Getting Your Mojo Back

Good morning,

It has been awhile since I have blogged on my site. Been really busy writing and reviewing my movie screenplay and also working. Story of my life!

Topic today is "Getting Your Mojo Back." Would love to hear your story as well.

I got my Mojo back when I finally had my breast reconstruction. Doens't sound like a big deal but believe me having no breasts for five years after loosing them to breast cancer is.

What does it feel like to have no breasts at all? Absolutely terrible! I lost my self esteem, and any clothing I put on didn't look good at all. I even at one point felt like a guy, if you can imagine that one.

The worse part was having to wear those heavy prosthesis (fake boobs), which some of you may already know about. They were hot, the bras ugly as hell, and they didn't make me look or feel great at all.

One day I decided not to wear the heavy prosthesis and went to a store to buy small silicone ones, which were more comfortable and much better than the prosthesis I had. I inserted both in my bra and off to grocery shopping I went. As I was shopping I saw the can of soup I was looking for on the bottom shelf and as I bent down to get the soup can I hear "plop." As I looked down at the floor there was my left boob I just bought. Well, not my boob but the silicone breast I just bought. As I looked around I noticed a little boy on the isle looking at me; his eyes open wide with shock. His mother was down the isle and all I heard was "mommy that lady's boob just feel on the floor." I was so humilated at that point I wasn't sure whether to pick up my breast or run out of the store. However, I quickly remembered that I paid $60 dollars for these fake boobs and I wasn't about to waste my money. I quickly picked up my boob, put it in my bra, left my cart and ran out hysterical laughing, leaving the little boy still in shock. Okay, not funny you think? Truly you had to be there. It was hilarious.

It was not long after that incident that I interviewed a young girl for my book "The Empty Cup Runneth Over".April, another breast cancer survivor was sharing her survivor story with me. We began talking about breast reconstruction and I told her I had not considered doing mine yet. What came next I was not prepared for. April decided to flash me her breasts to show me her reconstructed, new breasts with her nipples tattooed as well. Needless to say, I had the shocked look like the little boy in the gorcery isle had when I dropped my boob on the floor. April said that I must get a pair. I laughed hysterical and shared with her my story in the grocery store. Even more of a reason to get new breasts, she said.

The next day I had an appointment with a plastic surgeon and the rest is history. I am happy with my "B" size boobs. Many of my friends asked why didn't I get bigger ones. I laughed and said "Been there, done that." You see I had almost a size "D" before my breast cancer. I was considering having a breast reduction but breast cancer took care of that for me, unfortunately.

A Small B is Fine For Me! I love my new breasts, and going shopping was a blast. I loved shopping for a bathing suit for the first time after loosing my breasts, and everything I that I did put on looked great. It even made my waist look slimmer.

It was after my breast reconstruction that I got my "Mojo" back. I felt like a woman again, clothes looked great, and life is good!!!! That my blog friends is how I got my "Mojo" back.

I hope you all will share how you got your "Mojo" back too.

Have a great day eveyone.

Cindy

Just when you think all is going well

Dear friends,

Hope you all are having a wonderful Valentine's Day.

Just when you think all is going well something always pops up. Some say "that's life," and other's say "what will be will be."

This year, 2010, certainly began with a bang for me. First, my job salary gets cut in half, then I find out that my brother's cancer recurred.

I want to thank everyone who sent prayers for my brother via FB friends and on TWITTER as well as their continued support and friendship. It is great to know that people do care. What surprised me even more was the outpour of calls I received asking if there was anything they can do.

I remind myself to enjoy life while you can because you never know when it will be over. I am living life to its fullest, and of course to always remember to love and laugh.

Best regards,

Cindy Papale

Breast Cancer: "A Gift Without The Bow"

Welcome to Cindy's Blog Talk, which has not been up long. We hope you will come back and also jon in by posting. Thanks

My life totally changed in July, 2000 when I heard the words for the first time, “your biopsy is positive for breast cancer.” Because I worked for a breast surgeon for eleven of my twenty-seven years at the University of Miami my first thought was: How bad is my cancer? Then I thought am I going to die.

