Women’s Health Information

Sheryl Crow undergoes breast cancer surgery

Grammy winner Sheryl Crow has announced she has had surgery for breast cancer and has postponed a North American tour scheduled to start next month.

The singer’s website says she underwent successful surgery on Wednesday and described the procedure as “minimally invasive”.

Doctors said her prognosis was excellent and she would have radiation treatments as a precaution.

“I am joining the more than 200,000 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year,” Crow said.

“We are a testament to the importance of early detection and new treatments … I am inspired by the brave women who have faced this battle before me and grateful for the support of family and friends.”

Last month, Crow, 44, and Lance Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France cycling race and a survivor of testicular, brain and lung cancer, announced they were breaking up, after a two-year relationship.

Crow is calling off her March-April tour but intends to reschedule as much of it as possible.

The Missouri native was a school teacher before starting a singing career that led to a job as a backup singer to Michael Jackson and later to nine Grammy Awards.

Her hits include All I Wanna Do, Everyday Is a Winding Road, If It Makes You Happy and Soak Up the Sun.

- Reuters

US feminist pioneer Betty Friedan dies

Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book The Feminine Mystique helped inspire the modern feminist movement and who co-founded the National Organisation for Women (NOW), has died on her 85th birthday, a relative says.

Friedan died at her home in Washington of congestive heart failure, just before 3pm local time, her cousin Emily Bazelon told Reuters.

“For Betty, feminism was an aspect of humanism. And one of her sons said this morning that she demonstrated that sheer intelligence could trump lack of intelligence,” Ms Bazelon said.

Friedan was born Bettye Naomi Goldstein in Peoria in Illinois and attended Smith College, a leading women’s college in Massachusetts, where she edited a campus paper and graduated with honours in 1942.

She attended the University of California in Berkeley for a year before working as a journalist.

In 1947, she married Carl Friedan, a marriage that lasted 20 years and produced three children.

The Feminine Mystique emerged from an article about a survey she conducted of fellow graduates at Smith and focused on the restrictions on women of the role of full-time homemaker.

It became a bestseller and helped invigorate the women’s movement and US feminism.

Friedan co-founded NOW with Pauli Murray, the first African-American female Episcopal priest and served as its first president from 1966 to 1970.

She also helped found NARAL, originally the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws.

Her other books included The Second Stage, It Changed My Life: Writings on the Women’s Movement, and The Fountain of Age.

She is survived by two sons and a daughter, nine grandchildren, a brother and a sister.

- Reuters

The Feminine Mystique

Women Entrepreneurs can finally live their dreams and work their way up to the success that they so dearly would love to be. Not many women go on to become successful entrepreneurs but those numbers are growing throughout the world.

Toni

‘Women Millionaires Challenge’ Helps Entrepreneurs Realize Their Dreams

WNBA Champion Scores With Innovative Business & Wealth Building Coaching Series

When mega entrepreneur, sports celebrity and life coach Fran Harris launched her pilot mentoring and business coaching program, “The 100 Women Millionaires Challenge” in September 2005, she had no idea where the journey would take her.

“I was simply answering my call and following my passion to bring people into the full knowledge that they are powerful beyond their imagination,” said Harris, who was encouraged by her late mother to start her first business – a snow cone stand in Dallas, Texas — when she was only nine years old.

Utilizing live teleseminars, web video, audio, email and one-on-one telephone coaching, Harris delivered a 12-week business and coaching curriculum to women from all over the world. “Every single woman in the program made enormous strides toward realizing her entrepreneurial dreams and financial potential,” said Harris.

One of those women was Charifa Clark, a real estate development entrepreneur in Oklahoma City. “The Challenge was an incredible experience and Fran was an amazing coach who helped me focus on my strengths to push toward my goals,” said Clark, who is nearing completion of a commercial real estate deal.

Harris encouraged entrepreneurs to address their money imprints, while simultaneously preparing them to compete in the marketplace with innovative business strategies.

“My curriculum does more than focus on business planning, it also addresses the psychology of creating wealth and success,” commented Harris. “Once you get to the heart of those two issues, real transformation can take place.” Harris is the author of 10 books including “About My Sister’s Business: The Black Woman’s Road Map To Successful Entrepreneurship.”

The success of the inaugural coaching series, recently rebranded as the “Women Entrepreneurs & Millionaires Challenge”, has cleared the way for Harris to expand the program into a live, multi-city seminar series that kicks off in New York City on Saturday, January 28, 2006.

