One of the most difficult aspects of living with any illness, whether as a survivor or as someone who loves a survivor, is the way which illness can divide us. Suddenly, there are those of us who are ill and those of us who are not. Overnight, this line of distinction can seem very sharply drawn. And in addition, if we become ill, we also feel separated from the familiar, including the comfortingly familiar presence of our own appearance. We look into the mirror and see a stranger.

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We are introducing Jane's quarterly column this month. Jane Wurwand is the Founder and CEO of the world's most-requested professional skin care brand, Dermalogica, as well as The International Dermal Institute, a training curriculum which is considered the "gold standard" of postgraduate education for skin care professionals.  Both as a skin therapist and educator, Jane has dedicated her professional life to the empowerment of women through creating opportunities for rewarding work. Jane lives with her husband and two daughters in Los Angeles.

My name is Jane Pichette. I live in Maine, in a log cabin on forty-five acres. I am almost fifty years old, have a wonderful, gorgeous husband ten years younger than me, three kids and five beautiful grandkids. I love yoga, motorcycles, tattoos, lying on the beach in Aruba, and gardening. Here is my story.

Sometimes you ignore your own dreams because of self-doubt, fear, or external complications. You can think of many different excuses to brush those dreams aside. But, your world will become more exciting, and you will begin to live a more passionate and meaningful life, if you go after your dreams.

     In spite of the bad rap that potatoes get from some fad diets, potatoes are loaded with healthful nutrients. Among the U.S. population, potatoes make up almost half of the vegetables consumed.  Unfortunately, most of those potatoes are eaten as French fries, which are high in fat, calories and sodium.  However, with a few changes, your potato dishes can contribute to a healthful, tasty and satisfying diet. 

Molly Kohrman is a student at Brigham Young University majoring in Therapeutic Recreation. She is conducting a research project that focuses on the relationship between couple recreation/leisure pursuits and marital satisfaction in relation to breast cancer. The greatest difference between this project and other research is that data will be collected from both the husband and wife, regardless of which individual has the cancer. This will enable the researcher to assess perceptions and satisfaction from both sides of the illness, whether patient or caregiver. It is hypothesized that there will be a positive correlation between couple leisure satisfaction and marital satisfaction after controlling for other variables. Results may also identify new avenues for cost effective intervention that can influence the quality of life of adult oncology patients and their spouses.  

This project aims to expand on this, and other, research, by focusing on leisure and marital satisfaction of both the husband and wife in which one spouse is the primary caregiver for his/her spouse with breast cancer. Sample population size will be much larger, consisting of approximately twenty-five to seventy-five couples, depending on availability and willingness to participate at the time of data collection.