Bleeding Espresso

Last week, I told you about our O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest. Oh, do see the bottom of this post for the You Know You’re in Italy When… Contest!

With O Foods, so many of you have graciously responded by publishing the announcement, by donating, and also by coming up with some really great recipes. Thank you, and please keep spreading the word!

You have until September 30th to get in on the contest!

Right now, though, I want to turn attention to just the facts ma’am–what all women need to know about potential symptoms of ovarian cancer and what exactly you should be asking of your doctor if you experience them.

Ovarian cancer has been called the “Silent Killer” because it often isn’t discovered until it has spread to other parts of the abdomen; as you know from the facts from the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund posted in the O foods post, once ovarian cancer reaches later stages, the survival rate beyond five years drops to just 45%. When detected and treated early on, though, the five-year survival rate from ovarian cancer is greater than 92%.

But ovarian cancer isn’t silent! As many ovarian cancer awareness organizations say, “It whispers–so listen!”

Here are some common signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer:

Vague but persistent and unexplained gastrointestinal complaints;

Pelvic and/or abdominal swelling and pain; bloating and/or feeling of fullness;

Unexplained change in bowel habits;

Frequency and/or urgency of urination;

Unexplained weight gain or loss;

New and unexplained abnormal postmenopausal vaginal bleeding.

If these symptoms are sudden and persist for more than 2 or 3 weeks, consult your gynecologist. A full pelvic exam, including the rectovaginal component, is the best screening method for ovarian cancer, and another test is a transvaginal ultrasound. Be sure to tell your doctor about your symptoms so she knows exactly what she should be looking for.

Ovarian cancer risk factors include:

Peri- or postmenopause;

Uninterrupted ovulation (no pregnancies and no prior use of oral contraceptives);

Family or personal history of breast/ovarian cancer;

Presence of BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations.

The following may aid in prevention:

Use of oral contraceptives for 5+ years;

Multiple pregnancies/breastfeeding;

Removal of ovaries or tubal ligation–these procedures may reduce but not eliminate risk.

For a handy guide to the signs and symptoms, risk factors, and prevention of ovarian cancer, print out the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund’s tent card (from which the above facts come). Better yet, print out a stack and hand them out to all the women in your life!

Remember, even if you can’t participate in the O Foods contest (e.g., if you don’t have a blog), you can always donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund through our First Giving donation page. Please note that you do NOT have to donate to participate in the contest, although donations are, of course, greatly appreciated.

And here are some more ideas on what you can do for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Tomorrow, another O recipe!

***But now, announcing another contest!***

Megan of Career by Choice has just announced a contest revolving around last Friday’s post here at BE entitled You Know You’re In Italy When… The response was so fabulous that Megan decided to make it competitive and so was born The Expat Snapshot Italy Contest.

If you’ve already commented on my post from Friday, you’re already entered–but you can still submit more if you like. Head over to Megan’s Career by Choice for the details, including the prize, which is so very close to my own heart.

In bocca al lupo!

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It’s What’s Cooking Wednesday and also the first full day of O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. If you missed yesterday’s announcement with all the contest details, never fear! They are at the bottom of this post.

Now, here is my fast, easy, tasty (just like we like ‘em!) O Food recipe based on this one from Cooks.com:

Oatmeal Banana Craisin® Muffins
(makes 6 large and 12 mini-muffins)

• 1/2 c butter
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 c mashed bananas (3 bananas)
• 3/4 c honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 c oatmeal (rolled oats)
• 3/4 c Craisins® (or raisins or dried cranberries)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C.

2. Cream together butter and brown sugar.

3. Add eggs, bananas, honey and vanilla.

4. Mix rest of ingredients except Craisins® together and add to batter.

5. Stir in Craisins®.

6. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full of mixture.

7. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes for the large muffins; 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Remove when top springs back to the touch.

Buon appetito!

O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen and Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, Jenn of The Leftover Queen, and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are asking you to donate to the:

Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (via FirstGiving.org)

and then, out of the goodness of your hearts and to be eligible for the O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest, please do the following:

1. Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato) and include this entire text box in the post;

OR

2. If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word about the event and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

AND

3. Then send your post url [along with a photo (100 x 100) if you've made a recipe] to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on September 30, 2008.

We will post a roundup and announce prize winners on October 3.

Prizes:

• 1 Recipe Prize for best “O food” concoction: $50 gift certificate to Amazon;
• 1 Awareness Prize for only publicizing event: Copy of Dolce Italiano cookbook.

———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

• Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
• The American Cancer Society estimates that 21,650 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. in 2008 and about 15,520 women will die from the disease.
• The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
• In spite of this patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
• When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

Please donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
and help spread the word!

21 Comments »

Some of you may remember last year’s Dolce Italiano contest to spread the word about the wonderful cookbook by the 2008 Bon Appetit award-winner for best Pastry Chef Gina DePalma.

