October is here, which we all know is officially Breast Cancer Awareness month. However, in the spirit of eradicating the disease, Keep A Breast, alongside other rad organizations like the Breast Cancer Fund, has dubbed this October BREAST CANCER PREVENTION month. Because we are focused on turning awareness into action and giving you the tools you need to reduce your risk of breast cancer we will be sharing 31 tips and facts full of valuable information through our Facebook and Twitter. In turn, we want you to share these facts with your friends and family because we feel that you all have the power to educate your communities in a positive way this month.

Just like our mission says, we want you to be better equipped to make choices and develop habits that will benefit your long-term health and well-being. Start off today by downloading our official Keep A Breast app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch to not only learn how to do a self breast exam but to set-up automatic monthly reminders on your phone. And if you like the app so much, tell all your friends and family to download it too!

And one last thing…

PREVENTION IS THE CURE!

Follow Keep A Breast Canada’s tips all month long:

http://www.facebook.com/kabcan

http://www.twitter.com/keepabreastcan

Follow Keep A Breast Europe’s tips all month long:

https://www.facebook.com/KeepABreastEurope

Follow Keep A Breast Italy’s tips all month long:

https://www.facebook.com/KeepABreastItaly

Hi, my name is Brendan. I live in San Diego and run the warehouse for Keep A Breast. This is where all the I Love Boobies! bracelets live before they land on your wrist. My aunt is a Breast Cancer survivor so KAB has a place near and dear to my heart. I recently signed up for the YSC Tour de Pink because I love riding and am really looking forward to supporting Keep A Breast and Young Survival Coalition. I ride every day to work and usually a longer 40-60 mile ride on the weekends so I’m pretty ready for the ride. Are you gonna join me?

-Brendan

Do you know a forward-thinking individual or organization that needs funding for an innovative breast cancer research project?

We are very excited to announce that The Keep A Breast Foundation (KAB) will be awarding up to $100,000.00 in research grants again this year to admirable organizations and individuals investigating breast cancer prevention, early detection, and causes. KAB is particularly interested in environmental and lifestyle links to breast cancer, and seeks to support cutting-edge researchers whose efforts will make the world a cleaner, healthier and ultimately cancer-free place. Research projects may include new approaches to complementary and alternative care, innovations in green chemistry and studies of common toxins and breast cancer rates.

If you know anyone who would like to apply for one of these grants please pass along the link to our site:   http://www.keep-a-breast.org/grants. Applications are due by October 31st.

Best of Luck!

Miss Nixon

That’s right, you read that correctly! The Keep A Breast Foundation and House of Blues Entertainment are teaming up to present Keep A Breast’s first ever Breast Cancer Prevention music tour during October’s National Breast Cancer Prevention Month featuring Uh Huh Her, the critically acclaimed electro-indie duo-comprised of Camila Grey and Leisha Hailey. In addition to Uh Huh Her, Fences and Jarrod Gorbel will be joining as supporting artists on select dates.

The Keep A Breast Tour  will serve as a national grassroots education tour that will travel throughout the US and Canada educating fans about breast cancer prevention. Overall we want the tour to educate, inspire and encourage people to take their health into their own hands. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to Keep A Breast.

We are so excited and cannot believe that we have our own tour now and not just any tour, our very own Breast Cancer Prevention Music Tour! Pretty amazing, right? We have so much planned for the tour and lots of health information we want everyone to know about so make sure to bookmark http://kabtour.org and stay tuned for more info and announcements.

For the official PRESS RELEASE head here.

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS NOW!

Keep A Breast Tour Featuring Uh Huh Her Dates:

10/08/11          Philadelphia, PA                  Theatre Of The Living Arts

10/10/11          New York, NY                        Irving Plaza

10/11/11          Boston, MA                             Paradise Rock Club

10/12/11          Washington, DC                   9:30 Club

10/14/11          Montreal, QC                         Corona

10/15/11          Toronto, Canada                  Phoenix Concert Theatre

10/16/11          Cleveland, OH                       Cambridge Room @ House of Blues

10/18/11          Detroit, MI                             Shelter

10/19/11          Chicago, IL                            House of Blues

10/21/11          Atlanta, GA                            Vinyl

10/23/11          New Orleans, LA                 The Parish @ House of Blues

10/24/11          Houston, TX                          Fitzgerald’s

10/25/11          Austin, TX                             Antone’s Nightclub

10/26/11          Dallas, TX                              House of Blues Dallas

10/28/11          Denver, CO                             Larimer Lounge

10/30/11          Salt Lake City, UT                 Urban Lounge

11/01/11          West Hollywood, CA             House of Blues

11/02/11          San Francisco, CA                  Slim’s

11/04/11          Seattle, WA                             The Crocodile

11/05/11          Vancouver, BC                        Venue

11/06/11          Portland, OR                          Wonder Ballroom

We are wrapping up one of the coolest Keep A Breast Outreach events to come from two amazing and courageous gentlemen, Wyatt Welter and Jerold Gaches. These two made a huge impact on the lives that they have met through their 2,400 mile mission to Southern California to help raise awareness of breast cancer. They are incredible young men and such an inspiration! Below, Wyatt tells us about their journey and why they chose Keep A Breast to work with for this expedition!

We are so thankful to have worked with them on this and look forward to working with them next year!
If you would like to donate to their mission, you may do so here.
You can also check out their website here.

Erica & KAB

“I have always been an overly caring person since I can remember, I’ve had a multitude of events that I have experienced throughout my life and these events have created a humble being within me. I know what its like to have it hard, to feel the pain of loss, and to understand how helpless it can seem. I have taken it upon myself to find a way that I could help people on a large scale, with the ideas both my friend and I came up with, we manifested into what we now call World Alive. World Alive is merely an idea that our world is truly alive, and that we as the human race are the only beings that have certain control of the world through the actions we decide to take. Much like Gaia, the primordial Earth goddess of ancient greek religion, it was then that the thought our world was truly alive meant that the people of the Earth were subject to Gaia for her life giving principals. In this thought or idea, we as the human race become the shephards of our planet.

Cancer is to Jerold and I as a black hole is to space and time. Its a negative void that is devestating so many families around the world. Its something that was familiar to both Jerold and I, we both share experiencing loss and pain caused from a form of cancer. After I had left the military I met a young philipino girl who I eventually got engaged to. Though we are no longer together, the hardships she had to face from the time I met her at age 19 were tramatic, she was genetically at risk for breast cancer and I watched as just the possibility of her having it tore her life apart. It affected me having been so close to her and caring for her so deeply, that it remained a continuous thought in my head for years and I had to do something to help. So with this steaming from my ears, Jerold took his motivation to help and I took mine and collectively we decided we needed to join forces with Keep A Breast to do something epic. We knew that KAB targeted the younger crowd and it really matched up with our beliefs in World Alive. So we picked
up the one sport we had fun with the most which was Longboarding and decided to sell our vehicles, leave our
homes, purchase some outdoor gear, and up and longboard from our hometown, Whitewater, WI, to where the
foundation Keep A Breast was located, Carlsbad, CA. Of course it took a little more planning then that. We actualy had planned this for nearly a year, all the while being told by our peers that we wouldnt make it.

Cancer is to Jerold and I as a black hole is to space and time.

I knew in my heart that both of us would, regardless what anyone else said. I told Jerold I was glad I was going with him rather than anyone else because I believed in the both of us. We have some fire in us, and that fire was bursting at its seems, we had to get it out. This just seemed the best way to do it. We wanted to show people that its mind over matter, and that staying positive even in the most grim of times, nothing can stand in your way.

The first week of the journey I thought for a moment Jerold was going to quit he looked so bad. But he soldiered on until I thought I was gonna quit, I litterally thought a few times that there would be no way I could keep going. I completely blew out my left achilies tenden the second week and the pain was so much that I could hardly walk. I forced myself to learn how to use the other foot to push off and balance with my hurt ankle, and because of this Jerold did something amazing as well, he decided that if I had to learn to push off the other foot, that he would make himself learn too so that we could both push through it together, making it a team effort. Thats the way it went all 2,400 miles through the humidity, the rain , the mountains, the creepy neighborhoods, the massive storms, and the wipe outs, etc, etc.

