Do you know what's going on down there? asks Lissa Rankin

Today’s guest post is by the always well-read Shelly Lewis, a mother of nine-year old twins, and a smart she-geek. We asked her to review gynecologist Dr. Lissa Rankin’s book …

What was I was getting into? That was my thought when asked to review “What’s Up Down There?” by Dr. Lissa Rankin.

I’d read about Lissa at BlogHer – where women had chanted  “vagina, vagina, vagina” — but I felt more comfortable with simply “va.”

Really, it was a book I was nervous to start.

But I read it cover to cover in just a few days.  The book is written in a serious but light way.  In Q&A form, Lissa answers questions submitted by friends, family, and readers of her online blog, OwningPink.com.

If your gynecologist was your BFF

The book’s subtitle is “Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was
Your Best Friend.” The questions were ones I had wanted to ask myself, and  Lissa explains everything clearly and with humor.

One of the charming things about the book is the cover image (see above) which shows the female shape – hips and thighs – with a mirror in front of the pelvic region. I didn’t want my kids or husband to see it and put the book face down and under a stack of books when I wasn’t reading it.

The chapters include vaginas, orgasms, fertility, boobs, pee and butts. The
chapters titles “Pee” and “Butts” seem a little silly but what else should they
be called?  “Urine” and “Derriere” seem so formal.

Lissa shares her own experiences, which seems necessary.  The subject of vaginas is so personal that it seemed right, almost a practice what you preach kind of approach.  If we are being told to love our vaginas and their accompanying features, Lissa is going to show us how she appreciates hers.

We learn about the complexity of her experience and her growing familiarity and comfort with her vagina.  She also shares stories of friends and patients.  While the goal is to love ourselves, vaginas and all, she recognizes the mind-body connection and complexity of the vagina-woman experience.

I loved reading the book.  The answers are clear and informative.  Dr. Lissa
writes a few laugh out loud stories including one about a woman whose vagina
“fell out” due to uterine prolapse but she also writes about the every day
experience, pleasures, maintenance, and all.

Though I feel I should be old enough to have it worked out, I don’t own my
female parts like I want or expect to.  It has been something I don’t think
about often but reading the book about the pleasures and fulfillment of owning one’s body was inspiring.

Perhaps 2011 is the year I will focus on my vagina.
Check back soon!

Info: What’s Up Down There? by Lissa Rankin is available on Amazon.

Related articles

• Book Review: What’s Up Down There? by Lissa Rankin, M.D. (blogcritics.org)
• What’s Up Down There? Awakening Sexuality (psychologytoday.com)

Related Posts:

• Conquer the world, one blog post at a time
• Tales from the Land of the Demented
• Ugg-ly Winters in Australia
• News flash: Killer Lurks in Aussie Shopping Centres
• Where do you turn when you feel like a bad parent?

Breast cancer awareness

As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to share my Aunt’s five-year story of surviving breast cancer, which is chronicled on my cousin’s fun and witty blog, The Patriotic Baker. I’ve broken the excerpts into several posts, which we will be posting over the next week or two to raise awareness of breast cancer treatment:

I am  a 5- year breast cancer survivor. In May 2005, I felt a lump and had prompt treatment (thankfully, I had great doctors). My treatment included a lumpectomy, chemotherapy for 8 weeks and radiation for 6 weeks. My focus to beat this diagnosis was to keep a positive and humorous outlook and to create a few lists about my journey

My personal top ten fun reasons to get chemo

• You can get ready for work quickly, you don’t need to do your hair
• Don’t have to shave your legs
• Your children will do what ever you ask (maybe)
• Your husband will treat you like a princess (mine already did)
• Your don’t have to cook/clean/or do wash (unless you really want to)
• You get to avoid any occasion you really don’t want to go to (your blood counts might be low)
• You can eat anything that looks good
• You have a good reason not to exercise
• You can sleep in any time you want
• You have all the time to do those things you usually don’t have the time to do i.e. watch soaps, shopping (but you might not have the energy to do them)

Some thoughts about my journey:

• Family and friends make a great support system. Let them help.
• There were days I felt I had run a marathon just laying on the couch.
• Radiation: This was fun, when else can you get 4 tattoos in an afternoon. I now have more than my daughter (I think).
• I met many very courageous people who were taking the journey through cancer the same time I was.
• Celebrate, I went to Campabello, the Panama Canal, and on a zip line in Jamaica. This is important to have a goal to look forward to.
• Follow-up visits with surgeon, Oncologist, and Radiation Oncologist, keep them, go when they are scheduled.
• Mammograms and ultrasounds, again go when they are scheduled.
• Encourage others to do monthly self breast exams, get their mammograms and have regular checkups.
• Deal with the emotional aspect of re-occurrence.
• Get on with your life.

