WAS I IN THE LADIES ROOM . . when these cancer questions were asked?

Or did no one ask how Europeans can keep so many dangerous substances out of their countries? And why we can't?

There are businesses in the European Union that need to earn a living. So how did all those carcinogens get outlawed there, while we still breathe them, and eat them, and while our kids still roll in them when they play on somebody;s lawn?  Did anyone go over there and ask how they do it?

There are businesses in other countries that have stockholders to be pleased.  So why does food on their shelves have to be labeled?  Did anyone go over there and ask how they do it?

There are sick people in other countries who take medicine.  So why do we spend more than they do on health care, and spend so much of it on drugs that Europeans wouldn't feed to their dogs?  Did anyone go over there and ask how they got those drugs outlawed?

Did anyone ask The White House whom they've sent over to Europe to learn how we can get rid of many carcinogens as they have?

Or didn't anyone here want to know?  If we do know how they keep horrible stuff out, why aren't we doing anything about it!

I read a post last night that said the French elect their top leaders by popular vote.

We used to hear over and over about looking for an honest man.  I think there are plenty of them here. And I guess they are all afraid big business will overcome their political party.

So, why don't we look for a brave man?  One who will step outside the party system and say we won't tolerate this carcinogenic poison in our country any more.  

LUMPECTOMY FOR BEGINNERS - Post - surgery followup and a Rant

This afternoon, the surgeon.  My incision looks as good to me as before radiation.  We'll see what the doctor says. I wanted to see the medical oncologist before today, but it didn't work out. Time seems to slip through my fingers since the lumpectomy.

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Now for the Rant:  Last night I read the Yahoo news blog on the World Health Organization report that cancer will have a huge upsurge worldwide in the next two decades.

The blog said nothing about what the WHO bases this prediction on. 

 Diet, exercise, and early detection were mentioned as possible prevention for half of us.   Alcohol and tobacco were mentioned as causes.  But tobacco use has widely declined here.  Will we all start eating more fast junk, sit more than we already do with our horrendous commutes? 

Nothing about the environment!  Not a word about carcinogens around us and in our food and our sunscreens and, and, and.    

There was a photo of a cancer patient resting.  He didn't look as if too much red meat and too many martinis were his lifestyle.  Much of the world does not get a lot of fast food, alcohol, lengthy commutes, and lolling in front of tv.  Their air is not full of vehicle exhaust.  What gives them cancer?

My main Rant? Calling early detection "prevention" always makes  me furious!  We can detect a polyp and prevent some cancers. But detecting cancer means you've got it!    

Early detection of breast cancer in situ doesn't prevent cancer. It finds unhealthy cells.  We may need surgery and perhaps radiation to get what is detected. We hope that's all of it. If not, we hope our own immune systems will kill some rogue cells. We may take preventive medicine for years, enduring the side effects. And we wait.  

Some of us do believe that exercise and good eating habits help keep cancer away or keep it from showing up again.  Dr. Salwitz believes in exercise, and I believe him.  

Some of us, like me, believe the science published in books like The Immune Power Personality, and we work on our minds and behavior to help keep us healthy.

But some of us want to know what our governments are going to do about environmental causes.  Some take action with petitions and letters about pollution.  Obviously, that's not enough!  

LOOKING FOR THE CAUSE! Breathing it? Sleeping on it?

This morning I ran into a barrage of article on fire retardants and thyroid cancer.  Since a number of my friends have had thyroid issues, and I take levothyroxine, I dove into the topic headfirst.

Memories of the new sofa bed I got in 2011 and used for less than a month at least helped me to notice these articles.  After all, someone somewhere is sleeping on it now, I'm sure.

Then there were mentions of fire retardants on foam, and I certainly slept on foam pillows at times.  Not to mention a year on a memory foam mattress!

I found several mentions on line of the hearings on the Chemical Safety Improvement Act, (CSIA)  bit didn't read all the way to the bottom line on what's next.  

Just sent an email to Breast Cancer Action, San Francisco, to ask for any updates since fall of 2013.

You can send them an email, too.  After all, many of us are wearing some of the same clothes as before we were diagnosed with DCIS or other breast cancer.  And napping on the same fire retardant sofa.

And buying things that have gone around the California laws, for better or for worse.  Like kitchen cabinet companies who order cabinets built outside CA.  And we still wear rayon, and love it, from garment  companies who buy from rayon manufacturers, for better or for worse.

Write to somebody.  Call some politician.  Call a doctor and see if he's up to date on harmful chemicals.  Tell me when you do.