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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

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Happy Mother’s Day!

Monday, May 14th, 2012

I used to be sad about the fact that my mom was one of the only working moms I knew. She came home at 7 pm and was unable to attend a lot of events at school. I now realize what an amazing mom she really was and how I’ve turned into her. I sometimes come home even later than 7 and I don’t even cook for them hardly, unlike my own mom. If they waited for me, they’d be starving! Amazing how life comes full circle. I’ve really enjoyed the kinship of meeting other moms through my kids’ school. The kids may drive me a little to the edge at times, like when they ran around the lobby of Juniors this morning, not even stopping for their pediatrician, whom we ran into. But me being the new mom, I should’ve known why they had ants in their pants. One of them needed a diaper change!

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I guess I’ve made it

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

Upon checking up on Verdure Botanoceuticals Skin Care on Google, I came across “Verdure Care” from India. There’s a whole line of skin care products! At first I was enraged, then i just laughed. Kind of like how a female celebrity might find a fake nude photo of themselves on the internet. I just came across a story in Bloomberg BusinessWeek about piracy of beauty care in India. There are lots of look-alike, sound-alike knockoffs of Procter and Gamble products with millions of dollars of losses to their brands. Lil’ ole’ me couldn’t afford to trademark my brand in India, though it is protected in Canada, the EU and Australia. For now, I will just consider it flattering. I compliment Bloomberg BusinessWeek for its timely, useful and interesting stories! Every time I cancel my subscription, I find another reason why I should renew!

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Proud to be Pale!

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

http://www.khou.com/video/featured-videos/Dallas-teens-proud-to-be-pale-on-prom-night-149717925.html

i just read a neat story about some Houston high school girls who made a pact not to tan before prom night. Smart and classy decision! These girls are gorgeous the way they are.

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Dangers in fake tanning?

Saturday, April 14th, 2012

A recent study found phthalate chemicals in fake tanners. These chemicals can be found in a variety of skin care products, most notably from fragrances, are considered to be “endocrine disruptors” which have estrogenic effects, and may be linked to obesity.

Ask the company that makes your fake tanner, or the tanning salon you go to for the name of the brand of fake tanner they use, and ask if they contain phthalates. Get the info from the company directly. Avoid fragranced products if possible, and look for phthalate-free products. Verdure products are phthalate-free skin care products.

I don’t get it. No offense to anyone, but tans to me look strange. I have a number of pale friends and I think they have beautiful milky white skin. One of my best friends, whose heritage is Norwegian/English, is one of the only true blonds I know and can’t tan whatsoever. Her skin is great! In the old days, the classier the person you were, the paler you were. Certainly in Asian cultures, that’s the way it is. Plus, tans just age your skin so you’ll look saggy someday. The patients with the best skin are usually a bit plump and pale. They also rarely get skin cancer. Interesting, no?

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Melanoma Monday

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

Mayo Clinic just announced results of a long study on residents in Minnesota. Between 1970 and 2009, the incidence of melanoma went up 9 times for young women, and 4 times for young men. Also, the Skin Cancer Foundation announced that one person dies of melanoma every hour.

A skin cancer exam is a very important part of one’s general health check-up. Many melanomas can be subtle or very small.

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Friends

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

Friends are everything. At the end of the day, all you have is yourself, your mind, books, music and your family and friends. Someone said hello to the new shy girl on the playground in 5th grade and we’ve been best friends ever since. I am so excited my best friend is moving to LA after a little corporate burn out in Chicago. She found a great opportunity in her field of marketing. We haven’t lived in the same city for quite a while. We had a ton of fun in NYC in our late 20’s with lots of fun (and funny) memories. Hoping to create a lot more here! We had a great time hanging out in Manhattan Beach last week, totally hopping place called Tin Roof Bistro, and going Hollywood at Katana. I must say, we sat next to some women with really bad clothing taste (when is leopard print ever really attractive?). Maybe we are missing some sort of trend, but that is what makes hanging out with her fun. Here’s to friendship and laughter!

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Do I need Mohs surgery even if my biopsy site healed well?

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

I get asked this almost every week. “But my biopsy site has healed so well. I put……(fill in the blank-emu oil, vitamin E etc) on it and you can hardly see it!