Related Posts:

• Blogs in the Army of Women
• Blog for your breasts: Join the Army of Women
• Blog for your boobs … and breast cancer research
• Bed rest blues…week four
• Bed rest blues, week one

Join Army of women. a very bad illustration by yours truly

Are you blogging for your breasts today? We are.

If you are too, tell us and we’ll link to you in our Honor Roll here:

The Army of Women (and some men) includes these brave bloggers:

Serendipity Cottage, a very moving account of the blogger’s own fight with breast cancer. Read it and weep with her as she writes about her own struggle and diagnosis:

“Then you really cry…listen girls and guys, then you cry hysterically…for a good long while.”

Boy Crazy who writes movingly about her own family, including:  “Gramma Tuts It’s my only memory of her, and she’s lying on the couch. I walk up and stand as high as the armrest. A short time later (days? weeks? months?), I walk into our family kitchen and see my dad, her son, sitting at the table. It’s the first time I see him cry.”

Write Likes She Talks who writes: “I read everything that comes my way and get regular exams but I do have a higher risk than most women due to family history and age when I had my first child (31).  So I would definitely like to stay up on and participate in research, especially if it’s simple.”

Life as a Survivor (8.5 years and counting she adds below in the comments) who urges:  “Get your mammies grammied ladies.  (and remember men do get breast cancer)  October is a wonderful time of the year to get a mammogram – lots and lots of places offer reduced prices during this month.  It is a WIN WIN.”

Bandillero Blog

BoobieGate

BodyNoiseOnline

Good Morning/Me again

Cafe Mom

Jess Weiner who writes: “Confidence comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. Confidence can come from studying really hard for a test, from a friend or love one believing in you, or from your faith in something bigger then you.  Today we want to share another way you can gain confidence, by joining the Army of Women and helping prevent breast cancer before it starts!”

Grams Made It . Why did  she join?  She writes: “You see, this year someone Grams knows lost her life to breast cancer. She was a beautiful, fun-loving, talented, caring woman who dedicated her life to her family, to the education of young children, and to mentoring young teachers.”

Why Mommy on Blogher who writes; “If you’ve ever been on my personal site, you’ve heard me rant about this before. You’ve heard me plead since my inflammatory breast cancer diagnosis in June 2007. We need the research. We need to understand this beast and how to a) cure it and b) stop it from ever developing in our bodies, our friends’ bodies, and our childrens’ bodies.”

This Full House … who really needs to put herself first and go get a checkup.

Undercover Mother

American Cowgurl

Just call me B!

Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom

TwoTimesTheFun (another twin parent, yeah!)

LifeMusicLaughter who writes about her decision to have her breasts reduced in size: “With breasts that large, I was at a higher risk of breast cancer. My mother had already had 2 lumpectomies before she was 50, and I had already had one scare that included having a ductogram, (a small catheter is inserted into the milk ducts prior to a mammogram, yeah not any fun.) I had vary fibrous tissues, so, at 32, I began getting mammograms every 6 months. I had come to the conclusion that it was only a matter of time before I got that “you need to come to the office so we can talk” phone call. I needed to do something! I needed to reduce my risk! So, I had the surgery.”

Lemon Drop Pie ( a great blog post from a 14-year survivor of breast cancer)

Deckside Thoughts, a man, hooray!

Designer Wife

Blogunteer

Recycled Frockery who has included some gruesome slides  showing the ravages of breast cancer.

Undercover Mother
WomenontheFence
Peanut Butter In My Hair

This Heavenly Life

Care2

Related Posts:

• Blog for your breasts: Join the Army of Women
• “Keeping abreast” – a breast cancer survival story
• Blog for your boobs … and breast cancer research
• Keeping abreast, what friends and family can do to help
• Blog for your breasts: The race for the cure

Army of women: Join the ranks

Join the Army? Not that army, but the Army of Women to volunteer to participate in cancer research.

* Psst: Add your blog to the list of blogs that have joined the Army here.

Today is Blog for our Breasts day. And at MomstoWork, we’re blogging to keep our breasts, and our lives, and those of our friends, mothers, and sisters. You can also read Julie Hurvitz’s guest blog post about her personal Fight for the Cure.

What is the Army of Women? It hopes to STOP CANCER BEFORE IT STARTS. By enlisting one million women to participate in breast cancer research, it hopes to take “the research out of the lab and look at real women.”

