The three-year-olds were singing “up like a rocket, down like the rain, ‘round and ‘round like a choo-choo train” to demonstrate how well they could hold their bows to their pint-size violins. Staying home with Nick, it was my husband who enjoyed the distinct privilege of reveling, firsthand, in these toddler’s first steps. I only got the post-recital smile—the one I always get when I think about the tiniest musicians among us—as I listened to the complete run-down of their afternoon in Westport. We’d been through that drill four times. The “taca-taca-stop-stop” rhythms on the A-and E-strings; the “Mississippi is a River”; and enough Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’s to practically send us orbiting around them. I’m the first to admit: after the fourth kid got through the “twinkles” I honestly thought that if I never heard that song again, it would be just fine by me.

But then in talking about the recital over the first dinner we’ve shared alone during the past three weeks, I couldn’t help but romanticize the whole process. As I reflected back on the past thirteen years of violin lessons, I thought about those first recital pieces, about dressing up Cristina in hand-smocked dresses with white tights and black patent leather shoes, and about the first time two of them played Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins onstage one Mother’s Day. Yesterday, just as my daughter got on stage to perform, the school director gave a couple minute speech of encouragement for the other parents. For those with babes barely “twinkling” needed to understand that, before long, they too would witness mastery up close and personal. If only they could stick with it long enough…..

Sticking with anything is hard enough. In this harried world of ours, where emails have replaced handwritten letters; “IM” has replaced leisurely phone chats; and digital pix sent over the internet have replaced personal visits: it’s no wonder that few of us have the patience for mastery. For enduring the day-to-day until the picture is 100% complete. During this time in which we find ourselves, business—and life—moves at the speed of thought. And we can hardly wait for that thought to be finished so we can move on to the next one. (Ever catch yourself finishing someone else’s sentence?)

We’re great starters, each one of us. Because starting something only requires that we overcome the law of inertia, (and maybe a dollop of temptation, too). Getting our bottoms off the sofa and over to the art studio to paint or our legs off the footstool and over to the treadmill to run both require overcoming inertia and the temptation of relaxing with too much TV. Finishing the after-school cupcake so as to pull the violin out of the case not only requires overcoming inertia; it requires serious discipline as well. But each act is far easier than incorporating it into your everyday reality. Indeed, going from the first piece in a music book to a full-fledged concerto is a different thing entirely. (As is going from a beginning painter to one who exhibits at galleries or a soft, overweight couch-sitter to a hard-bodied athlete who enjoys both physical strength and aerobic endurance.)

When I reveled today in hearing my daughter perform a drop-dead gorgeous movement from a concerto by Handel (in a post-recital private concert just for me), I was caught off-guard by its parallel to the roughly three-year endurance battle that our son is facing now with leukemia. As my daughter is sailing through mastery, I couldn’t help but think of all the violin battles we’ve had over the years when she was barely taking those first steps of musicianship. Of hating to practice, of hating to play scales, of hating those nasty etudes. The eyeball-rolling, the door-slamming, and the stomping of the feet on each step up the hardwood staircase. And yet here we were, enjoying the fruits of all of those days of practice. It was a goose bump moment that could not be denied. It was proof-positive that mastery comes in inches, and not in miles. And it was a lesson to me that battles of health, or catastrophe, or financial hardships are not fought three years out. They’re fought inch by inch.

It was my girlfriend, Lisa, who sent me the “inch by inch is a cinch” line. She met me with it when I needed to hear it the most. She met me with it when I was trying to mush three years of chemotherapy treatments into one day. When I was trying to calculate the math of a three-year chemo roadmap with high school graduation and the first two years of college away from home. Of three years of immune suppression with three other kids and an airplane-traveling husband during flu season. And of six months of long drives to the out-of-town clinic with New England snowstorms.

Yet I must claim “inch by inch” these days. I claim it when Nick’s hematologist lays out the day’s plan. I claimed it on Friday when we were sent back to the hospital for the day and another overnight stay. And I even got Dr. Joe claiming it with me. Together, we agree to not worry about what next week—or next year—will bring; it’s simply too much to think about. We agree to tackle the battle inch by inch.

