100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (46 page)

the unhealthiest beverages existing today. The danger lies in the amount

consumed. If you consume several cola-type soft drinks a day, not only does

your diet need examining, but you are consuming a lot of caramel coloring

in those soft drinks. To avoid it totally, just look for the “no artificial col-

oring” on the label, or check the label for caramel coloring.

Coco-Glucoside

I predict you will be seeing a lot more of this ingredient in the future. Coco-

glucoside is a chemical foaming and cleansing agent produced by a reaction

between glucose (sugar) and coconut oil–containing ingredients. Manufac-

turers love this synthetic ingredient because it sounds so natural. It really is

an ingredient that has the best of both worlds. It was once “natural,” but is

made into a useful chemical.

Where is it?
It is found in a multitude of cleansers and washes for your

body and hair. Most of the companies that use coco-glucosides are “natural”

companies (companies that offer alternatives to chemical-containing prod-

ucts) and may be using coco-glucosides as a replacement for sodium laurel

sulfate.

Is it bad?
There is no evidence that coco-glucosides are harmful in any

way. That said, coco-glucosides are synthetic chemicals even though they

are made from natural sources. If you are trying to go “all natural,” you

really can’t include this in your playlist.

So?
You can decide if this is something that fits into your personal-care

product philosophy. If you are using a product that you love, coco-glucosides

would not be a reason to switch.

Butylated Hydroxyanisole

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is a food preservative that keeps oils from

going bad in processed foods and acts as a preservative in cosmetics. Often

seen with its wicked stepsister butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT).

Perk #47: Cancer Increased My Vocabulary

185

Where is it?
Many processed items that sit on a shelf contain BHA:

cereals, granola bars, cookies, crackers, gum, chips, and personal-care prod-

ucts like lipstick and lotion.

Is it bad?
At first glance, it would appear yes, as the 2011

You don’t need a

National Institutes of Health’s Report on Carcinogens listed

decoder ring to

it as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.” But

decipher your labels;

the controversy lies in the fact that the malignant tumors

you just need some

noted to grow in mice fed the stuff were located in the

patience.

mouse’s forestomach—an organ that humans don’t have. The

state of California does list it as a carcinogen.

So?
There is conflicting research on this chemical. Studies show that it

does get broken down and metabolized in your body, so it is affecting your

organs in some way. It is unclear whether small doses or large doses are

unhealthy. If you’re making an effort to eat more healthfully, and are eating

more fresh foods, then you don’t have to worry since only processed foods

contain BHA and BHT. Which is yet another good reason to eat fresh.

This ends your vocabulary lesson for today. Don’t be tempted to just

skip over words you don’t know in the ingredient list of your favorite prod-

ucts. There is a wealth of information out there to help you navigate through

it. Check out these websites:

Center for Science in the Public Interest:

www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm

U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services Product Database:

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm

Skin Deep Cosmetics Database:

www.ewg.org/skindeep

Perk #48

Cancer Helped Me See the

World Through the Eyes of a Child

I
was about four years old the first time I recall seeing a house lit up with

colorful Christmas lights. I still remember the sound of the frosty snow

crunching under my feet, and the feel of my mother’s warm hand on mine

as the snowflakes softly swirled about us that cool December evening. The

sight of the lights reflected in the water filled me with such joy that it bub-

bled over to laughter.

At the age of forty-four I was blessed to experience, once again, the

feeling of seeing Christmas lights for the “first time.” I had just completed

my last chemo session and my family pitched in to help with the deco-

rating. It was just getting dark outside when I looked through the living

room window to see my whole garden aglow. To everyone around me, it

looked no different than it had for the past eight Christmases at this house.

But lying on the couch in my chemo slumber, the sight filled me with such

awe that it felt as if I was seeing these lights for the very first time. In that

instant I understood what it meant to see the world through the eyes of

a child.

I wish I could say that the feeling stayed with me, but the harsh realities

of life with cancer soon replaced my feelings of joy and awe with those of

fear and foreboding. While I strove to stay positive throughout my cancer

journey, I am the first to acknowledge that cancer has more “quirks” than

“perks.” (I would have no trouble blogging “1,000 Quirks of Having Can-

cer.”) The most troublesome of these is the worry that the cancer might

return. For the first few weeks of the new year, this thought became more

of an obsession to me than a worry, and I found myself frantically searching

the Internet trying to find HOPE. I weighed the stats, analyzed my prog-

nosis, and considered my odds. The more I researched, the more scared I

became!

