Chisum Crew and the 2012 Undy 5000

A quick note to my dear baby sister, Lea, who wrote this post and our wonderful readers - This should have been posted yesterday, May 2nd, and was not.  You have my humble apologies for dropping the ball on this one.  Thank you for your continued love, support and understanding.  Best, Laura

Today would have been our father’s 70th birthday. We would have gone all out and had a huge party, full of laughter and love and tons of food. Everyone would share stories and memories and we would have sighed happily and wondered why we didn’t do this more often. Then we would have scattered to the winds again for another few years. We would have done all of these things today, and it would have been magical.

Today, instead, we are each in our separate homes, spread out across several states. We are sending one another text messages and leaving voicemails, saying I love you and I miss you and I am here for you.

For the past two years, we have participated in the Undy 5000 to raise awareness and funding for colon cancer, the terrible disease that claimed our father before his 69th birthday. We begin every season on his birthday with a big announcement of our grand prize and various sponsors, then raffle off thousands of dollars worth of generously donated prizes until the final drawing during the Undy 5000 5k in late October.

Today we should be announcing an entire season of new prizes and ways to win. We should be, but we are not. After a great deal of soul-searching, we have decided to take this year off instead. Our hearts simply are not in it. Today I cannot see how all of this hard work is making a difference in the fight against colon cancer. Did anyone talk to their doctor after reading one of our posts? Have we inspired someone to lose weight, eat better, and drink more water? Did a single person schedule a colonoscopy as a result? Are we any closer to a cure? I simply don’t know. And though our focus was always on honoring our father and channeling our grief, I wonder if this is the right way. What I do know, however, is that Laura and I need a break from this. We need to focus on our families, our educations and careers, and, most importantly, on our hearts. We have some healing to do. We have a great deal of grief to process.

Will we be back? Quite possibly. For now, we need to rethink our approach and reevaluate our goals. We are still dedicated to the cause and the race and to the memory of our father. We are still absolutely passionate about making healthy choices and getting tested to prevent another family for having to go through this. For right now, however, we will demonstrate our focus in another way. We will laugh and cry at the same time while we repeat oft-told tales of that time Daddy shook his little booty as he danced across the parking lot of the miniature golf course, the way Daddy always knew exactly what cards you had in your hand even before a single card had been played, how Daddy was the first man to give me flowers, to take me on a date, to give me jewelry. Today, we will remember the man and all that he taught his children. We are so blessed that he lived to see each of us graduate, participated in every wedding and attended so many births, that he was present for so many special moments and that he watches over us still. I like to think that today he is surrounded by all of those wonderful friends and family members we lost along the way, sitting beside “the old man on the mountain” and smiling down. I know I am imagining myself sitting at his side, refilling his tea glass, laughing at his stories, smiling knowingly as he raises a devilish eyebrow over a sparkling eye. I can almost see the toothpick in the corner of his mouth and the cigarette between his fingers. Today, that is what I need. That is prize enough for now.

The Cost to Find a Cure - $5?!

The 2011 raffle has begun!!! 

 

Support colon cancer awareness and win prizes! Buy your tickets by donating to the CCA through our team link and choosing a team member to back http://tinyurl.com/ChisumCrewCCA and by participating in FREE facebook, twitter, and blog events. Hint! One person who clicks attending to this event will win a free ticket! And our tickets don't expire until every prize is given away!  The prize list will be posted soon.  Get your tickets early to get in on every drawing! Earn one ticket for every $5 donated.

The answer is crystal clear

We all know we should drink more water.  We hear it everywhere... on TV, in the paper, on the news and in every single diet book.  So why don't we do it?  Why is it so much easier to pop the top of that soda can instead? 

But I'm a woman of science and just hearing all of these smart people say I *should* drink more water isn't enough to convince me.  I want to hear the details.  Why is water so important?  What kind of significant difference will it make in my life? 

Then I received an email that put everything into perspective.  Here is a portion of what it said:

WATER


#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated..
#2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
#3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.
#4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
#5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
#8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.


So I should  obviously drink lots and lots of water.  Many of my health issues could be dealt with very easily just by making the decision to do the right thing and drink more H20. 
 
But what about those other drinks?  They contain lots of water, right?  Well, maybe not....
 
#1 The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.
#2  The number one ingredient in most "fruit" drinks and sodas currently on the market is high fructose corn syrup, an ingredient currently under investigation by the FDA for its relationship to increased cases of juvenile diabetes, obesity, allergies, epilepsy, and ADHD. 
#3  Even milk products are not immune from problems.  Research shows that the more Americans are lactose-intolerant than previously believed, including many infants and children.  The rising instances of childhood allergies, stomach ailments, and a number of immune system issues have been linked to the condition.  Most people, however, do not realize that the discomfort they experience is linked to lactose.
 
Clearly drinking more water is essential to our health and all of those other things may actually cause us more problems than they are worth.  By replacing just one of those drinks with a glass of water, you can significantly impact how you feel and your future health.
 
So what should you do if you don't like water?  Well, there are number of options open to you, but be careful!  All of those packets you can mix with your bottled water are not good for you!  Look at the ingredients to make sure you are not consuming a staggering amount of sugar or a lot of chemicals. 
 