Whatever your personal struggle or your present-day worry: adopt an “inch by inch is a cinch” plan of positive action. As I’ve said often: just ask yourself at the end of each day: “Did I move forward?” And if you did—even by an inch—you can sleep soundly in the assurance that you will triumph in this journey of life. One day not far from now, inch by inch, you’ll celebrate mastery. You’ll celebrate wholeness. You’ll celebrate complete healing.

Carolina Fernandez earned an M.B.A. and worked at IBM and as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch before coming home to work as a wife and mother of four. She totally re-invented herself along the way. Strong convictions were born about the role of the arts in child development; homeschooling for ten years provided fertile soil for devising creative parenting strategies. These are played out in ROCKET MOM! 7 Strategies To Blast You Into Brilliance. It is available on Amazon.com, in bookstores everywhere, or by calling 888-476-2493. She writes extensively for a variety of parenting resources and teaches other moms via parenting classes and radio and TV interviews. Please visit http://www.rocketmom.com to subscribe to her free ezine and get a weekly shot of inspiration.

Benzene Related Diseases - Leukemia

There have been documented dangers of benzene for well over a century now. Even though benzene exposure often leads to leukemia, there are also many non-cancerous diseases that have been shown when exposed to elevated levels of benzene. Some of these other diseases include:

Myelodysplastic syndromes: also called ‘pre-leukemia’, this is a collection of diseases resulting in diminished blood production and can weaken the immune system. This can result in leukemia.

Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: this is a disease affecting the lymphatic systems and shares many similarities with leukemia. It can eventually affect the bone marrow in addition to other organs.

Aplastic Anemia: this is a condition where the marrow in the bone stops producing enough blood cells to replace lost ones.

Even though these diseases are not leukemia, they have strikingly similar resemblances. The victims who suffer from them many times can’t tell the difference. Even with proper care and treatment, victims of these diseases face an uphill battle exposed to pain and suffering.

To learn more about leukemia please visit our website at http://www.resource4leukemia.com

This article may be freely reprinted as long as this resource box is included and all links stay in-tact. Please visit our Leukemia information site at http://www.resource4leukemia.com

As I continue my theory on curing cancer I wish to further CYA my position. I am not a medical doctor, thank god actually, because the malpractice insurance would drive me nuts. Also since I am not in the medical field at all you cannot sue me for this idea, concept of mine. Now then continuing Part III.

Chemo that is directly induced where needed might work, but we have better technology now and could use specific fluid dynamic beams of energy or radiation pointed at the exact source and area or even non-evasive light. Now then here is some additional information: it is now possible to send thoughts by fax through three-dimensional spatial representation of the brain in hologram video. We have hologram faxing available and Brain Surgeons are using this to show damage in the brain. The guy who thought of it had my friend in Malibu working for his company in LA. Now they can transmit this data by fax, three-dimensional faxing, like sending a cad cam design computer, but you can now fax it with special machinery.

Now we maybe able to use this same idea to send a thought. This relates to my theory of cancer curing so follow along. Wow, eventually the devise would be very small the size of a dime or so to send and receive data or thoughts by way of this devise, this is way in the future, but it could be available to the common man in 20 years or so. Now before this technology gets this small and nano-tech achieves these seemingly impossible feats we can use the basic concept to record a thought for my cancer experiment.

Now just think about this for a second. There have been cancer survivors with very positive thought patterns and attitudes and part of the reason they lived and others died may have been just that. We must mirror these thoughts of strength, character and attitude and place these thought patterns in those who do not have them. We can look into the thought patterns of many cancer survivors and take those and average them and mimic them and place them in the patients. Duplicate them with TMS through fMRI scanning and send those impulses to those areas of the brain of the patient.