We threw all difficulty aside with laughing over the trouble we faced, we knew it was going to be rough from the start, and we told ourselves that we had to hold onto the thought we first started with, that there are people out there who dont have the chance to do something like this, so we must do it for them. Many times I would think about my ex fiance, and that alone kept me going on most days. There wasnt all that much bickering between the two of us at all, we were a team, we knew what we had to do, and we did it, together! We both served in the military so we both knew what it was like to have our bodies hurt, really hurt, but the difficulties we faced on this trek, far surpassed anything we had ever experienced before, even more so than the tour I made in Afghanistan.

Bottom line is, we felt and still feel that we have an obligation to our planet, and to the people living on it. We are already working on the plans for our next trek which we plan on longboarding from the eastern coast of Canada to the very tip of Florida to conquer the world record. Between then and now we hope to obtain our 501c3 not for profit to attach to our idea, and eventually incorporate an environmental educational program, targeting elementary school students, to help them grow to become more Earth conscious,and hopefully inspired by our actions to do something great themselves one day. If we can accomplish more than that, then I say that it is merely frosting on the cake, and we love frosting! We hope to cover the world with it, and Make It Glow! ” – Wyatt Welter

Donate to their mission here.
Check out their website here.

Did anyone see Lil Wayne wearing an I Love Boobies! bracelet at the MTV VMA’s on Sunday night singing How To Love?

Can we say we LOVE it?!

Watch the video below:

Fernando Aguerre, the co-founder of Reef, has spent his post-footwear-making years devoted to philanthropy. He created the Liquid Nation Ball—a high-end auction, which he hosts—with his brother Santiago in 2004 to provide support for the humanitarian efforts of SurfAid International. In 2006, however, the brothers donated Liquid Nation to the SIMA Humanitarian Fund and expanded its scope. In the years since, the event has donated more than $1.4 million to various surf-related, non-profit humanitarian organizations including Keep A Breast!  Surfer Mag sat down with Fernando to discuss Liquid Nation Ball 8, which will be held September 17, in La Jolla, CA and will be honoring Shaney jo Darden as Humanatarian of the Year!

Shaney Jo Darden, Co-Founder and CEO of The Keep A Breast Foundation, will be announced as the 2011 Humanitarian of the Year. Can you tell us a little about her?
Shaney Jo is a great person, a great inspirational and tireless leader. She has all the respect of the people she interacts with—volunteers, supporters, sponsors. We need more people like here in the world. Hopefully by honoring her, we will inspire other people to realize that the only way to change the word is by doing something about what is not right.

Check out the whole interview here!

Mai here again! Nine shows on the Identity fest tour complete! Eleven more to go! Our Keep a Breast tent has weathered some severe weather recently as five out of those nine shows have been stormy ones! All in all, Beth and I are having some fun, trying to meet new people and spread awareness about KAB and it’s mission. We’ve had so many people come to our booth not knowing what Keep A Breast or the ‘I love Boobies’ campaign is about but now have left more knowledgeable and so grateful for what we are doing and what KAB is accomplishing. Everyday I am even more thankful to be on this tour and working for KAB because listening to so many stories has helped me heal in so many ways.

Neither of us were fans of techno/electronica music before this festival, but as the days go on we find ourselves bopping to the music and trying out new dance moves! Here’s a look of what we’ve seen and done so far!

Steve Aoki puts on a great show every night! He’s got a new song called ‘No Beef,’ which is one of my favorites! Through the Non-Toxic Revolution campaign I’ve learned that making small changes in your life will greatly impact how you feel and reduce your cancer risk. Going vegetarian is one tip you can find in our NTR mini magazine, but if going 100% veggie is too hard for you than you can start by reducing your read meat intake to once or twice a week, if at all. Oddly, watching Aoki’s set every night reminds me of this even though that’s not really what the song is about.

A woman came to our tent a couple days in a row, we started to talk and I found out her name was Janine and she is the wife of Ken from The Crystal Method who is on tour with us. Not only is she super supportive of what we are trying to accomplish but she has her own non-profit Green Wave/Electronic Music Alliance which she uses to inspire young people in the electronic music world to take care of our environment. Similar to the NTR she believes that everything is linked together and toxic chemicals in our environment and food supply all affect our health and she strives to create a safe and healthier environment. Look forward to talking with her more and hopefully working with The Crystal Method guys!

One of the crazier storms we’ve encountered occurred in Jersey where our tent almost blew away and we were left with a broken support pole. It rained a couple of inches!! All is well though and hopefully we’ve left most of the storm in the Northeast. Videos of the storm will be in my next post! So far, lots of great people have signed our cast. Skrillex, The Eye, Nero, Steve Aoki, DJ Shadow and many more! Look forward to getting the rest of the signatures!

- Mai

Something is brewing at Keep A Breast and its not just all of our awesome events and programs. It’s literally a pot of tea! No need to run to your medicine cabinet for every ache, pain, sneeze, or when you start to feel pms-y. Instead try a cup of tea, like we do. People all over the world have been using plants and herbs as a source of food and medicine throughout history for their well-being, so why wouldn’t you?

Here are a few tips for you!

Aaaachoo! When you have a cold or feel one approaching try Gypsy Cold Care or Yogi Cold Season. The main ingredient in both is menthol from peppermint leaf that supports free breathing as well as ginger, cinnamon, and clove AKA the “heating herbs” that support nasal and bronchial function. This tea will have you feeling better in no time.

What if you need to prevent nausea or vomiting (possibly from your chemotherapy)? Try some ginger tea. You can find sweet or spicy ones. Organic Ginger Aid®  promotes the flow of digestive juices and increases tone in the muscular walls of the stomach and works like magic.

Is your girlfriend a total witch once a month? Surprise her with a cup of tea! She doesn’t have to know it’s PMS Tea® . This tea promotes a healthy period by temporarily reducing water retention and supports liver function (which breaks down excess estrogen). PMS teas contain delicious organic dandelion root and may lower her stress levels. You will thank us later. Also with that cub of tea – get her to download the Keep A Breast app on iTunes that reminds you to Check Your Self monthly – and schedule it for right after your period.. the best time for a self exam!

Have a hard time falling asleep? Find a yummy tea with chamomile, mint, hops, or passionflower. Sleepytime Tea  has a nice taste and is one of our faves.

There are hundreds if not thousands of herbal and medicinal teas. Start trying them and uncover all the unexpected gifts of feeling well (naturally). You know that’s totally our cup of tea.

Xoxo

Miss Nixon

P.S. Never add boiling water to Green Tea, this will make it bitter!

Hello readers! My name is Mai and I am one of Keep a Breast’s newest ambassadors! I am very proud to be spreading awareness about Keep a Breast and it’s mission on Identity fest as cancer has had a profound impact on my life. Several of my aunts and my mom have had breast cancer or breast cancer scares and my cousin passed away 8 months ago after battling breast cancer for nearly 7 years. Most recently my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer, but has been in remission for almost a year. Yay!

I first learned about KAB last year on Warped Tour when I was working for Pierce the Veil (also huge supporters of KAB) and since then, everyone associated with Keep a Breast has been like family to me. We are into day 3 of Identity fest and it’s been wild! I am working hard to spread the word about KAB and to raise awareness about Keep a Breast’s Non-Toxic Revolution campaign. Honestly, the 12-13 hr work days seem like nothing compared to what my family has had to go thru. Beth Raebel just joined me to replace Erica, who has been out training me and I am very excited to be working alongside her. We’ve had the most INCREDIBLE volunteers so far but still need many more so if you are interested please email volunteer@keep-a-breast.org.

Don’t forget we are giving away a pair of tickets for every show to our facebook fans!

