The best thing about acting is I get to lose myself in another character and actually get paid for it… It’s a great outlet. I’m not really sure who I am - it seems I change every day.
GIVE HIM AN AWARD ALREADY
(via rnayor)
Photographer dresses daughter as five heroines to celebrate her fifth birthday
Photographer Jaime Moore would like to be clear: She’s got nothing against Disney princesses. It’s just that she’d like her five-year-old daughter, Emma, to have an appreciation for real life heroines. On her official site, Moore writes that all those do-it-yourself sites that instruct parents on how to dress their daughters like princesses got her […]adorable :)
(via gloriayoo)
Angelina Jolie and the oncogene
It’s not surprising that Angelina Jolie’s announcement that she had preventive double mastectomy is big news. You can read about it here, here, here and here – among myriad places.
The fact remains, though, that Jolie’s dilemma and decision is far from novel. It’s one faced by many women, almost all without the glare or notice of media.
With that in mind, we reprise a pair of Q&As posed to breast cancer experts at UC San Diego: Teresa Helsten, MD, assistant clinical professor in the School of Medicine’s Division of Hematology-Oncology at Moores Cancer Center and Sarah Blair, MD, associate professor of Surgery at Moores Cancer Center.
Question: Angelina Jolie opted for her surgery based on the fact she carried the BRCA1 oncogene, which reportedly boosted her risk of breast cancer to 87 percent. How can a woman know if she should be tested for this genetic mutation?
Helsten: Above all, any woman (or man, in the case of breast cancer) who is concerned about the possibility of carrying a genetic mutation for breast/ovarian cancer should consult with her physician. Physicians may provide counseling or refer patients to trained genetic counselors for evaluation.
Things that might make a woman think about her risks include the following:
- A family history of breast and other cancers: Think about both sides of the family (mother’s and father’s sides) and think about family members up to and including two generations away (up to and including grandparents or grandchildren). Any family that has two or more members with breast cancer or breast and ovarian cancer on the same side of the family, particularly if anyone has had breast cancer when younger than 50 years old, or has had two separate breast cancers. Any men with breast cancer. Breast cancer and one of the following cancers on the same side of the family: thyroid cancer, sarcoma, adrenal cancer, uterine (endometrial cancer), stomach (gastric) cancer, and leukemia/lymphoma.
- Being from a population at risk: People of Ashkenazi Jewish descent have a higher risk of carrying a BRCA1/2 mutation. Women who are Ashkenazi Jewish may not need to have as strong a family history of breast and other cancers to be considered for testing. However, women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent with no personal or family history of breast cancer are probably not at risk.
Q: Once tested and the gene is present, what are a woman’s options?Helsten: If a woman is found to carry a genetic mutation that increases her risks of breast and ovarian cancer, there are several things to think about:
What about screening for other family members? A trained genetic counselor or physician can counsel as to who should consider testing and how. When in doubt, other family members can discuss with their own physicians.
Does she want to do anything to reduce her risks of developing breast and ovarian cancer? If so, she will need to discuss carefully with her physician to help make the right decision for her as every case is unique. Options include increased surveillance (which doesn’t lower the risk of cancer, but increases chances of detection); taking risk-reducing medications (e.g., tamoxifen); and surgical removal of breasts and/or ovaries. For example, removal of both breasts by mastectomy reduces the risk of breast cancer by approximately 90-95 percent. These decisions can be very personal and very difficult, but the good news is that they almost never need to be made in a rush. It is worth taking the time to get informed in order to make a decision that is fits the individual.
Q: Does having the genetic mutation for breast cancer mean breast cancer is inevitable?
Helsten: No, cancer is not inevitable, but the risks are usually quite high. Depending on the specific mutations discovered, the lifetime risks of breast cancer for BRCA1/2 carriers are estimated to be 56-84 percent. For ovarian cancer, the lifetime risks are a bit lower. They are estimated to be 36-46 percent for BRCA1 and 10-27 percent for BRCA2 mutation carriers.
Q: Last year, comedian and actress Wanda Sykes underwent a double mastectomy for “stage zero breast cancer.” People are fairly familiar with stages I through IV, which denote the progressive size and spread of a tumor and its likely prognosis. What is stage 0 breast cancer?
Blair: When I counsel my patients, I show them a picture to demonstrate the difference. Basically these tumors start in the duct, which is a tube that drains milk when you breast feed. Tumors that are stage 0 are confined inside the duct and cannot spread outside to other parts of the body. However, if the tumor is left alone they can eventually break through the duct and become invasive. Early treatment prevents spread of the tumor.
Q: Was Sykes’ decision to have a radical mastectomy based on her family history of breast cancer typical for a stage 0 patient?
Blair: Most women are good candidates for breast conservation, which is removal of that area of the breast or lumpectomy plus radiation. I would also recommend the drug Tamoxifen for women with estrogen sensitive tumors. This drug treats the tumor itself and helps prevent future tumors. However, some women do not want to take Tamoxifen because of its side effects. For the average woman with stage 0 their lifetime risk of developing a second cancer in either breast is 20 percent. Some women with a strong family history of breast cancer, i.e. multiple relatives with breast cancer, may have a higher risk of a second cancer, particularly if they are diagnosed at a young age. These women may consider more aggressive surgical treatment to prevent future cancers. Typically, most women do not have radical surgery but those that do have much better cosmetic outcomes than in the past.