I was diagnosed with a stage I, multi-focal, invasive left breast cancer. The first procedure I had was a lumpectomy followed by a modified radical mastectomy, and three months later my right breast was removed prophylactically (meaning by choice). I had no breasts for the first five years as I had many concerns about going under anesthetic, rejecting the implant, and worrying how they would look. After having the opportunity to meet an artist/photographer and his friend who is a body painter I decided to be daring and have my body painted so that I could inspire other survivors and to let them know that they too, can still look beautiful after having both or one breast removed. AS THE COOL PAINT BRUSHED ACROSS MY BODY I FLASHED BACK TO THE DAY I WAS WHEELED INTO THE OPERATING ROOM TO HAVE BOTH MY BREASTS REMOVED. HAVING MY BODY PAINTED HAS TRULY BEEN AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO SHARE MY DREAM OF HOW THE BEAUTY OF BREAST CANCER CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

I hated not feeling like a woman, but I overcame this one day after interviewing a young girl for the book I was writing. After talking about breast reconstruction she decided to “flash me her breasts” and told me that I should get a pair. What a shock that was. Needless to say, it is because of her that I now have size "B" boobs!
For me having had breast cancer is “A gift without the bow.” The not- so- great part of the gift is that I eventually lost both my breasts. The best part is that I was able to choose the size breast I wanted and to give back the blessings I received by speaking to high school and college age students letting them know that being proactive with their body is important, and if they felt uncomfortable with the doctor they are seeing it is okay to question someone of authority. Seek a second opinion if they have to, but be proactive!

After speaking for two years to the students, I wanted to do more. I decided to write my book ‘The Empty Cup Runneth Over,’ which is a treasure trove of information to help inspire, empower, and educate young women and men about breast cancer. To date, I have spoken to hundreds of thousands of students as well as to middle school students.

If having had breast cancer wasn’t challenging enough, my greatest challenge came when my 20 year marriage ended. Sometimes I feel the break-up was caused by my having had breast cancer because we drifted apart after that. In some circumstances breast cancer either brings couples together or breaks up a relationship. I do not have any regrets divorcing, but being single, now 55 years old, and having had breast cancer is a lot of baggage to carry around. Dating is difficult because when does someone let their date know they are a survivor? It is hard for me since I wrote a book and of course I let my date know what the book is about. Next question from my date “Oh, are you a survivor?” I proudly say yes. Guess what? No second date. I have to say that I have overcome this challenge because I know I am a good person and very confident.

I continue to inspire and educate young women and men by participating on many health panels and speak at many conferences. Just recently I was on Sirius satellite radio and spoke at the ACS Making Strides for Breast Cancer, on channel 6 South Florida Today Show, and made front cover to our Miami Herald Neighbors newspaper section.

I would like all breast cancer survivors to know that being diagnosed is not a death sentence, and to surround themselves with positive people. Diet and exercise are important, maintaining a healthy body weight, and limiting alcohol intake are all important to living a healthy lifestyle. Peace of mind is very important, and I have found mine by giving back and helping others.

Journey Through The World of Breast Cancer

Below is a little about me and my journey through the world of breat cancer. While Self Breast Examination is important, "Awareness" is crucial for early diagnosis both for men and women as breast cancer has no boundaries. There is a 1-2% risk for men developing the disease. For more information please visit my website www.theemptycuprunnethover.com and watch several educational videos, radio shows I have been on, and more important, the survivor stories. Thank You, Cindy Papale/author/breast cancer survivor

My name is Cindy Papale, and I am a breast cancer survivor. My life totally changed in July, 2000 when I heard the words for the first time, “your biopsy is positive for breast cancer.” Because I worked for a breast surgeon for eleven of my twenty-seven years at the University of Miami my first thought was: How bad is my cancer? Then I thought am I going to die.