- Mai

Tour Dates:
8/14/11 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
8/16/11 – Charlotte, NC – Verizon Ampitheatre
8/18/11 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
8/19/11 – Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center
8/20/11 – Mansfield, MA – Comcast Center
8/21/11 – Wantagh, NY – Nikon At Jones Beach Amphitheater
8/23/1 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheater
8/24/11 – Tampa, FL – 1-800-GARY Amphitheater
8/25/11 – Miami, FL – Klipsch Amphitheater @ Bayfront Park
8/27/11 – The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods
8/28/11 – Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavillon
8/30/11 – Albuquerque, NM – Hard Rock Casin Presents: The Pavilion
9/2/11 – Chula Vista, CA – Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
9/3/11 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheater
9/4/11 – San Bernardino, CA – San Manuel Amphitheater
9/5/11 – Las Vegas, NV – Mandalay Bay
9/10/11 – George, WA – The Gorge

Hello Friends,
It’s time for another segment of Ask Dr Mandy”. For those who are just visiting the site I am a naturopathic doctor in San Diego, California with a serious passion for natural preventive medicine. I have been working with Keep A Breast (KAB) for about 3 years now. Click here to see my previous posts.

The Smoking Tooth

Summertime is in full swing here in California and so many great foods are fresh and available right now.  As a follow up to my last two blogs about toxins in and on our body, I felt inspired to ponder on and share some thoughts about great, simple summer foods that help our body detoxify.  My slogan at my natural health practice is “Let your life be your medicine”. By this I mean to take every single opportunity on a daily basis to do something great for your body.

As our environments become more toxic, it is up to us to help guard our bodies defenses.  Almost every daily decision we make from the products we put on our bodies, to the cleaning products we use, to what we consume, can be either beneficial or detrimental.

            Lucky for us all right now, some of the tastiest summertime foods are also the best at helping us guard against our harsh environments.  Here are some of my most favorites:

• Garlic: When I was studying medicinal herbs and plants in naturopathic medical school, the one that stood out as having the most overall benefit was garlic.  The list of benefits is extensive and includes: lowering cholesterol, fighting viruses, bacteria, parasites, yeast, and even helping to protect against cancer. In addition to these amazing benefits, it is also very restorative to our livers.  The liver is one of our primary detox organs along with our kidneys, lymphatic vessels and our skin.  I take every opportunity to add fresh garlic to my salsas, fish tacos, and even to my fresh made vegetable juices.  I even add it to my scrambled organic eggs in the morning.  I also give this medicinal plant to my pets to help keep their immune systems strong.
• Cilantro: This delicious little herb is another one of my favorite summer detox foods.  Again, I take every opportunity to add it to my salads, salsas and even on my eggs right along with my garlic. One of the great and rare benefits of cilantro is that it helps to remove heavy metals inside our cells.  In my last blog, “The smoking tooth”, I talked about the detriments of mercury in amalgam fillings.  This is one of the greatest toxins that most of our bodies face every single day.  Adding cilantro to our diet is a great and simple way to help our bodies counteract these effects.
• Lemons: I absolutely love all of the fresh, local lemons that we get here in California.  When things heat up, this is such a refreshing fruit.  I oftentimes add this to my cup of hot green tea in the morning.  One of the best properties of lemons is that they are very alkalinizing.  We know that stress, sugar, toxins, and infections all make our cells acidic.  Having an acidic pH makes us more susceptible to diseases and also makes us feel tired, sluggish and irritable in general.  Alkaline foods like lemons help to counteract this toxic acidity. Lemons are also very high in antioxidants which help to quench free radicals that damage our cells.
• Whey protein smoothies:  I love a nice cool berry smoothie on a hot summer’s day.  Smoothies are such a great way to add a lot of helpful nutrients to your diet – not only with liquids and powder supplements, but also with high antioxidant organic berries.  On a regular basis I prescribe nutritional smoothies to my patients.  One ingredient I typically include in my smoothie is whey protein.  The free radicals that I spoke about previously, also called oxidative compounds, literally destroy our cells.  Hence the reason anti- oxidants are so important.  My personal favorite antioxidant is glutathione.  I could write a whole blog on this one nutritional compound (and I probably will someday).  Suffice it to say, this is one of the most unique and powerful antioxidants of them all.  In addition to fighting oxidative compounds, it also stimulates and increases the effectiveness of other antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, E, and CoQ10.  The strange thing about glutathione is that it is not well absorbed orally.  I oftentimes administer it via IV or injection in my patients.  Luckily, our bodies can also make glutathione in our own cells.  Whey protein is one of the nutrients that helps to manufacture glutathione.  And it sure tastes great in a summertime smoothie.  I personally prefer a Goat Whey protein, but those without dairy sensitivities can also get whey protein made from cows (hormone free and grass fed cows, of course).

  I hope this gives everyone some “food” for thought.  I am off now to enjoy the California sun and soak up my Vitamin D.  This weekend I will be eating my whey protein smoothies for breakfast and some delicious fish tacos for lunch.  I’ll be sure to smother them in salsa and cilantro.  And, I will be sure to add some fresh lemon to my water.  Happy Summer to you all and may you also let your life be your medicine. xo-  ~ Dr. Mandy

We have been seeing these bracelets become in question at several schools. It has been great to see students, parents and even Federal Court Judges rally behind Keep A Breast and become advocates for our cause. We always respond with what the bracelets represent and how important it is to respectfully tell your administrator why you support Keep A Breast.

So your school banned the bracelets? What can you do? Well, we can’t give you legal advice, and we can’t guarantee you won’t get in trouble for wearing one, but we can tell you what some amazing kids out there like you are doing.

Learn More About What You Can Do Here!

Share with us in the comments what you have done to educate your friends, family, community or school so others will learn from you.

Tweet

Keep A Breast is heading out on the IDentity Festival this fall with some of the hottest acts in electronic music like Kascade, Steve Aoki, Pretty Lights and more to educate electronic music fans about breast cancer prevention and education! To celebrate we are giving away a pair of tickets to every stop of the tour so you can come out, dance your heart away and stop by our Traveling Education Booth. To enter for a chance to win, head to our Facebook and “LIKE” us to unlock the contest. You can also click the banner above to directly take you to the contest form.

For more info on IDentity Festival head to http://idfestival.com.

Tour Dates:
8/14/11 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
8/16/11 – CHarlotte, NC – Verizon Ampitheatre
8/18/11 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
8/19/11 – Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center
8/20/11 – Mansfield, MA – Comcast Center
8/21/11 – Wantagh, NY – Nikon At Jones Beach Amphitheater
8/23/1 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheater
8/24/11 – Tampa, FL – 1-800-GARY Amphitheater
8/25/11 – Miami, FL – Klipsch Amphitheater @ Bayfront Park
8/27/11 – The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods
8/28/11 – Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavillon
8/30/11 – Albuquerque, NM – Hard Rock Casin Presents: The Pavilion
9/2/11 – Chula Vista, CA – Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
9/3/11 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheater
9/4/11 – San Bernardino, CA – San Manuel Amphitheater
9/5/11 – Las Vegas, NV – Mandalay Bay
9/10/11 – George, WA – The Gorge

Shaun Logan, tour manager of The Expendables decorated this Breast Cast with the message of openly talking about breast cancer. Get the monkey off your chest and talk about it.

If you don’t follow us on Facebook and Twitter (then you really should) you probably haven’t seen some of the new Breast Casts that some of our friends on the Vans Warped tour have decorated over the past few weeks! The great thing about our  Breast Casts is that they serve as an artistic avenue and a way to express our message of prevention and awareness with young people. The Breast Casts allow young people to become more aware of what Keep A Breast does, especially out here on the road.

Longtime friend and artist, David Knapp decorated this Breast Cast and was inspired the Non Toxic Revolution! He used all recycled items found at Warped Tour.

It’s amazing when you see young people talking to their friends as they see the Breast Casts for the first time. It really opens up the floor to discussion to focus on breast cancer and our message of prevention. At the end of the day, it’s a cool way to merge art and education together. That’s why we stand behind our mantra of Art. Education. Awareness. Action!

Longtime friend and artist, Mell Leal decorated this Breast Cast and was inspired by the Non Toxic Revolution's Plastic Sucks! campaign. She says we should all go back to organic!

