Cancer and all that Goes With It

St. Agatha prayer card

Recently I was diagnosed with DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) [added Dec. 1, 2013: I also had LCIS, that is lobular carcinoma in situ].  Basically that is cancer cells encapsulated in the milk ducts of the breast.  But the surgeons don't want to call it 'breast cancer'.  He kept saying 'you have DCIS,' 'your condition,' or 'this is good news'.  While it is considered stage zero cancer, the urgency with which I had to make a decision about surgery told me that it was life threatening.

As I agonized over whether to have a lumpectomy or mastectomy, many, many people felt they must chime in about what they would do.  I had originally decided to have a lumpectomy, but so many, many women said they would "take the whole thing" out.  And, the more I looked at it, and the fact that I would have to have radiation therapy with a lumpectomy, I finally decided to have a mastectomy.  Then when I finally made my decision, more women were telling me they wouldn't do that.  Really?

Martyrdom of St. Agatha

Oh, and then there's the death stories...Whenever people hear the 'c' word, they must go there, apparently.  Everybody I know seems to have a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a grandmother who died of breast cancer.  Or, they have a brother, sister, father, uncle, the little girl down the street who died of some kind of awful brain or other cancer that they must tell me about, in detail.  Um, why?  Is there some sort of need to share bad news or bad stories with people?  Even if it is true that people need to talk about these tragic stories, does it have to be someone who was just diagnosed with it?  You know, it is not very encouraging, and you need a good attitude to do well with treatment.

The best part of the diagnosis though was that a friend of mine was prompted to have a mammogram done.  She had been neglecting to go, like I had been.  She, like me, had a biopsy done.  She, unlike me however, had a tumor--full blown cancer.  Hers actually was life-threatening.  She needed surgery right away.  She chose to have a lumpectomy, but she will have radiation and [Tamoxifen].  Her surgery was two days after mine and her prognosis is very good.  They got the whole tumor.

17(?)th c. image of St. Agatha, Patroness of Breast Cancer

I got my surgery done.  It was not fun, but it was necessary.  Despite all the encouraging words from my doctors, nurses, and families, I was still a little worried.  My doctor said it was a good thing we did the mastectomy because the DCIS was more wide spread than indicated in my mammogram or biopsy.  So, that was a good decision.  Also, my lab reports a week later indicated that all the cancerous cells had been removed.  There were no cancer cells in the surrounding tissue or the lymph nodes, so that is good news.  But...then come the inevitable death stories.   They never end.  I can't even be happy about my prognosis for a few days.  I still have people that feel they must tell me about how so and so had good news after their surgery but it came back and killed them just a few years later.

Why?

Our Lady of Hope

I know the majority of them are well meaning, but can't I just breath and enjoy hope for a little while?  I know my prognosis is not 0%.  I understand that.  But right now I want to enjoy the "clear" labs and normality of life--as normal as it can be right now.  I am still very sore, I still want to nap a couple of times a day, and I still can't motivate my self to get back to my pre-surgery hectic life (which has adversely affected my 12 year old's sense of self-motivation).  But, I am enjoying my kids more, if that's possible, and enjoying the few people who do fawn over me a little.   I can never thank my mother enough for being here when I needed her, for being so encouraging, and for helping me stay positive through the whole experience.

Please, if you have a friend to whom this happens, give her encouraging words, words of hope, words of support.  Bite your tongue, and don't tell the death stories, not now, maybe later.  She needs to have a positive attitude and plenty of positive words and actions to stay focused on getting well and staying well.

God has blessed me with dear friends and wonderful family.  One friend had his whole rosary group (over 150) praying for me.  My mother's church prayer group was praying for me.  Everybody that knew me at my parish was praying for me.  Their prayers and their support are what got me through this.  I am not done yet.  I have at least one more surgery to go through, but I am positive they'll be there for that, too.  Praise the Lord!

Naming Angels

18th Cent. "Angel de la Guarda"

I had an interesting discussion on the way to a retreat with some older ladies from my church.  The discussion was about naming guardian angels.  They talked about how a group one of them knew of suggested naming your guardian angel to make him more personal to you.  I did not feel comfortable with this conversation and it did not feel right to participate.  At the time, I had no good argument against it but I did have a gut feeling about it being wrong.  However, one of my theology professors stated outright that it is wrong.  This came up in another discussion so I thought I'd share a few thoughts on it.

217. Popular devotion to the Holy Angels, which is legitimate and good, can, however, also give rise to possible deviations:

• when, as sometimes can happen, the faithful are taken by the idea that the world is subject to demiurgical struggles, or an incessant battle between good and evil spirits, or Angels and daemons, in which man is left at the mercy of superior forces and over which he is helpless; such cosmologies bear little relation to the true Gospel vision of the struggle to overcome the Devil, which requires moral commitment, a fundamental option for the Gospel, humility and prayer;

• 
  

  when the daily events of life, which have nothing or little to do with our progressive maturing on the journey towards Christ are read schematically or simplistically, indeed childishly, so as to ascribe all setbacks to the Devil and all success to the Guardian Angels. The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture.

