FitSugar.com - 5 ways to get an Antioxidant Diet

Get Your Rear in Gear wants to challenge you this Sunday to dress up your table with some healthier options and to move your booty more than Madonna.   No, it won’t take a lot of work and we promise it won’t stop you from having fun.  Grab a piece of paper right now or hit “print” on this page or if you have a fancy phone and feel green – keep this link and share it!

The Super Cancer Fighting Bowl Game is all about the highest score board!

Load up the table with one or two of these super cancer fighting foods:
1.    Tomatoes =(2)  or pick lean ground turkey over ground hamburger with onion and lettuce =( 7) Use a whole-wheat/whole grain bun = (3)

2.    Watermelon =(3)

3.    Cabbage/Carrot Slaw = (3)-  1 T vinegar, 1 T reduced mayo , 1 cup of shredded cabbage/carrots

4.    Finger snacks: Peppers, dried apricots, sunflower seeds or nuts = (7)

5.    Blueberries and strawberries = (3)

6.    Pasta/Bean/Broccoli Salad =  3/4 cup whole wheat pasta, about 162 calories 1/4 cup drained kidney beans, about 51 calories 2/3 cup of broccoli, about 33 calories.  For taste,  1 tablespoon of reduced calorie Italian salad dressing, about 56 calories.  A better and healthier dressing option with Omega 3 may have more calories, but better than artificial sweeteners used in low calorie dressing is –balsamic vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard and a little garlic. (10)

7.    Choose fresh salsa over store bought sour cream dip = (3)

8.    Raw Veggie & Hummus Dip = 1&1/2 cups of garbanzo beans, 3 tsp minced garlic, 3 tbs low-fat plain yogurt, ¼ tsp salt, 4 tbs lemon juice, ¼ tahini paste, 1tbs chopped parsley, 4 green onions, 3 tbs of dices red bell pepper and pepper to taste = (10)

9.    Share a healthy recipe with us today or tomorrow = (21)
Move your booty more than Madonna!

1.    Dance for 30 minutes Friday night or Saturday night = (7); do it for 60 minutes = (14); do it both nights, double the points!

2.    Dance the entire time Madonna is playing instead of watching her and filing a complaint = (21)

3.    Run or do a brisk walk for 30 minutes on Friday, Saturday or Sunday = (7); do it for 60 minutes = (14); do it every day, triple the points!

4.    Are you running/walking/volunteering/biking  for a cause this weekend? Give yourself (21)

5.    Help in the kitchen = (7); Cook a healthy dish = (7); Clean = (14)

6.    Play a game of football with your friends and family prior to the game = (21)

7.    Sit on the couch or easy chair the entire game only to get up for fat food and beer (-75)

Okay now, wasn’t this challenge easy?  I’m in! Are you in for this game?  Share your recipes!  Say, “I’m in today!”  Tell us your score on Monday! Share this Super Cancer Fighting Bowl now !

An article published by WebMD on December 13, 2011 highlights a new study published by the Archives of Internal Medicine. The article highlighted some notable statistics:

• Between 1998 and 2007 colorectal cancer cases have dropped steadily in adults over 50, but they increased by more than 2% each ear in younger adults, as much as 4% for rectal cancers, and 3% for colon cancer.
• Younger adults were more likely than older adults to be diagnosed with late-stage cancers.
• People in their 30s were about 30% more likely than other age groups to be diagnosed with cancers in stage III or IV.
• When a patients in their 30s or 40s present with symptoms like bleeding, abdominal pain, or change in bowel habits doctors and patients alike are less like to suspect cancer and there fore diagnosis is delayed.

Advise to patients?

• Just because you’re under 50, doesn’t mean your not at risk
• If you have a family history, go talk to your doctor, especially if that relative got colon cancer before they were 50.

- Advise from Anthony, Starpoli, MD, a gastroenterolist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, as told to WebMD.

To read the full article published on December 13, visit WebMD.com.

Fortunately, our partner, Fight Colorectal Cancer, along with Genomic Health came together to design a mobile app that assists colon cancer patients with a personalized treatment, diagnosis, and links to external sources. The app is titled My Colon Cancer Coach, and is free to download to iPhones and Android smartphones. However, if you don’t own those mobile devices, no worries! You can go to My Colon Cancer Coach website to access same functions.

