3rd place, "It's Always Chili in BMO", the northeastern bean and chicken won them over.  Then came our team's chili, "Chili Today, Gone Tamale" - they stated my chili was the most authentic and most flavorful of all. Uhhh hellooooo?????   LOL.  And finally first place went to "Ready To Rock N' Roll" - for being the "most odd chili they've ever tasted - it was sweet, spicy and different."

Afterwards the entire department was able to feast on all the food.  Of course I had to try my competitor's chili and went with the winning chili, and it wasn't that bad actually.  But if you added potatoes and carrots - you'd definitely have some beef stew since it contained mostly pot roast.  So yeah, that was a little odd.  In either case, congrats to them.

Thank you all for the support and wish me luck next year! :-)

Time to Share: I Have The Most Wonderful News!!!!

I received some great news today and would absolutely love to share it with you.  I use my blog to record important events like this, because as I mentioned when I started this blog; We go about our daily lives "Facebooking," not realizing that our lives are being shared daily with our friends and family. There are times we wish to reflect on the past, especially the good times, and before you know it, it's gone. We share things with people we don't know in the physical sense, yet they are there to listen. We share things with the people we love, yet they seem to forget.

Countless times I have attempted to remember what I've posted on Facebook and what I've told the people I love or the great discussions we've had. And it's difficult to go back and reflect on all the good that's happened in our lives, or all the drama that's made us laugh. In order for me to go back I have to keep clicking that "older posts" link, without a date, without a tag, without no way of searching for that special moment I wanted to remember forever.

Well... the awesome news I want to share with you is....

I'm receiving a promotion, with a 15% increase in pay and I'm absolutely ecstatic about it.  This is such great news at a time when I was worrying about our staffing issues at work.  People seem to be dropping like flies around here.  Yes, some leave because they are over-worked, really stressed-out, asked to do jobs they were not hired to do, but others leave because they're able to find greater jobs here at MD Anderson, so they make lateral moves.  But being that I have worked in Breast Oncology for such a long time (9 years to be exact), I have stood my ground for the past four years, exceeded in areas I never thought I could achieve, and have proven to be a leader in our department.  This holiday season will be mine and Ryan's greatest holiday to date, and I am so grateful he has stood by my side for the past 6-1/2 years and will continue to enlighten me every moment of every day.  I couldn't have done this without him.  I couldn't.

I know I rant on my blog on a daily basis, but it's more than just ranting.  I like sharing.  I like sharing my opinions with happiness, my happiness with heart, but most importantly, my heart with all of you.

Thank you for reading my blog and enjoy your holidays this season.

Peter aka Blade 7184

Study Finds Wine Increases The Risk of Breast Cancer

For those that don't know, breast cancer hits close to home... 1.) I've had an aunt succumb to this terrible disease 2.) I've had family die of other types of cancer, and 3.) I work for The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, specifically in the Breast Medical Oncology department.
 
It took nearly 30 years, more than 100,000 women to gather enough data to determine that those who drink more than three glasses of wine a week, increases the risk of Breast Cancer by 15%.  And the more you drink, the greater the risk.  But is it cause for alarm?  Probably not, because it's also been shown that by drinking red wine you could help reduce the risk of heart disease.  Watching the video below may help shed some light, but personally, if it was me, I wouldn't drink it.  There are other ways you can prevent heart disease, but with breast cancer, it's not so easy.

Rethink Breast Cancer: Your Man Reminder

As most of you already know, I work in the Breast Medical Oncology department of the #1 cancer hospital in the world.  So when I saw this video, I couldn't wait to share it with my readers, friends, co-workers and Facebook pals.

The video is an advertising campaign for the new mobile app, "Your Man Reminder" released by the folks at Rethinkbreastcancer.com.

Rethink Breast Cancer is a charity helping young people who are concerned about and affected by breast cancer through innovative breast cancer education, research and support programs. Rethink is a national volunteer-driven registered charity with a bold, enterprising and entrepreneurial approach.

I'm sure the ladies and the gays will love it, but honestly, we can't overlook the importance of Breast Cancer Awareness.  Do your part and share this with everyone you know.  And men, you too, can get this terrible disease, don't overlook it.