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Friday, March 24, 2006
8:48 AM
For my Canadian friend Atanga who lost his kid brother Umana yesterday from a train crash in Quebec, Canada.
water, rain, water.
that is the day today
tomorrow it will freeze
and be shiny, hard, cold.
where are we?
why?
how do these things happen?
why is the world filled with beauty,
when this beauty is laced with such harsh pain?
so many questions with impossible, unsatisfactory answers.
atanga,
i think of you today and cry.
for you, for your brother, for the ice that entraps most of us someplace,
usually our hearts.
death is treated in the west with obscurity and nonchalance.
what's missed is the anguish, loss, nostalgia, soul chaos.
life calamaties such as these have consuming power
while they hurt, teach, confound.
the future may seem grim and abandoned,
with you stuck in an old desolate house.
but you, atanga,
are a talented man with love and creation in your heart.
peace will find you and be caring of your delicate feelings
steps will be small but thoughtful from here
with love,
from julia
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8:46 AM
Hello all,
Hope that this finds you well. I started off just writing this e-mail to my mum and then changed my mind and decided to send it to everyone on my list. I wasn't sure whether or not it was a good idea, as I understand that it is a sensitive issue, but the stories I have been reading lately are circling my mind and I felt I must share what I have learned about lung cancer, especially as it pertains to women. If you do not wish to learn more about this cancer, then I ask you to kindly delete this e-mail. I don't want to scare or depress you, I only write this because I believe it is important that we are aware of the risk of lung cancer for ourselves and our loved ones.
It all started when I was perusing the news recently and read that the late Christopher Reeves' wife, Dana Reeves, died last week of lung cancer at the age of 44 years old. She was a non-smoker. I was shocked by this and decided to look into it. As it happens, more and more women are being diagnosed with lung cancer each year, and lung cancer is now the number one killer of women in the United States and Canada, with breast cancer second. Even worse, 1 in 5 of women diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked. A big problem with this cancer is that it is virtually asymptomatic and when the patient ends up feeling badly and consults a physician, the cancer has usually spread to other organs. As a result, very few survive and most die within 5 years.
Before, when I thought of lung cancer, as the website I cite below asserts, I pictured an older male smoker, not a younger non-smoking woman. Unfortunately, little is known at present about the high incidence of lung cancer in non-smoking females, as most of the cancer research that has been performed in the last few decades have focused on other cancers, such as breast and ovarian. Through mice testing, however, researchers have found a possible link with estrogen levels and lung cancer. The use of hormone replacement medicines, for example, correlated with a slimmer chance of survival among lung cancer patients.
From the following website, http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-03-07-reeve-lung-cancer_x.htm , I found information on how to reduce the risk of lung cancer. While the first two points are quite obvious, the second two provide some sound advice.
Avoid tobacco. If you smoke, quit.Ask people in your home or car not to smoke. Stay away from smoky restaurants, bars and other establishments that allow smoking.Eat five to nine servings a day of fruits and vegetables, especially if you have ever smoked. Get plenty of yellow and orange plant foods, such as carrots or sweet potatoes, that are rich in beta-carotene. Beta-carotene may reduce lung cancer risk, but experts don't advise taking beta-carotene supplements, which have been shown in clinical trials to increase the risk of lung cancer.Test your home for radon, a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas found in soil that can cause lung cancer. *****
On a more positive note, things in Japan are going well. Teaching is at times challenging, but keeps me on my toes. The island is beautiful and my Japanese is coming along.. though very slowly.
Hoping that you all are well and looking forward to hearing your news! Please send some, as well as any comments of course.
Peace and smiles,
Julia
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