Farewell October

Happy Halloween! Even though it is October 31st, please do not let this be the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month...breast cancer awareness is a year round activity! Take what you have learned and continue to share with those around you.

What can you do? Well, we received support from young and old this month. Soccer players sold pink socks, football players sold pink items, elementary school children collected coins. Children can participate all year too...my kids have a charity bank at home and put part of their allowance in there each week.

It doesn't end there. Have you considered the children who's moms are going through treatment and their families are struggling financially? We have and our Pink Ribbon Assistance program provides financial support and at holiday time, we provide a Christmas party complete with the man in red and presents for kids. In August, we have a Party in the Park and provide the kids with backpacks full of school supplies to take that burden off of the parents.

We cannot thank our community enough for their involvement. Something as simple but as profound as our Go Pink! program really makes a statement as you drive through town. Local business sell our pink ribbons for $1 and display them. All proceeds go to us, Michelle's Place Breast Cancer Resource Center, and the displays are beautiful and such a vision of support!

So much more went on this month and appreciate each and every action that everyone took to promote awareness this month because out of it came education. We were able to provide more than 80 free screening mammograms and we provided support to over 100 women diagnosed with breast cancer this month. That is what we are all about. Helping women get what they need and educating the community.

And I will close with a message from our Executive Director, Kim Goodnough:

Announcing our Metastatic Breast Cancer Self Help Group

At Michelle's Place Breast Cancer Resource Center, it is a large part of our mission to provide emotional support to those with breast cancer.  Even if you are blessed with a personal support network (family, friends, church, coworkers, etc.), a breast cancer patient can still feel the need to connect with others going through similar experiences.
We offer support groups for women, Spanish-speaking women and their families and for children. This month we are adding a new group.

Metastatic breast disease is breast cancer that has not just come back, but has made its way through the bloodstream and spread to other organs of the body, such as the bones, liver, or brain. Cancer spread may be present at first diagnosis or after recurrence. Many women can live for years with metastatic cancer that is under control. For these women, living with a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer is like living with a chronic disease. However, their needs are much different than those of a woman recently diagnosed or her cancer is isolated to the breast.

Michelle’s Place is thrilled to announce the addition of a new support group specifically for these women.  Rachel Mason,  M.S., M.A., Director of Community Relations at Delta Hospice of Inland Valley has graciously agreed to facilitate this new group.  Rachel is a certified mental health professional, she has worked in the Hospice industry for the last 15 years and currently serves on the Michelle’s Place Advisory Board.  The Michelle’s Place Metastatic Breast Cancer Self Help Group will meet the 4th Wednesday of each month at 5:30pm at Michelle’s Place.  For more information visit www.michellesplace.org, email info@michellesplace.org or call 951-699-5455.

See our complete support group schedule.
Learn more about our Spanish-support group or Kids Konnected.

At Michelle's Place, we believe no woman should face breast cancer alone.

IBC...What is it?

There are different types of breast cancer. One type of particularly aggressive breast cancer is Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC). IBC does not look like what we think breast cancer should look like. IBC does not present itself as a lump and its symptoms tend to grow quickly, often mistaken for an infection like mastitis. Even worse, IBC is usually not detected on mammograms or ultrasounds.

Now are you paying attention?

At Michelle's Place, we had the pleasure of hosting an Educational Seminar on IBC by IBC Survivor Kommah "Koko" McDowell of the Kommah Seray Inflammatory Breast Cancer Foundation. She really spells it clearly and helps us understand what we need to know about IBC in this video.


Inflammatory Breast Cancer by michellesplace

We have other online Educational Seminars available for viewing.

Knowledge is power. Be informed. Be your own health advocate.

Beyond Breast Cancer Treatment...I am home from chemo, now what?

Yesterday at Michelle's Place, we had the pleasure of hosting a Breast Cancer Educational Seminar on Why Exercise & Nutrition are Key for Recovery. Anneke Marvin, Trainer and Owner of CrossFit Temecula South, where they train everyone from professional athletes to individuals with severe injuries and physical limitations discussed the physical effects of chemo and radiation and how exercise and nutrition are a key to recovering from breast cancer and having a solid quality of life going forward. I asked Anneke for her top 3 tips and she gave me GOLD! Thank you, Anneke!!!

Anneke's Top 3 Tips for Women Going Through Breast Cancer Treatment

1. Cut out as much sugar from your diet as possible. This includes processed foods, grain, and dairy. Cancer cells love sugar so don't give them any!

2. Sleep! Sleep enough and sleep enough consistently. Many studies show that sleep disturbances and/or inadequate sleep raise systemic stress which in turn increases your risk of cancer forming or returning.

3. Keep stress low. I know that we can't eliminate ALL stress but control the things one can. Learn to say "no." Meditation, yoga, and exercise are all good stress reducers. 

Healthy Steps class at Michelle's Place

Beyond these tips, I hope at least one person learns from this that trainers are out there to help you during treatment and beyond. You do not have to be getting "bikini ready" to hit the gym. It is about building and maintaining strength...doing what you can and feeling the best you can. Mentally, you can feel more in control of your journey through breast cancer. 

At Michelle's Place, we offer Healthy Steps classes twice weekly. This class is a series of gentle dance-like movements to done to music. Learn more including the benefits of Healthy Steps.

It is about balance. Taking care of the whole person. Listen to your body. 

Be your own health advocate.

Let the journey begin!

In our 10+ years of service, Michelle's Place Breast Cancer Center has evolved into more than we ever thought possible when we came together to start this organization. We are working to get more information to you than ever before. As Michelle's sister-in-law, I am so excited to be starting this blog. I want to share resources, helpful information, stories from breast cancer survivors and more. I welcome your comments and questions and would love to know what you are thinking about breast cancer support and services that we provide or that you see elsewhere. My vision is that this truly becomes what I named it...a Pink Ribbon Network.

For those of you that are not familiar with how Michelle's Place started, read Michelle's story and view our founders video below.

Michelle's Place wouldn't be what it is today without massive, unrelenting support from our community for which we are forever grateful. Now my goal is to broaden our scope and open that up even further...breast cancer impacts every part of our lives and it isn't over when treatment is over. Knowledge is power and information is at the heart of knowledge so we will start there. Our website has online resources available to you even if you are not local to Temecula Valley. Only great things can come from sharing...so let the journey begin.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

~Margaret Mead

Thank you for sharing this journey with me.


Amy Watson
Michelle's Sister-in-Law