Last Blog

I am just returned from my first follow-up visit to my surgeon and medical oncologist, to find that the latter is on a year’s sick leave…

It has been 9 months of sickness – or if I reframe that, 9 months of rebirth and regrowth. I am blessed with some time now to create a new life for this that I call me. I live in and host a new environment; I look like a new person, right now with a Tintin do. I have created new exercise programmes, tweaked my diet, improved my social life and generally become easier being a human being. I realise that as such I know nothing, so best just to get on with what I have and know for sure deep in my Being. As that Being, I have no need of knowing anything. Just as the trees around me on my walk, I need only to breathe to be ok in this world, and when it is autumn, the leaf will fall. There is a hum to the universe that includes that which I call me – if I can identify with That, I am doing well.

I had planned that this blog would talk about environmental toxicity and its links with hormones and the whole bag of xeno-estrogenic issues that is slowly being prised open. The prognosis is encouraging. Recently our Canadian government became the first country in the world to declare bisphenol-A (BPA) as toxic. The David Suzuki Foundation just the other day made news headlines with a list of 12 chemicals that are found in 80% of our most common cosmetic products. Two things need to happen here:
Number One is to read those labels, and number two is to vote with your purse – do not buy products containing the following ‘dirty dozen’, reproduced from the CBC website.

“1 – BHA and BHT. Used in moisturizers as preservatives, the suspected endocrine disruptors may cause cancer and are known to be harmful to fish and other wildlife
2 – Coal-tar dyes such as p-phenylenediamine and colours listed as CI followed by five digits. Used in some hair dyes, may be contaminated with heavy metals toxic to the brain.
3 – DEA, cocamide DEA and lauramide DEA. Used in some creamy and foaming moisturizers and shampoos. Can react to form nitrosamines, which may cause cancer. Harmful to fish and other wildlife.
4 – Dibuytl phthalate. Used as a plasticizer in some nail-care products. Suspected endocrine disrupter and reproductive toxicant. Harmful to fish and other wildlife.
5 – Formaldehyde releasing preservatives such as DMDM hydantoin, diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, methenamine, quarternium-15 and sodium hydroxymethylglycinate. Used in a variety of cosmetics. Slowly release small amounts of formaldehyde, which causes cancer.
6 – Paraben, methylparaben, butylparaben and propylparaben. Used in a variety of cosmetics as preservatives. Suspected endocrine disrupters and may interfere with male reproductive functions.
7 – Parfum. Any mixture of fragrance ingredients used in a variety of cosmetics. Some fragrance ingredients can trigger allergies and asthma. Some linked to cancer and neurotoxicity. Some harmful to fish and other wildlife.
8 – PEG Compounds such as PEG-60. Used in some cosmetic cream bases. Can be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, which may cause cancer.
9 – Petrolatum. Used in some hair products for shine and as a moisture barrier in some lip balms, lip sticks and moisturizers. A petroleum product that can be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which may cause cancer.
10 – Siloxanes: cyclotetrasiloxane, cyclopentasiloxane, cyclohexasiloxane and cyclopethicone. Used in a variety of cosmetics to soften, smooth and moisten. Suspected endocrine disrupter and reproductive toxicant (cyclotetrasiloxane). Harmful to fish and other wildlife.
11 – Sodium laureth sulphate. Used in some foaming cosmetics, such as shampoos, cleansers and bubble bath. Can be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, which may cause cancer.
12 – Triclosan. Used in some antibacterial cosmetics, such as toothpastes, cleansers and deodorants. Suspected endocrine disrupter and may contribute to antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Harmful to fish and other wildlife.”

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/10/19/suzuki-dirty-dozen.html#ixzz12p3T94kD

I urge you to print this and put it in a place where your family can easily read it and check all they purchase. Add TCE (Tri-chloro-ethalyne) to the list. My radiation oncologist talks of the link between the increase in cancer and the amounts of this epoxy solvent TCE in our drinking water. The more I research the effect these silent killers are having on our bodies – people and the earth - the scarier it can become. But we can make a difference by becoming educated, and making changes to what we purchase and with what we surround ourselves. If you haven’t done so yet, read ‘Slow Death by Rubber Duck’ and get passionate about your internal and external environments. 8 years ago, when I was diagnosed with my first cancer, there was very little information or understanding out-there on chemical toxicity beyond Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring.’ Today, the information is prolific and we no longer have ignorance to blame for our situations. And that is why I am ceasing this blog. I don’t need to rant about it all anymore. I need to create my own programme, and in doing so urge you to do the same. Start eating a plant-based organic diet, move a lot, love yourself and all around you. Today could be your last. Make it good.

On a personal note, at my 3-month follow up the other day with my surgical oncologist, we began the consultation with him talking about the next step, which in his training did not mean so much Tamoxifen as an aromatase inhibitor (eg. the Armidex I took, and now there are others). I had previously practiced many internal scenarios telling my surgeon that I did not want to take Tamoxifen, so when I began with the slick phrase, “Dr. K., I appreciate all that you and your team do for my health,” he burst out laughing, knowing what was to follow.
The part that made my heart dance was after I had requested we put all those chemical bits on the proverbial back-burner, he began to talk of how this cancer thing is way bigger than anyone can figure right now, and anyway, I only have 2 breasts, so this means that challenge is behind me.
The thing is, we have no clue as to when we will breathe our last, so until then, I take enormous pleasure in considering this moment to always be my last. How beautiful now the bare trees, gathering their strength for the coming winter – preventive strategy or just plain wisdom. That is all we can do, as we constantly engage in the process of transformation. Transformation is the name of the game for a human being particularly; we have so many tools, so many clues. The challenge, if you like, is seeing where we can, and may-well get caught in the particular manifestation at any given time. I just know that as soon as I open my heart, miracles happen. The other evening I was tearing open, with my bare hands, down the middle of an orange/red very shapely fall squash that suddenly felt as though I was opening my heart and the 2 halves, my breasts, were being thrown to the space.
At that very instant in time, at that very moment, no kidding, the insistent buzzing of the backhoe working next door suddenly and decisively stopped.
What synchronicity steeped in symbolism! As soon as I open my heart, my mental chatter releases. But that line of enquiry my friends will have to be the subject of another blog.

I thank all who have been reading my entries and wish you a long and happy life. Good luck to us all, God bless us every one.

You may reach me at fyson.randall@gmail.com