(music) Good morning everybody.
I'm Olga Villaverde.
And, I'm Amber Milt.
Welcome to The Balancing Act.
Today we continue our series on "Taking Back the
Bedroom."
Helping women with a very real but manageable issue.
We'll also learn about another medical issue - multiple
myeloma, and meet a very special couple who are meeting the
disease head-on.
And, switching gears a bit, we are in the
kitchen this morning with Chef Ralph Pagano.
LOVE HIM!
And, he's making my favorite.
You know what it is?
Tres leches!
Not bad, but as we say it in Cuba - Trrrres leches!
Awwww - so much better, but it tastes
delicious either way, right?
So let's get cooking.
The Balancing Act starts right now.
(music) I was in a job interview once.
I mean,
God - shhhhhhh.
Oh nooo.
It was so ugly.
Sorry, just like now, sorry.
You're good girl.
Ohhhhh.
First time I had one, I yelled at my husband.
I said what do you have the temperature
on in the house - 85 degrees?
I'm sweating here!
He goes, Marsha - it's 70 degrees in the
house.
(Laughter) And, pretty soon they're gonna have to wear
sweaters to the dinner table, cause I'm going like this and
everybody's shivering.
I like that.
All the time.
Yeh.
All the time now.
It's starts like inside and you feel like you are
an oven.
And, then you feel it, just trickling up, your face
gets bright red and then just start sweating.
And, my boyfriend will be with a beanie
hat on, scarf.
You know, he's like in a sweatshirt and I get
the fan, high speed.
I got it down to 68 degrees and I'm like
ahhhh, this feels so nice in here.
(Laughter) And, he's like freezing.
Oh my word - menopause.
Hot flashes, vaginal hygiene, all important issues we
need to discuss.
So, it's time now to separate fact from
fiction in part 3 of our 5-part series "Take Back the Bedroom"
as we ask the doctor.
Rejoining us on the show is Sexual
Medicine and Board Certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist,
and our resident sexuality expert, Dr. Michael Krychman.
Welcome back!
Thanks for having me back.
It's wonderful to be here.
And, it's wonderful to talk about something that these
ladies are really suffering with - the oven, the heat.
I heard it when my mom went through
menopause.
I confess here, I have not experienced this yet,
but it's gonna happen.
Well, you better get ready.
I think it's important and one word that we
haven't heard is "the fire within."
The fire within.
The burning, the sweating, the
embarrassment.
But, another thing that's really important
that women don't talk about is the other symptoms.
The unspoken menopause.
The dryness, the problems with painful
intercourse.
I think that's really a taboo.
Women aren't talking about it.
It's kind of a conspiracy of silence.
Because they're embarrassed, they don't
wanna maybe share with their husbands - listen, it hurts down
there, I feel dry.
They're even embarrassed to speak with their
doctors.
And, that's why we wanna actually educate women
today about the fact that, like for example, I'm gonna ask you
this.
Women out there, women like me, I cleanse my hair, my
nails, my body, and the reality is - correct me if I'm wrong
doctor - I need to cleanse also my intimate area, my vagina.
Right, but just for clarification, you said it gets
dry down there.
And, women aren't saying the word.
It's the vagina, right?
And, we need to educate women that they need to
start talking about it.
And, it's really important you take
care of your face with special cleansers, and it's the same
thing.
I mean, the tissues in the vagina change.
They get dry, they get chafed, they get red,
they get irritated from the changes of hormones that you see
in menopause.
The decline in estrogen - it effects the whole
body, but particularly the vagina.
So, it's important to choose the right product for the
right area.
What cleanser should we look out for, and I'm
assuming the ingredients are huge.
Well, you're right, and I think it's really important for
women as they go to the store, to pickup that bottle and start
reading.
Yehhh, not be embarrassed!
Right, and spend some time there.
You know, they go quickly, they're embarrassed,
but it's really time to break that silence.
Look for products that have special ingredients,
like hyaluronic acid, which hydrates - it's moisturizing.
Or, things like elastin which helps elasticity.