Strong patients will be best since those thought patterns can converge. All we have to do is isolate the things I have discussed before in my many articles and in my brain research with regards to the 10,000 chemicals of the brain 2000 interacting at any one time and 200 prevalent. Take the ten strongest components of the 200 and experiment with them. What we are looking for in those miraculous cases, why did they survive, what makes them different, why do some die and others live? We look at the brain areas which light up and release the cancer fighting biological components in each strong willed survivor. We find common ground and record it, then hook a machine up to stimulate those parts of the brain in the other cancer fighting folks.

First we try the first experiment by placing thought of one persons brain into that of another, and yes as strange as this sounds I do believe it is totally possible and as the future marches on, very probable. This experiment to prove my hypothesis takes two people from the same mom, preferably brothers or sisters of the same mom and dad and hopefully born within a short time frame (2-3 years). Grew up and were nurtured by the same parents. Similar birth dates. Twins would also be good for this. To prove my experiment first; You separate the twins by 4000 miles but both at the same altitude preferably sea level. Similar longitude with similar magnetic pulls and similar gravity pull of the Earth; this will make sure that the oxygen level in the brain is similar and it will be a non-artificial environment, not a clean room.

Next; You then hook up a brain scanner that records a thought, a complex one, simple one first time. Then record where in the brain the energy is located in sequence during the thought. This is done all the time. It will take a controlled thought and focused thought at first. Next you send the digital thought sequences to the other coast. You could also fax that three-dimensional model to the East Coast or Pacific side or where you are, and hook up the data and the model to the brother or sister. And recreate the exact impulses where they occurred in the last person on the west coast or East Coast. Provided the diets are similar and the intake is similar, oxygen level, basic genetics are similar, you should have it. The same basic thought. Recorded transferred and sent and then duplicated, Thought transfer.

Now that would be a worthy accomplishment in itself but the possibilities for cancer fighting would be amazing indeed. Now obviously you do not reveal the thought to the other person, let them tell you what the thought is or was. A thought is recorded and therefore timeless. Thoughts can travel through time at least we can travel thoughts to the future. Just like knowledge. Or at least this has been theorized by many including Einstein. Now for my experiment once concept of thought transfer is proven: Now after this is done, you take a cancer survivors abilities of focusing in their own your body, mimic the diet and intake of that person with the patient anywhere in the world.

End of Part III

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

One of the most devastating cancers of all is Leukemia and the costs to fight it are immensely expensive. When a child has leukemia it is even more devastating threatening to cut a life short. Many times communities will rally together to have fundraisers to cover the costs. Generally the whole community and several fundraisers can come up with the funds with a couple of large donations. To attract large donors, it pays to have the public relations and show a consciousness effort to reach the goal for the treatment. Every year bone morrow transplants costs in crease. One of the fundraisers you might wish to consider is a car wash fundraiser. A pre-sale ticket car wash fundraiser can make significantly larger dollars than a normal car wash fundraiser. Let’s discuss pre-sale ticket strategies for a moment.

PRE-SALE TICKETS

You should seriously consider selling presale tickets for your car wash. There are a lot of advantages in pre-selling your tickets such as:

You know about how many people will come to your car wash ahead of time

66% of the ticket buyers never show up but you’ve already got the money

If it rains you’re washed up but not washed out

You will also have use of the money in advance even in the event of rain. Your rain date might be three weeks later yet you have most of the money in your coffers now. Important monies that can go towards your goal for the treatment.

Let’s take one of our 1990 car washes. It was for the local high school band. There were one hundred plus students in the band. The average student sold twenty tickets at $5.00 each. The presale ended up about $10,000. That in it self would be great, but it gets better. The day of the event we raised $985.00 in drive-ups. Some of the girls on the drill team waved tall flags and others held poster board signs that brought the cars in all right. We washed 408 cars. Wow, were we tired! We had two solid lines of cars at least fifteen deep all day long. 201 cars were drive-ups with no presale tickets. With tips included that made up the $985.00. That left 207 cars worth of presale with tickets. But you say, "How can that be?" 207 times $5.00 = only $1,035.00. That’s right. Since our lines were so long a lot of people didn’t claim their tickets or never intended on coming in the first place or forgot or had some thing else to do that day. I believe it was a combination of all these reasons. Whatever the reason, the money went to a good cause. We’ve had many many fundraisers that have been equally successful over the years.

