Powerful Purple Pzazz Smoothie

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month!

And November 10 is World NET Cancer Day! 
(NET is the acronym for NeuroEndocrine Tumors)

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has chosen purple as the designated color to increase awareness of this deadly cancer.  Please see their website at www.pancan.org to learn more about pancreatic cancer and how you can become involved in raising awareness and participate in raising funds for research.  It is the only type of cancer that has not seen an improvement in the 5 year survival rate in 40 years.  

My type of cancer is a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, which is the same type that Steve Jobs died from, and comprises only 5% of all pancreatic cancers. 

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) is the umbrella term for a group of unusual, often slow growing cancers, which develop from cells in the diffuse endocrine systems.  They are found most commonly in the lung or gastrointestinal system, but they can arise in other parts of the body, such as the pancreas. 

November 10 is World NET Cancer Day!

For more information about this exciting event, see 

http://netcancerday.org/

The World NET Community was established in March 2010, in Berlin, and works to provide worldwide awareness of NET cancer. 

The zebra is the logo for NET cancer. I will explain more about this another time.  
On November 10 I will be wearing my zebra scarf with a purple blouse!  
Pzazz for sure! 

NET cancers are frequently misdiagnosed and patients are treated on average for 3 - 7 years  for the wrong disease.  There are a number of different types of NETS and they all have a different way of expressing themselves in terms of symptoms as well as how they look under a microscope. 

The Carcinoid Cancer Foundation provides comprehensive and remarkably useful information about NET cancer for the newly diagnosed. 

The Caring for Carcinoid Foundation is another remarkable foundation that focuses on raising funds for research for NETs, as well as providing support for individuals with NETS.   

So, to kick off this important month, I made a Powerful Purple Pzazz Smoothie for my breakfast. A recent addition to my smoothies has been black raspberry seed nutri-powder. Black raspberry (which is different than red raspberry) has been shown in numerous scientific studies to be a potent anti-tumor agent. See below for citations..And while I firmly believe that no extract from any food will ever be as powerful as the synergistic effect derived from eating a variety of nutrient-dense foods, I am eager to add to my cancer "survivorship" in whatever ways possible.  Thus, this smoothie is a Pzazzed and Powerful way to continue to blaze my trail to longevity in November!

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon Black Raspberry Seed Nutri-Powder (Botanic Innovations is the source I use to purchase my black raspberry seed powder. Other on-line resources are BerriHealth, and there are probably others, too) 
1/2 cup frozen triple berry mix (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries)
1/4 cup frozen blueberries  (I still have some in the freezer from summer 2011!)
1/2 frozen banana, sliced 
1/2 cup Westsoy Organic unsweetened soy milk

2011 Garden Blueberries

Preparation:
Blend in a MagicBullet or blender to desired consistency. 

Nutrition per serving:
Servings per recipe: 1
Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 151                                                      
Total Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 26 mg
Total Carbs: 30 g
Dietary Fiber: 9 g
Protein: 6 g

Citations of some studies supporting anti-angiogeneis and anti-oxident properties of black raspberry extract:
1.  Liu Z, Schwimer J, Liu D, Greenway FL, Anthony CT, Woltering EA. Black Raspberry Extract and Fractions Contain Angiogenesis Inhibitors. J Agric Food Chem 53; 2909-3915,

2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3184418/

3. Fatty Acid Content and Antioxidant Properties of Cold Pressed Black Raspberry Seed Oil and Meal, J. Parry, Liangli Yu, PhD. et.al.
4.  Inhibitory Effect of Chardonnay and Black Raspberry Seed Extracts on Lipid Oxidation in Fish Oil and their Radical Scavenging,  J. Parry, Liangli Yu, PhD. et.al.

Joyous Day!