I was diagnosed with a stage I, multi-focal, invasive left breast cancer. The first procedure I had was a lumpectomy followed by a modified radical mastectomy, and three months later my right breast was removed prophylactically (meaning by choice). I had no breasts for the first five years as I had many concerns about going under anesthetic, rejecting the implant, and worrying how they would look. After having the opportunity to meet an artist/photographer and his friend who is a body painter

I decided to be daring and have my body painted so that I could inspire other survivors and to let them know that they too, can still look beautiful after having both or one breast removed. AS THE COOL PAINT BRUSHED ACROSS MY BODY I FLASHED BACK TO THE DAY I WAS WHEELED INTO THE OPERATING ROOM TO HAVE BOTH MY BREASTS REMOVED. HAVING MY BODY PAINTED HAS TRULY BEEN AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO SHARE MY DREAM OF HOW THE BEAUTY OF BREAST CANCER CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

I hated not feeling like a woman, but I overcame this one day after interviewing a young girl for the book I was writing. After talking about breast reconstruction she decided to “flash me her breasts” and told me that I should get a pair. What a shock that was. Needless to say, it is because of her that I now have size "B" boobs!For me having had breast cancer is “A gift without the bow.” The not- so- great part of the gift is that I eventually lost both my breasts. The best part is that I was able to choose the size breast I wanted and to give back the blessings I received by speaking to high school and college age students letting them know that being proactive with their body is important, and if they felt uncomfortable with the doctor they are seeing it is okay to question someone of authority. Seek a second opinion if they have to, but be proactive!After speaking for two years to the students, I wanted to do more. I decided to write my book ‘The Empty Cup Runneth Over,’ which is a treasure trove of information to help inspire, empower, and educate young women and men about breast cancer.

To date, I have spoken to hundreds of thousands of students as well as to middle school students.If having had breast cancer wasn’t challenging enough, my greatest challenge came when my 20 year marriage ended. Sometimes I feel the break-up was caused by my having had breast cancer because we drifted apart after that. In some circumstances breast cancer either brings couples together or breaks up a relationship. I do not have any regrets divorcing, but being single, now 55 years old, and having had breast cancer is a lot of baggage to carry around. Dating is difficult because when does someone let their date know they are a survivor? It is hard for me since I wrote a book and of course I let my date know what the book is about. Next question from my date “Oh, are you a survivor?” I proudly say yes. Guess what? No second date. I have to say that I have overcome this challenge because I know I am a good person and very confident. I continue to inspire and educate young women and men by participating on many health panels and speak at many conferences.

Just recently I was on Sirius satellite radio and spoke at the ACS Making Strides for Breast Cancer, on channel 6 South Florida Today Show, and made front cover to our Miami Herald Neighbors newspaper section.I would like all breast cancer survivors to know that being diagnosed is not a death sentence, and to surround themselves with positive people. Diet and exercise are important, maintaining a healthy body weight, and limiting alcohol intake are all important to living a healthy lifestyle. Peace of mind is very important, and I have found mine by giving back and helping others.

Cindy Papale is the cousin to former Philadelphia Eagle, Vince Papale, whose inspiring story "Invincible" became a movie starring Mark Walhberg, distributed by Disney. The movie was a huge hit, plus the book and DVD.

University of Miami helps survivors in Haiti

How wonderful to see that the University of Miami physician staff is still jumping up to the plate to help so many survivors in Haiti.

To improve continuity of care, medical volunteers heading to Haiti to work in the Miller School’s rapid response hospital or elsewhere are being asked to serve at least five days. By mid-February, they may be asked to stay at least a week.

The longer deployments come as the UM Global Institute’s Haiti Relief Task Force, the tireless cadre of doctors, administrators, staff, and volunteers who are working non-stop to coordinate the massive medical mission, settle in for the long haul. On Tuesday, the task force was moving from the Lois Pope LIFE Center to new quarters at the Medical Training and Simulation Lab.

Though University of Miami/Jackson physicians, nurses, and other personnel have helped save hundreds of lives since Barth Green, professor and chair of neurological surgery, led the first medical team to the devastated capital a day after the January 12 quake, tens of thousands of survivors still need immediate and long-term care. The threat of widespread secondary infections and other epidemics from unsanitary conditions also hovers on the horizon.

