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News anchor Liz Harrison faces breast cancer with faith

Printed on a small pillow on the couch in Liz Harrison’s living room is the phrase “The Lord Comforts me.” A few feet away is a small plaque that reads “Nothing is Impossible to a willing Heart.”

These aren’t just decorative items but a reflection of the KFSN (Channel 30.1) anchor’s strong faith that is helping her deal with breast cancer. She was scheduled to have surgery Monday.

“I am not afraid. My days were numbered from the get-go. God knew from then how many days I would have. So I don’t care what the statistics are. he has the only answer,” Harrison said a few days before the surgery. “It makes you pause and take stock of your life. you get a reality check that you are not going to live forever.

“But I am able to deal with this because of my faith. with everything I’ve been through, I think my faith has increased because God has been faithful all the way through.”

That is the big reason why Harrison, 52, was able to approach the days before the surgery with a positive outlook and a deep sense of calm. She also found strength in the love she has been getting from her husband, Keith, the relaxation she has found in being an amateur painter and the support of friends, including a weekly prayer group that meets in her home.

“I feel great. That’s the thing about breast cancer. you don’t feel any different. A lot of people ask why I am still working and I’m like ‘Why not?’ I am going to start feeling crummy after the surgery on Monday,” Harrison said.

“I’m appreciative for every day. I have my bad days. I get very down sometimes and get mad. with this, I think it’s much harder on the people around you than it is on you because they don’t have control over the situation.

“My favorite Scripture is 1 Corinthians 10:13. it says whatever trials you encounter, God will give you what you need to get through. he will always get you through.”

Harrison has known since she was 20 that while there is no immediate history of breast cancer in her family, the fibrous tissue in her breasts gave her a higher potential to face cancer. During a self-examination in June, she found what she describes as “a blob” in her left breast.

After she met with her doctor, Harrison was scheduled for a mammogram and an ultrasound in July.

“It’s a good thing they did the ultrasound because the mammogram didn’t pick it up,” Harrison said. “But you know when there’s something there that shouldn’t be there. I knew when I went in for my mammogram that I probably had cancer.”

Doctors discovered a type of cancer known as invasive lobular carcinoma. it begins in the milk-producing glands of the breast and becomes invasive when it has broken out of the lobule and has the potential to spread to other areas of the body. because she discovered the mass so early, it was at stage one, which generally means it’s localized to one part of the body.

Current statistics show one in eight women will have breast cancer and 10% of them will face the kind Harrison is fighting.

The cancer was discovered in one breast but Harrison decided to have double mastectomy surgery to dramatically reduce the chances of the cancer recurring.

She already had decided to have reconstructive surgery and her plastic surgeon was scheduled to be in the operating room to place spacers behind the muscles that will slowly create a place for implant surgery after six months.

Harrison will find out Thursday, after the pathology work has been completed, whether she will have to undergo chemotherapy.

The cancer has been just the latest challenge for Harrison, who laughingly said she should write a book. Harrison has kept a journal and had plenty to write about, from the death of her father from a brain tumor in March to the eight years she was off the air — 1995-2003 — to spend more time with her sons — Ben and Jason — who battled drug addictions.

Harrison also has had two hip replacement surgeries and a mild form of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks part of the nervous system, that kept her in bed for a month.

Then there was Ben’s much publicized arrest and trial that ended with him being sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to armed robbery and grand theft.

Harrison said she believes her sons are back on the right path as Ben has two more years on his sentence and Jason is studying to be a hairstylist. Her daughter, Lindsay, is in college in Dallas.

The fact Harrison has been at KFSN since 1983 has put her in the public eye through all of her trials and tribulations. She has dealt with the attention by being as honest and open as she could be. in this case, she has been willing to talk about the cancer in hopes it will be a reminder to others the importance of self-examination.

Best-case scenario has Harrison back in the anchor chair at the beginning of October. Until Harrison returns, Amanda Perez will be the primary fill-in on the ABC station’s 11 p.m. weeknight news. Perez shouldn’t get too comfortable because Harrison has complete faith she will be back on the air soon.

News anchor Liz Harrison faces breast cancer with faith

Wisdom from a Mob Wife

At the annual out magazine Pride Party, a flurry of flashes went off as Renee Graziano from VH1′s Mob Wives dropped in to show love for her favorite people — the gays. the Advocate caught up with Graziano while lounging on her couch on a day she took to herself to “relax.” but even during the interview, Graziano’s life buzzed onward around her with the whirlwind of family drama and shouting we’ve come to love from the show.  Graziano talks about always being herself, her disagreement with the Pope, and her crush on Ellen DeGeneres — who she says could teach the men in her life a few things.