Now someone will have to typeset these tickets and have them printed. There is probably someone in your group who is a graphic artist or really good with a PC or MAC computer. They’ll do fine. The tickets should be eight to ten on a page. You should print them on colored paper so they are not easily duplicated. You should pick a color that matches with your church, club or school’s colors. Have the tickets cut. Put the individual tickets into piles of twenty. Put a piece of cardboard or poster board the exact size underneath each stack. Buy some rubber cement. Put about ten stacks of twenty tickets on top of each other and put them in a vice. Paint the rubber cement on the left side of the ticket book and let dry for one hour. Repeat until you have enough booklets for each member. You might want to print another dozen booklets just in case. If the tickets are selling fast, you don’t want to run out. That will break your momentum.

You should have frequent ticket sales progress meetings with the people selling the car wash tickets. That way, if sales aren’t meeting goals you can help motivate members or reorganize the group.

Tickets can be expensive to print. Ask a local print shop to advertise on the back and become a sponsor in exchange for half price or free printing of the tickets. Most print shops do binding so you may be able to trade for that and save you the time and aggravation of binding the ticket books yourself. Print shops will do a more professional job at binding than you can do on your first time trying. Professional tickets are more presentable and look more official when selling to customers. This will help your group in their selling efforts.

When a community unites in a common cause miracles can occur, all this positive energy and mind power may significantly help the child win their battle with leukemia. Work together and work smart to raise the funds needed and the awareness required to rid the world of this terrible problem and save your local VIP from leukemia. Think on this.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Occasionally a loved one dies of a disease, which is currently non-curable, yet science is on the verge of a break thru. Of course these people with such illnesses do not wish to die either, in fact most likely they would like to see their future grandchildren graduate college. Such unfortunate events happen all the time and many would say this is merely part of life, however there is another interesting new discovery, which could change all that. Mark Roth and his associates have discovered that it is possible to induce hibernation in mice using hydrogen sulfide gas. Normally the hydrogen sulfide gas is a very deadly and toxic gas, but when used in the right ratios can put a small mammal into suspended animation or hibernation, just like the Bears do in winter.

Once induced the vital signs of the hibernating rats went down 90%, meaning their bodies were still working but at only 10%. If we could do this for dying humans of disease we could stop the disease from spreading and allow the patient to remain in hibernation for 9 times their current life expectancy, which should be long enough to allow the scientists working in various fields to come up with new cures for their ailments? Although this has not been tried on humans there are many stories of kids going into hibernation, coma victims returning to normal life and some cases where adults were frozen in an icy river, slowly thawed out and were perfectly fine afterwards. This maybe the answer to life extension for many or possibly a second chance and possible way to buy some more time until a cure is found. Think on this.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Cancer in any form is a deadly disease. But when it affects the most vital components of the body then their fatality increases manifold. One such type of cancer is cancer of the blood, technically known as leukemia. Blood is the most important tissue of the body. It is the connective tissue which carries and supplies oxygen and other vital elements to the remotest parts of the body. The importance of blood can be understood by the fact that it is the most important of all the connective tissues which provide the nutrients and other vital elements to the body.

The most dangerous feature of leukemia is that it is related to the blood which has access to almost all body organs including the all important brain and heart. The incidence of cancerous cells being carried to the different parts of the body increases drastically due to this fact. Another striking aspect of the blood cancer is that it affects the leukocytes or the “white blood corpuscles” of the blood. These are the ones that protect the body from external infections. Thus the immunity of the body is seen to decrease drastically due to leukemia. The main effect of the disease is that the body starts producing infected and abnormal cells that hinder the function of blood i.e. carrying of oxygen.

