For young women diagnosed with cancer, the disease is more than life-altering, it also sometimes dashes all hopes and dreams they might have had for the perfect marriage, the perfect career and the perfect foray into motherhood. It might seem impossible to have children after cancer, since treatment often seriously compromises a woman's chance at conceiving, but all hope's not lost. For instance, Hodgkin's survivors can get pregnant, according to a study, and women who've undergone chemo can freeze their eggs for fertilization.

And now it's being shown that a drug developed in Australia can give new hope to wannabe mothers. It works by shielding the ovaries from harmful cancer treatments by temporarily shutting them down, so to speak. The drug's been impressing doctors around the world, and honestly, I can't wait to see it hit the market and offer some salvation for young women from the horror that is cancer.

I first saw Charnette on the Oprah show in October 2002. It was a show about young women with breast cancer. I had just completed my chemotherapy and radiation treatments that month. I was glued to the television. The show followed Charnette and two other women through tests and treatments. I knew how these young women felt. I was one of them.

I attended the Young Survival Coalition 2003 conference. I was introduced to Charnette by a friend. I immediately exclaimed "I saw you on Oprah"! I was very excited to meet her. I thought she did an amazing job on the show representing all young women with breast cancer.

Charnette was diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer in February of 2002. The day after Charnette learned of her cancer she found out she was pregnant with her second child. She had a mastectomy of her left breast without reconstruction and chemotherapy while pregnant after her second trimester. Her son was born in September of 2002. He was born premature because she developed severe preeclampsia. Christian is a healthy three year old today and has an older sister named Gabby.

Charnette was recently diagnosed with a recurrence to her lungs. She is now taking Xeloda and alternative treatments.

Charnette's philosophy is about embracing life. She tells us on her website "I believe that life is a reflection of what is possible. Love is my favorite word, and if I could put my arms around the world I would. May all of us be inspired to dance, dream and Embrace Life"

The Kristen Hartland Memorial Fund at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center was established to help with research on pregnant women with cancer.

Kristen was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 25. She went through the surgeries and chemotherapy and was excited to find out she was pregnant when she was finished with her treatments. Unfortunately while she was pregnant she was diagnosed with a recurrence. She was then treated while pregnant with Herceptin in combination with Navelbine under the care of Dr. Richard Theriault. Her son was born healthy in November of 2003.

Dr. Theriault is a professor in the department of breast/medical oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and he specializes in the treatment of pregnant women with breast cancer.

The fund was set up by her husband and friends after Kristen passed away in June 2005. David has set up a website in memory of his wife Kristen.

David and his son Samuel have to adjust to a life without a loving wife and mother. One sentence that David wrote about this really got to me. He said "When it's just me and him in the house, he goes around looking for her, goes to our room to see if she's in bed. I just walk around the house with him and let him see that it's just him and me now."

For more information about the fund go to KristenHartland.com.

The Northwest Arkansas Morning News is featuring a story about Nicole Young, and her new non-profit Message In A Bottle project, that is providing inspiration to cancer patients and their families with hand-written messages delivered in a bottle.

Young, who is now 33, was first diagnosed with ocular melanoma, a rare eye cancer, three years ago while she was seven months pregnant. The diagnosis of cancer was made after she experienced blindness. Last fall, the doctors found tumors in her liver. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

Young says she knows all about the emotional and physical pain that cancer patients and their families go through, and she came up with the idea of writing messages of inspiration and delivering them to patients and their families facing cancer as a way to bring happiness and hope. To date, Young has been delivering her messages in a bottle to local cancer patients but she hopes to be able to do this on a worldwide basis.

To read more about Young, who at the age of 8, wrote, published and delivered the Lakeside News to neighbors featuring interviews, gossip and a comedy column, read Cancer Patient Bottles Inspiration. She needs help to make her messages in a bottle dream a worldwide reality.

Multiple pregnancies for women who carry the inherited mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes appears to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, according to researchers from the German Cancer Research Center. The International BRCA1/2 Carrier Cohort Study set out to examine if the same breast cancer protective factors of multiple births and breastfeeding provided to women without the genetic mutations extended to women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. 

According to the study, women with one child have the same breast cancer risk as childless women. The risk of developing breast cancer after age 40 was lowered by 14 percent with every child. Interestingly, women with a BRCA2 mutation had twice the cancer risk if they had given birth to their first child after age 20 compared to those who had become mothers before age 20. For carriers of BRCA1 mutations, it was the exact opposite. The risk of getting breast cancer was lower in women who had given birth to their first child after age 30. The only thing about research -- it is only correct until the next research study. I only say this because I hear over and over from women who are surprised by a breast cancer diagnosis when they did not have any of the risk factors or they fit the profile of a woman with reduced risk. If you have the inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, the study results are a generalization, and your individual situation might differ. I would not sit here and read into this study that you are going to get breast cancer because you only gave birth to one child -- or that you didn't have children at the optimum age.

When I was pregnant, I struggled with gestational diabetes. Seven years later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancer takes a number of years to show obvious signs, such as the lump I found.

I read with interest a new report by Dr. Shelagh I. Dawson, from the University of Otago in Christchurch, New Zealand, that suggests there might be a link between mild sugar problems during pregnancy and the increased risk of cancer. According to the study, the more impaired women were in controlling sugar levels during pregnancy, the greater their risk of cancer. Women with the worst control were up to 5 and 11 times more likely to develop cancer. I believe the link between diabetes and cancer, especially breast cancer, is a new area of research inquiry. The first person I found who discussed this link at length was Dr. Bob Arnot, in his book The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet. The link between blood sugar levels and cancer are certainly an issue worth keeping in mind. Had I known there might be a link, I would have been far more proactive in breast cancer prevention concerning my diet and lifestyle after pregnancy -- rather than assuming the gestational diabetes a health issue limited to pregnancy.