At the group’s daily briefing, Green ticked off an ever-growing list of needs at the urgent care hospital the University opened last week at the edge of the Port-au-Prince airport. Among them: a multi-slice CT scanner, dialysis units, and crutches and prosthetics for the countless Haitians whose limbs were crushed by collapsing buildings and have endured or will undergo amputations.

“Children and adults are dying every day because there are no dialysis machines in Haiti,’’ said Green, who co-founded Project Medishare to improve health care access in Haiti after a medical mission to the impoverished country in 1994. “In Haiti, if you can’t walk, you can’t get anywhere.’’

He also said the University is helping set up interim camps for hundreds of post-op patients no longer requiring acute care. Even if they are stable enough to be released, many have nowhere to go, nor any idea if their families are still alive, complicating the many challenges at the hospital.

Likewise, the University is working with Haitian orphanages to place post-op children without known family and is enlisting U.S. hospitals outside Florida, which has received the lion’s share of survivors brought to the U.S., to accept spinal cord and burn patients.

“The hospitals are willing to take them,’’ Green said. “We just need ways to fly them directly.’’

While some of the Miller School’s orthopaedic surgeons and neurosurgeons have been dispatched to the U.S. Navy hospital ship, USNS Comfort, to treat trauma patients there, the University has few nurses to spare, especially Creole-speakers able to communicate with frightened Haitian patients.

To ease the burden, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order on Monday allowing licensed nurses from other states to work in Florida for the next three months. Sought by nursing, hospital and union officials, the temporary measure is designed to help South Florida hospitals accommodate the many Haitian nurses on staff who yearn to return to their homeland to render assistance but, due to the ongoing nursing shortage, are unable to obtain leave because their skills are needed here. The out-of-state nurses would temporarily take the place of nurses who want to follow their hearts to Haiti.

“With that kind of plea I don’t know how to say no, so what I’m going to do is sign that order and to thank these wonderful people for their… kindness and their willingness to share their talents with our neighbors,” Crist said at a Monday afternoon news conference at Jackson’s Ryder Trauma Center.

In addition to health care professionals, especially Creole-speaking nurses, who can assist in Haiti, raising money for the UM Global Institute to support the University’s doctors, nurses and students in Haiti remains a priority. You may make an online donation directly to the Global Institute or send a check made out to the “University of Miami-Global Institute” to P.O. Box 248073, Coral Gables, Florida, 33124.

Thank you all for your continued support.

Personal blog from Cindy will be coming soon.

University of Miami Opens up Hospital in Haiti

The University of Miami Leonard School of Medicine continues to help many families in Haiti.

Conditions improve but challenges remain as the Miller School opens a 300-bed hospital in Haiti

Adult and child patients now rest in separate and more spacious wards, their flimsy cots no longer crammed tight. Two operating rooms boast anesthesia machines and surgical lights. A pathology lab is opening and, finally, an imaging center is enabling orthopedic surgeons to quit repairing shattered bones with visual inspections and touch alone.

The University of Miami’s hospital in Haiti would hardly meet U.S. standards, but the four-tent compound at the edge of the Port-au-Prince airport is a vast improvement over the makeshift clinic the Miller School’s Global Institute/Project Medishare began operating a day after the Jan. 12 earthquake left Haiti in ruins.

“Now we’re going to be able to use more modern medicine,” a weary Eduardo de Marchena, associate dean for international medicine reported Friday. “This is the most inspiring effort I’ve ever participated in. I really don’t think there’s ever been a university that has put together a working field hospital in an emergency situation like this.”

In addition to two operating rooms, which are expected to double the Miller School’s surgical capacity to about 50 operations a day, the 25,000-square foot air-conditioned compound includes two carnival-like, white tents to store medical and other supplies, and provide sleeping quarters for the nearly 200 volunteers from the University and beyond who have been toiling around the clock to stabilize and save lives. It has been dubbed “UM Inn.”