A patient suffering from leukemia is seen to loose weight due to anemia. This happens because the cancerous cells are unable to carry the hemoglobin properly which is the chief source of iron to the body. And due to that the body looses all vitality. The situation of the patient becomes vulnerable because the brain also starts to dysfunction due to infected blood. Headache, night sweats etc. can be commonly seen to occur as an attachment to this deadly disease.

The people living in areas prone to radioactive waste disposal and activity are most common targets of leukemia. Overexposure to radioactivity causes the cells to mutate and function abnormally. The children who are diagnosed with Down syndrome have a high probability to develop leukemia. Over exposure to Benzene, the industrially important hydrocarbon is also a known cause of blood cancer. The abnormal cells are easily detected under the microscope. Thus the doctor suspicious of such a disease advises the patient for a bone marrow examination. The onset can be detected by the swollen lymph nodes of the body which are commonly found in armpits, around the neck and at the thigh.

Chemotherapy is the most effective but a very painful way of killing the cancerous cells. The patient is subjected to drugs orally. The patient undergoes tremendous pressure as he is injected with lot many chemicals at a time. Another treatment is through the radiation. It is also very treacherous way of getting treated. The patients are seen to loose hair and texture of skin.

Leukemia though very dangerous is still curable and the research in the field is also being done on an extensive basis. Proper treatment at the right time can prevent the reflux of this disease. Methods like bone marrow transplant, which may be required at a later stage, are also effective in treating the patient. Above all to over come with the disease a person needs to be loved and supported by all. Leukemia is fatal disease but life is mightier then it.

Mansi aggarwal writes about leukemia. Learn more at http://www.leukemiacorner.com

We are constantly hearing ideas and claims of what we should eat to keep us from getting cancer. There is always new research somewhere showing how eating this or that will help us and potentially protect our bodies from getting cancer. Some of the studies are valid, some are not; some of the research shows that it cannot completely prevent it, simply reduce our chances by this percentage or that percentage providing we are male or female, black or white, old or young, etc.

Well few of these things are as good as green tea researchers say, of course the Chinese have been saying it for 10,000 years. A brand new research now shows that the phytochemicals in green tea are absolutely incredible. Something that the Asian cultures have known throughout their history, in fact it is quite well known that green tea is known to prevent many forms of cancer such as; Leukemia, Pancreatic cancer, Colon cancer, Lung cancer and Breast cancer. Some say that if green tea was a medicine or drug it would be considered more of a wonder drug than most other cancer drugs. Green tea is considered by many to be a powerful herb, which would be wise to incorporate into your diet.

There are presently no known side effects for green tea, yet it appears to be one of the most incredible anti-cancer compounds around. Think on this.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Lymphoma, better known as Hodgkin’s Disease, is a condition characterized by the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells. In addition to Hodgkin’s, there are many other lymphoma diseases which are known as Non-Hodkin’s lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma incidences become more and more common with age, whereas Hodkin’s lymphoma is common between ages 16 and 35, and over 50.

The most common sign of Hodgkin’s lymphoma is swollon lymph nodes, mainly in the neck. This is not painful, however some of the other expected symptoms are. These other symptoms are unexplained weight loss, constant fatigue, itchy skin, low grade fevers, and night sweats. As these are common symptoms of any infection, the only accurate diagnosis is through lymph node biopsy and blood testing.

Unlike Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a type of cancer. In the united states, 5% of cancer victims are due to Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Signs of this disease are similar to that of Hodgkin’s, with a few differences. As well as in the neck, swollon lymph nodes are common in the underarm and groin. And in addition to itchy skin, patients will notice unexplained red patches.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma must be tested for as well, using things such as X-rays, MRI’s, CT scans, PET scans, and Lymphangiogram, which are pictures of the lymphatic system taken with x-rays after a dye is injected to differentiate the lymph nodes and vessels. These tests are due to the simple fact that the symptoms are common in many other, less critical, conditions.

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the article, this caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

Tyler Brooker is the owner and operator of Lymphoma Disease - http://www.lymphoma-disease.com, which is the best site on the internet for all lymphoma related information.

