Whiskey 12 Ride

On Saturday we went over to Golden Spike Harley Davidson to get ready for the Whiskey 12 Ride. This ride is honoring the police officer who died in the line of duty in January. His birthday is this week so a fundraiser motorcycle ride was planned in his honor. When we pulled up to HD around 11am, I was amazed at the amount of bikes that were there. Up and down the street, filling their parking lot and nearby parking lots… There were a lot of police officers in their uniforms standing around as well as some others who were in plain clothes that I recognized. What a turn out! They had lunch… music… vendors, etc. Bryan and I decided to leave before the group b/c I wanted to get pictures of them all coming in at the first stop… which was up the canyon at the ski resort, SnowBasin. I am so glad we did b/c it was amazing. You could hear the bikes come up the canyon before you saw them… the police officers were leading the pack. It was so cool. The next stop was the cemetery for a little tribute where Office Francom is buried. I can’t even put into words the feeling I had there. To see HUNDREDS of bikes come in and line the paths of the cemetery… it was breath taking. His dad spoke for a bit, thanked everyone, etc. There was an after party at Brewski’s so we dropped our bike off at home and went over for dinner. Pizza, couple beers, and won some raffles. It was a fun night. Ogden really showed the love for this police officer. It was an awesome thing to be part of.

Police Officers leading the bikes into the cemetary

Standing around Jared's Grave

Officer Francom's final resting place. RIP

It's been a minute...

Sorry it's been a minute since I've updated this blog... Things are good with my mom... had another checkup and still cancer free. Praise God! Things are great on the motorcycle front... dad got a new bike, we got a new bike, brother in law got new pipes on his tryke. The weather has been beautiful and we've been getting some rides in. Hopefully I can do a better job of keeping this updated, I dunno though... it's riding time! :)

Strides Against Breast Cancer 2011

On Saturday, we did our annual Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. It's put on by American Cancer Society and its a 5 mile walk around Salt Lake City to raise funds to find a cure for breast cancer. My mom's work is a sponsor and because she is a 2x survivor they have her speak during the kick off each year. It's always neat to see the turnout and the impact on the community.  We had family and friends join us and although it started out being chilly, it turned nice and we had a good time.

All my pictures are sideways... so I need to figure out what to do, it wont let me alter them...

Lisa :)

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Ladies... this is a reminder to get your mammogram. I don't care if you think you are too busy, too poor, too- whatever. Get it done. Take your sister, mom, grandma, or neighbor with you too. This is serious business...

Last week I had my yearly mammogram. (Yes, I am young but I am high risk so we do this yearly.) I went in on Wednesday afternoon... chitchatting with the tech who was doing it... not thinking a lot and I hear "Something came up on your mammogram, we need you to stay for a while longer". Ok... this happens just about every time I get done. I have fibrous tissue and cysts. Something always shows up. Then I go back for another set of films... something is still there, but not as bad. Ok, that sounds better... I guess. Then they say they want to do a ultrasound... although they are sure nothing is going to show up on it... until something shows up on it and the next thing I know I am scheduled for a biopsy for a few days later.

On the way home, the hospital called me back and said they want to do an MRI before the biopsy so the next day I calm my claustrophobic nerves and go dangle my boobs from an MRI machine. Mind you, the people were awesome and they had music. I think I fell asleep... without Valium, mind you. Huge victory for me.

That evening the hospital calls me back again and said the specialist wants to meet with me Friday morning. Hmmm... maybe its not nothing this time... people always tell me things on the phone. I never have to go in. I spent a lot of time in prayer that evening.

Next morning I went in to the hospital to meet with the specialist who deals only with breast imaging. First thing he tells me is that I caused him heartburn and that he didn't get any sleep the night of my mammogram b/c he thought he was going to tell a 33 yr old mother that she had breast cancer.

He showed me the mammogram images and for not knowing what I was looking at, they looked ugly. It was a white spot of tissue that looked like it had spider legs. I asked him how he knew it was ok and he brought up my MRI and it was clear. If it was cancerous, it would have glowed a blue color.

He suggests I get mammograms done every 6 months now and an MRI once a year. Remember, I have been told in the past "Its a matter of WHEN you get breast cancer and not IF you get it"... so I am all about screening and prevention. If I do get a diagnosis, I want it early. I want a chance to fight it.

So for now... I am breathing a sigh of relief, although it doesn't stop me from my advocacy. Do self-checks, do mammograms, follow up with your doctors, raise funds to help find a cure... the Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk is on October 8th in the SLC area.  If 1 out of 8 of us is going to get it, we cant just sit around and do nothing.