But as welcome and impressive as the UM hospital is, it will barely make a dent in the enormous medical needs of a country with hundreds of thousands of dead, gravely wounded and homeless people.

“There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of patients on the ground who will require this level of care and they require it as soon as possible, if not now,” de Marchena said. “There will still be many, many more who will die in the next few weeks and this is before we’ve even started with some of the secondary infections and epidemics we’ll see.”

Transported by volunteers and Chilean and Argentine U.N. peacekeepers, patients began arriving at the new field hospital on Thursday from the crude clinic that Barth Green, M.D., professor and chairman of neurological surgery, established about a half-mile away after he led the first medical team to the ravished capital a day after the earthquake struck. There, doctors were amputating limbs by flashlight, on slabs of concrete outside.

Along with Arthur Fournier, M.D., professor of family medicine and associate dean for community health affairs, Green co-founded Project Medishare 15 years ago to improve health care access in Haiti. Their longstanding commitment and deep ties to the impoverished country facilitated the University’s quick and expanding role in the medical relief effort.

But even with the larger, cleaner, better-equipped field hospital, de Marchena noted, many other obstacles remain. Even patients who no longer need acute care present major challenges. After all, many have nowhere to go and no idea if their families are still alive so the UM clinic is, and the hospital will almost surely become, a de facto refugee center.

Yet, de Marchena said, the rewards of helping people in such desperate need make up for all the hardships, challenges and images of misery that will haunt him for a long time.

“There is such beautiful humanity down there you feel enriched,” he said. “You feel like you’re a more complete human being for having been there.”

As the Miller School continues to expand its medical mission in Haiti, the need for translators, anesthesiologists, surgeons, critical care nurses, surgical nurses and specialists in infectious disease, and family and internal medicine remains.

If you are willing and able to assist in Haiti, please send an email to haitivolunteers@med.miami.edu. Include your name, contact information, including all phone numbers and e-mail addresses, and list your availability, language fluency, skills, specialties, title, affiliation with UM, or an external organization, and your country of citizenship, with your passport number and expiration date.

To support the Global Institute’s health care mission in Haiti you may give to the United Way/UM through “Operation Helping Hands,” make an online donation directly to the Global Institute or send a check made out to the “University of Miami-Global Institute” to P.O. Box 248073, Coral Gables, Florida, 33124.
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Cindy

Candlelite Vigil on University of Miami Campus

Eye on Haiti

Posted on 21 January 2010

A community forum and candlelight vigil on the University of Miami campus drew attention to the plight of Haiti’s quake victims and addressed strategies for the country’s recovery. Students observe a moment of silence during the candlelight vigil that drew hundreds.

Students observe a moment of silence during the candlelight vigil that drew hundreds.

After the quake had subsided, Arielle Duperval and her two University of Miami classmates cautiously stepped out of the car in which they were passengers and began to walk the streets of Haiti’s capital city, witnessing horrific scenes of death and destruction.

“Take everything you’ve ever seen on CNN and multiply it by infinity,” said the 19-year-old Duperval, describing what she saw after last Tuesday’s devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake destroyed much of Port-au-Prince.

But amid the chaos, she also saw scenes of courage: men and women running fearlessly into buildings on the verge of collapse to rescue children trapped beneath the rubble.

The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Duperval was one of several speakers who addressed an audience of hundreds of students, faculty, and staff members who gathered on the UM campus Wednesday evening for a candlelight vigil honoring Haiti’s quake victims. She and her two classmates, Kristina Rosales and Austin Webbert, were in Haiti as part of Assistant Professor Louis Herns Marcelin’s initiative to establish community youth centers in the country when the earthquake hit.

All three, as well as several other UM students who were in the country on intersession courses, made it back safely to the U.S.

With the Haitian national flag displayed on the stage at the vigil and a small choir performing inspirational music, some people in the crowd shed tears. Others embraced or held hands. All were deeply saddened by the recent events.
At Wednesday's candlelight vigil, President Shalala reiterated UM's commitment to helping Haiti recover.