Reflexology is a gentle non intrusive treatment carried out upon the feet alone, using reflex points that correspond to the body systems.

Reflexology is highly beneficial in alleviating adverse side effects of chemotherapy, by helping the patient to deeply relax, it also helps to reduce the level of anxiety, helping patients cope with the distressing symptoms of pain and nausea, the results reveal that treatments produce a significant and immediate effect on the patients’ perceptions of pain, nausea and relaxation.

There is a myth that because reflexology rids the body of toxins, that the chemotherapy won’t work properly. There is no evidence to support this and there is a wealth of evidence about the positive results patients have felt.

Many people who have cancer and who have used Reflexology say that they find it helps ease some of their symptoms or helps them cope with the side-effects of treatment. Other people say that they just find it a very pleasant way of relaxing.

Reflexology is used by many people under going treatment for cancer, and Reflexology is included at complementary therapy centres within cancer units at Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, Harley Street Clinic, and Lister Hospital as well as being offered at many Macmillan cancer relief hospices and day care centres, with very good results.

Many patients say that as well as enjoying the relaxation and stress relief they also feel able to cope with the physical side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Its also an important factor in having time for themselves and a person to talk to that is not a part of their family and in many cases, being able to voice their problems and fears without worrying about the effect on close relatives or friends.

Reflexology is a good treatment for helping those that suffer with lymphoedema (swelling of limbs) after surgery to remove lymph glands, as it helps improve circulation and lymph flow and the Reflexologist can work over the specific reflex points for the effected area. In some cases the limb affected with lymphodeoma can be quite painful, Reflexology is very gentle and effective and in such cases is a good compliment to lymphatic drainage massage.

Overall Reflexology helps to improve the circulation and lymph flow, which benefits all body systems and organs and aids deep relaxation and better respiration and mobility, helping patients to relax and cope with the physical side effects of their treatment.

Amy Brennan is the Director of Find a Reflexologist Ltd, UK register of fully-qualified Reflexologists, and hub of Reflexology on the web: http://www.findareflexologist.com

Immunohistochemistry is a diagnostic test. It uses antibodies previously marked with a substance that can be seen under the microscope. The antibodies are specific to an antigen that the test is able to detect. These antibodies have high affinity to their antigens so the test has high specificity, not necessarily high sensitivity which depends on other factors.

It is widely used to detect and classify cancer cells Antibodies can be polyclonal or monoclonal. How can this test affect treatment options for a given disease? I will explain this through an example:

Cells, cancer or not, have, different antigens (markers) on their membranes, such as receptors, glycoproteins, etc. This markers define populations of cells like CD4 and CD8 T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes (CD-20 + or -). This markers, when they are unique to a specific type of cell, can help not only to differentiate them, but also to target them with specific antibodies. These antibodies can be used for tests and also as treatments.

I will explain this through an example:

A patient comes to the office with a biopsy of his pleura, and it reports "Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma". The immunoperoxidase shows CD20 (+) (a B cell marker) and Bcl-6 (a marker of its origin from the germinal center).

If this patient didn’t have a CD20 (+) report then he wouldn’t be eligible for Rituximab therapy and the prognosis would be far more somber.

Rituximab is a genetically engineered chimeric murine/human monoclonal antibody that targets CD20 receptors that are present in certain B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Once it reaches its intended target, it activates other immune cells and the complement system to destroy the b-cell. It is part of the new therapies that are being used in Hemato-oncology.

Before Rituximab, the standard therapy for B-cell lymphoma was CHOP therapy. This therapy had a success rate of 40% to 50%. (3-year event-free rate)

When Rituximab is used in conjunction with CHOP chemotherapy, it has shown a success rate of up to 99% (when used in early stages).

Now you see the difference.

However this new therapies are not exempt of potentially hazardous effects, and this page is not intended as an advertisement of Rituximab, but to show an example of the application of antibodies in different settings (diagnostic and therapeutic.

Francisco Santander M.D. Visit the source Immunohistochemistry and new lymphoma treatments