  From: Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy  (published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Vatican City, Dec. 2001)

Popular 1900 postcard image

A popular devotion to guardian angels has been around for a very, very long time.  The angels already have names, as indicated by Scripture.  Naming yours would be like naming your dog or cat.  But, your guardian angel is not a pet and is not your possession.  He is a companion, a guide, a teacher, and a protector.  He is not here for your amusement; he has a special assignment from God--to watch over you.  God loves you that much.


Some of the things floating around out there, especially on the internet, border on or cross over into the realm of superstition (I've seen a webpage on how to find out your guardian angels name and cards to "read" his thoughts)--which is strictly forbidden by the Church.

2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.  (CCC)

17th c. Van der Weyden angels with Cross

Once you get into "feelings", sometimes practices of the faith become something else--not always healthy.  We have to keep in mind that angels are creatures and servants of God.  They are powerful and they are compassionate, but they are not our servants or our possessions.  Also, they are not their Master and we should not treat our guardian angel as a thing of worship, either.

There is a proper way of venerating angels and of devoting some time in thanking God for them and all that they do for us.

We thank them for protecting the Church:

215. The Church, which at its outset was saved and protected by the ministry of Angels, and which constantly experiences their "mysterious and powerful assistance"(281), venerates these heavenly spirts and has recourse to their prompt intercession.

During the liturgical year, the Church celebrates the role played by the Holy Angels, in the events of salvation(282) and commemorates them on specific days: 29 September (feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael), 2 October (the Guardian Angels).

(281) [CCC], 336.

(282) The same is true, for example in the solemnity of Easter and in the solemnities of the Annunciation (25 march), Christmas (25 December), Ascension, the Immaculate Conception (8 December), St. Joseph (19 March), Sts. Peter and Paul (29 June), Assumption (15 August) and All Saints (1 November).

Pietro da Cortona, 1656

The Church asks them for our protection:

The Church implores God to send his Angels at the end of the day to protect the faithful as they sleep(289), prays that the celestial spirits come to the assistance of the faithful in their last agony(290), and in the rite of obsequies, invokes God to send his Angels to accompany the souls of just into paradise(291) and to watch over their graves.

289) Cf. ibid., Ad Completorium post II Vesperas Dominicae et Sollemnitatum, Oratio "Visita quaesumus".

(290) Cf. RITUALE ROMANUM, Ordo unctionis informorum eorumque patoralis curae, cit., 147.

(291) Cf. RITUALE ROMANUM, Ordo exsequiarum , Editio Typica, Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis 1969, 50.

And we've asked them to protect us in many ways:

216. Down through the centuries, the faithful have translated into various devotional exercises the teaching of the faith in relation to the ministry of Angels: the Holy Angels have been adopted as patrons of cities and corporations; great shrines in their honour have developed such as Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, San Michele della Chiusa in Piemonte and San Michele Gargano in Apulia, each appointed with specific feast days; hymns and devotions to the Holy Angels have also been composed.

The angels are a reality.  They are awesome and powerful servants of God.  We should neither neglect them, nor worship them.  We should honor them properly and not become superstitious about them.  We need to keep them in proper perspective and not get childish or out of hand about them.  While some saints and mystics seemed to have known the names of their guardian angels, we generally don't.  They already have names and don't need us to name them.

Novena to St. Jude for My Son

St. Florian

St. Brendan

My son is having a crisis of faith.  It is something that is not as uncommon as one might think.  I remember having a similar experience at about his age; he is nineteen.  He is being exposed to all kinds at college.  Even though it is a Catholic college, there are many students there that are not Catholics, and I wonder sometimes if some are even Christian.  He has "friends" at school who are clever and witty with the comebacks on this moral issue or that; they treat him as if he is stupid for being a Christian, a Catholic, a conservative, anti-Choice, and on and on.  My son is intelligent and brave and on some subjects outspoken.  I am very proud of him.  (My son's two patrons in the pictures here)

So, for this crisis, my husband thought we should say a novena to St. Jude for him.

Novena to St. Jude, revised for my son:

Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of difficult cases, of things almost despaired of, Pray for my son, he feels so helpless and alone.

Intercede with God for B------ that He bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of.  Come to his assistance in this great need that he may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all his necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly his present crisis of faith and that he may praise God with you and all the saints forever. 

I promise, O Blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor granted me for my son by God and to always honor you as his special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.

Amen.