At Wednesday's candlelight vigil, President Shalala reiterated UM's commitment to help Haiti recover.

“Tonight we remember and pray for the Haitian people, for their families and friends here in the United States, and for all the caregivers who are trying desperately to get help on the ground to the people in Haiti,” said UM President Donna E. Shalala, calling the tragedy “unprecedented.”

UM, Shalala said, has made a commitment to help the impoverished nation, noting that leaders from the Haitian Student Organization are working closely with the Butler Center for Service and Leadership to initiate donation drives and mobilize community support. Many other student organizations are organizing aid drives, such as concerts and auctions, the specific details of which will be announced in the coming days.

The University also hopes to donate phone cards that will help Haitians in the quake zone communicate with loved ones in the U.S. So far, the institution has raised more than $2 million for Haiti quake relief—the largest amount raised by any university for Haiti relief, Shalala said.

Shalala saluted the efforts of Miller School of Medicine physicians Arthur Fournier and Barth Green, who were among the first doctors on the ground in Haiti. The two are co-founders of Project Medishare, a Miami-based nonprofit that has worked to improve health care in the nation since 1995.

Arielle Duperval talks about her experience in Haiti when the quake hit, as fellow student Austin Webbert listens.

“As a student of Haitian descent, it warms my heart to see the amount of support the University community, City of Coral Gables, and the world have been offering to the victims of this tragedy,” said Student Government President Lionel Moise.

Donations will ultimately play the largest role in helping Haiti recover, agreed many of the people who assembled at the community forum, “Coming Together as a People of Haiti,” held in the UM Fieldhouse before the vigil.

Hosted by UM’s Center for Latin American Studies, the forum gave the audience of mostly faculty, staff, and students the chance to “share their concerns, pains, sadness, hopes, and ideas in the face of this tragedy,” said CLAS director Stephen Stein.

“I haven’t stopped crying since last week,” said Haitian-born MarieGuerda Nicolas, an associate professor at UM’s School of Education who has several relatives still living in the Caribbean nation. Four of her cousins died in the quake.

Stein said the center is organizing a series of upcoming symposia on Haiti, including a roundtable discussion that could lead to initiatives on the reconstruction of the country.

But before the rebuilding process begins, the treatment and care of the injured continues, with the Miller School taking a “rapid responder role in providing medical care for the people in Haiti,” said Steven Falcone, executive clinical dean for the Miller School’s regional campus at Florida Atlantic University and chief medical officer for the school’s medical relief efforts in Haiti.
With the Haitian flag behind him, physician Steven Falcone gives details on the Miller School's medical relief efforts in Haiti.

With the Haitian flag behind him, faculty physician Steven Falcone gives details on the Miller School's medical relief efforts in Haiti.

Falcone said that since the quake struck the school has been organizing three to five flights daily in and out of Haiti, supplying physicians, nurses, surgeons, and operating room technicians who work out of an airport-based urgent care center that has treated and triaged hundreds of quake survivors.

“They are not great conditions, but we’re going to improve them shortly,” he said, noting a 300-bed tent hospital that is now up and running, and equipped with two operating rooms, dialysis and X-ray machines, and telemedicine capabilities.

He said achieving consistent and reliable communication remains a challenge, and that while many pharmaceutical companies have given drugs, the medications that are needed most are sometimes not the ones that are being donated.

“This effort will take weeks and months, and many hands will be needed,” Falcone said. “This has been an unfortunate disaster. But it’s shown us how we can pull together as an institution and as a community to provide important resources for the survival of the Haitian people.”

Her voice shaking and her eyes nearly coming to tears, Duperval issued a challenge to the audience at the forum: “We all need to work together,” she said. “Haiti’s been through so much and will go through so much more before it can realize it dreams.”

It truly is amazing when something tragic happens how people come together. Thank you all for your continued support and for reading Cindy's Blog Talk!

Wishing you all a nice weekend.

Cindy Papale