Isn’t there research going on already? Yep, but on mice! say organizers. “Most prevention research has been conducted in the lab — on cell lines and mice. ”

“The Army of Women will focus new attention on the need to unlock the key to what causes breast cancer by having women partner with scientists.”

“Much less attention is paid to how cancer starts and how to prevent it,” say the organizers of today’s day by the Avon Foundation.

To follow today’s debate on Twitter, use the hashtag #WritePink.
Then, find a breast research project that interests you. Next? Volunteer.

To shed more light on attitudes to breast cancer, we’ve loaded some surveys via TheSkinnyScoop below:

Related Posts:

• Blogs in the Army of Women
• Blog for your boobs … and breast cancer research
• Keeping abreast, what friends and family can do to help
• “Keeping abreast” – a breast cancer survival story
• Take our survey: Working Mom Stress

We’ve taken the pledge to participate in the Army of Women breast cancer campaign on October 1, 2010.  Please join us.

“We are dedicating ONE day to reach ONE million women to sign up for the Army of Women,” say organizers.

“We are declaring October 1, 2010 the official Army of Women Day. We beseech all bloggers to blog about the Army of Women and empower women to take the next step by signing up and taking part in breast cancer research studies.”

“Together, we can move breast cancer beyond a cure and eradicate it once and for all.”

The idea is to enlist an army of volunteers who will work with researchers.

Breast cancer research is often focused on killing the tumor cells, say organizers.

“Much less attention is paid to how cancer starts and how to prevent it. Furthermore, most prevention research has been conducted in the lab — on cell lines and mice. The Army of Women will focus new attention on the need to unlock the key to what causes breast cancer by having women partner with scientists.”

You can read about some of the current research projects.

It is an online initiative, sponsored by the Avon  Foundation of Women.

You can sign up at ArmyofWomen.

Related Posts:

• Blog for your breasts: Join the Army of Women
• Blogs in the Army of Women
• “Keeping abreast” – a breast cancer survival story

This event was canceled because Suze Orman had an emergency appendectomy.

You can wish her a speedy recovery at http://twitter.com/suzeormanshow

I had my own brush with breast cancer this week. The mildest brush. The brush of fear. A callback after a wonky mammogram. I got the all-clear but I felt paralyzed with fear for the days before.

Why? I know many women and their siblings who are battling breast cancer, just a few of the 13% of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the United States.

My friends talked about doing the Avon Breast Cancer Walk, but we didn’t manage it.

If you are like me, and cheering on the breast cancer walkers from afar, you can still join in …

Suze Orman, the internationally acclaimed personal finance expert will conduct a 30 minute webchat at the Avon Breast Cancer Walk in Chicago on Sunday, June 6th at 12p PT/ 3p ET.

Don't squeeze the fruit unless you are checking for lumps

You can ask Suze any question on finance and the Avon Breast Cancer Walk on http://www.ustream.tv/suzelive.

Talk to breast cancer survivors as they share stories of their battle against the disease.

Boob check?

Have you looked at your boobs lately?  Give them a pat and a smile for hanging in there, and then do a self-examination to check for lumps, etc.

Image:  Goldberg’s photo stream via Flickr creative commons

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

Don't rely on luck and St. Pat for good health

Bonnie Bernstein survived a blood clot. She had no idea that she was experiencing symptoms of DVT. “After all, I’ve worked out my entire life, eat well, rarely drink alcohol, and don’t smoke,” she wrote.

But David Bloom, NBC news correspondent, wasn’t so lucky.

He died in Iraq in the “sand-blown heat of war.”

But he didn’t lose his life to a bullet or a bomb, but to a blood clot, his wife Melanie Bloom wrote in The Huffington Post.

Every year, 2 million Americans are affected by DVT of a blood clot, known as Deep Vein Thrombosis.

March is the seventh annual Deep-Vein Thrombosis (DVT) Awareness Month.

The Coalition to Prevent DVT is urging everyone to get moving to avoid DVT. You may think DVT only strikes people who are crammed into economy class. That was my view after seeing warnings on many Qantas flights from LA to Sydney and back.

But the consortium says blood clots strike people:

• at the office
• in bed, whether hospital or at home
• in Assisted-Living or Rehabilitation facilities, and
• during travel.

DVT occurs when muscles of the legs are inactive, allowing blood to collect in the lower extremities.

Working with Mary Ann Wilson, RN, founder and host of PBS program “Sit and Be Fit,” the Coalition has developed an educational video that features simple, low impact movements to increase blood circulation.