The Advocate: Season 3 of Mob Wives starts filming in July. Are you excited?Renee Graziano: very soon. very excited. not so excited to deal with the bullshit, but it comes with the world of “reality.”

How different is your life during filming?My reality is so real. I don’t change when the cameras are on or off. For me, it is what it is. I say, “Renee is reality.”

Do people think they “know you” from watching you on the show?Yes! sometimes people are a bit too much when they approach me. People know that I don’t care for my son’s father, that’s not a secret, but when someone else starts getting derogatory and personal and it has to do with my son, then I get defensive. I can’t say I blame them cause I allow them into my life. but some people don’t have any couth.

You have a thing for gay men, don’t you?I absolutely love gay men! I wish I could get a gay man to date me. It would be perfect. Well-dressed, in shape, and I wouldn’t have to worry about him cheating on me with another woman. What’s not to love?

What is it you love about men?Straight men give you nothing but heartache. seriously though, why do I love men? They protect you, they provide, not just financially but stability in the home, and just a strong man to love you, put his arm around and tell you everything is gonna be OK even if he’s lying.

You’ve come out of your own closet; you’ve come out of the “plastic surgery closet.” was that difficult for you?I feel like a gay man must feel when he comes out. It’s wonderful. what am I hiding it for? Cause I’m embarrassed that I’m not perfect? If there are things that can be fixed and it will make your life better, do it! go to the gym first, but if it makes you happy, do it. I’ve started working with Dr. Fiorillo since my surgery went wrong one year ago today. That reminds me, I need to send him flowers!

For those who aren’t familiar, what happened a year ago?I had a tummy tuck and he told me he was going to fix my rear which he never did because I almost dropped dead on the operating table. Dr. Fiorillo has repaired all the damage done by the last doctor.

You’ve also talked about suffering from depression. do you still feel depressed?I look in the mirror every day and I’m so happy to be me. I never thought I’d be able to say that. I know exactly when it was that it changed. It was the day after Dr. Fiorillo made me whole. He made my heart feel better. I don’t take any medication anymore at all. I’m officially off everything. I’m in recovery from Xanex and I avoid it completely now. I used to have problems sleeping.

Wisdom from a Mob Wife

Exercising Through Injury the Right Way

Injuries – they happen to the best of us. Because if we’re exercising the right way, intense and daily, chances are we’ll suffer an injury eventually. but just cause we’re stuck on the couch with a bum knee doesn’t mean we need to abstain from exercise altogether. on the contrary, exercising through injury can actually help speed up the healing process and keep your spirits up. And for active people yearning to get sweaty, performing light exercising around your injury will help you maintain fitness and strength.

First and foremost, listen to your doctor. He or she will probably tell you to take it easy on the heavy weights and the high impact exercises, which is the best advice you can get. Attempting to lift heavy weights before you’re ready will only aggravate your injury; and joint impact is what causes most injuries, so imagine what jogging on the concrete will do to your already injured joints. If your doctor gives you the go ahead, there are ways to exercise through injury.

Swimming

Swimming is probably the best exercise for injured athletes. Because the water supports your body weight, there is little to no impact on your joints. plus, swimming wind sprints is incredibly taxing on your arms, your core, your legs – pretty much your entire body gets a great workout from swimming. you may not sweat while swimming, but you’ll definitely working hard

Biking

Whether you’re out on the road or on a stationary machine, the biking motion isn’t just a low impact, safe way to get a cardio workout; it’s also a therapeutic way to rehabilitate your knee after injury. the constant fluid motion puts your knees through their full range of motion, allowing you to stretch your stiff post-surgery limbs and get them back in working condition. If you feel up to it, increase the resistance or head uphill for a killer way of exercising through injury.

Rowing

Using a rowing machine, or even getting out on the water in a boat, is a great way to exercise your upper body through an injury. If your legs are injured, rowing won’t aggravate them. If your upper body is injured, the circular, steady motion won’t put too much stress on your joints. Of course, before exercising through injury, start out slow and pick up the pace if you feel up to it.

Replacements

You can effectively replace your favorite workouts if you’re saddled with an injury, simply by trying out new workouts that don’t affect the injured area. If you can’t run, try doing high reps of sit-ups, push-ups, or pull-ups, which will get your heart racing and build strength (if you do it with enough intensity). If you’ve got a herniated disc and are unable to squat heavy weights, try doing body weight squats instead. you probably won’t gain any strength, but at least you’ll work up a sweat and maintain strength.

Burpees

And perhaps the greatest body weight exercise of all is the burpee. Done correctly, the burpee will target your lower body, upper body, all while giving you a cardio workout similar to doing sprints. Simply start in the squat position. Drop your hands to the floor and perform a push-up, then bring your feet up and explode upwards into a squat. Come back down and repeat. the first few seem easy enough, but once you hit double digits you’ll be pouring sweat. It’s very low impact and doesn’t require any heavy weights, so the burpee can be an effective way to exercise through injury.