“I’m looking forward to connecting with women entrepreneurs in a face-to-face environment,” stated Harris, whose 11th book, “The Intentional Millionaire,” is due out this Spring. “This year (2006) is going to be phenomenal. We’re rolling out some incredible initiatives that will truly change people’s lives.”

The next Millionaires coaching program begins on “Millionaire Monday”, January 30, 2006. For more information, visit http://www.womenmillionaires.biz/

Women Are Not More of a Pain But They Are More Sensitive To Pain Than Men

For centuries, it has been generally believed women are the more sensitive gender. A new study says that, when it comes to pain, women are in fact more sensitive.

According to a report published in October’s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), women have more nerve receptors, which cause them to feel pain more intensely than men.

For centuries, it has been generally believed women are the more sensitive gender. A new study says that, when it comes to pain, women are in fact more sensitive.

According to a report published in October’s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), women have more nerve receptors, which cause them to feel pain more intensely than men.

According to the study, women averaged 34 nerve fibers per square centimeter of facial skin while men only averaged 17 nerve fibers. Despite psychosocial expectations for men to be tougher than women when feeling pain, these findings illustrate that women’s lower pain tolerance and threshold are actually really a physical entity.

87% of the 9.2 million cosmetic surgery procedures performed last year were on women. The ability to minimize pain often affects a patient’s perception of their results. Hopefully, this data will give new perspective on how to better treat post-operative pain in women. Currently, 15 to 20% of theU.S. population suffers from acute pain while 25 to 30% suffer from chronic pain.

“This study has serious implications about how we treat women after surgery as well as women who experience chronic pain,” says Dr. Sam Speron, plastic surgery expert and consumer advocate.

“Because women have more nerve receptors, they may experience pain more powerfully than men, requiring different surgical techniques, treatments or medicine dosages to help manage their pain and make them feel comfortable.”

For more information, please visit our web site at www.prplastic.com

Many women prefer to use altnerative pain relief therapies. I will be doing a review on Eazol over the next few weeks. After reading a little about Eazol the product looks good and it is an alternative to the medications that I would normally take for pain…

Fairy Tales Really Do Come True: Mompreneur Reveals Her Secret to Success

Between late-night feedings, kissing ouchies away and changing diapers, moms are dominating the home-based business industry.

Take two toddlers and a newborn at home, combine a mom with an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for jewelry design and what do you have? The ingredients for a true mompreneur success story.

It was motherhood itself that inspired Joanie Perales to start Fairy Tale Jewels, a children’s jewelry line designed with sterling silver beads and components and sparkling Swarovski crystals. “The only infant and children’s jewelry I could ever find was either plastic, plated, mass-produced in a foreign country or just plain boring”, says the mother of three.

In 2001, shortly after the birth of her first daughter, Macy, Perales spent months formulating a business plan that would offer mommies and the like, fresh and sassy designs for their “pampered princesses”. In 2002, Perales created her own website and launched her online store.

Armed with her newfound knowledge as a mom and baby number two on the way, Perales, 31, participated in local baby expos to market her brand. In addition to local and national advertising, she also sold her unique creations on Ebay to generate additional funds to keep her business moving forward.

She quickly learned that in order to be successful as a mother and to maintain a growing business, organization was the key. “There was a time when I was running in 100 different directions and didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing. That’s when I knew I needed to get focused, get organized and prioritize.”

Perales still operates Fairy Tale Jewels out of her home in Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston. But, plans are currently in the works for a Corporate Showroom to launch in Spring 2007. Sales have soared for this company growing 50% from 2003-2004 and 90% from 2004-2005.

Sales are expected to quadruple in 2006, as Fairy Tale Jewels will debut its boutique collection in early January in upscale children’s stores throughout the United States. Perales will still offer her Personalized and Occasion pieces through her website, www.fairytalejewels.com.

Though it’s not easy to balance a business with raising two toddlers and a newborn, there are strategies to make it more manageable. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Whether it be your spouse, a family member or friend. There are times when it is impossible to do it all by yourself. “Once I realized I couldn’t do it all on my own, I hired a relative to assist with the administrative aspect of the company so I could focus on the creative and design process,” says Perales.