Decorated by Kyle of So Long Arletta this 2011 Vans Warped Tour signatured Breast Cast was signed by dozens of Warped bands and artists.

Keep A Breast always tries to educate people on the fact that young people and guys do get breast cancer. When we heard the story of Raymond Johnson, a 26-year-old construction worker from Charleston, S.C., was recently denied Medicaid coverage for breast cancer treatment because he is a man we were outraged!

For Raymond Johnson it was bad enough being diagnosed with cancer when he was just 26 and with no health insurance, but his shock was only aggravated when he was denied Medicaid, because rules say men are not covered for breast cancer.

Johnson has said he was surprised to learn his diagnosis, which doctors discovered after he experienced chest pain over the July 4th weekend. But every couple of years, a case of a man getting the disease puts men with breast cancer in the news. In 2002, former Sen. Edward W. Brooke fought the disease, which he discovered when his wife felt a lump under his right nipple. According to this report from the New York Times, Brooke had suffered chest pain for some time but never thought it might be breast cancer.

More recently, it was Kiss drummer Peter Criss’ turn to put men and breast cancer in the spotlight. He discovered he had the disease in 2008, and has been an outspoken advocate of early treatment.

Check out this video of John Burroughs High School talk about their feelings about breast cancer including a students desicion to dedicate his cast to Peter Criss.

The American Cancer society’s pages on breast cancer in men lay out the facts. About 2,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, which makes it rare: about 100 times more women get the disease. Men — just like women — are more likely to develop cancer if they have certain mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Family history and age contribute to a man’s likelihood of developing the disease as well. Heavy drinking and exposure to radiation are believed to be risk factors, as is obesity. A recent breast cancer cluster among men who had been exposed to contaminated drinking water at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune had patients wondering if there was also a link between chemical exposure and the disease!!

So what can you do? Learn your risk, expose yourself to less chemicals and never say you are too young (or too manly) for breast cancer!

Reposted from the LA Times

Claire P. (don’t mind her yogiesque good looks) stopped by our Keep A Breast headquarters today to test & share her latest project with us. She is about to film Yoga for Cancer Recovery (Ocean Soul Yoga Productions, LLC). Claire’s class was fun, restorative, and gentle enough for beginners (even Camper our office dog joined in)  A percentage of the proceeds will benefit KAB not to mention add to our health and well-being. More info coming soon…

Peace & kindness!

xoxo

Miss Nixon

Keep A Breast will be at the Agenda trade show in Huntington Beach California.
Please visit us in the pavilion at booth number W14 to see our new line of cause merchandise.
For sales appointments please contact alex (at) keep-a-breast.org
For press inquires please contact kimmy (at) keep-a-breast.org

Keep A Breast Cause Merchandise helps us spread the word about breast cancer prevention, early detection, and the importance of living a healthy toxic free lifestyle. We all leave a mark on the earth after we pass on — not only footprints, but the words we speak, the lessons we teach, and the love we spread. These actions impact the world on a higher note than most realize. In this fast paced world we live in, it is easy to forget to be our own leaders daily. Keep A Breast encourages young people to keep a positive mind, body, and soul. Take care of the world, yourself and everything in it.

Don’t just wear I Love Boobies — Take a stand and make the world a better, healthier place for future generations. We must change our ways and fight for our future. Prevention Is The Cure

Ah, kids these days. With their skinny jeans. And their thick rimmed glasses. And their …Whoops! Hold up. Wait a second. That’s what I have on and when I look around the room at everyone else- I realize its gonna be a long week. I’m surrounded by retired teachers, CEO’s of companies, scientists, brainiacs, and researchers and I’m wondering if I’ll survive a week of the Biology of Cancer, Principals of Genetics, DNA, RNA, Proteins, Translation, Mutations, Development of Cancer at a Molecular Level, Incidence, Prevalence, Mortality, Observational studies,Cohort vs. Case Control Studies, Clinical Trials…. OMG my head might explode.

It’s Miss Nixon here! And I’m one of the students that have been selected through a competitive application process to attend the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s Project LEAD Institute. Project LEAD is the premier science-training program for activists. This program has created a revolution in the world of breastcancer research and public policy.

Starting at 7am and going until 8:30pm some nights we had days full of science topics presented by folks from renowned research and academic institutions. Study groups (arrive solo and be randomly assigned to a group= torture) after the most complex sessions helped us talk further about what we had just learned. At night we had extensive homework and the cycle repeated for 6 days.

The Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute hosted our group for a field trip to the lab late one afternoon so we could see several experiments. Thank you Dr. Brunhilde Felding Habermann, Ph.D for the tumor metastasis work your lab is doing. If only high-school field trips had been this interesting way back when, I would have spent less time figuring out whom to make out with on the bus ride back.

At the Institute I learned so much but the most important thing I learned was to question everything. Having a critical eye and analyzing all the information is as easy as asking “So what?” or “What if?”. Through critical appraisal of scientific articles and research studies (including the one we designed ourselves) each of the students learned a new approach to all the info we have been consuming for years. Now we can move towards having a more meaningful impact and bring about real change.

I’m ready for my gold star now!

Xo

Miss Nixon

Tweet

If you haven’t seen it yet head over to Boomer Loves Boobies. It’s full of Boomer’s favorite things: BLINK 182 and BOOBIES.

If you don’t know much about Boomer – head over to his modlife page and check it out. We are extremely excited that Boomer will be raising money on the tour in an effort to help our mission to eradicate breast cancer by exposing young people to methods of prevention, early detection and support.

Not only is Keep A Breast going to be in the Honda Civic section of the Blink 182 show you can also purchase VIP and AAA packages for those that want to save BOOBIES by meeting Tom, owning some righteous artwork and rocking an exclusive rad accessory that …wait for it…glows in the dark!

MEET TOM ON THE BLINK 182 TOUR AND HELP SAVE BOOBIES!!

The  biggest package for Boomer <3′s Boobies is their AAA Package.  Each buyer will receive a Giclee fine art print on light insight canvas of Tom’s original painting Boomer <3′s Boobies.  And wtf is a Giclee you might ask?  Giclee’s are no ordinary print.  Used by art galleries around the world, Giclee’s are known for their high quality printing techniques where no screen or other mechanical devices are used and therefore there is no visible dot screen pattern. The image has all the tonalities and hues of the original painting.  Your Giclee will come with an extra 2 inch border so it can be mounted, framed or stretched.  The size of the art is the same as the original canvas (24″ x 30″) and with the border will be 28″ x 34.”  There are only  250 AAA packages and canvas’s available for the entire tour.

Once you receive your print at the show, you and a very small group of others (limited to no more than 5 per show) will be escorted to Tom’s dressing room backstage where you will take a photo in his private quarters and have him sign your canvas.

AAA packages will also include an exclusive Keep A Breast bracelet made exclusively for VIP and AAA members.

*A ticket to the show is required and IS NOT included in this package. Tickets must be purchased separately.

Check out Tom back in 05 talking about his reasoning for getting together with Keep A Breast!

“Like millions of others, I have been plagued by the devastating effects of cancer hitting not one, but multiple members of my family. Keep A Breast creates events that are not only inspiring and beautiful, they provide a call to action for the millions of teens and young adults are searching for a cause to support.” Tom DeLonge,

We’re pretty much halfway through the Vans Warped Tour 2011 and we couldn’t be more pumped to keep going! We’ve been
getting so much support from so many of you who have come out at each stop on the Vans Warped Tour especially our daily volunteers that we couldn’t thank you enough! Check out the video above to see what Kent & Vyxsin from the Amazing Race were up to when they volunteered at the Pomona, CA stop of the Warped Tour. If you’d like to volunteer for any future tours, make sure to sign-up through our e-mail list and select the opt-in to be added to our volunteer list!

It’s amazing to see so many young people come by the Keep A Breast Girlz Garage and share with us how breast cancer has impacted their lives and how much they appreciate what Keep A Breast is doing. We’ve also had tons of bands and artists come by for signings and acoustic performances recently like So Long Arletta, The Material, Set Your Goals, Go Radio, Larry & His Flask and more! Without their support we wouldn’t be able to do what we do!