Yes, it is true that sometimes a biopsy will remove the entire lesion if it is very small. However, just as you might get a breast biopsy or prostate biopsy, if you had cancer diagnosed, you would not consider the biopsy to be a treatment.

A biopsy is simply a test, a sampling. Cancer is microscopic and can be one to several cells thick. While this watch and wait approach would be ok on very tiny basal cell cancers on the back, I would not do this on the face or any tumors such as squamous cell carcinoma that have the potential to metastasize.

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Farewell, Davy :(

Thursday, March 1st, 2012


So weird. I have many paranormal experiences, like when I think about a patient, and then without knowing my schedule they show up the next day (like today that just happened), but the latest was with Davy Jones. Last night I was in the office working late on a lecture for the USC residents. I decided to put on some tunes: Jamiroquai, BB Mak, Everything but the Girl and Best of the Monkees! I hadn’t listened to the Monkees CD for at least a few years and I also thought about them on the weekend because I saw a cable TV listing for some infomercial they had. Then I look at the news this morning and found out poor Davy died in his sleep last night!

I used to love the Monkees show when I was little. It made me laugh and I loved the music. I also cherished the Brady Bunch episode with Marcia, President of the Davy Jones Fan Club (“how ’bout a kiss on the flipside?!’). Unlike most girls though, I had a crush on Mickey instead, he was more funny. So many great celebrities dying lately, but I guess I’m getting to that age. I remember my parents mentioning how wonderful so-and-so was and I’d say, “Who?” Now, my kids will say the same!

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Did you know?

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

There may be a link between UV light used during manicures and skin cancer? A recent study mentioned by the American Academy of Dermatology this week may have found a link? Next time, consider just letting your nails dry naturally.

Also, I cannot stress enough how important it is to protect your lower legs from sun exposure, especially to the women out there. I have a number of lovely senior ladies who now suffer from squamous cell cancer after squamous cell cancer due to the sun damage they’ve received as well as recent trauma. There are enough fake tanners/sprays out there!

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Aloha, we’re back!

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

Rambutan, Food of the Gods

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View from the porch, Kilauea

Island Girl and her Ukelele Video.

We returned from a wonderful trip 1 week trip to Kauai. This was my third trip to Kauai, the first trip was 10 years ago. I love the low key, laid back atmosphere. Our family rented a lovely oceanview house I found on vrbo and it was a great value. Let me know if you want more details! There were lovely unobstructed views in the front and backyard, and a mama and baby Kauai rooster on the property. Funnily enough, there was a young couple renting the guesthouse on the property and they came over and introduced themselves thanking me for renting their lovely room. Then, I also had a woman asking me why Ni’ihau shells were found on the beach this time of year, and I said, “I have no clue, but can I see what they look like?” I must fit right in, or they felt compelled to ask the only Asian person they’d seen on the Northeast side of the island!

The 25 knot winds were a bit much, I must say this was the worst weather we experienced in Hawaii, but it still beat the weather here, which is difficult! It made for some good kite flying, but not so great snorkeling. Our entire family almost got blown over into Waimea Canyon. It was really scary, but hysterical at the same time. We tried out some new places, like Bar Acuda in Hanalei, which was highly recommended by one of my patients who lived on Kauai for many years, Kalypso in Hanalei, and Common Ground in Kilauea, which is kind of an outdoor Urth Caffe on an organic farm. We also had a great meal at Brennecke’s in Poipu. I had wished for a meal without the kids, but alas, it still wasn’t in the cards! We were hoping to catch a good show while we were there. The first time we went, we lucked out and saw a Natalie Merchant show. But mainly at night I learned all of the cool apps that I could download for the kids on the Ipad from my pseudo stepson. That alone was priceless. My girls loved their new ukelele (click on the video…Watch out, Don Ho!)

The week did not exactly start off relaxing, as I thought that I had forgotten my contact lenses and makeup and my dog was having issues at the kennel. I found a high prescription snorkel mask to rent, gave up on looking remotely decent and took care of my dog issues via phone. We were 8 miles from the nearest grocery, so I cooked a lot of meals with local, organic ingredients we picked up at various daily farmer’s markets. Of course, at the end of our trip, I found my contacts and makeup. That’s what I get for taking care of everyone but myself! Verdure sunscreen prevented everyone from burning. I’m running out of inventory, so look out for a new version next year.

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