Got em, Check em!

October is not only the month Fall begins to settle in and welcome us with cooler temps and the turning of leaves. It is also the month of Halloween. Now I'm not here to talk about all hallows eve, but to remind you that You need to be aware of a very important and dangerous trick! Yep, I mean breast cancer. It is breast cancer awareness month. Most of us upon hearing that think of the female breast and what a lump could do, the dreaded biopsy or diagnosis of breast cancer. Men, you have breast tissue as well!

Now that we have that reminder out of the way, let me offer some reminders of how serious cancer is and how you need to Check Yourself.

This is not the time to PLAY doctor! This is serious business. Your very life may depend on how thoroughly you check your breasts. 

Women have all different sizes and shapes of breasts and that can make checking yourself a little awkward or even difficult. If you do a self exam and aren't confident that you have done it well, there is no shame in having a trusted friend check you as well. 

BIG OR SMALL, SAVE THEM ALL

If it's been a while since you have done a self exam or you never have done one, let me offer this diagram to help you get it taken care of. 

For Women: 

And for the Men: 

Whew! Good reminders huh?  I've lost several family members to cancer, have had a lot of friends both men and women who have both suffered and had to deal with breast cancer. This post is a bit off the line from my normal posts but it is a very important topic that often goes un-talked about. In addition to breast cancer, women also risk cervical or ovarian cancer. That is not something you can really check on your own, so please make sure and have that done by your doctor at least annually, especially if you are over age 35-40.  

Yes, I shared a pic of fully nude women. Here's why. I want it to be imprinted in your mind's eye by seeing the entire female body, ladies,  a reminder there is more of you than your breasts that are susceptible to the evils of cancer. So take whatever preventative measures you need to, ladies. Along with diet, different food choices to help thwart cancer, exercise is helpful, plenty of rest as well as awareness. 

Okay, so you are a man reading this blog post and you're thinking, " I do love boobs and I love my girlfriend or my wife, and want her to always be healthy, but what can I do?"  Glad you asked, gentlemen. 

1. You can encourage and remind your lady to check herself and/or go get checked.

2. You can post to social media something about Breast Cancer Awareness.

3. You can offer to help your lady with her self exam IF she needs you to.

4. And you can do what I've done in the past, and even wear a T shirt in support of saving the tatas. 

   

Women can survive breast cancer and even if a breast or both must be removed, I want to make it perfectly clear that that woman's worth and beauty does not change!! Forget what the media says, Hollywood, fashion. You are still the wonderful, amazing, talented, loving woman you always were. Do not let anyone tell you differently, gals. 

Should you have to have your beloved breast(s) removed, there are a number of cool ways to enjoy your new self as well. Many women have gotten beautiful tattoos, some as a tribute, others as adornment. It is always an option, but let's hope for the best that you never have to go down that road.

In closing, let's have a little bit of humor thrown in just to lighten the mood a bit. 

 Breasts are amazing in their function for nursing, and do provide a bit of confidence and sex appeal when needed. I do hope that this blog post gives you courage and confidence as you check yourselves this month, and also reminds the men, that they too need to be doing some checking!

Be well, and let's all promote cancer awareness and pray for a cure.

Tourette's and the Journey: Part One

Life can be harder than advertised. We ALL know that to be true. As little kids we looked around and took in all that our eyes and minds could, hoping one day that when we grew up we would be able to have our dreams come true. With wide eyed wonder, we unknowingly were gazing at life through the lense of rose colored glasses, unfortunately. For some kids, they really were able to grow up and not only chase after their dreams but caught and owned them! To those I say, Well done.

 I had loved music since I was very small. At age 4 my dad and I would sing together all the time. I still have cassette tapes of our singing together to this day. Treasures I hope to also have in my possession. As I grew older I kept myself eyeball deep in singing, spent years and years in chorus, ensembles, quartets, competitions on a state level. Music enthralled me, encompassed everything that I did. It was my muse, my therapy, my outlet, and my passion. At age 18 my dream was to sing for a living. I was well on my way in making that really happen. Then it hit.