Most mompreneurs find the transition to business owner is easier when the business is based at home. You can find resources to help you discover business opportunities at www.entrepreneur.com. Perales adds, “Make sure you have a passion for what you choose. Don’t do something because you feel it will be rewarding financially. The key is doing something you truly love.”

It is great to see another woman taking the opportunity to show how easy it is to become a woman who works from home. Laurie Hurley as you can see from the press release below, gives home tutors a business in a box which allows women to take advantage of the tutoring referral business.

This is another great opportunity for those wishing to work from home… and so that you can be there with your children…

Toni…

Female Entrepreneur and Her Unique Tutoring Referral Business Featured in Woman’s World Magazine

Woman’s World Magazine features a great business opportunity, starting a tutoring referral business. Home Tutoring Business offers entrepreneurs a “tutoring business in a box,” which is similar to a franchise without the added costs and requirements.

Laurie Hurley is a successful entrepreneur. Her tutoring referral business, Bright Apple Tutoring Service, Inc., http://www.brightappletutoring.com, has been matching tutors with students since 2001.

In July, Hurley also launched her newest company, Home Tutoring Business http://www.hometutoringbusiness.com, which offers a tutoring business package that enables others to start their own successful business.

Her success is just another example of the entrepreneur opportunities that are available to those wishing to work from home. She also recently caught the attention of Woman’s World Magazine editors and is currently featured in their November 29th issue. But that’s not all.

She is also scheduled to appear in other top magazines in the upcoming months including: Redbook, Family Circle, Entrepreneur, and Parents Magazines and also the Press Republication Newspaper.

Hurley is quoted in Woman’s World Magazine saying, “I quit my job to be with Hannah [her adopted daughter, but we needed more money. A friend got me thinking about finding tutors for kids. From my home office, I ran an ad, and the phone started ringing! Now I make more than I ever did before without taking time away from Hannah and her sister Aida.”

The headline of the Woman’s World article says it all, “No Cash? No experience? No problem! Look what happens when a mom has a great idea! … There’s a new trend unfolding: Moms making megabucks.”

With pressure to ensure their children keep pace with classmates and score well on standardized tests, more parents are looking to hire tutors. In fact, the nationwide tutoring market anticipates there are more than 6 million children receiving tutoring this year alone. With this growth comes the need for qualified tutors.

Laurie Hurley is a tutor broker – she contracts with qualified tutors and matches them with students in need of one-on-one tutoring. She has successfully connected hundreds of students with dedicated, professional teachers and tutors and is now offering her effective business procedures to entrepreneurs looking for a strong business with great earning potential.

Home Tutoring Business Package is similar to a franchise (but at a fraction of the cost) providing all the necessary tools to start your business including a website, customized accounting software program, personalized training by Laurie Hurley, and a detailed business manual. Woman’s World Magazine described it as a Home Tutoring “Business in a Box.”

With average websites costing upwards of $3000 and customized software between $10,000 and $20,000, this is an affordable alternative for those serious about their entrepreneurial objectives. You receive all of the benefits of a franchise, without the added fees, monthly royalties, restrictions and limitations.

As Hurley states, the three main benefits are:

* Costs are a fraction of a franchise with on-going personal support from myself, not a staff of people who have never worked in the field or met and matched families with tutors.

* The packages are all-inclusive with customized programs, website, marketing and advertising designed specifically for the tutoring business in mind.

* The buyer has a choice of three business packages to suit their needs and financial capabilities. If one doesn’t feel they need a customized accounting software program, there is no need to buy that package. You pick what will work best for you.

Plus, right in time for the holidays, Home Tutoring Business is offering an especially unique gift this year – the “Gift of a Small Business,” offering holiday savings of $250.00 off your business package.

For more information on a Home Tutoring Business or to purchase a business package, please visit http://www.hometutoringbusiness.com or call (U.S.A.) 1-888-847-0033.

Breast cancer takes the lives of many women world wide every year. Some funding is provided by the various health departments but at the same time some women miss out on important checks because they cannot afford the fees that come with a mammogram and in some cases an ultra scan.

How much should one place on someone’s lives. Of course not all health issues can be funded for research but surely funding research into a program that will help save lives should be of high importance. But unfortunately it doesn’t sit high on some agendas…

Perhaps some of the ministers should take pay cuts or donate their paid travel allowances to help fund some of the research programs that will save lives….

Hereditary breast cancer research funding ‘inadequate’

A world expert on hereditary breast cancer has called on the Federal Government to provide a multi-million-dollar funding boost for research and screening.