So, what does the app do?

The app is essentially a digital version of a diary with extra resources. Once you agree to terms and conditions of the app, you’ll have a list of options to choose from depending on what you want to do: Learn about your treatment, record questions to ask your doctor, journal, glossary, and external links.

Learn about your treatment

The essence of the application is My Colon Cancer Coach, Coach for short, which helps you understand colon cancer no matter what stage it is at. In this section you’ll be prompted to answer a few questions about your type of cancer. For this you’ll need to know,

- The stage of your cancer

- Your tumor’s MMR/MSI status (stage II)

- Whether or not your tumor contains a mutated KRAS gene (stage IV)

- Whether or not your cancer has metastasized (spread to areas beyond your colon)

Once you complete the questionnaire, a report will be generated with treatment options that are appropriate for you. At this point you have an option of emailing the report, reviewing your treatment summary, and learning details of the report; which involves a detailed description of certain terms and procedures.

Record questions for your doctor

Avoid forgetting addressing your concerns. This is a nice tool to keep track of questions you may have for your doctor, along with a list of suggested questions to ask.

With this function you can either type the questions you have or voice record them. The same can be done with the answers. For example, you can record your doctor’s response to your question, and review it to make sure you don’t miss essential information.

Journal

This function is designed to help you keep track of doctor appointments, personal notes, and take photos if needed. Journal entries are automatically dated and timed, all you have to do is title the entry and write up your notes or voice record.

Glossary

Alphabetical access to definitions of cancer terminology right at your fingertips.

Resources

Credits, list of organizations, and external links.

Get Your Rear in Gear hopes that this will help you decide whether this app can be of benefit to you. As always, we want to provide you with as many helpful tools and information to help prevent and treat colon cancer. For more information, you can visit our website.

He as also been chosen as “Mr. March” for the 2012 Colondar, created and sold by GYRIG partner, The Colon Club. (Sidebar: We have to take some undeserved credit for Roger being chosen, after all we’ve known he was the model type for a long time, as he has been featured on our Facebook profile picture several times in the past year-or-so.)

An article by Mike Baird of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times recently featured Roger’s story about overcoming a cancer diagnosis with a healthy lifestyle, and proudly sharing his involvement with Get Your Rear in Gear. Read his story, then head over the The Colon Club to order your Colondar.

“My son told me that cancer changed my life,” Rojas said. “And he’s right, but not in the way some people might think. It made me stop and look at my life, and now I live a better life than I was living.”

- Roger Rojas, as told to Mike Baird, of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Photo by Michael Zamora, Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Read the story en Espanol.

If you are like most people living in our information highway era, too much information coming at you can be overwhelming.  Sometimes it may just be as simple to do what the doctor or Aunt Janet tells you to do.

You might hear from an online patient support group about DNA testing, blood testing, alternative holistic approaches and you name it.  So, let’s keep it simple and look at the available screening options if you are getting screened for the first time.  Then, you can be informed, before the doctor or Aunt Janet tell you what to do, because it is your body, your life and your decision.

Our partners at the Mayo Clinic provided the following four summaries of standard colorectal cancer screening tests:

Colonoscopy
A colonoscopy is an exam used to detect changes or abnormalities in the large intestine and rectum. A long, flexible tube (colonoscope) is inserted into the rectum. A tiny video camera at the tip of the tube allows the doctor to view the inside of the entire colon.

• Pros: Colonoscopy is considered the gold standard for colon cancer screening. Polyps or other types of abnormal tissue can be removed through the scope during the exam. Tissue samples (biopsies) can be taken as well. The exam takes 20 minutes to an hour.
• Cons: The test may not detect all small polyps and cancers. You may need to adjust your usual medications before the exam. Solid food can’t be eaten the day before the exam. Emptying the colon with laxatives, enemas or both can be unpleasant. Sedation is recommended. Rare complications may include an adverse reaction to the sedative, bleeding from the site where a biopsy was taken or a polyp or other abnormal tissue was removed, or a tear in the colon or rectum wall. It may take a day for the sedative to wear off. Bloating may occur for a few hours after the exam.

