F*** Cancer. Enough.

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No really.  F*** it.  I’ve had enough of hearing that yet another friend is fighting this battle, had enough of cancer attacking young, strong, wonderful people, had enough of this awful disease.  Had enough.  Enough.

Last week alone, a friend’s husband lost his battle with cancer, another friend was diagnosed, and a third friend discovered a second cancer site.  And that’s just last week, just within my circle of friends and acquaintances.  Enough.

Cancer’s reach is widespread and non-discriminate.  More than 187 000 Canadians got a cancer diagnosis last year, and 40% of us can expect to get diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives.  40%, 2 in 5, almost half.  Enough.

So what can we do?

We can help them fight.  We can fight with our friendship, our homemade soup, and our I’m-here-for-you-hugs.   We can fight with our screening tools, our risk-factor minimization, and our spread of awareness.  We can fight with our wallets, our research dollars, and our fundraising efforts.  We can help them fight until it’s enough.

Canadian-Cancer-Society

Here are a few fundraising efforts near and dear to my heart.  Please grab your credit card and click on the links.  Enough.

Love the Snatch Foundation for Cervical Cancer Research

Kim’s Ride to Cross Out Cancer

Burlington’s Relay for Life

Spring Detox: I do Love a Challenge

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Here I am, on day 10 of a 14-day “Spring detox” with a big group from my gym.  And I’m miserable.  Okay, perhaps that’s a bit too dramatic- I’m not miserable, but I’m definitely not feeling like myself.  However, I am learning a lot…

Past cleanse experiences have left me feeling weak and hungry- not something I was willing to put myself through with a young family and busy career to manage.  Jennifer Morris, the owner of Crossfit Altitude, and Dr. Jordan Robertson, ND, are leading this group, and explained that the meaning of this detox is to:

  • give yourself a break from daily habits
  • incorporate more nutrients, sleep, and healthy habits
  • learn about how your body works
  • overcome cravings, vices, and unhealthy habits.

Bingo.  I decided to join in to break myself of a few habits that have crept in; namely, near-nightly sweets, a drink with dinner, and far too much coffee. There’s strength in numbers, right?  And it’s been a couple of years since I’ve done a cleanse, so it seemed like a good way to kick-start myself into better health and better nutrition.  And I do love a challenge.

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The “rules” of this cleanse have been pretty easy to follow- it’s basically strict paleo-style eating, which I tend to roughly follow in my day-to-day life anyways- no wheat/gluten, dairy, legumes, or nightshade vegetables, which are all pro-inflammatory.  But it’s eliminating sugar, alcohol, and caffeine that’s been the challenge.  I’ve also been having one superfood-shake per day, a “detox formula” twice/day, some apple cider vinegar, and litres upon litres of lemon water.  Simple.  Easy to follow.  Except it hasn’t been for me.  I’ve had headaches, fatigue, digestive symptoms, and moodiness.  I’ve been choking down my superfood-shake and gagging on apple cider vinegar (you can see that lovely video here).  I’ve been dreaming of coffee and thinking about sugar.  I haven’t had the energy bursts, the lack of bloat, the clear-headedness that everyone else seems to be having.  So why am I doing this?  Ah yes, I do love a challenge.  I’ve been assured that the reactions I’ve had are likely all part of the “detoxification” of my body, mingled in with the complex processes of adrenal fatigue, food sensitivities, psychological challenges, and liver processing.  In short, everyone reacts differently.

Aside from two cheats on the weekend (coffee on Mother’s Day and a glass of wine with my girlfriends on Saturday night), I have followed the plan to the letter, 100%, all-in.  So there’s a sense of accomplishment there, and the horizon is in sight.  I’ve definitely broken my candy-on-the-couch habit and although the caffeine cravings are still there, they’re lessening.  So even though my body has reacted poorly to this, I’m still glad I did it.  I’ve gained some willpower, some misery-loves-company stories, and some knowledge about how my body and mind operate.

And I only have four days left…

Some Construction Paper and a Smile

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*** This was originally written as a Guest Blog post for Momstown.ca. ***

I believe that parenting is a group effort.  And so the saying goes:

So when my 2-year-old daughter was diagnosed with amblyopia last month, I turned to my village.

* As an aside, amblyopia is an eye disorder that involves decreased vision in an eye that otherwise appears normal. In her case, this visual impairment is severe, and she needs glasses and daily eye-patching to ‘teach’ her left eye to function.

Someone suggested making a book for her to illustrate the process of what was happening to her.  Brilliant.  At just-barely-two, her comprehension is much higher than her verbal communication skills, and a book seemed like the perfect option to explain this experience.  So, with some construction paper and a smile, I made her this:

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And it worked like a charm.  It’s her favorite book, we read it multiple times a day, and she gets it.  Her glasses are helping, her eye-patching is helping, and we’re gonna be just fine.

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