How to Become a Marriage Educator / Angels/ Directory / Sleeping Alone/ Late pregnancy = Cancer Risk

[Smartmarriages]

- THANKING SMART MARRIAGE CONFERENCE ANGELS
- HOW TO BECOME A MARRIAGE EDUCATOR
- NOW IS THE TIME  
- MARRIED, BUT SLEEPING ALONE
- WETZSTEIN: BIRTH HISTORY RAISES CANCER RISK


THANKING SMART MARRIAGE CONFERENCE ANGELS
Dear Diane,
I can¹t let another day go by without asking you to publicly thank the
wonderful gentlemen who helped me and my husband during his sudden onset of
pancreatitis while attending the conference in Orlando.

It was his first smartmarriages conference, and my fourth. We hadn¹t taken a
vacation together in many years and looked forward to sharing this time @
the beautiful Shingle Creek Resort, and strengthening our own knowledge in
the area of marriage education.

Saturday morning, he woke up feeling very sick; and it only went down hill
from there. After Œtoughing it out¹ for a few hours in the hotel room, I
convinced him that it would be helpful to see a doctor. By this time, the
Saturday night plenary session was in full swing, and I walked into that
room hoping to find you to ask for a doctor, but thinking that I was looking
instead for a needle in a haystack. I didn¹t want to draw any attention to
myself, so I quietly left the room. After whispering a prayer for guidance,
I happened upon 4 gentlemen sitting near the coffee shop. I told them about
my husband and almost instantly they went into ³help² mode! I was
overwhelmed at their generosityŠlooking for a physician, for a clinic, a
hospital, or a referral to good medical care, they never stopped until one
of them offered to drive us in his own vehicle to the emergency room of a
nearby hospital that proved to be top notch!!!

To each of them who calmed my anxiety, searched on their IPAD, talked to the
concierge, and personally drove us, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.
I know Marc Payan was one of them (he tried to call you on your cell) and
Paul Weisemann drove us in his car to the hospital.  I don¹t have the names
of the other two, but THEY know who they are!!! And we are grateful to all
four of them.   

My husband spent 3.5 days in the hospital and is doing much better.

(As a post-scriptŠit might be helpful to seek a physician attending the
conference to be willing to be Œon call¹ for medical emergenciesŠ as this
WAS an emergency).
Ann Badach
Family Life Director
Catholic Charities/Erie


HOW TO BECOME A MARRIAGE EDUCATOR

Please, how can I become a marriage educator/instructor?.
>  I live in Ireland and I am interested in this program/course.
> 
> I look forward to hearing from you.
> 
> Kind Regards,
> Dr. Marcus Benson
> Global Faith Dimensions
> Ireland
> 

You can, of course, attend the annual Smart Marriages conference held each
July in the United States (you just missed 2010 conference) BUT you can also
purchase various ŒTOOB: teach-right-out-of-the-box¹ programs.  The TOOB
programs include the training on DVDs and workbooks.

See here: 
http://www.smartmarriages.com/toobs.html

And, here: 
http://www.smartmarriages.com/app/Directory.BrowsePrograms#type_16

------------------------------
NOW IS THE TIME   
Now, just after the conference, is the best time to UPDATE your Directory
Listings. We are getting many visits to the Directory from couples looking
for classes; individuals looking for training; marriage initiatives looking
for speakers.   Just email me your updates ­ class schedules, new TOOBs,
etc.  To add a listing, check out the Directory and send your listing of 100
words via email and a check for $75 to: CMFCE, 5310 Belt Road, NW,
Washington, DC, 20015.   Or, I can invoice you on PayPal.  Directory url:
http://www.smartmarriages.com/app/Directory.BrowsePrograms

------------------------------------------
Here¹s some important data to share with couples ­ sleep matters!  - diane
MARRIED, BUT SLEEPING ALONE
By BRUCE FEILER
July 23, 2010 
The New York Times 
 
MY grandparents had a secret. When I was growing up in Savannah, Ga., in the
1970s, my paternal grandparents lived in the house immediately behind us.
(My uncle lived next door in a set-up my father likened to Faulkner.) But my
grandparents did something in their otherwise typical suburban home that was
always something of a mystery to me.

They slept in separate bedrooms.

I speculated that this bifurcated sleeping arrangement had something to do
with Southern gentility, Papa¹s late-night ham radio habit, or some unseen
rift in their marriage. But since my parents slept in side-by-side twin
beds, and my wife and I later chose a king-size mattress, I assumed separate
bedrooms had gone the way of other bygone relics, like sleeping caps or
corsets. 

