Pecked Neck

Episode IV XXIV	Pecked Neck
Not the one holding your head up
Blog Beat	Roar | Katy Perry

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When your cervix needs service.

Pap Smear

Cervical cancer has the 20th highest incidence rate in cancer among women and ranks 17th in mortality. Like uterine cancer, most cases can be preventing with regular screening tests as it develops from cell changes caused by HPV¹.

A daffodil for cervical cancer awareness

Bring The Guillotine

Help end cancer. You can donate to my mom's OneWalk fund by clicking on the icon below! And thanks for your support!

  Side Note:  The crochet pattern for the awareness ribbon can be found on naztazia.com

¹ Cancer Research Society "Cervical and Uterine Cancer" http://www.crs-src.ca/page.aspx?pid=1311

"Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons." - Ruth Ann Schabacker

Hard To Swallow

Episode IV XXIII	Hard To Swallow
When heartburn becomes the least of your worries
Blog Beat	Survivor | Destiny's Child Ft. Da Brat

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A look at esophageal cancer...

Are We Really What We Eat?

Esophageal cancer is relatively rare: approximately 1 in 117 men and 1 in 319 women will develop esophageal over their lifetime¹; however, I still think any number above zero is too many. Esophageal cancer has a high mortality, with an estimated 2100 diagnoses and 2000 deaths for 2014². Rare should never be considered insignificant, especially when it comes to cancer.

A daffodil for esophageal cancer awareness

Ranitidine is to Heartburn...

... As funding is to cancer. Let's eliminate it. Help my mom with her OneWalk Fund!

¹ Canadian Cancer Society’s Advisory Committee on Cancer Statistics. Canadian Cancer Statistics 2014. Toronto, ON: Canadian Cancer Society; 2014. Link to document: cancer.ca/statistics
² Canadian Cancer Society "Esophageal cancer statistics" https://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-type/esophageal/statistics/?region=nu

"Hope is the physician of each misery" - Irish Proverb

The Fourth Phase

Episode IV XXII	The Fourth State
An attack on plasma cells
Blog Beat	I'm Gonna Love You Through It | Martina McBride

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Antibodies: The Official Sponsor of Immunity

Bad To The Bone

Multiple myeloma is a cancer that develops from plasma cells in the bone marrow¹. Myeloma cells (abnormal plasma cells) can form tumours in the bone; when there are multiple tumours the condition is referred to as multiple myeloma. About 1.5% and 1.2% of new cancer cases in men and women, respectively, are multiple myeloma. The lifetime probability of developing multiple myeloma is less than 1%².

A daffodil for multiple myeloma awareness

Calling In The Cavalry

Help my mom reach her goal!

¹ Canadian Cancer Society "What is multiple myeloma?" https://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-type/multiple-myeloma/multiple-myeloma/?region=nu
² Canadian Cancer Society’s Advisory Committee on Cancer Statistics. Canadian Cancer Statistics 2014 .Toronto, ON: Canadian Cancer Society; 2014. Link to document: cancer.ca/statistics

"We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails" - Author Unknown

Bad Eggs

Episode IV XXI	Half-Life
Half of your existence starts here
Blog Beat	You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me | Cher

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It's the X.

How Do You Like Your Eggs?

Ovarian cancer has the 8th highest incidence of cancers among women and has the 5th highest mortality¹. About 1 in 72 will develop ovarian cancer in their lifetime. The 5-year (relative) survival rate is 45%.

A daffodil for ovarian cancer awareness

By The Dozen

Help us end cancer. Donate to my mom's OneWalk fund!

¹ Cancer Research Society "Ovarian Cancer" http://www.crs-src.ca/page.aspx?pid=1322

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother" - Abraham Lincoln

Shift In Metabolism

Episode IV XV	Shift In Metabolism
Getting a bit off-balance...
Blog Beat	Keep Holding On | Avril Lavigne

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I've heard that supposedly, thyroid cancer is the best type of cancer to have... I argue that no cancer is better than cancer!