Hereditary factors account for up to 10 per cent of all breast cancer cases, and the disease often kills those in normally healthy younger age groups.

American Professor Mary-Claire King says there is grossly inadequate funding to address the problem of hereditary breast cancer and no national program for genetic testing.

“Inherited breast cancer hits particularly young women, the women that we lose to this disease, that we needn’t lose, are young professional women, are women who have decades and decades of productive life ahead of them,” she said.

ABC News Website 23rd November 2005

How much is a woman’s mental health and stability worth when the Australian Government and the Federal Health Minister Tony Abbot can only bring themselves to give to three services $300,000 to help with counselling when it comes to unwanted pregnancies.

In the past there was no counseling for unwanted pregnancies especially for the young girls who fell pregnant many years ago.

Surely after all the discussions on mothers and fathers coming forward when their children were taken from them should help make the decision easier for the ministers to provide not just more money for counselling for young women or for that matter any aged woman but proper counselling by organisations that have an open mind.

Abortion is an issue that if some women earlier in time had had the choice would have taken it. But of course many years ago a lot of women couldn’t afford an abortion which then ended in an unwanted pregnancy.

A pregnancy that would see the secrecy come out from charitable organizations where the women would go, they would arrive their pregnant and leave without a babe in their arms. They would leave with an empty heart; they would live and suffer for many years to come.

I am not a pro-lifer nor am I one that advocates terminating one’s life. But I believe that women should have the option. I believe that the woman should be allowed to make the decision for herself, depending on the circumstances.

The Government should be looking at counselling for women not just from the Pro-Life organizations but from organizations that offer a woman a choice.

Counselling should be provided for women who do consider an abortion. They shouldn’t be subjected to counseling that tells them they are going to kill their child. The counseling that was not provided for young women who had unwanted pregnancies many years ago should be given now to the very women who need help.

Abortion is an issue that needs to be considered carefully by all…

I am not a medical professional and have never claimed to be but… many need to consider what the affect on that woman would be if she did have an abortion or if she didn’t an abortion.

Why is she considering a termination?

Is the termination going to take place before the date where it is too late?

Is there a medical problem the deciding factor when considering termination?

Will the organizations that are providing the counseling support the woman or suggest that she is a killer because she has decided to terminate the pregnancy?

Will the organisations have an open mind and not turn the counseling session into a guilt trip where the woman then needs more counseling to overcome those issues?

Many women consider abortion for various issues, no organization is a knight in shining armour but they could at least be open to supporting the woman at a time when she need support rather than pressing their religious and their pro-life beliefs onto her.

Below you can see the news report that was last updated on the Australain ABC News Website: Friday, November 4, 2005. 7:40pm (AEDT)

Pro-life groups given pregnancy counselling funds

Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott has announced $300,000 worth of funding for three organisations providing counselling services for women with unintended pregnancies.

Mr Abbott says the money is to provide practical support for women who find themselves in the situation of being pregnant unexpectedly.

The Australian Federation of Pregnancy Support Services, The Caroline Chisolm Society and the Foundation for Human Development will receive $100,000 each.

All three organisations are pro-life and have confirmed that they do not refer women for terminations.

Greens Senator Kerry Nettle says the groups are biased, religious organisations and will not refer a woman for an abortion, even if that is what she has asked for.

Senator Nettle says in the past few weeks, one of the organisations told a mother of a 13-year-old seeking advice on abortion that a termination is killing the baby.

“I think as Health Minister should be ashamed to be giving any money to organisations that don’t provide genuine counselling and don’t support women when they’re making a difficult decision,” Senator Nettle said.

“The Federal Government should not be funding any organisations that provide religious and biased persuasion under the guise of supporting women and providing pregnancy counselling.”

Mums Who Work at Home

All around the world many women have decided that it is easier to work from home then it is to head off to work each day leaving behind them their babies or young children. The early years of child hood is very important and to see those babies take their first steps, and to see them progress is a wonderful experience.

But for many mums, the decision to stay at home or to go back to work is a tough one because for many money is the deciding factor.

A solution is to work from home.

For some this is easier said then done too because now they have to decide what they can do at home. Of course many women do not have qualifications and wouldn’t know where to begin… but there are ways to do this…

Sit down and work out what you do best. Do you have access to the Internet? To Email? Is there something you are interested in that you feel you can learn in a relatively short period of time? Yes I know… you are raising a family… but think about it any way….

