Recently I signed up to join the bone marrow registry. Everyone's immediate reaction is, "That's so painful!" It is possible that they are right. However, there are a few things wrong with that argument: 1) It is not as painful as having cancer. 2) There is a new procedure where you do not have to have bone marrow taken out of the base of your spine. This new procedure involves taking a medication to hop up your blood stem cell count, then they take blood out of one arm, extract the stem cells, and put your blood back into your other arm. It can take 1-2 days, and possibly cause some flu-like symptoms, but most people recover within a day or two of donating. The spinal tap procedure does still exist (the bone marrow actually comes out of the back of your pelvis) but the website claims it's painless. The doctor will determine which procedure will be most appropriate. And to sign up all you have to do is swab some tissue off of your cheek. I did it at my desk while I was at work it's so simple.

Voila, you just saved a life.


http://www.getswabbed.org/

The average American eats 24 pounds of candy every year (Nielsen Research). Holy smokes that's a lot of candy. Maybe you eat less than that so you don't have to feel too guilty right now. Regardless, that is a lot of sugar out there. (Oh PS - Happy Halloween ;). And unless you have some kind of ungodly willpower, you might be like me and have some Halloween treats. Which is cool aside from the spike in your blood sugar and insulin, and the fatigue and crabbiness that can come with that. Counting the candy as a sunk cost of having a good time during a holiday, try to regulate your blood sugar by eating mostly low glycemic foods today! For breakfast, scrambled eggs with salsa or tomatoes, and your beverage of choice - sans sugar - and try a salad with little or no salad dressing for lunch. Put whatever you want on it! Dinner pick some yummy meat, steak or salmon, and veggies, like a seasonal organic squash would be tasty. Then you won't be grumpy because it's Monday and grumpy because you ate too much sugar!



Who actually eats candy corn anymore? Maybe a bad photo choice?

"The humbleness of a warrior is not the humbleness of a beggar. The warrior lowers his head to no one, but at the same time he doesn't permit anyone to lower his head to him. The beggar, on the other hand, falls to his knees at the drop of a hat and scrapes the floor at anyone he deems to be higher; but at the same time, he demands that someone lower than him scrape the floor for him." - Carlos Casteneda



Asserting a hierarchy is the same as asserting low self-esteem. You can stand tall and strong without defining your relationships to those around you.

Wine is one of the most important food groups.

I'll stand behind that.

Tonight I am off to volunteer in support of my good friend, and also a fistful of women with stage IV breast cancer! There are so many beautiful things going on tonight, I don't even know where to begin. The event is primarily an auction, both silent and live, offering up all kinds of goodies and services for brides-to-be. Maybe something for the groom too. But he's more low maintenance so we're not too worried about that. Brooke and Jubal from the 92.5 morning show will be there (did you know Jubal has over 5000 Facebook friends and is not allowed to have any more? A limit on friends??), and there will be wine and gorgeous desserts, and givers of all types. The bottom line is that all money raised goes to grant a wish for a woman with stage IV breast cancer...makes my heart crumble to think about it.

http://www.gethitchedgivehope.com/

See you there!

"The healthiest thing I've ever heard of!"
I get the Full Circle Farm produce boxes every week, and it continues to provide me with new and sometimes yes, sometimes not, tasty vegetables. A recent one was celery root. WTF, mate. Is that even edible, you ask? Well, thanks to the gem of an iPhone app, Epicurious, I found a recipe for which I even had all the ingredients, and would provide me, a solo dweller, with food for several days. If you would like to get the exact details, consult Epicurious, it's their recipe. My instructions include sauteeing some carrots, onions, and the celery root (sounds very much like the mirepouix I have recently been introduced to! Tell your friends you are making them a fancy French meal!) and when those are golden delicious, add seasoning, beef broth and lentils. I even had my own soup bone so my broth was au naturale. You can see the glow in my skin as a result of this. I purchased already-cooked lentils from Trader Joe's, so I didn't have to pay attention to making sure they were soft enough. But you should do that. Then when things are simmering well, add your kale! A meal is not complete without a fibrous leafy crunchy green vegetable. Every gastroenterologist will tell you that. And that's all folks. When I brought it to work today, I was rewarded with the above compliment. I know you're probably drooling at the mouth right now and probably on your way to Chipotle instead, but just thought I'd share something so healthy and fulfilling that you're entitled to your cheesecake afterwards.

I considered taking a photo, but it really doesn't do the dish justice, so how about a photo that shows you what it tastes like?

The acromion is the lateral extension of the spine of the scapula, and connects with the clavicle. It hangs over the meeting of the humerus and the scapula to provide protection. The coracoid process also helps to protect the shoulder join, and is an attachment for several muscles and ligaments, including your chest muscles and biceps. The glenoid cavity, along with the head of the humerus, form the ball-and-socket joint of your shoulder. Compared to other ball-and-socket joints in the body, this one is shallow - allowing for great mobility and great instability.

There are seveteen muscles that have origins or attachments on the scapula!! They're all working together simultaneously!! Wild!! We have the omohyoid, a few fibers of the latissimus dorsi, teres major and teres minor, infraspinatous and supraspinatous, deltoid, subscapularis, the long and short head of the biceps brachii, the long head of the triceps brachii, coracobrachialis, pectoralis minor, serratus anterior, rhomboid major and rhomboid minor, levator scapulae and trapezius.