Virtual Colonoscopy
A virtual colonoscopy (computerized tomography colonography) is an exam used to detect changes or abnormalities in the large intestine and rectum. A catheter is placed inside the rectum to fill the colon with air or carbon dioxide. Computerized tomography (CT) is used to produce cross-sectional images of the abdominal organs.

• Pros: Unlike traditional colonoscopy, virtual colonoscopy doesn’t require sedation or the insertion of a scope into the colon. The exam takes about 10 minutes.
• Cons: The test may not detect all small polyps and cancers. You may need to adjust your usual medications before the exam. Solid food can’t be eaten the day before the exam. Emptying the colon with laxatives, enemas or both can be unpleasant. An adverse reaction to the contrast agent sometimes used during virtual colonoscopy is possible. Radiation exposure may be a concern. Biopsies can’t be performed during the procedure. If an abnormality is detected, a colonoscopy may be necessary. Bloating may occur for a few hours after the exam. Many doctors consider virtual colonoscopy experimental.

Fecal occult blood test
A fecal occult blood test is a lab test used to check stool samples for hidden (occult) blood.

• Pros: Stool sample collection can be done at home. There’s no need to empty the colon ahead of time.
• Cons: The test fails to detect most polyps and some cancers. Certain foods and medications must be avoided for three days before the test. If blood is detected, additional tests may be needed to determine the source. False-negative and false-positive results are possible.

Flexible sigmoidoscopy
A flexible sigmoidoscopy is an exam used to evaluate the lower part of the colon. A thin, flexible tube (sigmoidoscope) is inserted into the rectum. A tiny video camera at the tip of the tube allows the doctor to view the inside of the rectum and most of the sigmoid colon.

• Pros: Sedation isn’t required. Biopsies can be taken through the scope during the exam. The exam takes about 15 minutes.
• Cons: You may need to adjust your usual medications before the exam. Solid food can’t be eaten the day before the exam. Emptying the colon with laxatives, enemas or both can be unpleasant. The exam doesn’t allow the doctor to see the entire colon. Rare complications may include bleeding from the biopsy site or a tear in the lining of the colon. Bloating may occur for a few hours after the exam. Additional tests may be necessary if an abnormality is detected.

The American Cancer Society provides two additional options not discussed in the Mayo article list:

Double contrast barium enema (DCBE)
In this test, a series of x-rays of the entire colon and rectum are taken after the patient is given an enema with a barium solution and air is introduced into the colon. The barium and air help to outline the colon and rectum on the x-rays.

• Pros:  The entire colon can be reviewed.  It is relatively safe and no sedation is needed.
• Cons:  Research shows that DCBE may miss small polyps. It detects about 30 to 50 percent of the cancers that can be found with standard colonoscopy as it misses small polyps. There have been some false positive test results.  You can’t remove polyps during the test, so if a polyp or abnormality is found, you will need a colonoscopy.  Complications can occur including perforation of the colon.

Fecal immunochemical test
The fecal immunochemical test (FIT), also called an immunochemical fecal occult blood test (iFOBT), is a newer kind of test that also detects occult (hidden) blood in the stool.

• Pros:  The FIT is done essentially the same way as the FOBT, but some people may find it easier to use because there are no drug or dietary restrictions (vitamins or foods do not affect the FIT) and sample collection may take less effort. This test is also less likely to react to bleeding from parts of the upper digestive tract, such as the stomach.
• Cons: Like the FOBT, the FIT may not detect a tumor that is not bleeding, so multiple stool samples should be tested. And if the results are positive for hidden blood, a colonoscopy is required to investigate further. In order to be beneficial the test must be repeated every year.

Digital rectal exam (DRE) This last screening option is found on the National Cancer Institute list:

In this test, a health care provider inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum to feel for abnormal areas. DRE allows examination of only the lower part of the rectum. It is often performed as part of a routine physical examination.

• Pros:  You decide.  Many of you have already had this done, particularly if you are a male and the doctor is examining the prostate.
• Cons:   There is a reason you don’t see this option on most colorectal screening websites or materials.  It doesn’t cut it for colorectal screening.  However, your doctor could find something and refer you for a colonoscopy.

So, Which One?

Great, now you know about the test options, but how do you decide which one?   We suggest you now ask your doctor, Aunt Janet or some of your other friends what option they think is best.  You can also read up more through online resources.