Below you can check out a few other videos, in case you haven’t seen them yet that feature KAB & the Non Toxic Revolution from some of our friends on Warped Tour!

Warped Tour related blog posts:
Vans Warped Tour 2011 Update: Welcome to the Keep A Breast Girlz Garage
The Keep A Breast Girlz Garage at the Vans Warped Tour 2011

Hello Friends,
I would love to introduce myself to everyone in case you missed last’s month’s “Ask Dr Mandy”.  I am a naturopathic doctor in San Diego, California with a serious passion for natural preventive medicine. I have been working with Keep A Breast (KAB) for about 3 years now.

I have a private, natural health clinic in Encinitas, California called Bloom Natural Health. Bloom’s message is that we are a “New Medicine for the 21st Century”. I fiercely believe that we all need to become seriously pro-active in keeping ourselves healthy. I tell my patients that they must stand up every day and be warriors for prevention. This comes down to the most minute daily things such as what you eat, how you breathe, and what you put on your skin.

My Goal with this “Ask Dr. Mandy” is to encourage and inspire you to make healthy changes and to educate you on the latest and greatest in the preventive medicine world. I hope to provide seriously cool tidbits of research and new, exciting info coming out that give us all new tools for prevention.

Love and Vibrant Health to you all, Dr. Mandy Ward

The Smoking Tooth

As I mentioned in my last blog, detoxification is an important topic in preventive medicine. I strongly believe that as we all seek to attain the highest level of health, we must become aware of any toxic exposures in our lives. Many people don’t realize just how many toxic exposures we encounter on a daily basis.

One area you may not have thought about for toxic exposures is in your own mouth. Did you know that many cutting edge researchers who are trying to make the link between our environment and our health are now paying more and more attention to our dental health? We know we need to try to eat organic and limit the amount of toxins we put in our body, but we must also not forget about the importance of our mouths and what toxins could be lurking there. Some things to consider are how well we take care of our teeth, how well we work to prevent dental disease, and also what we are allowing our dentists to put into our mouths.

Just this last February, the British Dental Health Foundation released a report from Sweden evaluating 3,000 patients. Women with tooth loss or gum disease were found to be 11 times more likely to develop breast cancer. Other studies have also found a possible connection between mercury and other metals found in amalgam fillings and breast tumors. Many European countries have recently banned the use of amalgam fillings due to health risks.

I recommend that you seek out a dentist who specializes in holistic dentistry. Meanwhile, in addition to eating a good diet and taking good care of your teeth, another way to gently help to detoxify the mouth is with a simple compound called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the dark green pigment that gives all green plants their green color. It is known as a gentle detoxifier that also helps to remove toxic metals from the body. To get more of this useful compound, simply increase your consumption of dark leafy vegetables, and you can also get concentrated chlorophyll at any health food store.

As we seek to empower ourselves and make prevention our goal – and as we seek to create a non-toxic revolution in our daily lives, paying attention to our dental health may be one more tool in our tool box for prevention and vital health.

To learn more check out this video posted by the dental health society called “the smoking tooth”. Now we know that it doesn’t look much like a fun Keep A Breast video but the subject matter is actually super interesting so check it out!!

Love and Health to you all, Dr. Mandy
P.S. This is part two of a three part series on detoxification so stop by “Ask Dr. Mandy” often to learn more!

Keep A Breast was proud to announce the premiere of Oceanides, a surf film created by Lorene Carpentier of Keep A Breast Europe. The premiere took place at The Pax Theater on July 11^th which is a wonderful historic landmark in French Surfing. The red velvet seats, wood stage and bells ringing out front, have you truly feel like you are a part of the 1^st surf movie to play in France.  The premiere wasn’t like your average premiere, the history of the venue, and the history of the guests was a story in itself. Maritxu Darrigrand was a cashier at The Pax when she was 20, and on Monday night she went back to her roots from before starting Roxy and sat at the door as our lovely cashier for the evening. Also in attendance was Gibus, the editor of Surfer Magazine who recalls seeing some of his favorite films for the first times under that same roof. The movie had a great reaction across the board, BEAUTIFUL. The components were amazing; the footage of turtles swimming free while the girls seemed to dance on water and the raw life of waves on the North Shore. The premiere was a great start to the Oceanides tour happening this month in France. Make sure to sneak a peak herehttp://www.oceanides.org/ to see when you might be able to watch as well!

This past Friday night marked the official launch of the Non Toxic Revolution – a grassroots, guerrilla-styled awareness campaign from the Keep A Breast Foundation. If you missed the opening, don’t stress out – that’s unhealthy and unnecessary – the exhibition will remain up through July 23rd.

Held in Highland Park at THIS Gallery, guests to the exhibition came from far to see a behinds the scenes insight into the photography behind the NTR site via Patrick O’Dell and purchase a Poster set from Studio Number One and Shepard Fairey, alongside a large mural based on the artwork of Shepard, and a breast cast painted by Shepard of survivor (and Obey employee) Haley McIntire.

It was a hot LA night so many chose to hang out on new planter benches provided by NTR outside of the gallery that sprung up virtually overnight. The two bench planters were built by local Knowhow Shop using FSC certified wood and generously donated succulent and native plants were installed on the 5900 block of North Figueroa – check them out, use them, and keep them clean – they are a test-project and a thank you to the community.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Huge thanks to everyone involved, to those who made it out for the opening, to all of you who showed support online, in person, and in writing, and all those who continue to support Keep A Breast and the Non Toxic Revolution – you rock and none of this would be possible without your radness.

To purchase any of the Shepard Fairey/Studio Number One poster sets or Patrick O’Dell’s photography visit This Gallery at 5907 North Figueroa in Highland Park, Los Angeles CA or email for more information.

The NTR exhibition will remain at the gallery through July 23rd.

THIS Gallery
Open Thursday-Saturday 12pm-6pm
5906 North Figueroa
Highland Park, Los Angeles CA

Further thanks: Knowhow Shop, Tarweed Native Plants, Stone Brewery, Juxtapox Magazine, LA Weekly, Boxed Water

On Friday July 9th Keep A Breast launched a collaboration line with one of our French ambassadors a Ms. Margaux Arramon- Tucoo. The launch was much more than premiering a new tee shirt series; it was an art exhibition, a concert, a gathering and a great start to what is sure to be a memorable week at the Roxy Pro Biarritz. Margaux is a person of great depth; being a beautiful 19 yr old long boarder from Biarritz France is just the surface of this artist. When creating the series she wanted to have the tee shirts to be flattering and different; no shoulder seams? cropped at the navel? Rare colors? Perfection. The tops were a hit and beyond creating everyone’s new favorite tee, she had paintings, drawings and surfboards, which she had also created and decorated on display. The cast of Anne Flore-Marxer another Keep A Breast Ambassador was amongst the paintings as a centerpiece for this KAB event. Margaux had a line up of amazing friends and musicians including the lovely Lee Anne Curran playing music, which had everyone in awe and not being able to contain a toe tap and a twirl. The night was a total success of launching the line as well as showing the world what Margaux has in store for them. Make sure to check her out at:

http://thefresharea.blogspot.com/

Cheers! Xo.

Greetings from the road! The Keep A Breast Girlz Garage has made it through the first round of shows on the Vans Warped Tour 2011! So far we’ve already been to Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Pomona, Mountain View and Ventura where we’ve been meeting and educating hundreds of Warped fans about breast cancer prevention!

We’ve had several bands and artists come by to perform acoustic performances, sign autographs and show their support like Juliet Simms of Automatic Loveletter, Against Me, We Came As Romans, So Long Arletta, Winds of Plague and the It! Boys. So rest assured that you’ll see and probably meet some of your favorite bands!

We’d like to send a special thank you to the guys from So Long Arletta who will be volunteering and helping us out all summer long. Make sure you go check them out here! We couldn’t do it without their help everyday. Say hi to them if you see them!

Don’t forget to get there early so you can get yourself one of the limited edition I Love Boobies! cinch bags that are limited to 100 per show date! Click here for more info.

