Fight Colorectal Cancer

Mother’s Day is right around the corner and May 13th will be here before you know it.  Fight Colorectal Cancer is happy to make gift buying even easier while also providing the opportunity for your purchase to give back.

Through our partnership with We-Care.com, our supporters can shop for these great gifts and earn a donation with every purchase. One of these gifts could make this special day a little more special for Mom, and when you shop through our provided links, your purchase will be even more special. Happy Shopping!

1-800-Flowers creates beautiful arrangements that will brighten Mom’s days; every time she passes she’ll be reminded of your love. 15% off Mother’s Day flowers with coupon code MOMDAY15 (8% donation)

Go to RitzPix.com with a picture of you and your mother or the whole family and print it into a work of art. 50% OFF a canvas wrapped photo at RitzPix.com with coupon code CANVAS50 (10% Donation)

Visit cardstore.com to find the simplest way to show Mom your love with by creating a personalized card or message. The Mother’s Day Cards are great at Cardstore.com (5% Donation)

Harry & David is one of the best ways to treat Mom to some delicious chocolates or fresh fruit and they have the most elegant baskets to show your Mother you care. Free Shipping on great gifts for “Mom” from Harry & David (6% Donation)

The FDA reminds patients who use fentanyl patches for pain to take special care storing, using, and discarding them.

Recently the FDA evaluated 26 cases of children’s accidents that involved the patches including 10 deaths and 12 hospitalizations. Sixteen children were under two years of age.

Problems included curious children finding patches in the trash or stored within their reach. In addition, loose patches transferred the potent narcotic medicine to children who were being held or carried. Even used patches can still contain significant amounts of fentanyl, enough to seriously hurt a child.

Before using either the brand name Duragesic® or generic fentanyl transdermal system patches, read the FDA approved Medication Guide. Read the rest of this entry »

Dole Fresh Vegetables is voluntarily recalling over 750 cases of DOLE® Seven Lettuces salad with Use-by Date of April 11, 2012.

While no illness has yet been associated with eating the salads, a random sample collected by the State of New York found contamination with Salmonella.

The recalled packages have a UPC code of 71430 01057 and Product Codes 0577N089112A and 0577N089112B.

Consumers should check the codes and the use-by date and throw out any suspicious salads. Retailers are being told to check shelves for any remaining Dole Seven Lettuce salads and remove them.

If you have questions, you can call the Dole Food Company Consumer Response Center at (800) 356-3111, which is open 8:00 am to 3:00 pm (PDT) Monday – Friday.

People with cancer or who are on chemotherapy should be especially careful to avoid foods that may carry bacteria. They have less healthy immune systems and can become seriously ill from Salmonella infections.  Young children and the elderly are also at risk for severe, sometimes life-threatening infections.

More information about Salmonella from the Centers for Disease Control.

Symptoms of salmonella infection include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps that develop 12 to 72 hours after eating something contaminated by the bacteria. Most healthy adults recover without treatment, but severe cases may require a trip to the hospital and antibiotics.

When patients  were offered a choice of colorectal cancer screening with either FOBT or colonoscopy, they were significantly more likely to complete that screening than when their doctors recommended only FOBT or only colonoscopy.

Nearly 1000 racially and ethnically diverse patients in urban primary care practices were randomly assigned to get colorectal cancer screening via:

• Fecal occult blood testing (FOBT)
• Colonoscopy, or
• Their choice of either FOBT or colonoscopy.

Overall, 58 percent were screened within the next year.  Read the rest of this entry »

Lesa Fontaine with Georgia Governor Nathan Deal

Since President Clinton issued the first Presidential Proclamation recognizing March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month over a decade ago, each year in March advocates request that their state and city officials issue proclamations acknowledging March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

This year was no different – except for the fact that we had more states and cities than ever proclaim March Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and it was all thanks to Fight Colorectal Cancer advocates.

Seventeen states and four cities and counties issued proclamations – and each one was accomplished because at least one advocate stepped forward and took the lead.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank every person who pushed for a proclamation this year. They are:

Read the rest of this entry »