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time.  Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen.

St. Jude pray for my son and hear our prayers.  Amen.

Blessed be the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Blessed be the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Blessed be St. Jude Thaddeus, in all the world and for all eternity.

Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed by Thy name
Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as
we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace
the Lord is with thee, 
Blessed art thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
   
Modified from http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/novena/jude.htm
See you in 8 more days.

Gardisil -- The Poisoning of our girls

I am not one of those stereo typed homeschoolers who doesn't believe in immunizing my children.  Yes, we need to be careful of the source of the vaccine.  Yes, we have to look at the research and side effects.  And yes, that is why I will NOT let them inject my daughter with gardisil.  From what I've read, the vaccine was not tested on anyone under 18, not tested on what it does to the woman/girl's body in the long term, and it was not safety tested concerning women's reproductive organs.

A recent article on LifeSiteNews.com about a British Medical Journal report backs up my suspicions about this vaccine.

"The manufacturer of Gardasil, has no supporting information on the effects of the vaccine on ovaries, suggesting that Merck had either done no safety testing on Gardasil in relation to its effects on women's reproductive systems, or had suppressed the information."

The vaccine was found to be the cause in premature menopause in a 16-year old, Australian girl.

"Gardasil has been controversial from the beginning," noted Steven Mosher of the Population Research Institute.

But, we've been told that we WILL vaccinate our girls as young as 10 years old.  I have been vigilant in not allowing my 12 year old to receive this vaccine, but I am sure some overzealous shot clinic person may try to get it past me.  I had an experience when I was pregnant with my second child.  They gave the live chicken pox virus to my first child.  When I found out, I was livid.  I was pregnant! and obviously so.  Not only did I not know there even was a chicken pox virus vaccination (we just got the chicken pox, and liked it) but they endangered my unborn son without my knowledge, until it was too late.  Their answer was that it was on the shot record they gave me--forgive me if I didn't know what varicella means.  Now I know.  I have been much, much more vigilant ever since.  I will never allow my daughter to be given that shot.  If she chooses to have it after she is 18, that is up to her, but I am not going to destroy her life as a government guinea pig.

"In the case of the Australian girl the effect is irreversible. She has lost an integral part of her womanhood, while still but a child,” he said. “Women deserve better."

It is a shame on our society, that in the name of sexual "freedom" we are killing our future generations.  This is one known case.  How many more are there out there?  I bet we won't hear about it anytime soon--not until there are hundreds or thousands of young women who are either sterile or otherwise adversely affected, permanently.  There should be outrage.  There should be protests.  But, as long as we follow the politically correct (though majorly erroneous) course of supposedly keeping a small percentage of them from getting rare (in young women) cervical cancer, it's okay if some of them become infertile--they're only girls, what does it matter?

Just more proof that "women's lib" continues to destroy women's lives. 

Oral Deception

Legatus Magazine published an article on the detrimental health risks associated with taking birth control pills.  The article, "Oral Deception," by Sabrina Arena Ferrisi  tells how the occurrence of breast cancer is on the rise because of oral contraception.  While women in droves stopped taking hormone replacement therapy in the wake of studies which showed a link to much higher risk of breast cancer, the media and doctors ignored the fact that birth control pills have the same hormones in even higher concentrations.  Breast cancer incidents in women over 50 have begun to drop (11% according to Ferrisi), but breast cancer in women under 50 is alarmingly on the rise because of the long term use of oral contraceptives.  These women have no idea that they are doing this to their bodies and the media refuses to make it an issue because it isn't politically correct. 

I've written about the detrimental health effects in debate on more than one occasion in debate.  The effects of the pill are why I do not support Susan G. Komen.  That cancer research organization teams up with the deceptive, conniving Planned Parenthood.  Planned Parenthood is the leader in distributing the pill and providing abortions, both of which are directly linked to higher incidents of cancer (even in women that don't smoke), strokes, heart attack, blood clots, serious infections such as HIV and HPV, etc.  Sometimes one cannot help but give them (SGK) money tangentially because so many products now "give" to SGK and that is bad enough.  To have an organization that is supposedly trying to find a cure for breast cancer in partnership with an organization that actively engages in actions that cause cancer risks to rise, is illogical to say the least.

Women need to be told the truth about the long term risks of these behaviors.  Perhaps this "liberation" mentality can be see for the destructive behavior that it is and be turned around.  I pray for the day that women stop being objects and are respected and taken care of like they should.  We need to make everyone aware of this widespread tragedy in the making.