And last but not least, make sure you stay hydrated when you come out to Warped Tour. Klean Kanteen has FREE re-fill stations for those of you that bring your re-usable bottles. Or you can get one of the NEW I Love Boobies! or Plastic Sucks! Klean Kanteen.

See you at Warped Tour!

- KAB Warped Crew

Roi Elam, the Guitarist for THE MATERIAL speaks about his experiences with cancer and how important it is to live a non-toxic lifestyle.

About Keep A Breast “This is My Story” Campaign:
Through written and video testimony young people impacted by breast cancer get a chance to express their inner feelings, make connections with others and learn coping strategies helpful to them and their loved ones. Keep A Breast records these testimonies and posts them on the KAB site, facebook page and You Tube page for the benefit of others.

Drumroll… Please! Submissions had poured in from North Carolina, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Colorado. It wasn’t easy but we selected some of the most awesome young breast cancer survivors to get all access VIP passes to the 2011 Journey’s Backyard BBQ. Our gals got to tour the Keep A Breast Traveling Education Bus and meet our road crew. They got a personal meet & greet with the athletes including Tom Delonge and Rob Dyrdek, lunch, and a jammed packed KAB goodie bag.

“Thank you so much for inviting us to this event. It was so much fun and Alex from KAB really showed us a great time.” – Amber Rae

We absolutely love to be able to offer survivors unique experiences!! If you know of anyone recently diagnosed with breast cancer, be sure to have him or her check out our Treasured Chest Program.

Xoxo

Miss Nixon

Although Keep A Breast’s Traveling Education Booth can’t be at the couch tour today due to some travel issues you can still see Kimmy from Keep A Breast live on the Zumiez Couch with the DGK Skate team, Valencia and I See Stars answering all your questions.

Questions about how to stay healthy? Take toxins out of your life? Maybe you have questions for DGK Skate team, Valencia or I See Stars? She will try and answer all your questions! Just text 425-879-3298!

Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV

Tweet

Summer is here and The BREAST Road Trip Ever 2011 is making its way to 44 cities this summer on the Vans Warped Tour 2011! It’s an exciting year because not only is KAB celebrating 10 years of being on the road together but we are introducing the new Keep A Breast Girlz Garage. Without the suport of Kevin Lyman and Warped Tour, KAB wouldn’t be able to reach thousands of young people every summer with our message of breast cancer prevention. We’ve passed out over 450,000 Check Yourself! cards educating young people on how to do a monthly self breast exam. Pretty amazing, right?

To celebrate our 10th year anniversary, you’ll be able to get a FREE limited edition “I Love Boobies!” cinch bag available exclusively for Warped fans only. The bags will be limited to 100 per city and FREE with a $5 purchase or donation. Pretty cool colors, right?

Under the tent you’ll also find the new Non Toxic Revolution campaign which aims to inspire young people to revolt against the dangers of toxic chemicals in their environment and food supply, especially those linked to the initiation of breast cancer. You’ll also find the NEW Imagine If…campaign iPad set-up where you’ll be able to share photos instantly on Twitter or Facebook, plus acoustic performances and autograph signings all summer long with some of your favorite artists, and the only place to get your official “I Love Boobies!” merch!

For those of you on Foursquare and VOXBLOC, if you check-in to the Keep A Breast GIrlz Garage at the Vans Warped Tour this summer you’ll be able to unlock special badges like our I Love Boobies! badge, earn points and redeems prizes! Head to our Facebook for more details.

We also want to see all the photos you take this summer when you’re at the Keep A Breast Girlz Garage so make sure to tag your tweets/twitpics and Instagram photos with #kabgg and we’ll pick some of the best ones to share with everyone all summer! Make sure to also connect with us on Facebook and follow @keepabreast on Twitter as we’ll be doing daily giveaways on-site all summer and keeping you updated on all the cool happenings!

See you this summer!

Meet Elise. Elise decided to do an experiment and grow sprouts out of a potato – after about two weeks with no sprouts she decided to do some investigation… Although she is young she has figured out some things most adults might not even realize! To learn more about why buying certified organic products really does make a difference visit our Non Toxic Revolution program at KABNTR.org

When Tom Delonge isn’t jumping motorcycles over the Grand Canyon he and the boys of Blink 182 are doing PSA’s for things they believe in – like saving Boobies. They believe in Keep A Breast so much in fact… they are taking KAB on tour with them! So stop by Keep A Breast’s Traveling Education Booth at the Honda Civic Tour 2011 this fall featuring Blink 182, My Chemical Romance and Manchester Orchestra and join us in learning how to stay healthy.

The dates for the 2011 Honda Civic Tour:

8/5 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
8/6, 7 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon Theatre at Jones Beach
8/9 – Boston, MA @ Comcast Center
8/11 – Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
8/12 – Washington, DC @ Jiffy Lube Live
8/13 – Hershey, PA @ Hershey Park Pavilion
8/14 – Hartford, CT @ The Comcast Theatre
8/19 – St. Louis, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
8/20 – Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Pavilion
8/21 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
8/23 – Milwaukee, WI @ Marcus Amphitheatre
9/1 – Seattle, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
9/3 – Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
9/4 – Denver, CO @ Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
9/7 – Minneapolis, MN @ Xcel Center
9/8 – Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena
9/9 – Kansas City, MO @ Sandstone Amphitheatre
9/10 – Indianapolis, IN @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
9/11 – Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Centre
9/13 – Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
9/15 – Pittsburgh, PA @ First Niagara Pavilion
9/16 – Saratoga, NY @ SPAC
9/17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Susquehanna Bank Center
9/18 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
9/20 – Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
9/21 – Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
9/23 – Miami, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
9/24 – Tampa, FL @ 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre
9/26 – Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
9/27 – Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion
9/29 – Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
9/30 – Phoenix, AZ @ Tempe Beach Park Amphitheatre
10/1 – Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
10/2 – Sacramento, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
10/4 – Concord, CA @ Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord
10/5 – San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
10/7 – Las Vegas, NV @ Red Rock Resort, Spa and Casino
10/8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
10/15 – San Diego, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre

Michelle was diagnosed with Cowden’s Syndrome at 19 years old.

“I was always told that a prophylactic (a preventative measure) mastectomy was recommended because of such a high breast cancer risk, but I stubbornly didn’t want to consider it. I went years with having increased surveillance and finally started having biopsies coming back abnormal. I was 27, and could finally see the writing on the wall…”

Michelle heard about our Treasured Chest Program that strives to give Newly Diagnosed Women a way to document their body and their feelings at a specific time in their life (i.e. after losing a breast or being told they have breast cancer) and wanted this opportunity to deal with her own sensitive issues surrounding her surgery and trying to prevent future disease.

We sent Michelle a casting kit in March. Here she is with her friends being casted!  Her surgery was a success this April.

She says she has, “no regrets”! We are so happy that Michelle could document her natural breasts before she had her surgery. We wish her health and happiness in the years to come. Check out  our health page to learn more about things you can do to lower your risk of developing breast cancer.

Don’t forget to LIKE the official Treasured Chest Program on Facebook and follow @askmissnixon on Twitter!

Hello Friends,
I would love to introduce myself to everyone. I am a naturopathic doctor in San Diego, California with a serious passion for natural preventive medicine.    I have been working with Keep A Breast (KAB) for about 3 years now – one of my most exciting times with KAB was during our Emergen C Pink Tour when I had the pleasure of lecturing about keeping healthy breasts for several college students.
I have a private, natural health clinic in Encinitas, California called Bloom Natural Health. Bloom’s message is that we are a “New Medicine for the 21st Century”. I fiercely believe that we all need to become seriously pro-active in keeping ourselves healthy. I tell my patients that they must stand up every day and be warriors for prevention. This comes down to the most minute daily things such as what you eat, how you breathe, and what you put on your skin.
My Goal with this “Ask Dr. Mandy” is to encourage and inspire you to make healthy changes and to educate you on the latest and greatest in the preventive medicine world. I hope to provide seriously cool tidbits of research and new, exciting info coming out that give us all new tools for prevention.
Love and Vibrant Health to you all, Dr. Mandy Ward

The Beach Bag Blues?