Here we have the dorsal or backside view of the right scapula. The most prominent feature here is the spine of the scapula, which works with two major muscles. It is the origin, essentially the anchor, of the deltoid muscle, the primary muscle of the shoulder. It is also the insertion of your trapezius, so the scapula moves along with the trapezius muscle when you decide to shrug your shoulders. Above and below the spine of the scapula, we have two depressions, the supraspinous fossa and the infraspinous fossa. Both are origins for their sister muscles. The supraspinatous muscle attaches to the humerus, the arm bone, and helps you raise your arm laterally. The infraspinatous is much larger and helps you externally rotate your arm so your inside elbows face out. If you sit in a desk at a computer all day like me, this muscle gets virtually no action. But it is begging to go to the party. Along the lateral border you can see a little bit of shading marking a ridge, which helps to separate the infraspinatous from the teres major and teres minor muscles. The teres minor attaches to the small space between this ridge and the actual edge of the bone. On the small edge of the bone at the bottom, below the lateral border, is where the teres major attaches. Enough for now!

Last Friday night I watched Walk the Line, and simultaneously over the past week have listened to a new song on repeat, with the lyrics -
"I was June and you were my Johnny Cash,
Never one without the other, we made a pact."

Recognizing that Mr. Cash carried guilt for the untimely death of his brother, went on a 3-year-tour for the Vietnam War, a divorce, and a never-ending drug addiction, in total he obviously experienced a lot of pain, it is incredibly admirable that June and Johnny had a strong enough relationship to move past these things and eventually die within four months of each other. Technically the cause of death was complications from diabetes...

His problems lingered on for the rest of his life. He and June stayed together and worked together for 35 years. I think it's an overarching testament that being there for someone, being patient and being understanding are human qualities that trump all others.

The scapula, your shoulder blade, is a pretty darn awesome bone. There is just a lot going on here, as it supports your back and shoulder muscles, both of which are very large and powerful, along with the movement of your arm, which is a lot of movement. This is the front-side view of a left scapula, and you can see the acromion process where the clavicle articulates. The main feature on this side of the bone is the subscapular fossa (fossa means depression), which is home to the ridges you can see. These ridges serve as the attachments for many of the tendons in the shoulder girdle. At the top of the fossa, where the color changes from a lighter to darker color, is a deeper depression that increases the structural strength of the bone. The backside of this depression is where the spine of the scapula is...to be covered later!

The clavicle, aka collarbone, is easily palpated and looks quite nice on people with nice shoulders. Its primary significance is that it is the only skeletal contact for the shoulder blade and arm to the axial skeleton - the rest of the body. On the other end it connects to the top of the sternum where the ribs begin. It is strong and stiff, in order to hold them in place and away from the body. You want that so that you can have a maximum range of movement, you know, throw a baseball, reach the stuff on the top shelf. Which is also the reason it is the most commonly broken bone in the body [If you break your clavicle you must wear a tight sling for approximately 3 weeks to hold the bone in place. Otherwise your arm will drag the bone fragment down and you will be forever handicapped and disfigured. Yuck]. The outside end of the clavicle attaches to the acromion process of the scapula. Finally, the clavicle helps protect the nerves running out to the arm.

The above photo is the anterior view.

I don't know how to take a photo of myself, so you will have to tolerate this one of a stranger. But this is what I've looked like at my computer for years and years, basically the entire existence of the computer has enjoyed my bad posture. Not good for your spine, but more importantly is the slew of problems created around your shoulders, which are already the least stable join in your body. Take care of them, yo.





Yoga was what really opened my eyes to how awful my posture was, and how limiting it can be over an extended period of time and for doing anything other than typing. An ergonomics evaluation reinforced that. I even found that my shoulders are hunched for the majority of my time - sitting around with friends, even in bed. The muscles have gotten so accustomed to this position it has become their norm. So there's a good chance that most of you out there have the same debilitating hunched over shoulders and don't even know it! I'm going to take a few posts to break down the parts of the shoulder - even your breathing and confidence can be affected - so we will all know the intricacies of the shoulder region and how to move with care.

When you hear something from two different people within twelve hours, the universe has spoken to you and you must share!

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."
- Audrey Hepburn

In case you need a little more than pink as a reason to believe, take this recent study done by Women's Health Initiative researchers: 205 women with hot flashes were randomized to either a placebo pill or the antidepressant escitalopram. Those on escitalopram experienced a 47% decrease in hot flashes, and those on placebo experienced a 33% decrease in symptoms. Looks like just expecting the best will help you more than you think!

Today I spent nearly an hour sitting in the waiting room of the General Oncology/Hematology floor at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. I was eavesdropping (surprise, surprise) on the couple closest to me. Their oldest daughter just got married. Their youngest daughter was an infant when the man was diagnosed with cancer. He's been cancer-free for five years. Five years is a clear triumph when it comes to cancer, but a blink of an eye with children and milestones.

Today we can all be grateful that either we are not going through that, or that we have the strength to triumph.

Once upon a time someone told me life was a veil of tears. This is absolutely a glass half-empty approach, if you ask me, but at the same time it is impossible to ignore the fact that tragedy abounds. There are a million bazillion ways to ache. And all too often it seems that people get stuck in the moment and can't get out of it. We need strength to persevere and flexibility to be open to something new. This is 100% relevant for both physical and mental pain.

You might have done things the way you were doing them before because they were working for you. Now - you hurt. Your body has reacted in this way to send you the message that these things no longer work for you. Modern western medicine will tell you that you can just take a pill. I would like to take it a step even more modern and challenge you to examine your own body and mind and to see where you are strong, where you are flexible, and where you need to let go. Steve Jobs has constantly been lauded for his intuitive recognition of the ability to individualize and customize technology. Your own health is the same! Explore your options and pick and choose what works for you.

  That's you!