Instead of those packets, make your own flavored water.  Any real fruit juice can be added to your water to give it a boost.  Some favorites?  Lemon, lime, strawberry, pomegranate, and white grape.  Not only do they taste great, but they also add nutrients to your drink.  Best of all, they are natural!  Using fresh fruit to do this will give you a great excuse to eat more fruit, but if you are not ready for that, there are many fine juices out there that will serve the same purpose.  Be sure to check the ingredients, however.  If the first ingredient isn't fruit, say no.
 
Drinking water is not your only option.  Many excellent foods are very good sources of water.  Any melon and many crisp vegetables are made up almost entirely of water mixed with fiber, vitamins and assorted nutrients.  By increasing your intake of these types of foods, you can increase your water intake as well.  Sneaking these foods into your diet can be as simple as choosing jello instead of pudding, fruit instead of cookies, or a salad instead of soup. 
 
In my last post, I talked about switching to green tea.  Drinking more tea can increase your water intake as well since it is largely water, but be aware that tea has it's own problems and should not be your sole drink.  In addition to being a diuretic, tea often contains caffeine and other chemicals that may actually increase your thirst.  Straight water is always your best choice. 
 
As long as I'm encouraging you to drink more water, please also say no to bottled water.  In addition to being horribly expensive, it is also environmentally irresponsible and there is a risk of chemicals including BPH leaching from the bottle and into your drink.  Instead, invest in a reusable water bottle that you can sanitize regularly, reuse often, and refill from a filter pitcher.  =)

June Drawing: Just Days Away!

Your chance of winning a prize is slipping away!  Get your free ticket by following us on Twitter and retweeting at least one post (check out the link in the right hand column).  You'll also earn a ticket by following our blog! (right hand column... full of good information.... promise)  And don't forget to follow us on Facebook!  When you RSVP for the monthly drawing, you become eligible to win a free ticket!  More tickets increase your chances of winning so load up!  You earn one ticket for every $5 you donate to the Colon Cancer Alliance via our Undy5000 team (links you know where!).  So hurry up!  Great prizes and nonwinning tickets roll over to the next drawing!

Facebook:  http://tinyurl.com/ChisumCrew

Beyond Logic

Logically, I know that I will lose my father to colon cancer.  The vast majority of cases are curable when caught early, but his prognosis came very late.  Following extensive, invasive, and agonizing surgery, his chances are still very small.  While some trials have shown results, none of his scans suggest that a miracle cure has been found for his disease.  To make matters worse, his health was already fragile with advanced adult diabetes, high blood pressure, and confirmed exposure to Agent Orange during his Air Force career. 

My brain tells me that my father will die from this disease, but my heart never gives up hope.  It may seem foolish, but I am convinced that the secret lies in more than pills and drugs and radical therapies.  Somewhere after medicine there is a force that rivals even the greatest technologies-- faith.  I have faith in my father's will to live, in his strength and tenacity, in his heart and in his absolutely maddening stubbornness.  After all, I inherited my own bull-headedness directly from him.  I refuse to believe in anything less than a miracle because he deserves nothing less. He has spent my entire life giving me the world... the least I can do is have faith in his ability to overcome, to persevere, and to live. 

And if he does not survive, I owe him this.  I guess if my father has to go through chemotherapy and tests and surgery and other indignities as he struggles with colon cancer, the least I can do is learn from his experience. I've always known that my eating habits and lifestyle were not healthy, but seeing my dad hooked up to tubes and machines put everything into perspective in a way that simple logic never could.

So in honor of my father, I'm taking back my life.  I've been overweight my entire life.  I've made excuses, I've pretended not to care, but I know what I need to do.  On this blog, I will chronicle my efforts to apply the current medical advice to bring my life under control so I can decrease my risk of developing colon cancer. 

You have always been my inspiration, Daddy... and you always will be. 

Undy 5000 - A brief run for a cure for colon cancer

Les Chisum, our father, brother, uncle, son, husband, and friend, was diagnosed with Colon Cancer in 2008. Despite medical predictions to the contrary, he is going strong. We will be walking in his honor at the Dallas Undy 5000 in October.

The Undy 5000 is a 2k run/walk to support colon cancer research. On October 30, 2010, we will be participating as a team at the third Dallas Undy 5000!

Please support our team’s involvement in the Undy 5000 with a tax-deductible donation. Your support will help us end colorectal cancer. Don’t forget to check with your employer when you make a donation, many will match, double or even triple making your dollar go farther!

Or even better, join the team!

Be sure to check out our Facebook Page for great raffles: grand prizes include a 16GB iPad and TRIA Home Laser!!! Receive 1 entry for every $5 you donate between now and October 30 and all non-winning entries roll over to the next drawing! Also have fun monthly drawings from sponsors like Smart Ass Gifts – With our inspirational sayings emblazoned on the back, each smart ass thong provides a panty pep talk!, Orglamix Cosemetics – Pure Mineral Makeup & cpcreations – handmade zip pouches and more, Paradise Pens, Bag’n Baggage, Charm Factory and many more!! Facebook: Undy5000- Chisum Crew for more details.

God bless,

Chisum's Crew

* Please donate through a team member’s link so that we can track your eligibility!! Don’t forget to mark “Yes, you can display the amount of my donation publicly.” and leave your name or nickname so that we know you qualify and will be able to post your name on our facebook page as a winner. If sending in a donation by mail, please send us a message on facebook that you’d like to be included in the raffles