As Summer is upon us, it may be time to have a healthy reflection on what is going into your beach bag. What could your beach bag possibly have to do with your health you ask? Well, as a naturopathic physician focused on prevention, there are 2 main considerations I would like to share with you all.
First of all, I would like to chat about Vitamin D. This oh-so –important vitamin is not a vitamin at all. Lo and behold, it is actually a hormone, and a very important one. This vital nutrient is getting more attention and research than any other nutrient right now. Science has identified that it is responsible for the regulation of over 2,000 genes in our body. And it is vitally important for maintaining health in our hearts, immune systems, skin, and kidneys – just to name a few. And, the cool thing is, most of our vitamin D is absorbed by our skin from the sun.

This is where the beach bag comes in… Recent research suggests we may want to reconsider how beneficial sunscreen really is. There are 2 main problems with it:

• #1 Too much sunscreen can keep you from absorbing enough Vitamin D.
• #2 Many of the sunscreen ingredients are toxic – even potentially carcinogenic.

My recommendation is this: Let yourself get a little bit of sun exposure on a regular basis. A good 20 minutes of full mid-day exposure mostly to your arms and legs should give you all the vitamin D you need. When your skin just starts to turn pink – that’s when you know you have absorbed enough to make Vitamin D. If your going to be in the sun longer than that, like a day at the beach, please consider 2 things:

• Try using coverups as an alternative to sunscreen – a wide brimmed hat plus either a thin long sleeved shirt or dress works great (and can be very fashionable).
• If you still need sunscreen please buy a non-toxic version which can usually be found at a health food store. The 2 healthiest sunscreen ingredients are Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide. The most toxic and most common ingredients are the following: Octyl Methoxycinnamate, Avobenzone, Homosalate, Octisalate, Octocrylene, Oxybenzone, Octinoxatre.

So, please have a blast at the beach this summer, but make it a healthy one.

Love and Health to you all, Dr. Mandy
P.S. This is part one of a three part series on detoxification so stop by “Ask Dr. Mandy” often to learn more!

Keep A Breast wants to say HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all the mothers out there. Mother’s day is always a special day here at Keep A Breast and we all have different thoughts when it comes to the day. Some say their mother’s helped them find their path that led them to starting Keep A Breast. Others were by their side during their breast cancer treatment, while others helped them through their own diagnosis. For some here it isn’t their mom they send flowers too but their sister, or best friend or someone they look up to.

But no matter who it is we want to celebrate all of them today! Share your stories and pictures on our facebook. Tell us what you are celebrating today!

O’Neill is planning another fundraiser this Friday at several locations in California!
This is the second event that Jose Herrera has put together to benefit breast cancer awareness through Keep A Breast. This time he brought on 4 more shops to participate! How amazing is that!!

“I like to support KAB because it’s Educating women on breast cancer in a youthful way so people can teach and spread awareness to all ages.” Jose Herrera a manager at O’Neill retail outlet.

Wave of Awareness benefiting Keep A Breast
Friday May 6th at the following locations:

O’Neill Lake Elsinore
17600 Collier Ave. Ste 113
Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
Ph: 951-245-2299

O’Neill Garden Walk
321 W. Katella #164
Anaheim, CA 92802
Ph: 714-635-0424

O’Neill
Las Americas
4201 Camino de la Plaza #132
San Ysidro, CA 92173
Ph: 619-662-1300

O’Neill Tulare
1489 Retherford St. Ste D-025
Tulare, CA 93274
Ph: 559-684-7500

O’Neill Folsom
13000 Folsom Blvd Ste 215
Folsom, Ca 95630
Ph: 916-608-1771

Beige walls, beige ceiling, beige chairs, beige coffee, beige salad, beige conversation…YUCK! Sitting through speaker after speaker telling you what to do can be SOOOO boring. I was sooo thankful I’m Too Young For This Foundation. OMG Summit had a NEW APPROACH. 300+ young adult survivors together (in NYC) for an opportunity to mingle with others their own age- what happens, you ask? Well, let me tell you: the summit had a strict NO POWERPOINT policy. Sweet! The breakout sessions included patient navigation, employment, legal & insurance concerns, single/ dating with cancer, and diet. No one was trying to impress us with their mad laser pointer skills here.

The Patient Navigation section was really interesting to me because 5 years ago, I did not have this amazing resource when I was diagnosed. I had a women tell me I was the youngest person she had ever seen and to call her if I had any questions. So what the heck is a Patient Navigator? A patient navigator offers guidance to vulnerable people with abnormal cancer screening or a cancer diagnosis. They fight to overcome barriers (financial, cultural, communication style, transportation, or fear) to timely, quality care for patients. Navigators are the “411 of Cancer” and help make a confusing situation much more manageable. Let’s say you need help paying your rent or for prescriptions, they know a local resource to help you. You need a second opinion or want to know what certifications a certain doctor has, they can be your in. There is some legislation right now about Patient Navigation and come 2012 you will hear so much more about this.

Another hot topic was being single and dating with Cancer. When do you tell someone you are interested in that you have had (or have) Cancer? Will they think your damaged goods? What if Cancer has changed your life and you don’t want to be with the person who has been there for you during your treatment? These were some of the questions asked and the panel discussed the mental and sexual changes they went through after their cancer diagnosis. They recommended self love, positive self talk, open communication, being vulnerable, and not settling for anything less than you deserve.

Check out the entire video stream from the conference at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/stupid-cancer-omg-summit-2011

Next year the summit will be in Vegas and is bound to be even bigger with even more info.

Xoxo

Miss Nixon

Matt Poulos of Go Radio blogs from the road where the tour has Keep A Breast educational material on hand to share with fans about early detection and prevention of breast cancer!

It’s the simple things in life… it really is.  This credo is even more embraced by someone who lives their life on the road.  The only certainty in my life is that I’m going to be in a different town every day and 6 days a week I will be playing music at roughly the same time in the night.  Other than that all things are variables.  If my life was embodied in a pie chart, the constants of my day to day would be represented by a slice of cobbler so small it wouldn’t satisfy even the most  meager of infantile appetites.  In short my days are inconsistent.
The things that are taken for granted by most people are considered treasures and even treated as sacred by us road folk.  I had a shower yesterday, for instance, and it was GLORIOUS.  My first in a week… and before that it also had been yet another week.  The water was hot and the pressure was consistent.  It was like Christmas.  The icing on the cake was the fact that there was an outlet by the shower which allowed me to shave my face and cut my hair!  I know what you’re thinking… I really spoiled myself.  But what can I say? I saw an opportunity and indulged!
Clearly I’m being ridiculous for emphasis sake.  I did enjoy the shower THAT much but if I didn’t take one last night I would have just waited for the next opportunity and been just fine.  We are at The Complex in Salt Lake City today and this venue happens to have a shower.  Not many venues do, and I have never been to this venue before so I stocked up on cleanliness last night.  This venue is super artist friendly.  It has several private bathrooms. This brings me to my next cherished find… a solid bit of privacy to take care of all one’s personal necessaries.
Without getting too graphic on the subject let me just say that no “good” toilet is bypassed.  We warriors of the road seize every opportunity to have a daily, solid, PRIVATE moment at all costs.  It is such an important part of everyone’s day, in fact, that once a solid situation is identified by one of us we consider it our duty to report to every person we travel with that there “is a clean solo deal” available.  (Solo meaning a room all to yourself).  We do certain things to ensure consistency in this department by doing things like parking next to a Starbucks or overnight parking in a Wal-Mart parking lot.  You’ve heard of Wal-Mart, right?   Well to you it may be a place to buy everything under the sun at a value price, but to us here at Go Radio it serves as a second home.  About 80% of the time when I wake up in the morning we are in a Wal-Mart parking lot.  Beautiful.  Every time I know that through those automatic doors are good bathrooms,  air conditioning, and all of my grocery needs.  I live on a tight budget so I buy a bunch of microwaveable meals, peanut butter and bread and live on it for a week.  BUT, say I wake up with poor planning and have eaten all of my breakfast bars… BINGO!!! an economic oasis of goods stands a few hundred feet away from me.  I love Wal-Mart. I know it’s not the most P.C. company to be a fan of, but man alive does it make my life infinitesimally easier.  In a perfect world I would shop at local mom and pop stores and support all small business owners, as I am one myself, but as for now it just is impossible.  Maybe someday… ideally sooner than later I will be able to… but in the meantime… I’m a Wal-Mart Man.
As usual, these rantings of mine are made possible by the fantastic foundation called Keep A Breast.  They are helping the world fight the terribly scary disease that is breast cancer by educating and making people aware.  Breast cancer affects tons of families so please go to www.keep-a-breast.org and give them as much support as you can humanly conjure.