Also, avoid certain chemicals that are
harsh, that may upset the natural barrier, the natural
oils that are protective.
Things like Lubrigyn are really great.
Here, you know, we're fast friends since we've been here
talking about sex all the time.
How about trying just little bit?
Let me see.
So, I would apply this on the outside of the
vagina?
Yes, definitely.
And, it's a cleansing lotion so you
can use it every single day.
OK.
And, you know, I have women in my office that use it for their
whole body.
Really.
Because during menopause you can have
hot flashes, you can have vaginal dryness, but your whole
body may also feel irritated.
So, a lot of women love this as a daily cleanser.
And, this helps moisturize the area that
is obviously affected because of menopause.
Definitely.
I mean, we see it, it's very common and
unfortunately it's a fact of life.
As women age and they go through the transition - even
you.
I know.
You're gonna experience this, so it's
sometimes helpful to be aware of products that are really safe,
effective, and really going to be helpful for women as they
transition through a very important part of their life.
Their gonna spend 40% of their life in the menopause.
That's a long time.
Very long time.
Now, my friends sometimes tell me
when you go through menopause, Olga, you know, you gotta be
commando in bed - it helps.
Others say: no cotton underwear, no polyester underwear.
I think commando is great for a variety
of reasons.
Some women, they feel that even the slightest
touch of fabric can be irritating to an already
sensitive, delicate area.
And, there's also a great study that
shows that men and women that sleep commando have more sex.
So, it's really important to think about that in the overall
scheme because you wanna keep the magic alive as you get older
into your golden years as well.
Absolutely.
Always love having you.
Where do we find out more about Lubrigyn?
You can find more information at
lubrigynusa.com.
Thank you so much.
And, you're coming back again right?
Yes definitely.
I'm learning so much.
I'm getting ready for this.
(Laughing) And, if you'd like more information
on Lubrigyn or this segment, go to our website, that's
thebalancingact.com.
(music) A few years ago Tom Brokaw
revealed he was suffering from multiple myeloma
which helped shine a spotlight on this often fatal cancer.
Olga has the story of another man
with a famous name who continues to beat the odds.
(music) These hills are hard, fighting
cancer's harder.
(VO) He's a cancer survivor, a man who with
the help of his loving wife and medical professionals, is living
a life beyond what's some doctors and statistics
predicted.
His name: James Bond, yes, like the iconic Hollywood
character.
And, the type of cancer, multiple myeloma.
Today we're meeting the people who've
helped him beat the odds.
His wife, Kathleen Bond, and Fatima
Scipione, the Senior Director for Patient Advocacy at Takeda
Oncology, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Good morning.
Thank you so much for being here.
Thank you.
Kathleen, I wanna start with you.
I know your husband couldn't make it.
How is he?
He is doing great.
He is?
He's actually home training on his
bike, cause he's about to participate in a 4-day, 328 mile
bike ride, 4 days across Ohio.
328 miles.
He needs to put some time on the bike, so that's what
he's doing.
He's a firm believer in exercise and I really think
that has helped him get through all his years of treatment.
And, when was he diagnosed?
He was diagnosed in 1992 and the
prognosis was 2 to 3 years, if everything went well.
And, at that moment, what did you think?
Well, at that moment we couldn't imagine we were hearing what we
were hearing.
But, we made up our minds right then and there
that we were going to take this on, and do the best we could.
And, I know people talk about a bucket list.
We thought no, we're gonna live our lives
through, beyond, and despite it all.
Fatima, let me bring you in quickly - multiple myeloma.
Tell me what that is.
Certainly, so multiple myeloma is a rare
cancer.
It accounts for about 1% of all cancers.
It is a blood cancer that effects the white
blood cells, and it presents, the symptoms that it presents is
bone pain, a lot of bone pain, anemia, which presents as
fatigue.
And, certainly is a challenge to diagnose based on
some of the symptoms.
And, Kathleen, I know your husband's
been through a lot.
I think he's been through 4 bone marrow
transplants?