I soon discovered that the hope I was searching for was not to be found

I 186 J

Perk #48: Cancer Helped Me See the World Through the Eyes of a Child

187

on the Internet, but in the form of a letter I received in the mail. Ireland is

a seven-year-old girl who was preparing to make her first Holy Communion.

Part of her preparation for this sacrament involved praying for the sick. After

her mother showed her my blog, she decided to draw me a picture and send

me a letter to help cheer me up. Ireland’s letter reads in part:

You are very brave and strong, and you remind me of my very favorite

horse in the whole world, Rosie O’Grady. One time Rosie hurt her

foot and she couldn’t walk very good but she tried every day to do her

best. . . . I prayed for Rosie when she was sick and she got better. I

will pray for you and soon you will be better and running and playing

like Rosie.

Ireland’s letter lifted the veil of depression that had covered me for

weeks. She was sure that her prayers helped Rosie O’Grady to get well. She

was also certain that her prayers would make me well. That is the faith of

a child. Those weeks I spent living in fear and doubt did nothing to help

me on my road to recovery. Those simple words from a wise seven-year-old

did. Thank you, Ireland, for reminding me of the gift of a child’s faith.

Believe that your prayers will be answered.

HEALTH TIP #48

The Answer to the Deodorant Question

D
oes deodorant cause cancer?

The subject of antiperspirants/deodorants and cancer is muddy, to say

the least. There were some Internet rumors that started around 1999 that

antiperspirants/deodorants cause breast cancer and that you should stop

using those products immediately. Fast forward a couple of decades, and

we still don’t have a conclusive answer, although the waters appear to be

clearing. Here are a few of the facts.

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

We all hate to sweat and, more so, we all hate to smell—each other.

Body odor is caused by bacteria that accumulates where we sweat: namely,

our underarms. Sweating is a very healthy response to the body’s becoming

overheated. When we sweat, it keeps us cool, but it’s not so “cool” to have

pit stains on our silk blouses and T-shirts.

Body odor is normal. It’s not always pleasant, but it’s normal. Manu-

facturers decided it was time to make some money off our fear of “offend-

ing,” and the antiperspirant/deodorant market was born. Your choices of

weapons are antiperspirants, deodorants, or a combination of both.

Deodorants
are odor neutralizing. Odor can be controlled by using cer-

tain substances and scents. Interesting and pleasant scents from “floral bou-

quet” to “sport” (whatever a “sport” smells like) have been developed.

The
antiperspirant
part of the product usually contains an aluminum

base like aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex glycine or aluminum chlo-

ride. There is usually a percentage next to the aluminum under the section

marked “active ingredient,” indicating what percentage is present in the prod-

uct. The percentages for over-the-counter antiperspirants can range from 9 to

24 percent depending on how “strong” the antiperspirant is. Aluminum

causes your sweat glands to swell, trapping the sweat inside your body and

thereby keeping you dry. Not a very natural process, if you ask me, but it’s

practical when giving that presentation or attending that midsummer wed-

ding.

Aluminum is a metal that is used to make cooking pans, cans, foil,

and other products, but it also occurs naturally in foods. Beans, corn, and

other foods contain traces of aluminum, especially when grown in clay-

based soils or in places where the aluminum concentration of the water

is high. You also ingest it with foods that have preservatives, artificial col-

oring, leavening, and anticaking chemicals added to them. Liquid and

chalk-chew antacids like Mylanta are mostly aluminum based as well. Your

body has no use for aluminum. The healthy human body has effective bar-

riers (skin, lungs, gastrointestinal tract) to reduce the systemic absorption

of aluminum ingested from water, foods, drugs, and air. The small amount

of aluminum that finds its way into your body is excreted mostly in urine

and, to a lesser extent, feces. No reports of aluminum poisoning from diet

alone exist in the literature. However, aluminum is detrimental to those