I was wrong. It turns out my grandparents were ahead of their time.

Nearly one in four American couples sleep in separate bedrooms or beds, the
National Sleep Foundation reported in a 2005 survey. Recent studies in
England and Japan have found similar results. And the National Association
of Home Builders says it expects 60 percent of custom homes to have dual
master bedrooms by 2015.   FOR THE FULL ARTICLE: http://tinyurl.com/2u3jzll


-----------------------------------------------

Here is another great article by Cheryl Wetzstein ­ this one quotes Dr
Miriam Grossman, recipient of the 2010 Smart Marriages Impact Award and
gives yet another reason to educate our daughters about the risk of delaying
marriage and pregnancy. I HIGHLY recommend that you watch Dr Miriam
Grossman¹s speech, Amanda¹s 39th Birthday, at  http://tinyurl.com/2fanq8u
(If that link doesn¹t work just go to http://www.booktv.org and search for
Miriam Grossman) 

 I talked to Cheryl today and she is of good spirits and positive outlook ­
send your prayers and I¹ll send you her first article when she¹s back in
Sept.  - diane 

WETZSTEIN: BIRTH HISTORY RAISES CANCER RISK
By Cheryl Wetzstein
The Washington Times
July 26, 2010

In 1987, I was deeply grateful to welcome my first child into the world.

I have no regrets there.

However, the fact that her arrival occurred when I was 33 years and 6 months
old seems to have affected my personal journey.

I have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer.

In reviewing the list of known risk factors, I saw that three were clearly
out of my control ‹ I am a woman, white and over 55.

But the only other risk factor that fit me was that my first child was born
after age 30.

Why should age at first birth be a risk factor for cancer? And what is the
larger meaning of this risk factor in a culture that fully endorses delayed
marriage and delayed childbearing?

First of all, the number 30 "isn't magical. It's not like on your 30th
birthday, all of a sudden, things change" and breast cancer risk shoots up,
said Susan Gapstur <http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/susan-gapstur/> ,
vice president for epidemiology at the American Cancer Society
<http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/american-cancer-society/>  and a
researcher on behavioral and environmental risk factors for breast cancer.

It's just that when researchers look at all women and their ages at first
childbirth, "it's in that area of around age 30" that the cancer risk
emerges, she explained.

Second, late childbearing is a relatively low risk factor for breast cancer,
added Ms. Gapstur <http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/susan-gapstur/> ,
who has a doctorate in epidemiology. Major risk factors include having close
female relatives (mother, sister) with breast cancer diagnoses early in
life, having mutations on certain genes (known as BRCA1 or BRCA2), and
having high doses of radiation to the chest during childhood, she said.

Still, there is a clear correlation between breast cancer risk and not
having a full-term pregnancy before 30.

The reason for this is complex, but here's the gist: When a woman nears the
end of her pregnancy, the hormonal changes cause her breast tissues and
cells to "fully mature."

Mature breast tissue is more resistant to abnormal cell changes (i.e.,
cancer) than immature breast tissue.

So having a baby is protective ‹ and "[i]n particular, having more than one
child at a younger age decreases a woman's chances of developing breast
cancer during her lifetime," says the National Cancer Institute.

We can stipulate that no one knows for sure why anyone gets breast cancer,
and many women who get cancer don't have any risk factors (other than being
a woman).

But if delayed childbearing is a risk factor for breast cancer, where are
the medical and cultural advisories telling young women that having your
first baby in your 20s could be protective of your health in the long term?

"It's like sexually transmitted diseases and other issues ‹ women have
biological vulnerabilities, and they are not being informed" about them,
said Dr. Miriam Grossman, who has written two books ("Unprotected" and
"You're Teaching My Child What?") to counteract "politically correct" sex
messages to youths.

"It's not that health providers should be telling people what to do," said
Dr. Grossman, a psychiatrist who counseled college students for years. "But
they should be explaining the consequences" of certain decisions, such as
having a first child in one's 20s vs. delaying it to the mid-30s or later.

"Most women ‹ the vast majority ‹ want to become mothers and have children,"
added Dr. Grossman. It would be good to give them "medically accurate and
comprehensive information about the best time to do that, the healthiest
time to do that."

Speaking personally, I never once thought I would join the pink-ribbon
"sisterhood," but I am indeed among the one in eight to get this diagnosis.
I will soon depart to get some medical care, but am looking forward to
returning to this space soon.

Article: http://tinyurl.com/27e75rk

€ Cheryl Wetzstein can be reached at cwetzstein at washingtontimes.com.


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