A Lesser Evil

So, why is thyroid cancer considered a "safer" cancer? According to the Canadian Cancer Society, the most common types of thyroid cancer, papillary thyroid cancer (70% of thyroid cancers) and follicular thyroid cancer (10-15% of thyroid cancers), are slow- growing and relatively non-aggressive. In addition, the cancerous cells are well-differentiated, meaning that they closely resemble normal cells¹. Another "benefit" lies in the treatment of thyroid cancer, which can include the use of radioactive iodine (I-131); unlike other cancer treatments, I-131 would target cells of thyroid and leave the rest of the body relatively untouched, a consequence of a natural function of the thyroid absorbing virtually all of the iodine in the body².

'Roid Rage

You can sugar-coat it all you want, but facts are facts. Thyroid cancer killed 182 Canadians in 2010³, and the incidence rate of thyroid cancer is rising faster than any other cancer⁴. Thyroid cancer affects young adults more than people over the age of 60 (16% and 10% of cases in individuals between the ages of 15-29 and 30-49, respectively, in 2006-2010)⁴, and occurs 3 times more often in women than men⁵.

A daffodil for thyroid cancer awareness

Cancer Catabolism

Support my mom for OneWalk! I've made my donation!

¹ The Canadian Cancer Society "Malignant Tumours of the Thyroid Gland" https://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-type/thyroid/thyroid-cancer/malignant-tumours/?region=nu
² American Cancer Society "Thyroid Cancer" http://www.cancer.org/cancer/thyroidcancer/detailedguide/thyroid-cancer-treating-radioactive-iodine
³ The Canadian Cancer Society "Thyroid Cancer Statistics" https://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-type/thyroid/statistics/?region=nu
⁴ Canadian Cancer Society’s Advisory Committee on Cancer Statistics. Canadian Cancer Statistics 2014. Toronto, ON: Canadian Cancer Society; 2014. Link to document: cancer.ca/statistics
⁵ The Canadian Cancer Society "Risk Factors for Thyroid Cancer" https://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-type/thyroid/risks/?region=nu

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." - Mahatma Gandhi

Plumeria alba: Tutorial!

Flora	Frangipani
Plumeria alba
Blog Beat	Escape (The Piña Colada Song) | Rupert Holmes

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  Project:   Frangipani
  Difficulty:   Easy-ish; requires some tiny measurements
  Special equipment:   Five-petal flower punch

I used a flower punch to create the piece that will hold the flower together. If you don't have a punch, you can use ¾" or 15mm circles instead. Cut five slits (equally spaced around the circle) about a ¼ of the way into the circle.
( For the geometry enthusiasts, that's five 72° angles originating from the center )

Here, I used chalk pastels to colour the center of the petals

Cut a short slit at the bottom of each petal. They should be about as long as the cuts you made in the center circles if you're using them
( Essentially, you want your petals to touch at the center of the finished flower )

I shaped the petals using the handle of a paintbrush. Curve the left side toward the front of the petal, and curve the right side towards the back, creating an S-shape

Working from the front of the flower, start to attach the petals one at a time. This is where the punched flower/circle comes in: slide the frangipani petal between the punched flower petals

Glue the back of the left side of the frangipani petal to the front of your center punch flower/circle. Sound confusing? The next couple images might help...

Attach the rest of the petals the same way. Note that you do not need to glue the right side of the frangipani petal. Leaving it free gives the flower it's spiral-fan shape!

This is what your flower should look like when all the petals are added. Notice how the petals meet in the middle to cover up that center...

Use your second center circle or punched flower to secure the back. Careful! You want to align the slits or spaces between punched petals with the spaces of the frangipani petals!
( Click on the image for a closer look: the backing should secure your petals to the center without gluing the individual petals together... )

For some extra depth, I used the end of a paintbrush the push the center of the flower into a sponge

Done!

Plumeria

Paper Petals	Frangipani
Plumeria
Blog Beat	Kokomo | The Beach Boys

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When you are getting tired of the long, cold, snowy winter, sometimes it helps to think of warm places, like Earth's core, the unwatched pot, the surface of the sun... Or, you know, Hawaii.

Aloha, frangipani.

"Silver white winters that melt into springs, these are a few of my favourite things..." - Fräulein Maria, The Sound of Music

Lilium candidum: Tutorial!

Flora	The White Lily
Lilium candidum
Blog Beat	Waltz of the Flowers | Tchaikovsky

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  Project:   The simple lily
  Difficulty:   Relatively easy