Visit www.preventdvt.org to take a look.

You can also hear National Spokesperson, Melanie Bloom talk about the loss of her husband, David Bloom from complications of DVT while covering the war in Iraq.

To watch a special iPSA from Melanie Bloom, speaking of the importance of DVT Awareness, please visit: www.westglen.com/online/dvt_awareness_motion.htm

What can you do? Stand up now and stretch, and prod your colleague in the next cubicle to do the same. I’ll be doing my stretches tonight as I fly to Paris.

Did I say PARIS? Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

A bientot!

Photo: Cygnus921′s photostream on Flickr.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

This post is for anyone who’s ever said, “I’m fat,” who’d rather grab another bit of cheese and slurp down one extra glass of wine than embark on another low fat, low life, diet.

Fat Girl Friday, or #FatGirlFriday on Twitter, is spreading faster than our collective behinds. We asked guest blogger Becca Bernstein why she launched Fat Girl Friday.

Becca replied: Iʼve been on a diet since I was eight. Iʼve joined Weight Watchers six times, Jenny Craig twice and I havenʼt lost my baby weight — my daughterʼs almost three.

Accepting my body is not an easy task. In fact, I took a Rorschach test 10 years ago and it was all about the guilt I felt from eating bangers and mash three nights before.

Fat Girl Friday takes off but pounds stay on

You know what: Thatʼs ridiculous. Truly.

I need to get better at forgiving myself. I need to see the humor and not the tragedy in my inconsistent waist size. And I need to  accept myself for what I look like and what I crave.

Today, everything seems to be based on a personʼs size, especially women. I canʼt think of the last time I picked up a magazine and didnʼt see some airbrushed rail thin girl staring back at me.

Yeah, she might look good, but sheʼs not real. Sheʼs just a sad, over starved shell of a human being that misses pizza and beer on Friday nights. Why is it we live in a society that shuns anything thatʼs not low carb, low fat, or low cal?

Thatʼs why I started Fat Girl Friday. Not only did I need a place where I could embrace my “normal” body,  I also wanted to give other normal people a place to embrace their bodies.  Itʼs a “place” where we can joke about our weight, our incessant love for baked foods and the fact that when Friday rolls around weʼre going for fried cheese sticks and beer at the local sports bar.

Cheyenne and lemon cleanse dieters need not apply

On Fridays, I send out funny headlines about the food Iʼm eating or any funny thoughts I may have regarding my love of food and encourage others to do so.

And slowly, itʼs been catching on. After the first week, it became a trending topic …   for about 12 minutes. In fact, I was monitoring conversations  and caught two guys, one in LA and another in DC, joking  about it. So I invited them to join us and talk about their food urges. They politely refused, and then blocked me. But I  found humor in it and so did many of my followers.

Where can you jump on the FatGirl bandwagon?

In terms of followers, the Fat Girl Friday community extends  from North Carolina to Spain. And funny places in between. I think we have one follower in Bozeman, Montana and another in Perry, Indiana. Weʼve got a Facebook page and a Twitter account.

A blog site is in the works and a reality TV series was recently pitched to Citizen, a local branded  entertainment agency. It seems to be catching on like wildfire. And why wouldnʼt it? Itʼs what life is really like in most suburban areas. My FGF followers arenʼt Hollywood,  and we wouldnʼt know an airbrush if we saw one.  And thatʼs something to be proud of.

Info: Becca Bernstein is a Communications Consultant living in Charlotte, NC. To learn more about Becca, please visit:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/beccabernstein and follow @FatGirlFriday on Twitter. or follow Becca on Twitter @beccabernstein.

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts

What we want Renee to have, a beautiful sleeping healthy child like this one

I’m still pregnant, hooray!  Amniotic fluid levels according to this week’s ultrasound is in the high-normal range.  No signs of infection.  I’m IV free, I have “outside privileges” (a.k.a. I can go into the “yard.”)  Baby is approximately 2.2 lbs and I am 27 weeks.

On Friday, I was told I could go home on Sunday as long as all goes well.  I may be in that small 10% of the 3% of women with pPROM  (preterm premature rupture of membranes, a.k.a, your water breaks prior to 37 weeks)  that heal.  Friday night, I start leaking again.  Saturday night, complete rupture.  Amniotic fluid levels are now 4-5, much below normal.  Baby is now in the head down position, ready to be born.  I’m dilated 2-3.  With pPROM, they won’t do a traditional exam because it ups the risk of infection so the rough estimate is the best they can give me.  Since I’m not having contractions, and the risk of infection is much worse than not knowing an exact figure, I’m not worried.

