I was recently contacted by Heather Von St James, guest blogger for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance Blog.  Heather wanted to share her story of survival as a new mom diagnosed with cancer.  I am thrilled to feature her as a guest blogger. It’s been six years and Heather is now cancer free! Check out her amazing courageous story below.  Thank you so much Heather for sharing your story and being such an inspiration! ~ LV

When my husband and I decided to become parents and I was able to become pregnant, I wanted to prepare myself to be the best mother I could be. I gathered all the information I could find on motherhood and good parenting. I read books I could find on related topics so that I could be ready for what life would bring with children in the home. I went for all my prenatal doctor appointments, ate the recommended diet and carried on my role as mother after our daughter was born. Still, I was not ready for the shock of what happened in our lives when she was only three months.

I received a diagnosis for cancer. Here I had a three-month-old baby and I had pleural mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure affecting the lung’s inner lining. The next thing I knew, I had to travel to a city well over 1,000 miles from home for specialized surgery and radiation and the chemotherapy treatments followed.

No prior information or education from books can get someone ready for such an experience ahead of time. I had to rely on my inner intuitions and common sense to do the best possible for my baby girl, Lily. I asked my parents to keep her while I had surgery so that her life could remain as stable as possible. Then as I recovered after my surgery, I asked people to come into the home and help me with Lily and assist me with things I could not do for her myself.

The first full year of Lily’s life passed while I continued cancer therapy. Since I wanted to keep life on a positive routine for Lily, I spent much time doing things with her as I had the energy. I wanted her to know that she inspired me to live, to keep going. I wanted her to know how much she meant to me, how precious she was. While we did go for walks at the local mall and have play time with other mothers and babies, often we were keeping each other company at home. No matter what I was experiencing I tried to help her feel wanted and keep her life secure and consistent.

Mothers make their children their priority, but cancer patients must put their own health first and get well. I found balancing motherhood and taking care of my cancer was challenging. I am grateful to God for my loving husband who was there for me and Lily when I wasn’t my best. He was beside me and took care of Lily when I could not. Lily did not suffer in the least because, when she couldn’t have me, she had her daddy.

Currently, six years have passed since that first year with Lily. We continue the tradition we started with our daughter when I was ill with cancer; when one of us cannot take care of her, the other one is there for her. We have not hidden my cancer from her because she lived that year with us while I was fighting the disease. Now she is in first grade, a normal and happy little girl. That first year had a lot of stress and she went through the cancer crisis with us. Even though she was an infant, that first year is a part of her and who she has become. Would I live that year differently if I could? I’m not sure that I would. Cancer seems to carry this absurdity. I am convinced that out of the bad of the illness much good has come.

I just wanted to share with you a recipe I tried yesterday which was a huge success with my family.

Ingredients:

1 box taco shells
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 lb tilapia fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 1/2 cups coleslaw mix
1/4 cup coleslaw dressing (contains milk**)
1avocado, pitted, peeled and diced

Step-by-Step Instructions:

This is a Tilapia Taco recipe taken from BettyCrocker.com.

**This recipe was not modified for those on an endometriosis diet, however coleslaw dressing does contain milk ingredients so you may want to substitute coleslaw and dressing with shredded lettuce. It’s not that much milk and I’ve been really good about my diet so I just decided to cheat on this one.

Ingredients:

1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground turkey or chicken
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
1 can (10 oz) gluten-free enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
1 can (15 oz) spicy chili beans in sauce
1 cup corn chips, if desired

Step-by-Step Instructions:

This recipe was modified version of Betty Crocker’s, Enchilada Chili. This recipe has been modified for those on an endometriosis diet. The original recipe can be found on www.bettycrocker.com for those of you who aren’t on the endo diet.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 package (1 oz) taco seasoning mix
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes in sauce, undrained
1 can (10 oz) gluten-free enchilada sauce
Corn Tortillas (6 inch)
1/2 cup Tofutti sour cream, optional

Step-by-Step Instructions:

This recipe was modified version of Betty Crocker’s, Beef Enchilada Stack. This recipe has been modified for those on an endometriosis diet. The original recipe can be found on www.bettycrocker.com for those of you who aren’t on the endo diet.

Carl’s Jr. (or Hardee’s in some states) offers a low carb Turkey Burger. It’s a charbroiled turkey patty, special sauce, mayonnaise, red onions, tomato, whole-leaf lettuce, and dill pickles on a honey wheat bun (or you can get it on a lettuce wrap instead of a bun if you are looking for an endometriosis friendly alternative) .

This was a delicious alternative to a traditional burger. Actually in my opinion it was more tasty than a beef patty. When I try to make turkey burgers at home they tend to come out dry and not as flavorful. Unfortunately there is no Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s near me or I’d get it all the time. I’ve been having a hard time finding endometriosis friendly options at fast food restaurants where I live that are this tasty and where I don’t have to make special requests. I highly recommend this to anybody who is on a low carb diet or anyone living with endometriosis.

Carl’s Jr. also offers a Low Carb Chicken Club, a Trim It Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich, and several other gluten-sensitive options. It’s a relief to go into a fast food restaurant, see what you want and order it right off the menu just like everyone else without the added frustration of miscommunication with the cashier.

Just Dance was released in November 2009. It features over 30 tracks from popular artists such as Hot N Cold by Katy Perry, U Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer, Who Let The Dogs Out? by Baha Men, and many more.  This was the first dance game I’ve ever played and I fell in love with it immediately. I would play it everyday. I was so excited when I heard that Just Dance 2 was coming back.