Yes, he's been through a lot of treatments.
He's had 2 bone marrow transplants, using his own
cells.
One using his sister, Becky, and another one using a
young German woman that just occurred 4 years ago.
Thanks to "Be the Match" for finding the
match.
But, you two did not give up.
You're an inspiration, and I know for you it was important to
become his caregiver.
Well, I realized when he was diagnosed
with this incurable blood cancer, that I was gonna do
everything I could to learn about it so that I could be
helping to ask the right questions and making sure that
Jim presented himself as the best healthiest patient the
doctor could have.
So, we really took this on as a project, not
to say that it was easy.
A caregiver needs support.
We have support of family and friends.
And, you need to allow yourself those days when it's just a bad
day and let yourself have at it, and go ahead and cry.
But, Jim and I tried to not have a bad
day on the same day, and that helps.
That's important.
That helps.
We would argue about who got to have the
bad day.
And, there's no doubt, Fatima, that she has played such
a huge role in her husband's remission and getting better,
and, for the love of God, even doing a huge bike race.
So as to Takeda Oncology, you guys go
above and beyond the call of duty here too.
Well, thank you.
And, we certainly have been committed to the multiple
myeloma community for 20 plus years, and have been in clinical
research in multiple myeloma for all of that time.
We met Kathleen and Jim through a
clinical trial.
Jim was part of one of the early trials.
And, you mentioned his name, James
Bond, being an iconic character.
And, this is the truth, Jim was the 7th patient in that trial,
so he was patient double "O7."
(Laughter) It's true.
It is very very true, but we are very much
committed to clinical research in multiple myeloma we recently
brought another product forward with an FDA approval late last
year for patients with multiple myeloma.
And, sometimes pharmaceutical companies just
don't get enough credit for the patient advocacy that they do.
Well, thank you.
Certainly at Takeda Oncology, the patients
are the center of everything that we do.
We're reminded of this on a daily basis when we
walk into our lobby, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
We have a cranes display and we
also have our inspiration, our vision, if you will.
And, there's a big sign that says: We
aspire to cure cancer.
In order for us to be better, in order
for us to bring better treatments forward, than we need
to have our patients be our partners.
We have many programs.
We have a patient leadership consul that infuses the patient
into our business practices from early on in clinical research to
ensure that, as we look at clinical trial design, we're
talking to the patients who ultimately will hopefully be the
recipients of this medicine.
What's important to them, what matters in their lives as they
look at a diagnosis like multiple myeloma.
And, that carries through all of our
business activities.
Frankly, there's not a day that doesn't
go by that the patient advocacy group does not speak to the
patients that we serve.
We're very connected and frankly it
inspires us to come to work everyday and to work harder.
And, Kathleen, how long has your husband been in remission?
Well, he's been in remission for 6
years now.
That's awesome!
But, it's been 24 years he's been
struggling through this and he just keeps putting one foot in
front of the other, and peddling his way.
And, speaking of peddling, I hear there is this
huge race.
I want details that you are organizing and proceeds
going to find a cure?
Yes, well, it's going to the American
Cancer Society, their Patient Service Program, many programs.
And, I founded this really because it gave me an avenue to
help other people that were fighting cancer and to help
their caregivers as well, cause we're all in this together and
we all need support.
So, I figured I need to do something
about it, and I wanted to get mad and get even.
And, this bike ride helps do that.
So many things that you are doing that
are so positive, that for maybe someone out there, they look at
you and say: how have you done it?
Well, you have to take care of yourself first and I decided
early on that was going to be key for me.
But, we also established our 8pm rule.
8pm rule?
8pm rule - cancer takes enough out of your life, we
decided not to give it the entire evening.
So, at 8:00 at night it's done in our house.
No matter what's going on, we don't
talk about it, it doesn't exist.
We'll get after it the next morning.
Fatima, for our viewers out there who'd like more
information, where can they go?
Yes, we have a website for more information Takedaoncology.com.
Takedaoncology.com.
Thank you so much for your time, appreciate
it.