Well a few months ago, I found out from Diana, a lovely blogger and B & B owner in northern Italy, that Gina was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was undergoing a whirlwind of treatment. I wrote Gina a quick email, sending my best thoughts and wishes, and Gina, recovering from surgery and about to undergo chemotherapy, immediately wrote back a message full of courageous spirit, humor, and love–vintage Gina.

You see, Gina was already thinking about what she could do to raise ovarian cancer awareness and money to fight the disease. So a few of us from the Dolce Italiano contest got together and we proudly announce:

O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen and Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, Jenn of The Leftover Queen, and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are asking you to donate to the:

Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (via FirstGiving.org)

and then, out of the goodness of your hearts and to be eligible for the O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest, please do the following:

1. Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato) and include this entire text box in the post;

OR

2. If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word about the event and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

AND

3. Then send your post url [along with a photo (100 x 100) if you've made a recipe] to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on September 30, 2008.

We will post a roundup and announce prize winners on October 3.

Prizes:

• 1 Recipe Prize for best “O food” concoction: $50 gift certificate to Amazon;
• 1 Awareness Prize for only publicizing event: Copy of Dolce Italiano cookbook.

———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

• Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
• The American Cancer Society estimates that 21,650 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. in 2008 and about 15,520 women will die from the disease.
• The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
• In spite of this patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
• When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

Please donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
and help spread the word!

P.S. Feel free to use the ribbon widget in my sidebar in *your* sidebar.
If you need help setting it up, please contact me!

38 Comments »

Even though I’m not in America any more, the end of May still means bright red poppies to me.

Yes, these in the fields around here, but I’m talking about the ones that remind me of the sacrifices veterans have made for you and me and how many of them still suffer today even while in the “care” of our veterans’ hospitals.

Every year around Memorial Day, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)’s Buddy Poppy Program and the American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Program distribute millions of crepe paper poppies in exchange for contributions that benefit disabled and hospitalized veterans and their families.

Where do the poppies come from?

Why, the hospitalized veterans make these nine-piece wonders in “Poppy Shops,” gaining a small wage and also some physical and mental therapy.

What is history of the paper poppy?

During World War I, ever-resilient poppies grew and thrived in the war-torn battlefields of Belgium, inspiring this poem by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae:

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The symbol was picked up by Allied countries immediately after the war ended and paper poppies began being sold. In 1921, the Franco-American Children’s League sold French-produced poppies to benefit the children in areas of France and Belgium hit heaviest by the war.

When the Children’s League dissolved in 1922, the VFW took over the cause and two years later began the Buddy Poppy Program with veterans producing the poppies for the benefit of veterans and their families.

As much as I love the gorgeous wild, natural poppies that surround me, I’m still nostalgic for those paper beauties and all they represent.

So if you’re in America, can you do me a favor? Please make a contribution to the VFW or American Legion Auxiliary and get yourself a poppy.

That way you can remember too.

19 Comments »

Today is Earth Day, 24 hours for us to stop and really think about how our actions affect the environment.

Of course we should do this every day, but, according to the Earth Day Network website, since 1970, April 22 has represented at least one day per year for people around the world to “celebrate the earth and renew our commitment to building a safer, healthier and cleaner world for all of us.”

The Earth Day Network site offers many ideas as to how you can get involved:

Volunteer. Go to a festival. Install solar panels on your roof. Organize an event where you live. Change a habit. Help launch a community garden.

Communicate your priorities to your elected representatives.

The possibilities are endless! Do something nice for the earth, have fun, meet new people, and make a difference.

This Earth Day, I’m going to tell you about the birds and the bees.

OK, really just the bees, but I wanted to make sure you were paying attention.

The plight of honeybees may seem small in comparison to many of the other problems our environment faces, but make no mistake–the fact that millions of honeybees are dying (Colony Collapse Disorder) can have disastrous effects not only on flowers and honey but also on food production, including many of the fruits we hold so dear.

Honeybees pollinate about a third of the food we eat, and without sufficient numbers of bees, these crops simply can’t survive.

Why are bees dying?

A few reasons:

• stronger pesticides (which, incidentally, can be toxic to humans as well);
• loss of natural habitats due to urban expansion;
• changes in farming techniques that replace native vegetation with pasture grasses for cattle; and
• more frequent severe droughts in some areas like southern Italy

The endangerment of honeybees has been big news in Italy. The National Beekeepers’ Association (UNAAPI) has seen drastic drops in honey production–as much as 50%–because of a silent “slaughter of bees.” Along with southern Italy, Tuscany and Umbria have also been hit hard.

Environmental group Legambiente and the Slow Food movement have teamed up to help the UNAAPI create a buzz about the endangerment of bees; hopefully world leaders and lawmakers will work together to ensure that we all avoid getting stung by a major loss of honeybees.

For more information and what you can do to help, see PBS’s program Endangered Honeybees and Häagen-Dazs’s page on how to Help the Honey Bees.

22 Comments »