Just Dance 2 was released in October 2010. This game features over 40 tracks from artists such as Rihanna, James Brown, The Jackson 5, The Pussycat Dolls, and more. In my previous reviews I did the pros and cons of the games however this time I think it would be a better idea to compare Just Dance with Just Dance 2. These two games are pretty much identical to Michael Jackson: The Experience and I was just as excited to play these as I was to play Michael Jackson: The Experience. The only difference is that Michael Jackson: The Experience focuses on one artist and Just Dance focuses on various artists.

Just Dance: I love the selection of music and the routines are easy to follow along with. I can tell when they picked out the music for this game that they tried to include stuff that will make this game appealing to everyone. I like to sometimes just put it on random and do whatever song that comes up because all songs and routines are enjoyable.

Just Dance 2: While the music selection is good the dance routines are a bit more challenging than the original Just Dance. This game also offers a selection of music that makes this game appealing to everyone but the majority of the preloaded music more modern than the previous version of this game. The thing that I love about Just Dance 2 is that even if you don’t like the preloaded music they have more selections available for download using Wii points.

Just Dance 3 is to be released October 2011. See Trailer below.

Micheal Jackson: The experience for Wii came out in November 2010. This game features 26 hit songs by Micheal Jackson including Bad, Beat it, Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, Thriller, Black & White, and much more. I think this is the best dance game to come out because I don’t know many people who didn’t want to dance like Michael when they were young. Now, is your chance. Most people I know have already experienced this game and love it so I’m a little late. For those of you who still haven’t went up and made that purchase yet, this review is for you.

The Experience Pros: This game has easy to follow choreography that even kids can follow, it is rated 10+ but my 3 year old niece and 9 year old nephew can do it. The side of the screen displays the next move for you so you are better able to keep up. It provides the lyrics to the song, as long as I been listening to Michael Jackson I don’t think I knew the lyrics to none of his songs before playing this game. It’s mirrored after Michael Jackson so of course it was a workout. You are going to feel it after a few songs but it’s so addictive that you do not want to stop.

The Experience Cons: There really aren’t any cons that I can think of. Only thing I can think of is every once in awhile the moves they display on the side of the screen don’t match what’s really coming out, but that is rare. Also, there are some other song I wish were on here but that just makes room for The Experience part II which I hope is soon to come.

The Experience is a great game and the cons aren’t really cons at all. I just hope Ubisoft comes out with more games like this. I’m really hoping for an Aaliyah version of this game because I use to always try to learn the choreography to Aaliyah videos. But, I absolutely love Michael Jackson: The Experience.

Check out the official trailer here.

I have been meaning to do some reviews on a couple of Wii fitness games for the longest time. However, as mentioned in a few previous post I’ve been having problems with sciatica since February. It still causes me problems but I am able to get around a lot better now and do more things. I wanted to do the reviews while the games were still relatively new but I figured there are still people that may benefit from the reviews so I decided to go ahead with my reviews.

Zumba Fitness came out in November 2010. Zumba fitness is a dance-fitness game for up to 4 people. It has many different dance styles such as salsa, merengue, hip-hop and more. You can do a single routine or do a whole dance class. Classes range from beginner to expert.

Zumba Pros: If you are looking for a game that will give you a serious workout then this is for you. It’s fast pace and it will definitely make you sweat. It monitors your hip movement instead of your hands so you just need to put the wii remote in the belt provided so your hands are free making it easier to do the movements without something in your hand. Once you learn the routine it is pretty fun.

Zumba Cons: Unlike other dance games on the Wii this game doesn’t offer any guidance into what the next move will be which makes it difficult for some people to keep up. Beginning classes doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, some people have complained that even the beginning classes were hard to keep up with. I purchased Zumba fitness as a gift this past Christmas and admittedly it hasn’t been played much because everyone has been kinda intimidated by it.

Overall, I think if you are serious about working out and are patient enough to learn the routine then it can be a pretty fun game. I didn’t find it too difficult to keep up with but it does have it’s challenging moments.

I hope Coco doesn’t mind me adding this, but you can check out the official launch trailer for Zumba below – LV

For the life of me, I cannot remember if I’ve ever mentioned my sister Coco‘s tumblr blog, Let’s Talk About Endo.  I apologize if I haven’t because it’s a hidden jewel full of info on celebrities who are battling Endo, Endo facts, affirmations, quotes and other forms of inspiration for those suffering or know someone who is suffering from this condition.  It is definitely a site worth checking out!

If you feel so inspired, I’m sure any words of encouragement that you could leave there on her Tumblr page would be appreciated by her as she has been suffering from pain in her legs due to Sciatic Endometriosis (click link to read an article that she posted a while back on Sciatic Endo).

Coco has also posted several posts, recipes and other information here on this site about Endo.  Click here to check out all of her posts (including natural hair posts and how-tos) : Posts by Coco

Here’s the link to her tumblr blog: http://talkaboutendo.tumblr.com/

Going gluten-free and dairy-free can be hard when people invite you out to eat. It’s hard to find a place where you can go sit down to eat. I know I don’t want to always have to just eat salad when I go out. I’m not just a salad eating girl, I can eat. So, I did a web search a few weeks ago and came across this site and thought I would share. The Gluten Free Registry is a resource for finding gluten-free restaurants, bakeries, grocers, and other gluten-free businesses. If you know of any gluten-free friendly businesses that are not listed the Gluten Free Registry accepts suggestions.

Here is the direct link: http://www.glutenfreeregistry.com/. So, the next time you go out of town and need to find a place to eat in your town you can just go there and find locations by state.

Note to women with endometriosis, this is only a gluten-free registry so you would have to check the dairy content of the foods yourself before you order.