100 Perks of Having Cancer: Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It (72 page)

to burn, I suppose you could fill your hot tub with Perrier.

Perk #72: Cancer Made Me Reevaluate the Relationships in My Life

301

Artesian Water

Water that flows from an underground source under its own power to the

surface. Picture a “water volcano” of sorts.

Source:
There are many sources around the world. Although “artesian”

sounds very exotic, it just means “coming from underground.” Any water

well that flows on its own without pumping, whether it’s in Fiji or in your

backyard, is also considered “artesian.”

Cost:
Approximately $2.20/16 ounces or $17.90/gallon.

Contains:
Various minerals totaling less than 250ppm including silica, flu-

oride, and bicarbonate, among others. Check the manufacturer’s site for

specifics.

Well Water

Same as artesian, only you have to drill for it and pump it out. Where I live,

and in many other places, well water is consumed regularly from a personal

well that is accessed on the owner’s property. There are a few companies

that bottle their waters from wells.

Source:
Well water is from an aquifer or water trapped hundreds of feet

below the surface in the bedrock (not just from digging a hole down in the

dirt like in a wishing well). There is no danger of groundwater runoff from

fertilizers or other chemicals from true well water. Well water should be

tested for bacteria and nitrates and other possible human health hazards

regularly, but because the water source is millions of years old, once a year

is usually sufficient for testing as that water doesn’t flow and change like

other water sources do.

Cost:
Drilling a well and having a pump installed is costly, but once in

place, all the water is free. There are some bottlers who sell well water and

will label it “spring” water, because it technically may come from an under-

ground spring, but it was obtained by drilling a well. Costs range from $1.00

to $2.10/16 ounces or $8.00 to $16.80/gallon.

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100 Perks of Having Cancer

Contains:
Well water contains whatever is contained in the spring that was

tapped and is very similar to artesian water.

Vitamin-Type Water

This really has no business being called “water” at all. It really is a sweetened

man-made beverage. It sounds very healthy, doesn’t it? But I know you’re

smarter than that.

Source:
Processed, flavored product using any water source they choose.

Cost:
$1 to $4/16 ounces, depending on the brand. Some popular brands

are Vitaminwater, Powerade, Propel, Waddajuice, and SoBe Lifewater, among

others.

Contains:
Water, vitamins, coloring, sugar, or other natural sweeteners. It

can also contain preservatives and artificial sweeteners, herbs, and caffeine.

In July 2010, a judge ruled that one of the main brands of vitamin water

had to remove claims on their label that it is “healthy” as it contains 33

grams of sugar. (A can of cola has 39.9 grams.) It’s no big shock that the

major soda companies are the primary manufacturers of these “healthy

alternatives to sugary soft drinks.” Remember: vitamin-type water is neither.

Coconut Water

The newest member of the water family, coconut water has exploded onto

the stage, making claims that it is healthier and more effective than any

sports drink. In the last five years (2007–2012), the coconut water industry

went from $0 in sales to $35 million in sales.

Source:
From the young green coconut, this is the precursor to coconut

milk. While coconut milk is high in fat, coconut water is high in carbs and

minerals and is 95 percent “water.”

Cost:
$2 to $4 /11 ounces, $23 to $46/ gallon.

Contains:
Coconut water is very high in potassium and also has some

sodium and magnesium.

Perk #72: Cancer Made Me Reevaluate the Relationships in My Life

303

Despite the claims, testing indicated that coconut water does not rehy-

drate after exercise any better than plain water. It’s not harmful, but if you

read claims that it can cure cancer and prevent diabetes, that may be a bit

of an overstatement. While I’m a big fan of coconuts, in the end, coconut

water is just fruit juice without the fructose (sugar). Nutrition aside, if you

feel oh-so-trendsetting to be seen with your coconut water bottle, I say go

for it.

Beware of “coconut-
flavored
water,” which is H2O with natural or artificial

coconut flavor added. This kind of water never saw a coconut in its life.

The Number of Bottles That Are Made to Meet Americans’

Demands for Bottled Water

●
Requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel

some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year according to the Earth Policy Institute.

●
About 86% of plastic water bottles in the United States become garbage

or litter.

●
Plastic debris in the environment can take between 400 and 1,000 years

to degrade.

Our health depends on a healthy environment.

Bottom Line

Carbon-filtered tap water is the most economical and

easiest way to get your healthy drinking water,

Being healthy means

although some contaminants will still remain. If you

drinking lots of water. Be

are lucky enough to own a reverse osmosis system

informed about what kind of

(multilevel) in your home, you can filter out pretty

water you drink, and don’t

much everything that’s left. Think about where the

assume that because it has

bulk of your drinking water comes from, try to make

a sealed cap and high price

adjustments to improve the quality, and then see if

tag, that it’s good for you.

that fits into your healthy lifestyle.

Perk #73

Cancer Brought Out the

Family Resemblance to My Son

E
ver since the day Dono -

van was born, I’ve been

hearing the same thing over

and over again, “He looks

JUST like his father.” How-

ever, following my cancer

treatments, people started to

notice my resemblance to my

handsome son. Maybe it’s the

eyes? Could it be the nose?

No, it was definitely the hair!

While not all chemo drugs

cause hair loss, baldness is

the universal telltale sign that

a woman has cancer. Some

women are quite comfortable with their lack of locks. I met a brave woman

at the cancer clinic who told me that the only time she covers her head is

when it is cold outside. If people stare at her in a rude way, she will say

something like, “Excuse me, do I have a hair out of place?” That takes

courage. For some women, on the other hand, losing their hair is more emo-

tionally traumatic than losing a breast.

I fell somewhere in between those two extremes. I can honestly say that

I did not shed a tear when my hair fell out shortly after my first chemo ses-

sion. In fact, once it started coming out by the handful, I was like someone

with obsessive-compulsive disorder. As one woman put it, “It was like pluck-

ing a chicken. Once I started, I couldn’t stop.” While I’ve never had the pleas-

ure of plucking an actual chicken, I did give literal meaning to the

expression, “I feel like pulling my hair out!”

I 304 J