Exercising Through Injury the Right Way

Clark: Improvement. It sounds simple enough.

We hear the word improvement or one of its variations a thousand times a day, often prefaced by “new.” what does it mean? according to Merriam-Webster dictionary it is the act or process of improving or the state of being improved, enhanced value or excellence.

Ahhh … there’s the rub … “enhanced.” how do you enhance something or someone? While I am sure there are many ones to “enhance” something or someone, particularly in a world of plastic surgery, disposal-able products and so forth, I only know one way to do it – work. any athletic coach or teacher worth their weight will stress the importance of “putting in the time.”

In today’s quick fix society, we poor mountains of money into quick fix “improvement” products such as weight loss pills, lap-band procedures, age defying creams and cosmetic surgeries. however, at the end of the day, the only guaranteed “improvement” product is work. Putting in the time to take care of yourself, eat better and get off the couch remain the only sure ways to improve your physical appearance. I mean have you seen Mickey Rourke or any of the other plastic surgery misfits lately?

Mental improvement is the same. Don’t like the decisions you make? stop doing it. Don’t like the guys you date? stop dating them. Don’t like the growing divide between you and your kids? make time to spend with them.

Improving a product or state of a nation, town or city can be trickier, mainly due to the inclusion of others. Making decisions that benefit yourself where you can directly see the “improvement” is a no brainer. often you see people that have begun walking to lose weight, start to jog as the weight falls off and the pride of the work they put in begins to swell.

However, when it comes to improving products, townships or nations the attitude becomes much murkier. Companies spend millions of dollars to bring in consultant firms to tell them what needs to be changed to reach improvement. City Councils, state legislatures and community groups meet and talk the issues to death. “We should do this” or “We should do that” are often the themes of these meetings.

It seems to me there are a few issues at play when a group is involved in “improving” something. the first is does everyone ACTUALLY believe improvement is necessary or are they just giving lip service to placate someone. This is often the case with companies in which profits have declined year after year and now “improvement” is demanded. however, often those running the show do not actually want anything to change. the status quo is what they really wish to happen so lip service, red tape and obstacles in the face of change is all they will ultimately offer up.

The other issue is “where will the improvement come from?” at the end of the day, someone, somewhere will have to do more work in order to improve a product, a park or a city. You simply can not talk about improvement and expect to see it materialize from thin air. someone will have to roll up their sleeves and put EXTRA time and effort. however, more often than not no one wants to do that. the entrenched manager, the multi-election winning council member and the two-years from retirement park ranger often all have one thing in common: they DO NOT want to put in EXTRA time or effort. often they feel they have paid their dues with their time and effort throughout the years.

To this I say, well, your time and effort has left the product, city or whatever in a state of improvement so either it wasn’t enough or you did it whatever it was wrong. We all know life isn’t fair. We all know that just because you put in the time and effort does not mean that all is going to come up roses. however, if you have reached the place in your life where change is what is required and you find yourself resisting, I offer this: please at least step to the side so those that truly want “improvement” can do so without going 15 rounds over every little change.

There are many people that honestly attempting to improve things the right way, by putting in extra time, effort or money, don’t be one of the ones holding up progress. I used to have a coach that had a saying for things such as this: “Nickel always holding up the dollar.” Don’t be the nickel.

Richard Clark is the consolidated desk chief of Freedom ENC. His column appears in this space each Sunday. You can reach him at 910-219-8452 or at rclark@freedomenc.com.

Clark: Improvement. It sounds simple enough.

Tom says he’s back in Cruise control

In a revealing new interview with Playboy, “Rock of Ages” star Tom Cruise tackles that pesky rumor head on: no, he’s never had plastic surgery!

“I haven’t, and I never would,” the 50-year-old Hollywood heavy said.

Cruise, who nearly derailed his stellar career a few years back with a testy interview with Matt Lauer, his dissing of Brooke Shields and his ill-advised couch jumping on “Oprah,” is back on top of the a List and he said he’s learned from his mistakes.

“Telling people how to live their lives? I saw how that came across and how pieces were edited,” he said. “When I go back and look at it, I find myself thinking, I don’t feel that way. I get how it came across, but I don’t feel that way and I never have.”

Cruise, who will play aging rock star Stacee Jaxx in the upcoming flick based on the hit musical, makes his big-screen singing debut in “Rock of Ages.” he knew he’d be OK, he said, when he performed “Pour some Sugar on Me” in front of Def Leppard and “got their stamp.”

“it was a very cool moment. it was important they knew I was honoring their music and not making fun of them.”

“Rock of Ages” hits the big screen on June 15.