If you do have qualifications or if you can afford to do a couple of courses from home then that would work too. Many people can teach themselves especially when it comes to working on the Internet. eBay is a good option, can you make crafts that you can sell online, how good a writer are you, are you prepared to share some stories or articles and make a little money doing it?

How handy are you? Do you like designing, sewing, knitting, crocheting, web design, graphics, designing cards or postcards… are you into photography?

All these things can lead to you working from home…

Below is a Media Release introducing two new members to the Advisory Board for the National Work at Home Mom Association…

National Work at Home Mom Association Welcomes new Advisory Board Members

The National Work at Home Mom Association, a not for profit trade association, welcomes Aurelia Williams and Nola Cooper to their Advisory Board.

NWAHMA President Lynn Phelps says “The Association is designed to be member driven and our Advisory Board is an important element in this. Aurelia and Nola will both bring great experience and perspective to the Board.”

Work at Home Moms draw together online to make the connections that they have missed since choosing to stay at home with their children. They gather on forums and discussion lists to share information, learn and make friends. Both Cooper and Williams are active members of this online community and has a great desire to help Moms network together and build their businesses while raising families.

Nola Cooper is a gifted Web and Graphic Designer as well as an accomplished Desktop Publisher. Aurelia Williams is a Certified Life Coach.

Membership with the NWAHMA provides access to a private networking forum, an opportunity to participate in the member to member discount program and access to members only learning products. “Anyone with a heart for Moms and a desire to improve their work at home options is a welcome addition to our membership!” says Kelly McCausey, Community Director.

To learn more about the NWAHMA or to get information about membership, visit http://www.nwahma.org.

Some Call Her a Fighter, She Prefers Mom

MommyTags.com owner, Kirsten Reed, has endured a lot in the past decade — including the gunpoint kidnapping of her mentally delayed daughter and a bout with Bell’s Palsy. Now 44, Reed is taking back control and celebrating the one thing that is most important to her — motherhood. Reed’s “Mommy Tags” are recycled silver tags engraved with a child’s name and birth date. Much like a wedding band, they symbolize the awesome and eternal connection a mother has with her child.

In July of 2000, Kirsten Reed was happily married, had two beautiful children and enjoyed her job as a paralegal at a prominent Seattle law firm. Then, the unthinkable happened. Her mentally delayed sixteen-year-old daughter was kidnapped at gunpoint. Although her daughter managed to fight off her attacker, she sustained a nasty head injury in the process.

As Reed sought the medical and psychological treatment needed to help her daughter begin to recover from this trauma, she was blindsided by a second blow. According to her children, their biological father had been forcing them to perform sexual acts in front of him for years.

For months, Reed lodged complaints and called for an investigation if not an arrest. To her utter amazement, charges were not brought against the alleged abuser, but rather against the eldest of his alleged victims. After a prolonged effort by the prosecution to force Reed and her son to testify against her daughter, Reed took the radical step of going into hiding with her son. When the case was dismissed for lack of evidence and the statute of limitations had run out, Reed and her son reunited with her daughter.

Around that time, Reed began noticing some disturbing drooping and numbness in her face. It turned out that she had a severe case of Bell’s Palsy. “It was as if my face was displaying for the world to see on the outside just how broken I felt on the inside,” Reed explains of the illness, going on to add, “But I knew that if my children could silently endure a terrible secret for years, if my daughter could crawl home after being attacked, if we could beat the so-called justice system, then I could find the strength to fight this disorder.” And fight it she did. That year, Reed made a full recovery and ran the 2003 New York City Marathon in celebration.

That was the beginning of happier times for Reed and her children. The same year, Reed’s sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. In honor of the occasion, Reed made a simple silver necklace upon which hung a silver tag engraved with the new child’s name and birth date. It was the first of what would become Mommy Tags and a new career. “I figured if the Palsy could manifest all the pain and anguish in my face, I could create a physical manifestation of something even stronger—the bond between a mother and child.”

Kirsten Reed’s recycled silver commemorative tags, which can be worn as a bracelet or necklace, are available online at MommyTags.com and with select retailers. They have been popular with high profile celebrity moms like Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts and Courtney Cox Arquette, as well as the mom next door. In addition to her “Mommy Tags,” Reed also offers “Daddy Tags” and “Tot Tags.”