Life after Cancer..

For many cancer survivors there is an overwhelming feeling of relief when a clean bill of health comes from the doctor.

The other side of the coin is the feeling of " what if" that comes along with the news.

" What if" it comes back? " What if" something else goes wrong. This type of thinking can become so distracting that your daily life can be consumed with fears.

The one thing I try to remember is that anything can happen to anyone at any time.

We have nothing but our ability to look at the best possible scenarios to get us through the days.

And a day with the people you love is worth smiling about.

Remember that cancer is a word, not a sentence, if you have been set free, start living.

You are not defined by your illness, but more in how you overcome it.

Toxins in our cosmetics

Apparently, there are ingredients found in cosmetic products that are possibly causing cancer. My friend Renee sent me this email & I looked it up on the internet wanting more information. Well guess what, there's tons of discussion on this topic. I'll sum up one link, breast cancer tissue was examined and found what could only be a build up of ingredients from topical products. I Googled 'paraben link to cancer,':http://www. health-report. co. uk/parabens. htmhttp://www. mindfully. org/Pesticide/2004/Parabens-Breast-Significance1jan04. htmhttp://www. mindfully. org/Pesticide/2004/Methylparaben-Deodorant-Cancer12jan04. htmThis is from the Health Report webite:'We have been warning people about the potential toxic effects of parabens for ages and how the increase in breast cancer and all cancers could be directly attributed to chemicals in the body. (This includes of course the shocking revelations that HRT was directly responsible for another 20,000 women to contract cancer recently.) Not just from using underarm deodorants either. Virtually all so-called 'skin Care' products have dangerous chemicals in them. Parabens are just one of a large bunch of toxic chemicals that no-one has any idea of what the long term effects are if you use them every day on your skin.' 'If you want to be free of all the toxic chemicals that vested interests tell you are 'good' for your skin and 'safe' don't use them! Period! The only safe products we recommend for use on the skin are Certified Organic products that are made to food grade standards. Yes you could eat them - because they are 100% free of all synthetic chemicals.'Just look in the ingredient listing of your lotions/washes and if you find words ending with 'paraben' it is probably a good idea not to buy this product. I looked at all the face/body washes, masks and lotion in my cabinet finding a few with the 'paraben' ingredient; expensive lines too! One product line in my cupboard didn't show the ingredient in the night-time lotion but had parabens in the day-time lotion. Check your deodorants and shampoo/conditioners too. When shopping you will find a couple product lines are even stating 'Paraben Free' on the front because this is a growing concern. If you shop or do your research online it is really easy to find paraben free products.Here is an excellent resource, where you can look up cosmetics to see how they score on various parameters (including paraben content): http://www. cosmeticsdatabase. com We have to take care of ourselves and each-other. If you have any info on parabens, please let me know.

Cleaning your enviornment!

As a cancer survivor, I now hear so much about enviornmental cancer. As I have mentioned before, I am on a mission to "change" my enviornment and the enviornnment for those that I love. I am personally starting in my own home.

The fastest growing group of cancer patients is kids and stay at home moms. Hmmmmm.
What is the common denominator? I feel it is the home. We moms with small kids are in the home more and we are constantly cleaning up. Now the question. What are we cleaning up with?

Did you know that the FDA has made it so that cleaning products do not have to list the ingredients? Or that the " fragrance" industry is exempt from telling you how they get those lovely smells and what they are made of? Scary!!!!

So, I have changed my home to natural cleaning products. I have found a company that will deliver natural cleaning products to my home. I buy everything on line and I love that I do not lug heavy bottles of laundry detergent anymore.

The company sells soaps, dishwashing soaps, laundry soaps, and all of the usual household cleaners with no toxic chemicals. I cannot believe how much better I feel. I used to get a headache after spraying Windex and now no side effects from cleaning.

Another disturbing fact is that I know a woman who cleans homes and her friends keep getting cancer and dying. These women are all under 50 years of age. What is the link? Guess what? They were all cleaning ladies!!!No one can prove it, but I would rather do what I can to avoid the problems.

If you want to know how to get your cleaning products delivered to your home that are actually cheaper than commercial products, e mail me at natasha@peakmodels.com
I will be happy to forward you the info that I have and you can get started shoppeing from your computer too.

ALl the best!
Natasha Duswalt

My Cancer Solutions

Hello everyone! I wanted to create this blog to help people that are affected by cancer.
My name is Natasha and I am a wife and mother to three young boys ages 3, 6, and 8. My husband and I own our own business in the entertainment industry. We represent models and actors at our agency Peak Models & Talent www.peakmodels.com
Feel free to check out our blog at peakmodelsandtalent.blogspot.com

In October 2006 I had lost my voice for over 2 weeks and I had a dry cough. It got to the point where it was hurting to cough, and I went to the doctor. After a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia, my doctor asked me what the "lump" in my neck was? I had never noticed a lump in my neck, but my back had a sore spot between the ribs up high.
The next day I went to the pumpkin patch with my middle son's class and was called by my doctor to get a CT scan. He did not tell my why, I just figured that there was a chest infection or something. I went for the scan, they referred my to an ENT. I got in without an appointment, they wanted to see my thyroid, they referred me to an ultrasound of my neck, again, no appointment. You know it is serious when you don't need an appointment.
At the ultrasound, the technician called in a passing doctor and asked him to take a look. Within a moment he had a concerned look and told me that there was noting wrong with my thyroid, there was something next to my thyroid. I asked what is there? Lymph system.
I went back to get a FNA ( fine needle aspiration) and within a few minutes I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma Stage 2. I was devastated, and I wanted answers. I felt that it was unfair, that I had followed the rules, I had eaten properly, taken vitamins, and I had three boys to care for. This was not happening to me. It couldn't.
I have long since been searching for the answers to why people get cancer, and everyone told me I would drive myself crazy, so I did. I found answers all over the place.
I want to share with others what I have found, and let you know that there are valid solutions to keeping yourself in an optimal state of health. I have also found that there are countless chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis that are cancer causing. This blog will be updated on a regular basis with information that will help people avoid these chemicals in their daily lives, along with things you can do to help while going through chemo.
Keep checking back!