Included as addendum to Ferrisi's article:

Effects of the pill

Source: thepillkills.com

• The Pill makes your blood clot. For women who have never smoked, do not have diabetes or hypertension, the Pill still doubles the risk of heart attack. Those who smoke have 12 times the risk of heart attack. NEJM 2001; 345:1787-93
• Women on the Pill have over twice the risk for stroke. JAMA July 5, 2000; 284: 72-78.
• The risk of lung blood clots is two- to three-times higher for women on the Pill. BMJ 2011;343:d6423
• Women on the Pill are more likely to develop lethal infections such as HIV and HPV. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 1999; May 1 21 (1):51-58
• There is a 320% higher risk of triple-negative breast cancer in women on the Pill, which is the most deadly form of breast cancer to treat. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(4):1157-65
• Women who use the Pill for five to nine years have twice the risk of cervical cancer. Lancet 2002;Mar 30;359(9312):1085-92
• The Pill increases the risk of liver cancer in women by 50%. IARC 2007 Mo

Organic alternatives to the pill

Marquette Method
nfp.marquette.edu
Sympto-Thermal Method
ccli.org
Creighton Method
creightonmodel.com
nograph 91.

[added by me:]
The Billings Ovulation Method
http://www.thebillingsovulationmethod.org/

What Catholics Believe, an Introduction

I have been contemplating how to defend our Faith--the Faith passed down from Jesus Christ through the Apostles down to us today.  I contemplate how fellow Christians, those who belong to traditions that have departed from the Church founded by Christ, or who belong to no tradition at all, can and do believe that Catholics are not Christians.  Contemplating how my journey of faith brought me from an early faith in a Baptist tradition to my passionate love for my Lord as a member of His Body--the Catholic Church, I do not understand the hostility or anti-Catholic bigotry.  Since, I became a Catholic 15 years ago, I have met more "Christian" bigots than in all my 30+ years as a Baptist.  I'm still a Christian.  I still love the Gospel--in fact, I love it even more passionately.  So, I thought I'd begin a series on Christ's Church.  Unlike Protestant Apologists, I don't intend to reinvent the wheel I will be using the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other Church documents along with the Scriptures in my articles.

So, to begin.

The Nicene-Constantinoplian Creed

I believe in one God, the Father almighty,

    maker of heaven and earth,

    of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,

        the Only Begotten Son of God,

        born of the Father before all ages.

    God from God, Light from Light,

        true God from true God,

    begotten, not made, consubstantial

       with the Father;

        Through him all things were made.

    For us men and for our salvation

        he came down from heaven,

        and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate

        of the Virgin Mary,

        and became man.

    For our sake he was crucified

      under Pontius Pilate,

        he suffered death and was buried,

        and rose again on the third day

        in accordance with the Scriptures.

    He ascended into heaven

        and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

    He will come again in glory

        to judge the living and the dead

        and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

        the Lord, the giver of life,

    who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

    who with the Father and the Son

        is adored and glorified,

        who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic,

     and apostolic Church.

    I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins

        and I look forward to the resurrection

        of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

This is what we believe--Catholics.  It is virtually the same as the Orthodox version of the Creed (yes, I do know the difference), and similar to the Creeds used by the Lutherans and many other Protestant faiths.

"In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son."²⁶ Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2:

In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word - and he has no more to say. . . because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.²⁷

26 Heb 1:1-2.
27 St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel 2,22,3-5 in The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, tr. K. Kavanaugh, OCD, and O. Rodriguez, OCD (Washington DC:Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1979),179-180:LH, OR Advent, week 2, Mon.
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 65 (CCC 65).

Next, a look at the Creed step by step.

"Morally Straight?"

I am so disappointed in the Boy Scouts of America right now.  I can't even imagine who the delegates were who supposedly voted 61% for the resolution.  According to a Scout leader I know, approximately 40% of Boy Scouts are Mormons.  Then next two largest groups are Baptists and Catholics.  Who voted yes on this resolution???  Apparently, the California and New York delegations and their liberal cohorts outnumber the majority of conservative voting delegates.

Will they have to change the Scout Oath?

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Like the movement to ban the "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, will there be a movement to drop "to God" and "morally straight" from the Scout Oath?  Or will relative morality come into play?

It is only a matter of time, then, before they'll have gay men leaders.  I will not expose my sons to such immorality, nor put them in harms' way.  I intend to wait until the 'chips fall' and the USCCB makes a statement.  But, if the vote stands and the scouts change their policy to allow boys who are openly gay, we'll be looking elsewhere for activities for the boys.  Thankfully, my oldest earned his Eagle Scout and is now an adult.  Now we have to decide what to do with our 16- and 14-year old Boy Scouts and our 7 year old Cub Scout.  We can't in all good conscience accept this resolution or the slippery slope the Boy Scouts are now on.  

I certainly will not do any more recruiting for the Scouts.  General Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, and Ernst Seton and William Boyce, co-founders in America, are turning in their graves right now.  Any suggestions?