Written by Lisa

All About the Bikes 2011

We did a little photo shoot last week featuring our bikes... it was a fun time and I wanted to share!

Lisa and Bryan 

Rob and MaryJoe 

Danny and Renee

Harley's For Hooters

Do Mammograms Save Lives?

I just read this from article from HealthDay News and wanted to share...

They save far more lives than previously thought, researchers say.

TUESDAY, June 28 (HealthDay News) — Mammography screening reduces breast cancer deaths even more than most experts have long believed, according to a new, large-scale Swedish trial.
In a study with a follow-up of nearly three decades — the longest ever — the researchers found that the benefits of the screenings become clearer as the decades roll on.

In fact, most of the benefits occur more than 10 years after mammography begins, and the screenings prevent far more breast cancer deaths than other, shorter studies have found, the report indicated.

"The big news is that if one considers the long-term effects on breast cancer mortality, the absolute benefit of screening in terms of number of lives saved is considerably greater than previously thought," said lead author Stephen W. Duffy, professor of cancer screening at Queen Mary, University of London.
Experts have long debated the best age for mammography screening to begin and how often it should be done.

In the new study, Duffy and colleagues looked at more than 133,000 women ages 40 to 74, living in two Swedish counties.

Researchers assigned them either to a group invited to mammogram screening or a group receiving usual care. The screening phase lasted about seven years. Women aged 40 to 49 got invited to screening every two years; women 50 to 74 every 33 months. The follow-up lasted 29 years.
For every 1,000 to 1,500 mammograms, one breast cancer death was prevented, Duffy's team found.
Other analyses have found, for instance, that for every 2,500 women aged 40 to 49 invited to screening, one death was prevented.

The study, whose authors reported no conflicts of interest, is published in the June 28 online edition of the journal Radiology.
"I was surprised and reassured by how long-lasting the effect was, and how consistent over three decades," Duffy said.

Most of the benefit occurs more than 10 years after the screening starts, he added.
It was not possible to "tease out" the specific benefit of screening women in their 40s, one area of debate, he noted. But other reviews suggest that "although the benefit is smaller, there is still a mortality reduction with screening women in their 40s," Duffy said.

At the end of the study, the investigators found 30 percent fewer breast cancer deaths overall in the group invited to screening compared to those not screened.

There was also a substantial absolute reduction in cancer deaths. At 29 years of follow-up, 34 to 42 years of life were saved for each 1,000 women screened for seven years, and one breast cancer death prevented for every 414 to 519 women. Had the screening continued another 10 years with the same benefits, only 300 screenings would be needed to save one life, the study reported.

In addition, for every 1,000 women screened every two years from ages 40 to 69, about eight to 11 deaths from breast cancer would be prevented, according to the study authors.
Duffy said he does not expect the study results to put to rest the mammography debate.

"There will always be skeptics, who argue that the benefits of screening are too small to justify its financial and human costs," Duffy said. "They have tended to argue this on the basis of deaths prevented during 10 years of screening. Our results show that this argument is invalid, since the majority of the mortality benefit occurs more than 10 years after starting screening."

He and his colleagues noted that the drawbacks of mammography include the risk of radiation exposure and over-diagnosis. However, they wrote that the radiation dose in this trial was much smaller than most modern procedures since it was single-view mammography and over-diagnosis occurred in only a "small fraction" of the cases.

The findings are similar to those from previous studies, said Dr. Virginia Moyer, head of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which in 2009 advised that the decision to start regular screenings every two years before age 50 should be discussed with a woman's doctor. It recommends screening every other year for women aged 50 to 74.

The findings, she said, will not significantly impact the debate.
Moyer added: "When the task force reviewed all evidence for women 40 to 49, it found that about 2,000 to 2,500 women had to be invited to mammography screening to prevent one breast cancer death, which would be 40 to 50 per 100,000 women."

Another expert, Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said the study "proves what most clinicians hold to be true: screening mammograms save lives."

Freedom Ride 2011

In May, we went on the Freedom Ride to honor our Veteran's. It started in SLC and hit different war memorials until we ended up at Miller Sports Park and took a lap around the track, ate lunch, and listened to a band. It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun.

Bryan and Lisa

Some of the bikes at Miller Sports Park

Lining up in SLC

Harley's For Hooters: Renee, Danny, Rob, MaryJoe, Lisa, and Bryan