Most people will tell you the best screening option is a colonoscopy – often referred to as the Gold Standard. However, cost is prohibitive to the under-insured and non-insured.  So expect a follow-up story in November with one of our colorectal cancer advocacy partners.

For more information, go to:
Mayo Clinic
American Cancer Society
National Cancer Institute

My First Colonoscopy, or: How I Stopped Worrying and Drank A Gallon of Laxative.

By Toni Hudzina

Screening colonoscopies are now a part of my life.  My mother died last year from advanced Stage IV colon cancer, and I found out during her illness that there is much GI disease on her side of the family.  It’s safe to say I wasn’t looking forward to this, but I knew it was necessary. One of the lovely requisites of being a 40-something adult – right up there with flushing the water heater or paying property taxes.

I admit I was nervous about my first colonoscopy this past August.  Not about the procedure itself, but about the results.  My mother’s cancer had been particularly silent and particularly aggressive.  Even though I didn’t have any symptoms, I was worried about what they would find.  Logically I knew the odds were low that I had cancer, but worry overtook logic.  And I felt I had waited long enough, almost a year after her death.

So I went off to my local GI for my initial checkup and procedure scheduling.  His staff was very thorough during this process, and gave me a to-do list for my colonoscopy.

Now it’s no surprise to anyone who knows me – I love a good checklist.  My favorite app on my smart-phone isn’t a game or social network, it’s  2Do.   So to be handed a checklist for my colonoscopy prep?  I wouldn’t say it made me blissfully happy, but it did make me feel like I could handle my first-ever colonoscopy. There was a checklist – how hard could this be?

Silly me.  I started calling it “The Checklist of Doom”.

It started with:

• “One Week Before:  Pick up Laxative from Pharmacy.”

Admit it:  you’ve heard about the laxative.  It may be one of the major reasons you don’t get a colonoscopy in the first place.  And these feelings are completely reinforced when you pick up the laxative prescription at the pharmacy.  Because you’re not given a little discreet vial of pills.  Oh no – you are handed an empty gallon-sized jug. Well, not completely empty: there’s a solid visible layer of powdered laxative at the bottom.

The pharmacist helpfully told me I had my choice of flavor packets to make it taste better.   And that refrigeration made it easier to swallow.  That all went in one ear and out the other, because I was staring at the “helpful” fill line, placed distractingly near the top of the jug.

I know my GI wanted to make sure I had the laxative in plenty of time for my prep day. But because I  had succumbed to the compulsive need to obey the checklist, now I had an entire week to contemplate this semi-clear plastic jug with its helpful fill line.  The included flavor packets stuck to the top didn’t help – while Lemon-Lime, Orange, Cherry and Pineapple are generally appealing, I was personally hoping for something along the lines of Chocolate-Kahlua Milk Shake.

So I did what any sane person would do: I propped up some cooking magazines on it for camouflage and tried to ignore the miniature white elephant in my kitchen for the next few days.

So the first item on my colonoscopy check list was now ticked off – I was feeling like such an awesome patient and on top of the situation.  Having made the check mark, I obviously felt the need to  look at Item #2:

• “Three Days Out: Start a low-fiber diet.”

Most articles talk about the day-before prep, not anything three days out.  (The instructions on the Gallon Jug of Intestinal Distress said to stop eating only 4 hours before – nothing about multi-day dietary changes.) My husband had even had a colonoscopy performed a few years ago by the same GI, and he hadn’t gone through this.

But the nurse explained to me that they had changed their procedure since then to make the prep more effective – no high-fiber things in the system that would be difficult to expel.  Fair enough, but as that third-day-out approached, my pantry and refrigerator contents were mocking me.

Fresh berries from the Farmer’s Market.  Crudité.  Apples.  Kashi GoLean Cereal. Popcorn. Gherkins.  And olives.  Olives.  OLIVES.  I love olives – I could easily live on Kalamatas, goat cheese and Triscuits if you let me.  But for the next few days, these were alimenta non grata.  So I ended up bouncing around the grocery store like a pinball, referring to a low-fiber diet pulled up on my smart-phone, looking for the opposite of the high-fiber things currently inhabiting my kitchen.  Ultimately I just decided to get some ramen, macaroni and cheese, and my first-ever canned chicken breast and canned green beans.  Not terribly yummy, but definitively fit the over-cooked and low-fiber bill I was supposed to follow.

