So picky
Excited about going out tonight with Scott, my PEO sister Tiffany and her husband Matt to the new BJ's by NE Mall. I've never been to other locations before, so I'm looking forward to sampling the deep dish pizza. Even though I never drink beer, they're known for their beer brewery, so I think I may try a pumpkin ale.
Speaking of food, I took great care yesterday when I heard Scott would be home later than usual to make a meal fitting the chilly weather. I decided to use the leftover kale I had in the fridge and make Zuppa Toscana, and roast some acorn squash.
So while I'm basking in the nutty scents of the acorn squash roasting in the oven in an orange and cranberry juice bath, filled with cinnamon and brown sugar; and while the soup is wafting scents of nutmeg and sausage, Scott comes home and steps into the kitchen.
He took one look at the squash and said: "I'm not eating that. I don't know what it is, but I'm not eating it."
"But, Scott! It's so good! Are you telling me you've never had acorn squash??"
"I'm not eating it. And what's this?" he said, pointing the soup.
"It's Zuppa Toscana-- like at Macaroni Grill!"
"I don't eat EVERYTHING RMG serves."
"You're impossible!"
Well, he did eat the soup, most of it. "I don't like potatoes in soup," he whined. :-)
Well, this morning I made the Mexican cornbread for him to take to work, and I know he doesn't even like that, but he asked me to make it for his office Thanksgiving meal since even he realizes everybody else likes it.
I also was excited to see in the news this morning, reporter Anna Tinsley from the Star-Telegram quoted me in the following news sotry discussing how women and doctors are reacting to the new mammogram guidelines.
Some local women and doctors say they will ignore new recommendations on mammograms and self-exams
Posted Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009
BY ANNA M. TINSLEY
atinsley@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH - Gynna Harlin worries that a new federal task force recommendation about mammograms will keep women who need to be checked for breast cancer away from the doctor...
The advisory panel recommended that mammograms aren’t needed until 50 and that self-exams aren’t necessary. But several local doctors and experts say the rules of thumb - mammograms every one or two years after age 40 and regular self-exams - are important for catching breast cancer early and saving lives.
"We don’t want people to use this as an excuse to downplay the importance of all this," said Harlin, 50, of Burleson, a breast cancer survivor who heads the 2010 Race for the Cure in Tarrant County. "Early detection is so important in breast cancer."
Harlin was in her 40s when she found a lump in her breast during a self-exam.
"If you have people who aren’t checking and aren’t going in when they need to, that’s where the real problem lies."
Local medical workers and breast health advocates have been bombarded with questions this week from women wondering whether the task force’s recommendations need to be followed. Many say they plan to stick with what works.
For Dr. Ruth Wiley, a Fort Worth obstetrician and gynecologist, that means screening and mammograms every one or two years for women over 40 and annual mammograms for women over 50. And "breast self-exams are very valuable and have the potential to detect palpable breast cancer," she said.
But ultimately the decision to have a mammogram is up to each woman.
"You have to have a discussion with your physician about your risk factors and make that determination," Wiley said. "These are just rules of thumb."
One in 8 women is diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Mammograms
During mammograms, low-level X-rays are used to examine a breast, in search of cancer or other disease.
The American Cancer Society has long recommended annual mammograms for women starting at age 40 and will continue to do so despite what the task force said. "We are not changing what we believe in," spokesman Chuck Reed said.
Likewise, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an advocacy group, won’t change its support of self-exams and regular mammograms for women over 40.
"There’s not enough evidence to the contrary," said Ann Greenhill, executive director of Susan G. Komen for the Cure in Tarrant County. "This has caused such a groundswell of conversation. What is important is that we don’t make knee-jerk changes or decisions.
"We are aware that mammography isn’t perfect. We’ve known that," she said. "But it saves lives and it’s the best test we have."
Dueling proposals
This week, the independent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a 16-member advisory panel with a range of health professionals from Colorado’s epidemiologist to an Iowa health professor to a Minnesota medical director, went against traditional recommendations that mammograms can detect cancer early and save lives.
The task force’s Web site touts it as the "leading independent panel of private-sector experts in prevention and primary care."Task force members, identified by TheWashington Post as appointees of former President George W. Bush, said it’s not worth making patients go through biopsies, radiation and stress that may be unnecessary.
The task force also said there’s not much use in teaching women to examine their breasts - or having doctors do the exams.
No Texans serve on the task force.
The recommendation drew heated reaction from some, including celebrities Elisabeth Hasselbeck of The View, who called it "gender genocide," and Olivia Newton-John, a breast cancer survivor, who called the recommendations "troublesome."
Within days, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued a statement.
"The U.S. Preventive Task Force is an outside independent panel of doctors and scientists who make recommendations. They do not set federal policy and they don’t determine what services are covered by the federal government," she said. "My message to women is simple.
"Mammograms have always been an important life-saving tool in the fight against breast cancer and they still are today. Keep doing what you have been doing for years - talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions, and make the decision that is right for you."
Backfire?
Dr. George Blumenschein, an international expert in breast cancer who recently retired from the Arlington Cancer Center, said the task force’s recommendations are worth watching.
"But I don’t think anybody is anxious to change what we are doing," he said. "A lot of effort went into establishing this annual mammogram requirement we have now."
Erin Humiston, 24, of Bedford said the recommendations may have backfired.
"All week long, I’ve heard an enormous outcry from women nationwide under the age of 40 and 50 who have shared their own personal stories about how mammograms helped them catch breast cancer early and saved their life.