Within the span of two weeks, my neck became pulled way back and drawn over to the right, almost to my shoulder. The pain was incredible. Not even the strength of four grown men could dislodge or move my neck. It was hard as stone. This was the first real downer I had experienced in my life with Tourette's. What this was medically called is Torticollis. Basically in layman's terms, that means, your muscles are locked up and will not relax or let go. For the next 2 years, I would lie on the floor in a ball, crying my eyes out, yelling in pain, while popping pain meds like M&M's to no avail. Finally, after countless hours and months of phone calls, my parents found a doctor in Houston at Baylor College of Medicine who said he would see me. To make a long story short, this doc ended up being the foremost authority on issues just like mine. Every 6 months for the next 2 years, I received very painful injections of Botox into my neck muscles. Worked like a charm. Life was normal and pain free until the injections wore off. Fortunately and with the grace of God, my neck torticollis finally just ceased. Free at last! Normal life could continue, my dreams of singing could once again be pursued.

As nice as that would've been, yea, more issues were awaiting not far down the road. It was within a few short years, after I had graduated college with a high GPA and magna cum laude honor, that the next round of life altering events would hit. How do you think you would react if in the span of a couple of weeks, your voice just disappeared? You were unable to say a single word, unless you used some alternate cartoon type voice?? Let me tell you, it was mind blowingly devastating! My 2nd degree in Mass Media/Tv/Film Production was in the last 6 weeks, with a huge film directing project still to be presented. Couldn't do it. No matter how hard I would try, there was no way to direct a film project, newscast  or any of that having no voice. Talk about a buzz kill!! For the next 5+ years, I had no voice. My job that I had, I could no longer do without a voice so I had to resort to using the strength aspect of my body which was very strong. Tourettes affords many people with incredible strength, almost unheard of strength. As an example: I toted a 750 lb fire proof file cabinet up a flight of stairs myself using just a hand truck. Crazy right?  In the gym, I was a beast. My strength was now my bread and butter. Being the labor mule was now my apparent destiny. 

After 5 years I had learned a lot. You see, and I am a bit ashamed to admit this, but before I lost my voice, I had some bias against certain people. I could not stand being around or having to interact with persons with any kind of disability, or elderly persons. Not sure why, but I would avoid those two sects of people like the plague. During my 5 years of not speaking, guess what happened? The old saying, God gave you one mouth and two ears so you can listen twice as much as you talk really hit home. During that time, person after person crossed my path from the well of humanity I had such disdain for. Man, what wisdom, love and enlightenment did they bring into my life! Near the 6 year point, and after  years of effort and struggle, my voice began to return. It was different than it had been prior but it had come home again. I had been a bass singer, but now, I was a tenor. Imagine that. The music in my soul was so full now and I had such reason to sing. Joy overflowed from my being. 

Life went on, work was good once again. My voice had found a working point and I once again had a renewed faith it was all going to be okay. 2 years later, the need for 40 injections of Botox in my face muscles had to happen for a few sessions. Their was damage similar to a stroke to now contend with. It affected speech, facial gestures, even smiling. Undaunted, I pushed on. I'd been through so much already, this was just another page in another chapter of the book I called, Uniquely Me.

The dream of singing had to change. The dream of lots of things had to change. It was down to finding ways for me to continue in life making the best I could out of whatever was thrown my way. I was okay with that. I finally got a neurologist who was highly recommended and supposedly one of the better ones in the area. Under his care for the next nearly 9 years things went well. Let me give you all a huge word of caution. The drug Haldol is a horrible drug and needs to be banned from every being administered to anyone. What happened next from that drug being in my body led to the worst events to date. In part two of this blog post, I'll get into all of that, and get ya up to speed on where I am now. Trust me, you won't wanna miss part two! Should have it out within the next week. 

I guess the best way to end this for now is in simply saying, life is very unpredictable. As Forrest Gump so beautifully stated, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Such truth. No matter how well you plan and think things out, there will always be detours and roadblocks and the need to think on the fly, change your course. It's just life rolls. I've been asked a lot, if I could go back and do it all again, without what I've been through, would I?  Absolutely not. All that I have endured and overcome has made me the man I am today. Without those purging fires, and pressure, this lump of coal would not be transforming into a diamond. 

You must learn to make peace with the cards you are dealt. It's not always easy to do so. Keeping a positive attitude, not giving up, finding within you the good things, that is well worth the effort. So, as you face this week, look for that peace in every situation. It's there somewhere! I promise you it is. And guess what? That peace may come from simply being available to help another person, say a kind word, lend a listening ear. Don't be afraid to be you! The world would not be as sweet without you.