Shopping completed, I now had two days to ignore the checklist; even checklist-happy me was pleased about that.  But the dreaded “Day Before” rolled around, and so, the checklist was exhumed from its hiding place inside a La Cucina Italiana. Two items were required to start my day.

• “Morning before: Start a clear-liquid diet.”

• “Morning before: Mix laxative and chill.”

Getting the worst over with, I removed the jug from its Bon Appétit kitchen blind, poured in the orange flavor packet, added a gallon of water, “shook vigorously,” and deposited it in my refrigerator.  To try and keep my mind off the Gallon Jug of Short-Lived Water Weight Loss now staring me in the face, I made some cups of Lime Jell-O.  (Usually, I’m a Black Cherry kind of girl, but I had to avoid red and purple food coloring to avoid having the walls of my intestine possibly appear red, which would hide any bleeding.)

My one consolation was that at least I understood a clear-liquid diet – no more confusing low-fiber for me. I knew what I was allowed to consume. Ginger ale, water and tea are in my normal rotation.  Broth, clear juices and Gatorade, not so much, but these were better than nothing. (I did find myself muttering “Beef Broth – It’s What’s For Dinner.”)

Was I done with the prep-day checklist?  Not by a long-shot. Next item:

•         “12 Noon: Take Dulcolax.”

Insult to injury for certain, but trying to maintain my awesome patient attitude (but mostly, not anxious to go through this process again anytime soon with an incomplete cleanse), I complied.  While swallowing the Dulcolax precisely at noon, the next item caught my eye:

• “4 pm: Start drinking laxative.  Drink 8 ounces every 15 minutes until all laxative is gone or you have clear liquid stool.”

Even for a woman who drinks water out of 24-ounce glasses, this was daunting.  I decided to stop drinking after my lunch of chicken broth so my stomach wouldn’t get too upset with that much liquid.

At 3:45, I set myself up in the bedroom with a small checklist of my own.  Large cooler and ice packs to keep gallon jug cool?  Check.  A few cans of ginger ale to rinse out my mouth?  Check.  75 pound Bulldog locked downstairs so she couldn’t get in between me and the bathroom? Triple check.

At 4 pm (or as I called it, “The Point of No Return”), I poured my first glass.  Over the years I had heard people discuss how horrible the stuff tasted.  While I had a hopeful second or two where I could definitely smell the orange flavoring, I decided afterwards that was just a bizarre practical joke.  It wasn’t bad, per se, but it smelled like Orange Crush and tasted like flat salt water with only a drop or two of Orange Crush mixed in.  It was also a little foamy…and not in a gourmet root beer kind of way. But overall it actually wasn’t too bad. Especially since I rinsed my mouth out with ginger ale afterwards.  I could do this – what was the big deal?

As none of the expected laxative results actually occur for an hour or so, I decided to read a book to kill some time.  As it turns out, George R. R. Martin discusses food in vivid detail in “A Game of Thrones,” and reverting to a stand-by of Harry Potter left me wondering whether J.K. Rowling had a compulsive need to use the phrases “treacle tart,” “pumpkin pasty,” “cauldron cake,” and/or “chocolate frog” at least once a chapter.  All the magazines I’d brought up to the bedroom to read (i.e. – not my cooking ones) featured glossy ads with beautifully photographed food.  My bedroom TV was tuned to The Cooking Channel and the batteries for the satellite remote were dead.  Distraction obviously wasn’t on the menu.

Image is provided courtesy of Anne Taintor

I’ll spare you the biological details of the “cleansing”.  It takes a few hours, you will feel some “discomfort,” and you’ll still have to go for an hour or two after you’ve finished the laxative.  Also – even though the label recommends you drink each glass very quickly, don’t.  Unless you love nausea and want your own Exorcist Pea Soup Moment. Which means you get to extend the process.  My awesome patient attitude had now literally been flushed down the toilet.

After I was done, I had some more broth and ginger ale then went to bed, secure in my knowledge I was nearing the bottom of the checklist.   Surprisingly, I wasn’t really hungry – I think my body was too distracted by the abuse I’d just put it through and was just glad to be taking in something that wasn’t laxative solution.