You can also go to our website, and that's
thebalancingact.com.
(music) Alright Amber, do you
like to cook?
I like to eat.
(Laughter) I love to cook, so does Chef Ralph, and he's in the
kitchen this morning with something that's really popular
here in South Florida.
Have you heard of it - tres leches?
Oh - I've eaten it, it's delicious.
Let's get in there and see what he's cooking up.
You're gonna love it.
(music) Welcome to my kitchen.
This is Quick Bytes, with me, Chef Ralph Pagano.
Now, it's no secret that our country
has become "muy mas internacionale," and that's
reflected in our foods.
From appetizers to main entrees into
desserts and beyond.
We're talking global cuisines gone
mainstream.
Ahora, you're in for a tasty treat.
Luckily for you, bold flavor tops my menu.
Can you say tres leches?
Say it with me - tres leches.
That simply means soak in 3 kinds of milk
and man it's so good.
Right here in front of me, I got the 3
kinds of milk I'm gonna use.
I got great Carnation Sweetened
Condensed Milk.
It's rich and creamy and tastes so good.
I'm gonna add to that Carnation
Evaporated Milk, and then third, and in equal parts, good old
fashioned heavy cream.
Now, here's how easy this is.
You mix it together with a little whisk.
You've got this great, kind of, angel food cake.
Now this cake is made with very limited eggs,
so what happens is when we pour the tres leches over the top,
the cake gets moist but it doesn't get spongy.
It just absorbs it just the right
amount.
Right now I'm gonna spill some of this tres leches
right on top of my cake and just let it run around the sides,and
then I'm gonna top it.
Easy.
I got raspberries, they're very
tropical.
I've got kiwi, they taste so good, they look pretty
too.
Watch now, you gotta jumper.
And then over here, some fresh mango, cause nothing Latin
is complete without a little mango on it.
I gotta tell you, I love this dessert, it's so easy.
You can set it up with the fruit in the refrigerator beforehand
and just when you're ready to serve it, pour the tres leches
on top.
Oyeh!
You're gonna love it.
For more tasty flavors from around the globe, visit
verybestbaking.com, or visit our website thebalancingact.com.
Remember, this has been a Quick Byte - but chew slowly.
Now, that looks really good.
You know what, I know you don't like to
cook, but I bet you can make that one day.
You know I think he made it look doable.
And speaking of trying other new
things - did you ever have a college roommate?
No, but my brother did.
Well, it can be a precarious situation or it can
be an absolute blast.
I would say it was a precarious
situation for him.
So, we are talking roommate etiquette 101
in todays "Did You Know From Our Pros" courtesy of West Texas A&M
University.
Take a look.
(VO) Did You Know From Our Pros.
For many of us it was traumatic
enough sharing our bedroom with siblings.
And, now you're telling me that as a young adult
I've got to share a room with a total stranger.
What?!
Time for roommate etiquette 101.
Roommate sites are becoming very popular.
We use that here at West Texas A&M University where the
student, they go on they fill out a profile, they look at each
others profiles, and then they contact the student with
somebody they think may be compatible with.
So you wanna have some say in choosing your
roommate, done.
Well, it doesn't have to be traumatic at all.
If roommates will just set some
basic rules from day one, then they can make it work.
Rules such as food and then what time
their guests have to leave.
Rules such as what time they study, what time they go to bed,
the cleanliness of the room, then they can work out.
And, what if you and your bestie
decide to share a space?
Being roommates with your best friend
can be a lot of fun.
You guys already know each other, you
spend a lot of time together, but it can also be frustrating
at times.
So, I think it's important when you're living
with your best friend, remember to take time to hang out with
other people, give them their space.
You don't have to do everything together.
Always keep this goal in mind - peaceful
coexistence.
It pays to play nice.
(VO) Look for more "Did You Know From Our Pros" brought
to you by West Texas A&M University.
(music) And, that's our show for today,
but head to our Facebook page and our website, and follow us
on Twitter.
We've got so much there.
Thank you for watching everybody.
We'll see you next time.
(music)