Do Caretakers Receive Disparate Treatment?

I'm guest blogging over at Pundit Mom's today. Come on over and read my post about being a parent and a professional:

Do Caretakers Receive Disparate Treatment?

Steal This Post Because Cancer Sucks

Edited to add stuff at the bottom.

You've probably heard about Why Mommy's IBC diagnosis by now. Well, she's asked us all to steal some of her posts to educate people about the particularly insidious form of breast cancer that she has. I had heard of IBC but knew very little about it when Why Mommy was diagnosed. Her diagnosis hit me hard. She's 34 years old, like me. She has two small boys, like me. She could be me. I could be her. Cancer can strike anyone. So read on and feel free to steal her post as well. I know she'd want you to:

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

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I also have a guest post up at And the Pursuit of Happiness today. Ms. Sunshine, Sonia, asked me to share some random stuff about the Commonwealth of Virginia and I've happily complied. Feel free to stop by and say hello.

You all know by now that I'm heading off to BlogHer tonight. I'm bringing my laptop and I will try my hand at live blogging if at all possible. I just don't want to make any promises because technology accidents happen. And they always seem to happen to me.

But, as promised, here is what my magnets look like:


(Notice how I strategically placed letters over my double chin. I'm so crafty.)

See you next week!

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Edited to add:

My good friend, L, who wrote this fabulous guest post for me last week, has finally bitten the bullet and started her own blog. Thanks for encouraging her to get started, folks. And go visit her while I'm gone:

Not Exactly A Princess

Leaving On a Jet Plane...

No wait, that's not right. We're leaving tonight in a car, driving 3 hours to DC in rush hour traffic (better make that 4 hours), staying overnight, flying to Omaha, and then driving 6 hours to the in-laws. So I guess I'm leaving on a car, a jet plane, and a rented SUV. It's just that it's hard to sing that line.

I know, I know. Try to contain your disappointment, but Lawyer Mama will be absent for more than a week. If I survive the almost 26 hours of combined travel (half of it on Friday the 13th) and then the withdrawal from Internet access, I will be back in 10 days.

I can, however, offer you something even better than a consolation prize. I have guest bloggers scheduled for you! You'll have to check back to see who and what and to party in my absence. I just ask that you pick up all your empty beer cans from the lawn and remove the drunk people from the bathrooms before I get home. Oh, and try not to let the cats outside.

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Before I leave, I do want to thank The Queen of the Mayhem, not only for letting me trash her castle in her absence, but also for the Rockin' Blogger award she bestowed upon me. You're the best, Queenie!

I have to pass it on to some other Rockin' Bloggers that I know, so here it goes:

CPA Mom - She keeps her main blog private. Damn. it. But you can check out her reviews here and catch her at The Soccer Mom Vote. You'll have to trust me when I tell you she is one rockin' chick. I know she's been tagged with this before, but she deserves two. One for each blog.

Julie at The Ravin' Picture Maven - Julie keeps me thinking and on my toes with her wonderful thinky posts and her Hump Day Hmm's. If you haven't participated in one of her roundtables, you should. It's a great way to exercise your brain. I think Julie's gotten this one before too, but she also deserves two. One for each hand. Why not?

DD at TKO - This lady keeps taking hits and coming back for more. He blog touches on infertility quite a bit and that's a personal subject for me, but her observations on life, love, and the pursuit of baby are amazing. I don't know how she does it, but she makes me laugh through tears on a regular basis. I don't know if she's been named a Rockin' Blogger before but she deserves two anyway. She's just that fabulous.

I also have to say that there isn't a blog in my blog roll that doesn't deserve this. And many more blogs that I've been too lazy to add to my blog roll, but that I read all the time. You're all fabulous but, once again, I'm too damn lazy to put any more links in this post.

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Don't forget to go check out Julie's Hump Day Hmm's for the week. They're all up now at her place.

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I leave you with this:

We had a loud storm last night. In fact, it was a dark and stormy night. (I've always wanted to legitimately use that line!) We were having a hard time putting the boys to bed, with crashes of thunder that rattled the house. I heard Hollis tell T, "Daddy, the thunder scared me."

T, carrying him to the window, "Well, you go right ahead and scare thunder back. Tell it who's boss."

Hollis crawled up on the window ledge, scrinched up his face, curled his hands like claws, and growled, "ROOOOOOWWWWWWRRRRRRRR!!!" through the window.

"Thunder scared now, Daddy."

Hollis went right to sleep.

You see why I love my men so?



Try not to have too much fun without me.

Party At The Mayhem!

The Queen of the Mayhem is on vacation, so I'm house sitting over at Miller Mayhem for today. I thought we'd have a little party with some friends, some music, a few kegs. Heather even gave me her password, so I thought that I'd auction it off for charity after everyone's really wasted. Oh, but we've already managed to clog the toilets, so bring your own jelly jar, m'kay?

Come on over and join us! Here's a little preview:

Last week, I had a small meltdown when I discovered that Johnson's Bedtime Lotion's scent had changed. Even though I mentioned it on my blog, I'm not done being bitter yet. So, I give you an open letter to the CEO of Johnson & Johnson:

Dear Mr. Weldon:

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