The morning finally arrived and the last items on my checklist presented themselves:

• “Morning of procedure: Do not drink anything 4 hours previous to procedure.”

• “Show up 90 minutes before your scheduled procedure time.”

No problem on both of those.  I was up early out of nerves, and those same nerves meant I probably couldn’t have choked down a glass of water.  My husband (a.k.a. my “responsible driver”) and I arrived at the surgical facility nice and early.  Where they obviously had their own checklist.  I surrendered.

The staff was super-nice.  I was registered, weighed, poked and prodded, given a medical gown to wear (with a nifty heating vent, not really necessary in August) and set up with an IV in very short order.  My husband was fetched from the lobby, the privacy curtains closed around my bay, and we were then left alone for the next half hour or so.  As I wasn’t in the mood to talk, I let my husband fiddle with his smart-phone while I counted the squares on the curtain fabric surrounding my bed.  I decided that there’s a rule that states all hospital curtains must contain a shade of pink close to Pepto-Bismol.

As for the procedure?  I was rolled across the hall into the procedure room, my doctor made sure I didn’t have any last minute concerns, they asked me to roll on my left side, injected the anesthesia drugs into my IV, and the next thing I remember I was being rolled out of the procedure room into a recovery room.  I’m a bit hazy on that – my husband informs me I was talking non-stop, very rapidly, and free-association.  Hopefully I was being amusing and not embarrassing – like, say, going on about checklists.

After I had shaken off the anesthesia and signed a bunch of papers, I was free to go with my “responsible driver.” (My husband got a kick out of that – he thought that was a pretty big assumption.)  A plain turkey sandwich had never tasted so good.  And later that night I emptied out the olive jar.

As for the results: a single tiny polyp was removed and biopsied, and everything else looked good.  The polyp was an adenoma, the type that starts out benign but is considered to be pre-cancerous if left to its own devices.  I am actually happy with this result – while not a clean bill of health, I do know now that I am in an “at-risk” group, and I can get screened every 3 years instead of 5.  Which means I can hopefully stay ahead of any colon cancer trying to rear its ugly head – the point of this whole thing.

I’m sure in 3 years when I’m staring down the Gallon Jug of Official Olympic Sponsor of the Bathroom Sprint Team I won’t be quite so sunny about it, but deep down, I’ll know I’m doing the right thing.  And there will be that heavenly post-procedure turkey sandwich to look forward to.

Lynch Syndrome a genetic predisposition to certain types of cancer, including colon, rectal, pancreatic, intestinal and other cancers. Individuals with Lynch syndrome have an almost 80% lifetime risk of getting colon cancer.

Linda Warner, a Get Your Rear in Gear supporter, colon cancer survivor, and former board member for Lynch Syndrome International, is excited about this news. “This is the first study that shows a possible step that those living with Lynch Syndrome can do to prevent colorectal cancers.”

Watch the full story from the NBC Nightly News below. Or read the study as published in October 28 online edition of The Lancet (free registration is required).

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What is ginger: Is it a plant or herb? Ginger is identified as a herb, and was commonly used in Asian countries for medicinal purposes. The root, or the underground stem, also called rhizome, is what is used as a spice or as medicine. Ginger is known to help relieve many symptoms; one of the symptoms is inflammation in the intestines.

Today, ginger is quite common and is available almost anywhere and in many forms: Fresh ginger root, ground ginger, ginger paste, ginger ale, minced, sliced, juiced, and more. If you enjoy sushi or other forms of Asian cuisine, chances are you’re already consuming ginger through those dishes. However, if California Rolls are not down your alley, there are other ways to get your ginger fix.

The team at Get Your Rear in Gear pulled up some yummy recipes to help you meet the recommended daily consumption of 2 grams of ginger. Enjoy!

Apple-Ginger Chicken, from EatingWell

Ginger Veggie Stir-Fry, from AllRecipes.com

Cold Tofu Salad with Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce, from WholeLiving.com

Carrot and Ginger Soup, from AllRecipes.com

Ginger Cookies, from food.com

Coriander Scallops with Orange-Ginger Dressing, from epicurious.com

If you have other recipes you’d like to share, please do!