Photos of our Young Survivor Advisory Board at the c4yw conference – A annual conference for young women affected by breast cancer.

Close to 70,000 young adults (ages of 15 to 39) are diagnosed with cancer each year. Which totally sucks!

Young people with cancer have unique challenges to face like: body image, memory loss, insurance hiccups, long term effects of their treatment, employment issues, dating and even fertility concerns (like the inability to have kids)… Ekks… What can we do?

Let’s raise awareness that young people can and do get cancer! Check Your Self and Check Your Friends if they don’t know that young people get cancer!

Ways to help:

• Become a volunteer
• Become a member
• Donate to KAB
• Tweet what you are gonna do to help

Wondering how you can be a game changer in the fight to eradicate breast cancer? We are teaming up with Pierce The Veil and Rockstar Energy Drink this spring to educate as many people as we can about breast cancer awareness and we need your help! By simply sharing on Facebook or Twitter before April 16th, 2011 that you support breast cancer awareness is the first step to being a game changer! Plus you’ll be getting a one-of-a-kind custom art piece form Pierce The Veil’s live stage performance if you win!

(9) Nine winners will be picked at random at the end of the tour to each receive a one-of-a-kind art piece from Pierce The Veils live stage performance. The 9 (Nine) art pieces will be made up of amp screens from guitar and bass cabinets, banners that wrap around the stage risers and a custom drumhead from Pierce The Veil’s stage set-up from their 2011 spring tour. Pretty cool, right? To enter, follow all the steps here and you’ll be on your way to owning a one-of-a-kind custom art piece from Pierce The Veil’s live stage performance.

Pierce The Veil is currently out on their 2011 Spring Tour. To find out when PTV is coming to a city near you this spring, head here for all the tour dates.

Be a Game Changer for Breast Cancer Awareness!

Miss Nixon, Adrienne of Loserkids, and Allison Briggs (KAB Survivor Advisory Board Member) caught up with Kris Carr at her book signing in Sherman Oaks, CA. Allison was featured in her first book, Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips and we were all so excited to hear more about her new book: Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It!

The author, Kris Carr, has triumphed over her personal cancer diagnosis by using a holistic approach (raw organic veggies, green drinks, green smoothies, enzymes, vitamins, sprouts, minerals, spirituality, and love) leading to her recovery.  She is cute, witty, and wise and shares her incite within chapters with wonderful names like “pHaulous” and “Make juice, not war”. The book includes a Crazy Sexy shopping list, recipes, and a 21 day cleanse as well as tons and tons of resources.

We agree with Kris when she says that your grocery store, local food co-op, or farmers market can be your “new pharmacy”. Make some changes. Get healthy. Get inspired. Here are a few of our favorite pearls:

Simple carbs like pasta, pastries, and white bread are basically sugar in disguise. Take it easy.
Don’t believe the hype! You can get all the Protein and Calcium you need from a varied plant based diet.
Your skin is your largest organ and what you put on it will soak in, so try natural skincare products.
Purified water is awesome.
B 12 and Vitamin D are super important.
Try fresh vegetable juice first thing in the am (instead of coffee).
Exercise to get your lymph system pumping (it carries away waste).
Think about decreasing the amount of animal products you consume (especially dairy products) and move towards more of a plant-based diet.
(picture of inside signed cover )

Don’t be shy. Pick up a copy or you can always borrow ours.

xoxo

Miss Nixon

Miss Nixon would love to feature your questions in our next issue of the Keep A Breast Magazine! We’ve loved your feedback and wanted to return this column because we showcase getting-to-know-you, your style, and ultimately what is important to you by featuring your  questions. Leave your question in the comments below!

The ladies of One Life featuring Kjersti Buaas, Sarka Pancochova, Jamie Anderson, Chanelle Sladics, and KAB NTR Program Director Casey Cochran in Argentina giving back at the One Life project in Argentina in August 2010 at the South America Snow Sessions.

“My Little Footprint, Keep A Breast, and Protect our Winters collaborated in supporting our One Life project in Argentina in August 2010 at the South America Snow Sessions. Inspired to support the community of Bariloche, and the earth that gives us so much, we, One Life, and friends, built a greenhouse out of recycled plastic bottles, and bamboo from the local forest. We collected bottles for 2 days, cut lots of bamboo, rode epic powder, shared yoga, and threw a concert to celebrate our eco adventures.

FACTS:
1. our greenhouse will yield 10% faster crop growth,
2. those plastic bottles will not be burnt into atmosphere, and
3. we are helping with the local produce issues…we hope to inspire you to recycle, reuse, and reduce your footprint on the earth we all share!

One Love, One Life! For more info check out ThisisOneLife.com”
-Chanelle Sladics

How excited are we that someone is going to be able to win a custon John Paul Designs Keep A Breast dog tag at the Breast of Bend event? Fabricated and stamped with our logo and  strung on strong Sterling Silver cable chain with a pink saphire this is the perfect gift for the holidays! Not going to make it the the Breast of Bend event? You can purchase the necklace on their site www.johnpauldesigns.com with 25% of dog tag sales donated to the Keep a Breast Foundation!
Finished pretty rustic and used and weathered.
Old is the new new.

Woooah! The Keep  A Breast Traveling Education Booth will be kicking off this spring touring season full steam ahead!  We are super excited to come out to a city near you around the world this spring.  We have several exciting tours and festivals that we will be on site with our Traveling Educational Booth with important information for you,  your friends and your family to come check out.  We will be on the road a total of 241 days, we will set up in  55 different cities, 4 providences, and 10 countries as well as  set up at 9 festivals. We will have new tee shirts, hoodies and of course our I Heart Boobies wristbands for donations to help support Keep A Breast’s breast cancer awareness, prevention and support programs.   Make sure you come say hello at one of these events! We can’t wait to meet you!

xo
erica

SXSW Pure Volume HouseMarch 17 – March 21
504 Trinity Street St Austin, TX
SXSW Alternative Press Showcase March 18
Emo’s 603 Red River Austin, TX
KAB Presents the Madina Lake UK/Europe Tour March 25 – April 17
United Kingdom, France, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria & Italy
Bamboozle Left March 27 & 28
Los Angeles, CA
Angels & Airwaves Tour April 5 – May 30
US & Canada Tour
Bamboozle Right April 30 – May 2
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Coachella Festival April 16 – 18
Indio, CA
Country Throwdown Tour May12 – June 20th
US Warped Tour June 24 – Aug 15 ( www.warpedtour.com )
US & Canada

Look at the smile on this beautiful woman Lyn Mills.

We just met Lyn, as she walked into the Keep A Breast traveling education tent at the ROXY PRO in Australia.
Lyn is an 8 year breast cancer survivor. She was walking by our tent at the contest and noticed what KAB was doing, not really realizing that the breast casts on display were being auctioned off, she quietly wished in her mind that she could own the beautiful cast of Mel Evans painted by Tazmen Hayes.

Upon leaving our tent, Lyn’s friend told us that Lyn only had a few days left to live, and if that is truly the case, we pray that it is not, she thanked us for making those last days brighter.

Lyn came back the next day and bought that piece via our silent auction and has this to say:

” I am breast cancer survivor for 8 years. I have advanced breast cancer with bone metasteses. I am honored to have won ” Mel’s Boobs” and to be able to display them in my home. I am totally in love with my tribe (women). Thank you Keep A Breast.
Lyn Mills 1 March 2010 . Roxy Pro Gold Coast