Weekly Quote

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” Zig Ziglar

If you missed yesterday’s meeting, the handout will be available shortly on the Tips tab.

Second Meeting!

By: Amber Downing

The first meeting focused on setting goals, writing things down and challenging yourself. Many women did those things over the past week and lost a couple of pounds. Great job!

This week there were nearly 20 ladies in attendance. At the beginning of the meeting Brandi Matous handed out pink ribbon charms for attending two meetings and also for losing weight. A couple of women lost three pounds in one week! Brandi also talked about recognizing personal hunger cues. S he suggests eating slow, rating your hunger (see the tips page) and eating low calorie, high energy snacks like fruits and veggies.

Brandi recommended savoring every bite of food in order to eat more slowly.

“It takes 20 minutes for what we eat to hit our tummy,” Brandi said.

Mary Martinez has lost weight in the past and suggested a strategy that worked for her.

“I made myself eat, if not a bigger breakfast, then a more solid breakfast and I’d bring a snack,” Martinez said.

At next week’s meeting Lauren Monroe will demonstrate some Pilates exercises. Bring a mat or towel and dress comfortably. She will accommodate for people who aren’t comfortable working on the floor.

Ruthie Chalmers

Ruthie Chalmers’ grandma died of breast cancer when Chalmers was a freshman in high school, so she grew up thinking about breast cancer.

In November of 2004, Chalmers went to her yearly scheduled mammogram. The nurse running the test returned to inspect Chalmers’ left breast several times. Nothing was found.

On New Year’s Eve Chalmers sang at a wedding. The bride was one of her former students who had had a double mastectomy her freshman year of college.

With breast cancer fresh on her mind, Chalmers carefully examined herself in January.

“I was more conscientious and I found it,” Chalmers said.

She scheduled another mammogram, but it showed nothing. The doctor said it might just be inflammation. Chalmers was prescribed a strong antibiotic, but the lump persisted.

On March 1, 2005, a doctor performed an ultrasound on her. This time the lump was visible.

“That doesn’t look good,” Chalmers said after seeing the lump. “It looks like a spider on crack.”

Before going into surgery Chalmers told the doctor not to wake her up if the breast looked worse than he suspected, “just do what you gotta do”.

In many breast cancer cases lymph nodes are affected. Many women go through what is called a sentinel node procedure in which doctors inject a blue dye. The dye goes directly to the lymphatic system and enables the doctor to tell which lymph nodes are cancerous.

Chalmers had this procedure done but one of her lymph nodes was so full of cancer cells that there was no room for the dye. The doctor ended up taking four lymph nodes from her left side.

After the lumpectomy came six sessions of chemotherapy during which Chalmers continued to teach high school Spanish.

“The kids really became my strength,” Chalmers said.

She particularly remembers a time when the kids really came through for her. Chalmers students covered her entire room in pink starfish with messages of encouragement on them. One student had read a story called “No Less a Starfish” in which a woman who had lost her breasts found a starfish with a bent arm. The women discovers that the starfish is no less a starfish because it has a bent arm. Chalmers said she found new starfish messages on her walls every day for weeks.

As she was undergoing chemotherapy and losing her hair, Chalmers kept her sense of humor. She went to her hair salon hoping to get a shorter style. She thought it would be easier to go bald with short hair. There were two hairstylists there that day; her regular stylist who knew about Chalmers’ cancer and a woman who didn’t.

When the woman who didn’t know about Chalmers walked towards her, Chalmers said, “The kids at school are making me so crazy, it makes me want to pull my hair out.”

And then she did.

The look on the hairstylist’s face must have been priceless because when Chalmers tells this story she tilts her head back and lets out an open-mouthed jovial laugh.

Throughout the rest of her chemotherapy and radiation, Chalmers wore usually wore a wig.

“I looked like my dad without it,” she said.

Chalmers finished radiation treatment in March of 2006. She retired from teaching high school Spanish in May of 2007. She says she put so much energy into getting better, she wants to relax and spend time with her grandchildren. Chalmers still substitute teaches occasionally.

Diet Poll

Which diet do you most closely follow? 1) Native Mexican diet: soups, meat dishes, Mexican cheeses, legumes and tomato-based sauces 2) Western diet: high-fat dairy, fast food, low fiber foods including red meat, high-sugar 3) Prudent diet: whole grains, low-fat dairy foods, fruits , legumes, vegetables 4) Mediterranean diet: prudent diet plus chicken, fish and alcohol 5) Diet diet: low-cal foods, low-fat foods, avoidance of high-fat foods View Results Make your own poll Check out the news page for more info on your current diet!