Tom says he’s back in Cruise control

Which is safer and more effective: gastric bypass surgery or liposuction?

I have many friends and family who got a gastric bypass surgery and it looks great, but on the other hand, liposuction seems more convenient for wanting to really lose weight. I wanna know which process would be safer and more effective in losing weight.

DIET AND EXERCISE. neither surgery will fix your problem, which is that you eat too much and refuse to get your lazy *** off of the couch. you can have liposuction to suck out all the fat but you'll only put it back if you don't change your lifestyle.

NO no no no Try this way of eating, it gives us alot of energy and is good for you: • The story is you have to change the way you eat??? Try switching to soy products, they are much healthier for you than regular red meat and milk… Morning Star is the best one I am seen and eaten.. Work out 3-5/7days a week moderately cardio 30minutes to 2hours a day.. Watch you fats and sugar and no junk food or fried, white bread, tuna is good, fish and soy.. you’ll be fine…Do a calorie counter everyday and I think if you stay under 1500-1800 calories a day low sugar and fat it will be fine.. lots of water, veggies and fruit… Soy joy and Pria bars are also good.. Kashi products are another source. whole oats no sugar maybe a little bit of honey… Soy milk no regular,, cut down in like I said saturated fats,, white breads and junk food,, red meat is another one you should stay away from.. like 4-5 small meals a day to get your system going.. example: Breakfast may 1 piece wheat toast with a poached egg whites and fruit,, mid morning snack a bar or 8oz can tuna with water, lunch maybe smart and balance pnut butter with a piece of bread, fruit or soy yogurt, mid afternoon snack,, veggies maybe carrots and celery, maybe soy bar, dinner,, fish, soy meat, rice or potatoes and mid evening snack air popped popcorn with smart balance butter… switch it up sometimes. like a nice leafy green salad, with all sorts of veggies, cranberries and low cal dressing. smart balance is good rather than real butter, soy milk vanilla is also anther one, bananas, strawberries melons something like that.. Try eating about 200-300 calories per small meal.,, try almonds and other sources of foods,, stay away from frying and saturated fats.. look at the containers you are getting your food from.. see how much extra crap is going into your body….. I am 5'7 and 166 and have lost about 40 pounds in the last 4months and this works for me.. No red meat and very little chicken mostly fish… count the calories daily, work out hard…there is never a magic potion in loosing weight,,, Stay away from FAST Foods except Subway,,, Watch what you eat when you go to a restaurant,, you choose tell them exactly what you want…change the way you eat that’s all.. It’s a life change…It’s a mind set,, I bike 10-15miles 3times a week and try to step 30-45minutes the rest of the time,, but you do what you can do whether it is walking or running,, just get up off the couch and do something….good luck and binding on sweets once in a while is ok,, just don’t go over board… if you want to know more about my diet let me know.. I have it all…

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I wouldn't do it. It's just a quick way to get out of doing something hard.
Losing // gaining weight is really tough but it's the safest way if you do it with diet and exercise.
Liposuction you'd lose all that weight at once, its dangerous for your body.
Gastric bybass, i think is where your stomach is made smaller. you HAVE to make sure you eat some vitamin everyday and eat healthy, not over eat. if you don't follow this your stomach may go back to noraml, and you won't have your needed nutrients.
Just try to exercise and eat better. You'll be healthier and safer.
Start off slow with exercises you can handle, eat healthy foods and switch it up so you don't get bored.
Praise yourself now and again.
Maybe ask your doctor what he thinks you should do.
Or maybe try a trainer, or workout with a friend.

Anyways, this is what I think.

Good luck, don't give up on yourself, you can do it.:D

I've been one of those people that were chubby all my life. I tried every diet plan that came along. a couple months ago I saw a friend of mine that I han't seen in over six months. She had lost over 40 lbs and looked amazing. I started following her plan and I've dropped 17 lbs in 3 weeks. you can read about her plan at ow.ly/1tU9a.

You are going to extreme measures to lose weight. both will be very expensive. Have you heard of the body magic? it is made by an orthopedic surgeon and it's designed to make you lose weight. it realign your organs back into place and you shed the weight. it is not a garment that is just used to hide the weight like you may find at walmart or certain stores. It's a medical grade garment that is changing lives. it also has many other great benefits. I am not just trying to advertise to you but I'm trying to help you out and save you money. look ardyss up on youtube and on the net and you will see nothing but great reviews. Rated A+ by the BBB. in order to have one for your custom size you need to measure around your thorax (right below the breast) and record your measurements. if you measure a 46 you need to order a size 44. Don't buy from certain sites because you will probably get a used one. Here is a certified site. ardysslife.com/kaheemmurray

Which is safer and more effective: gastric bypass surgery or liposuction?