Q: Does a diagnosis of stage 0 mean that the cancer is 100 percent curable?
Blair: Unfortunately, nothing is 100 percent in medicine but there is a high likelihood of being cured. The chance of being cured depends on the size of the tumor and its appearance under the microscope or grade. In general the chance of being cured is greater than 90 percent.
Photo courtesy of AP
GAIZ
THIS GIF
xDDDD
I CAN’T
HE JUST LOOKS SO SASSY
WTF DRACO
THIS COSPLAYER MADE MY DAY
Cosplayer?
This post has been featured on a 1000notes.com blog.
(Source: placeoftype, via jazzylittledrops)
Prayerlessness Is Selfishness
“If I believe that prayer works, if I believe that prayer is a means through which the Lord acts, if I believe that God chooses to work through prayer in powerful ways and in ways he may not work without prayer, then it is selfish of me not to pray. To pray is to love; not to pray is to be complacent, to be unloving, to be selfish.
Prayerlessness is selfishness for the pastor who does not pray through the process of preparing a sermon. He expresses love for his church when he prays and pleads for the Lord’s wisdom and insight.
Prayerlessness is selfishness for the father who does not pray for his children, for their safety, their sanctification, their salvation, their obedience, their every need.
Prayerlessness is selfishness for the church member who does not pray for the Lord’s grace to be extended to his friends, for those who are battling a specific sin and seeing both encouraging victories and heartbreaking failure.
Prayerlessness is selfishness for the Christian who does not pray for his neighbors, that the Lord would save them and that the Lord would even use him as the one to share with them the good news of the gospel.
Prayerlessness is selfishness for each of us when we neglect to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are facing persecution. To neglect to pray for them is to tell the Lord that he may as well allow them to continue to suffer.
And if prayerlessness is selfishness, than one of the ways I can best love my church and family and friends and neighbors and distant brothers and sisters is to go to my knees and to intercede on their behalf.”
Because He Lives.: "God is good"
Currently in the corner of a study room, silent on the outside but my heart going crazy.
Working on praise sets always bring me into a strange place. It’s like a mix of heaven and earth, of something unreal and reality. I am physically here, reading lyrics, listening to songs and thinking about the topics. Yet the subject of all of this work cannot possibly be explained by anything or any speech in this world. We can say He’s beautiful, that He’s wonderful, that He’s amazing and faithful and all of these things. But all words fall so short at fully defining the object of worship that brings us to our knees each and every time.
Short story: Last Saturday after praise practice, I sat in my room frustrated at the praise set I made without knowing why. Made changes the best I could, still feeling kinda unsatisfied. The next day I found out that Pastor Paul was sick, and the new sermon that Kai gave had nothing to do with the sermon outline I was given to work with. Yet the new set that I made fit the sermon perfectly.
Man, how do you explain things like that? What words are enough to describe what happened that weekend?
God is good.
Recently I’ve been learning to just simply trust in God in my work. Even if I feel like my work is incomplete, He makes it complete. Even when I feel like I could do more with the praise set, God fills what’s seemingly lacking. When guitar strings snap and monitors blow out, God fills the room with a presence that makes everything so full and satisfying.
Like when G and D strings snapped 2 weeks ago, the only thing I could think of was that it was pointing me to GoD.
I can’t believe it’s already PPP time, and I’m almost done with 2 quarters of praise leading. Lead me, Lord, be with me the rest of the way. Let me be able to step off that stage finals week of spring quarter with 2 Timothy 4:7 on my heart.
i forgot to reblog this. but shout out and big thank you to all the worship leaders and worship team members i know! including my husband ^^
what i found going through boxes in the attic
My unpublished, unfinished draft 3 months ago:
“ After three months of marriage I am far from a seasoned veteran. But I know enough to safely say that marriage is not perfect.”
And at six months, another:
“Marriage is like an x-ray. It reveals things about me previously undetected and unseen, or things I’ve tried to deny or hide. But living with another flawed person like myself shows just how flawed I am and that marriage is no easy feat. I am indeed far from a good wife. I am often lazy and sluggish, selfish and complaining, full of pride and self-entitled. More often than not, dishes pile up. The carpet goes un-vacuumed for weeks. Laundry is a pain. We also fight more often than I would hope. Some are over petty and trivial matters, some are about more serious issues. And when I know I have wronged my husband or hurt his feelings or messed up in some way, it is hard to “‘fess up” and be the first to apologize. Sometimes fights go on longer than needed because in my pride I will want the last word.
At almost six months, I can happily say that we don’t fight nearly as much as we did three months ago. We also resolve conflicts better. Apologizing occurs more willingly. Chores will always be chores but we share the load. We are more patient and forgiving. And honest. He corrects me and I him. Sometimes it’s hard to take, but I’m grateful. I’m glad I have someone who speaks frankly at the right moments. We have moments of silliness together…”
This seems to be a pattern. But what’s this! A long post in the works.
8 Animal Misconceptions Rundown.
I have spent an entire night watching this person’s videos. They are so entertaining and educational.
so entertaining and educational
How Apricots Got Their Name: Did you know that name of the humble apricot actually gives some clue as to when the fruit is in season? The fruit shares a root with the word “precocious,” because compared to its cousin the peach, the apricot is ready to eat earlier in the year. Pliny, an ancient Roman author, called the fruit a praecocia, which literally means “early-ripen.” Read the rest of this post over at Bon Appetit to find out how we got from praecocia to apricot.