So, back to square one.   I will be staying in the hospital.  I’m restricted to the 6th floor (Labor & Delivery) as the Doctor would prefer I don’t “have the baby in the cafeteria”.  No more decaf Starbucks, although, I did tell my doctor that he is now in charge of picking it up for me.  But, as long as I can keep this child cooking, it’s a good trade off.

Everyone tells me that I’m handling this well.  My goal is to give this little “booger” as we (husband, family, nursing staff and me) call the babe, the best fighting chance he can have.  As my friend Angela put it, more eloquently, I’m all he has right now.  I think back to my first pregnancy when I would talk to my two friends that have kids and ask if I was stupid to worry about this and that when the baby was not even born yet.  They both told me that becoming a Mom happens the minute the test turns positive.  They were as right then as they are now.

In my free time, I’ve found some not so cheesy sites about bed rest that are good for the entire family to read.  (Excellent sources for spouses, family, etc. who think that your “extended vacation” can’t be that bad.)  They explain the toll, mentally and physically of bed rest.  Some give ideas on how to pass the time.

I say, do what you want to do.  Read if you wish.  Yell at people who offer to buy you books if every person you know has offered that (yup, it will happen).   You don’t have to feel guilty about any emotion you are having.

What ever you do, remind yourself that this is temporary.  For me, I figure it’s the time worth putting in now, for the heath of my child for a lifetime.

What to expect with pregnancy bedrest

Coping with staying in bed while pregnant

http://fpb.case.edu/Bedrest/Families/online.shtm

http://fpb.case.edu/Bedrest/index.shtm

Photo: Hannah and her adorable binky by http://www.flickr.com/photos/eraphernalia_vintage/  See more photos by EraphernaliaVintage at http://www.flickr.com/photos/28510393@N07/3189510286/

Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

Related Posts:

• Second Pregnancy- The halfway point
• The Princess and the Pea
• Bed rest blues, week one
• The second time around- Part 1
• YES! Your food allergy kid can eat Oreos and more!

This is not renee! She's in hospital on pregnancy bedrest

As many of you know, my husband and I are expecting a bouncing baby boy in early January.  Or, at least that was the plan.

On September 13th  at 23 weeks pregnant, my water broke.  Not a full break.  It is more accurate to say that I’m leaking amniotic fluid.  The diagnostic term is Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes or pPROM.

If all goes well and according to my doctor’s plan, I’ll stay pregnant, here in the hospital, on bed rest until 34 weeks and deliver.  Either way, we know we’re expecting a preemie.  As for how preemie, that is the question.

For those of us who are on bed rest, whether at home, or in the hospital, the feeling can be overwhelming.  You know you are doing this for the heath of you child and like any parent are willing to do anything it takes to ensure your child is healthy, but that does not make the difficulty go away.

Once, you were an active pregnant woman.  Perhaps like me, a mom of other children.  Suddenly, you can’t even hold your child.  In some instances, you cannot even get out of bed to use the restroom on your own.  You feel as if you have lost all control over your life.  Like a prisoner, people bring you your meals at a set time.  If you are in the hospital, you get no sleep on top of your ‘rest’ because people are checking in on you EVERY HOUR.

Bed rest….week one….

Room is very small.  Slept in small increments as nurses had to come in and give me IV antibiotics, steroid shots to help boost the baby’s lung development (you get these shots in the hip/back above the bum.  In my case at 2 a.m. two days in a row).

Nursing assistants are constantly taking temperature to ensure that I’m not spiking a fever (sign of uterine infection that will cause me to have to deliver) and blood pressure.

Meet my new high-risk OBs.  They have the MOST wonderful nurse (I’ll call her Ms. M).  Meet the head of NICU who explains a bit of what will happen if I deliver now.

Schedule tour of NICU with Ms. M in the event we deliver so we know what to expect.

Husband and I scramble to try to find child care (grandparents are many, many hours away).  Husband is off for first two days of the week.  Child care found.  Spend next few days trying to call everyone we know to develop child care schedule for the next three weeks.

Miss our good friends wedding.  The bride, was one of my bridesmaids.  The groom was the best man at my wedding.  My husband and I introduced them.

I miss my little girl.  This is a hard, hard week.

Photo, courtesy of Flicker Creative Commons, by threedayblog

Related Posts:

• Bed rest blues…week four
• Second Pregnancy- The halfway point
• The second time around- Part 1
• The Princess and the Pea
• YES! Your food allergy kid can eat Oreos and more!