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GoodWishes Scarf Photo © France Luxe® Laurie Erickson built her business around hair - luxurious hair ornaments that are featured in stylish magazines and offered like fine jewelry in high-end boutiques and big-name stores known for quality fashion.  Erickson designs accessories and runs her companies, one of which is France Luxe® , based on fine products and great customer service.  She likes to envision each loyal customer, and make a personal connection with them.

Once I was diagnosed with breast cancer , I started meeting a host of specialists.  A general surgeon, then a plastic surgeon consulted with me.  We saw a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, an oncology nurse practitioner, social worker, infusion nurses, and even more people at the hospitals.  My experience was that the hands-on health care professionals never mentioned money, never brought up costs, didn't ask if we needed help, and if they knew of local financial resources they gave us no hint of their wisdom.  It was just about my health and their treatments. My diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment options were thoroughly discussed - the possible cost was not a topic.  It turns out my experience may have been fairly typical - in March of this year, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that despite substantial cost increases over the last 20 years, over half of all oncologists and cancer professional never mention money when talking to their patients.

Pamela Haschke Photo © Halos of Hope In the chemo parlor, there is a box marked "Free Hats - Halos for Hope."  The hats come in all sizes; for kids, women, and men. Some are fuzzy, while others are silky and smooth.  All are handmade by volunteers from around the country for chemotherapy patients that they may never meet.  Each hat is really a halo - to cover a head temporarily bare of hair - and these halos are always free!

Ashley Anne Kirilow, of Burlington, Ontario, Canada, appeared in court this morning, brought up on charges of fraud.  Kirilow is a 23-year old woman who told 5,668 FaceBook friends that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and asked for donations to her charity "Change" for a Cure.  "Change" is what she got - between $3000 and possibly $20,000 worth of contributions were raised for this young woman who said she had been diagnosed with four types of terminal cancer.  To convince sympathizers of her plight, Kirilow shaved her long dark hair, waxed away her eyebrows, and plucked her eyelashes, giving the appearance of a chemotherapy patient. She had the words "WONT QUIT" tattooed on her knuckles, and dressed in colors that emphasized her pale skin and slender build.

Christina Applegate Photo © Fredrick M. Brown/Getty Images Christina Applegate has joined the ranks of celebrity mothers-to-be.  Appearing visibly pregnant at the premiere of her new movie, " Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore " Applegate looked happy and confident, if a little queasy.  The actress known for her TV show "Samantha Who?" is engaged to Martyn Lenoble, a bassist rock musician and founding member of the band Porno for Pyros.  A pregnancy after breast cancer treatment does not increase the risk of a recurrence.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is celebrating its 20th Anniversary.  You may think of this as a law that affects only the rights of people in wheelchairs, blind or deaf, or the mentally challenged.  Well, that is all true - employers can't fire disabled employees or refuse to hire people with disabilities - providing they can perform all the requirements of the job.  In 2008, the ADA law was changed so that people with cancer will enjoy equal protection of their civil rights.  Bottom line:  You can't be fired for having breast cancer.

Ginny Hunt, Pam Stephan Photo © Phyllis Clem I get various reactions when I tell people that I write about breast cancer .  Some people actually shudder, a few are fascinated, many just quickly change the subject.  Health care professionals aside, not many people want to think about - and write about - breast cancer every day, all the time.  But this is what I do - even when I'm away from my computer and reference books, even when I'm on my summer vacation.  You see, breast cancer won't take a day off, it won't just go away and never return to haunt the Earth.

Make no mistake about it - arsenic is a naturally occurring compound that can kill.  It's been used as a wood preservative, in chemical warfare, as part of insecticides and semiconductor manufacture, and it has caused arsenic poisoning.  Arsenic trioxide has been used in treatments for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer.  Now it may be used to fight a treatment-resistant kind of breast cancer - triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

After having early-stage breast cancer, I was prescribed hormone therapy .  Many of us take Tamoxifen - an estrogen blocker, or aromatase inhibitors like Aromasin, to prevent a recurrence of breast cancer.  I took Tamoxifen for 2 years but when my oncologist was certain that my medical menopause had turned into natural menopause, he switched me over to Aromasin.  Both hormone therapies have side effects - hot flashes, joint pain, fatigue, vaginal dryness, and osteoporosis.  Those aren't pleasant, but neither were the side effects of chemo - something I would gladly avoid again!  When faced with the spectre of a possible recurrence, I thought I'd rather have 5 years of chemically-induced hot flashes than find another breast lump and face more surgery, chemo, radiation.  The trade-offs seemed like a no-brainer.  So I was surprised to read that just about half of all women who are supposed to take these therapies quit before their 5-year prescriptions expire.

Joni Eareckson Tada Photo © Getty Images/David McNew Forty-three years ago a teenager dove into a shallow lake and received a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the neck down.  That was hard news for an active teen to bear, and Joni Eareckson was angry, confused, and wanted to die.  She suffered, but turned her pain into advocacy for the disabled.  Confined to a wheelchair when her peers were dancing and climbing mountains, Joni tore down walls of stigma and blew open doors of opportunity for other quadriplegics.  Now she faces a new challenge - a diagnosis of breast cancer.