"This outcry has inspired me to be that much more conscientious in staying vigilant against the threat of cancer, and it has reminded me to be diligent with self-exams, keep on top of my annual exams at the OB/GYN and, yes, even start mammogram screenings all that much earlier."
Speaking of food, I took great care yesterday when I heard Scott would be home later than usual to make a meal fitting the chilly weather. I decided to use the leftover kale I had in the fridge and make Zuppa Toscana, and roast some acorn squash.
So while I'm basking in the nutty scents of the acorn squash roasting in the oven in an orange and cranberry juice bath, filled with cinnamon and brown sugar; and while the soup is wafting scents of nutmeg and sausage, Scott comes home and steps into the kitchen.
He took one look at the squash and said: "I'm not eating that. I don't know what it is, but I'm not eating it."
"But, Scott! It's so good! Are you telling me you've never had acorn squash??"
"I'm not eating it. And what's this?" he said, pointing the soup.
"It's Zuppa Toscana-- like at Macaroni Grill!"
"I don't eat EVERYTHING RMG serves."
"You're impossible!"
Well, he did eat the soup, most of it. "I don't like potatoes in soup," he whined. :-)
Well, this morning I made the Mexican cornbread for him to take to work, and I know he doesn't even like that, but he asked me to make it for his office Thanksgiving meal since even he realizes everybody else likes it.
I also was excited to see in the news this morning, reporter Anna Tinsley from the Star-Telegram quoted me in the following news sotry discussing how women and doctors are reacting to the new mammogram guidelines.
Some local women and doctors say they will ignore new recommendations on mammograms and self-exams
Posted Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009
BY ANNA M. TINSLEY
atinsley@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH - Gynna Harlin worries that a new federal task force recommendation about mammograms will keep women who need to be checked for breast cancer away from the doctor...
The advisory panel recommended that mammograms aren’t needed until 50 and that self-exams aren’t necessary. But several local doctors and experts say the rules of thumb - mammograms every one or two years after age 40 and regular self-exams - are important for catching breast cancer early and saving lives.
"We don’t want people to use this as an excuse to downplay the importance of all this," said Harlin, 50, of Burleson, a breast cancer survivor who heads the 2010 Race for the Cure in Tarrant County. "Early detection is so important in breast cancer."
Harlin was in her 40s when she found a lump in her breast during a self-exam.
"If you have people who aren’t checking and aren’t going in when they need to, that’s where the real problem lies."
Local medical workers and breast health advocates have been bombarded with questions this week from women wondering whether the task force’s recommendations need to be followed. Many say they plan to stick with what works.
For Dr. Ruth Wiley, a Fort Worth obstetrician and gynecologist, that means screening and mammograms every one or two years for women over 40 and annual mammograms for women over 50. And "breast self-exams are very valuable and have the potential to detect palpable breast cancer," she said.
But ultimately the decision to have a mammogram is up to each woman.
"You have to have a discussion with your physician about your risk factors and make that determination," Wiley said. "These are just rules of thumb."
One in 8 women is diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Mammograms
During mammograms, low-level X-rays are used to examine a breast, in search of cancer or other disease.
The American Cancer Society has long recommended annual mammograms for women starting at age 40 and will continue to do so despite what the task force said. "We are not changing what we believe in," spokesman Chuck Reed said.
Likewise, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an advocacy group, won’t change its support of self-exams and regular mammograms for women over 40.
"There’s not enough evidence to the contrary," said Ann Greenhill, executive director of Susan G. Komen for the Cure in Tarrant County. "This has caused such a groundswell of conversation. What is important is that we don’t make knee-jerk changes or decisions.
"We are aware that mammography isn’t perfect. We’ve known that," she said. "But it saves lives and it’s the best test we have."
Dueling proposals
This week, the independent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a 16-member advisory panel with a range of health professionals from Colorado’s epidemiologist to an Iowa health professor to a Minnesota medical director, went against traditional recommendations that mammograms can detect cancer early and save lives.
The task force’s Web site touts it as the "leading independent panel of private-sector experts in prevention and primary care."Task force members, identified by TheWashington Post as appointees of former President George W. Bush, said it’s not worth making patients go through biopsies, radiation and stress that may be unnecessary.
The task force also said there’s not much use in teaching women to examine their breasts - or having doctors do the exams.
No Texans serve on the task force.
The recommendation drew heated reaction from some, including celebrities Elisabeth Hasselbeck of The View, who called it "gender genocide," and Olivia Newton-John, a breast cancer survivor, who called the recommendations "troublesome."
Within days, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued a statement.
"The U.S. Preventive Task Force is an outside independent panel of doctors and scientists who make recommendations. They do not set federal policy and they don’t determine what services are covered by the federal government," she said. "My message to women is simple.
"Mammograms have always been an important life-saving tool in the fight against breast cancer and they still are today. Keep doing what you have been doing for years - talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions, and make the decision that is right for you."
Backfire?
Dr. George Blumenschein, an international expert in breast cancer who recently retired from the Arlington Cancer Center, said the task force’s recommendations are worth watching.
"But I don’t think anybody is anxious to change what we are doing," he said. "A lot of effort went into establishing this annual mammogram requirement we have now."
Erin Humiston, 24, of Bedford said the recommendations may have backfired.
"All week long, I’ve heard an enormous outcry from women nationwide under the age of 40 and 50 who have shared their own personal stories about how mammograms helped them catch breast cancer early and saved their life.
"This outcry has inspired me to be that much more conscientious in staying vigilant against the threat of cancer, and it has reminded me to be diligent with self-exams, keep on top of my annual exams at the OB/GYN and, yes, even start mammogram screenings all that much earlier."