Coping with Skin Rash
October 19, 2011
8 – 9:30 PM Eastern time

Certain drugs that treat colorectal cancer can cause painful rashes, dry skin and nail problems. These side effects are unpleasant, can hurt and are often embarrassing. The good news is that there are things patients can do to reduce the severity of these side effects. This patient webinar that will discuss the prevention and management of skin toxicities related to EGFR inhibitors (epidermal growth factor receptor).

You will learn:
- What causes the rash
- What the rash may mean about treatment, and
- Get tips on how to alleviate some of the symptoms.

For more information or to register go here.

What to Do When Your Doc is Out of 5-FU (or Leucovorin…or Irinotecan)
November 16, 2011
8 – 9:30 PM Eastern time

The United States is facing a major drug shortage crisis, specifically in colorectal cancer, there are shortages of 5-FU, leucovorin and irinotecan.
Patients are scared and bewildered when told by their health care providers that the drugs that are helping them fight their disease are no longer available or are in frighteningly low supply. Join a discussion with Dr. Lindsey Poppe, the Pharmacy Clinical Manager for Oncology for the University of North Carolina hospital system. She will talk about the alternatives and options that patients have when directly faced with this situation.
For more information or to register go here.

The Best of Eastern and Western Medicine
December 14, 2011
8 – 9:30 PM Eastern time

After a cancer diagnosis, many are told by well-meaning friends to eat this, consume that, take this herb, and try this yoga class in an effort to treat the disease.
The fact of the matter is some of those practices work, but sadly, many of them do not. And when it comes to alternative medicines, often it is not just a case of something not working; it can actually be dangerous to your health.

Integrative medicine (also called complementary and alternative medicine – or CAM) combines non-traditional practices and healthful behaviors while undergoing conventional therapy. It is, in the words of one practitioner, “the best of eastern and western medicine.”

But how can patients tell the difference between the good and the bad?

For more information or to register go here.

View past patient webinars hosted by Fight Colorectal Cancer here. All webinars are free for unlimited viewing.

I have a question about how many calories I need per day. I track all my calories, and I work out about 4 to 5 times per week with a mix of cardio (spinning, running, or elliptical) and weights.

I’m 5’7.5″ and weigh 135. (My weight moves between 132 and 135.) I eat fairly clean — lots of vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins and nuts. No fried foods, not much sugar. I do like wine but I count the calories.

How much should I be consuming per day? I’ve read various estimates from 1800 to 2100 per day, but if I go to a spinning class and burn 600+ calories, plus do weight training before, how much should this increase my intake? Sometimes I’m sooo hungry, especially in a heavy-workout week, but I don’t want to gain.

Answer from Get Your Rear in Gear trainer, Dana Neve:

Your exercise and nutrition plan sounds great! Based on your measurements and level of exercise, if you’re trying to maintain your weight, then a 2,100 calorie diet is just about right. On the days that you are feeling more hungry because of an intense workout make sure that you are eating high protein, nutrient dense foods with good fats to keep you satisfied. Healthy foods that will help keep you full longer include avocados, raw nuts (almonds, walnuts), eggs, apples, almond butter, leafy vegetables, beans, lean meat and whole grains just to name a few. Drinking enough water is important too. Sometimes dehydration is mistaken for hunger.  Based on your weight you should drink about 10 glasses of water throughout the day.  Exercising, eating healthy and being aware of your calorie intake is a great formula for your fitness success!

Dana Neve

Dana Neve is a New Orleans native living in the Twin Cities for the past eighteen years with her husband and two teenage daughters.  She is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, runner, fitness coach, motivator, speaker, avid spectator of her kids’ sports, and has been a guest speaker on the radio.  Fitness has always been a part of her life, but it wasn’t until 2000 that she became passionate about it.  After being diagnosed with fibromyalgia and having a negative reaction to the medication prescribed, she decided to control the symptoms with exercise and proper nutrition.  The results were life changing and it has become her mission to help others lead longer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives through fitness and nutrition.  She coaches people around the country developing nutrition plans and recommending workout programs for her clients, while motivating and supporting them along the way. She is dedicated to helping people achieve their goals and would love to help you too.

To learn more from Dana, connect with her on Twitter, her Facebook page, or email her.