Happy Birthday to our son, Caleb!  His wisdom has inspired, blessed, and encouraged me.  September 24 has significance not only because it is Caleb's birthday, but because it was September 24, 1998 when a 14cm neuroendocrine tumor was successfully removed from the tail of my pancreas.  So September 24, 2012, marks 14 years of living with pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer.  While the tumor later reappeared in the head of the pancreas and remains there rearing its ugly head on a daily basis, I never dared to imagine that I would live for 14 years.  

When the tumor started invading the posterior wall of my stomach and the length and quality of my life seemed imperiled once again, Caleb wisely reminded me that it was not how long I lived but how well I lived that mattered.   

During the early years of this journey, I had CT scans every 3 - 6 months and generally received the contrast liquid in small brown vials.  I viewed those vials as perfect tiny vases for flowers, so saved them.  Now I enjoy choosing flowers to be held lovingly by the these make-shift vases.  I take great joy in seeing beauty emerge from what was an ordinary container for a nasty-tasting fluid. Somehow, it is representative to me of how the ugly and painful experiences of this life can be transformed into expressions of beauty and hope.  

Thanks to so many of you who have supported me on this path.  And thanks to those of you who have sent emails telling me of the encouragement and hope and nutritional support you have found on this blog.  You are the reason I keep exploring new ways to find Pzazz in the midst of health and nutritional challenges. 


For more information about any type of   neuroendocrine cancer, I highly encourage you to look at the websites for the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation or the Caring for Carcinoid Foundation.  

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is also a useful resource for individuals with pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer. 
  

TeamHope

Wow!  What an amazing weekend!  TeamHope is an outreach of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan) for individuals to participate in marathons across the country to raise funds and awareness for pancreatic cancer.  On Saturday , there was a group of 50 TeamHope runners that participated in Duluth's famous Grandma's Marathon.  They raised more than $26,000!   I had helped plan the event in a small way and my husband, Tom, and I helped staff our TeamHope water station at mile marker 22, cheering on TeamHope runners.  Tom's enthusiasm and good humor were appreciated by both runners and volunteers, while I often rested in a chair on the sidelines, amazed at how this event had all come together so well.   

Tom does everything with gusto!  Runners could easily grab a cup of ice from his unwavering, strong arm!

Marathon Goddess

There were many inspiring stories of  runners who have been affected by pancreatic cancer and have turned their anguish into a determination to advance funding for pancreatic cancer.  One of the runners, Julie Weiss, is a self-declared Marathon Goddess, who lost her father to pancreatic cancer last year.  She is slated to run 52 marathons in 2012, and Grandma's Marathon was her 10th one this year.  She has already raised over $100,000 for pancreatic cancer research. Amazing!!!


See her website at: http://marathongoddess.com/










Another such story is Sara Peterson, whose father is on the board of directors for Grandma's Marathon and is now battling pancreatic cancer.  See this link for an inspiring article about their journey.  http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/234254/publisher_ID/36/

Pancreatic Cancer:  Know it. Fight it. End it.

Join the Effort!

Contributions for Grandma's Marathon TeamHope will be accepted online  until December 31.     http://teamhope.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1011589&team=4953312 

You can donate to any individual listed there, or make a general team contribution. 

Runners gratefully

grabbed cups of ice from 

our volunteers.  

Purple Night Out Duluth

Thursday, September 1, 2001,
5 - 7 pm
Clyde Ironworks
2920 West Michigan Street
Duluth, MN

In nearly four decades, one statistic hasn't changed:  Just 6% of pancreatic cancer patients will survive five years.  There is no cure, but with your help, there is hope.
   
Join us for a fun evening and raise awareness for pancreatic cancer.  Come enjoy appetizers and mingling, and learn how you can help support the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.  http://www.pancan.org/.

Free admission, free appetizers, great door prizes from local merchants and artists, and a
memory/honor table for lighting a candle.
Brief slide presentation at 5:45. 

 A special thanks to Alex Guilianni at Clyde Ironworks, Barb Payette at Stewart-Taylor Printing, and local merchants and artists for their donations for this event.  We sincerely appreciate it.