The Phunny Pharm

It's all about the boozebs

2006-08-22T07:18:00.000-04:00

I figured it was about time we called a spade a spade. Join us on Thursday night at the Boathouse in Malvern and bring a designated driver.

Warning: flash flood alert

2006-06-26T20:26:00.000-04:00

"oh, I never leak"methinks at least one pharmer will never say never again. . .

Tag: lactation

Melle Mel has some work to do

2006-06-23T06:58:00.000-04:00

We had a blast at Washington Street Ale House on Wed. night and I'm waiting for one of my slacker team-mates to post some pics and provide some color commentary/"Monday Morning Quarterbacking" for the event. Long story short: I do not belong behind a bar (at least not while it's open), but our Tips for Tits campaign raised about $450 in 2 hours with two very fine and generous gentlemen each giving us $100 tips (to save the endangered boobs, not because we had any idea what the Hell we were doing - except for Hosey & Carol, that is). We can't thank the folks at Washington Street Ale House enough, for all their support and assistance - especially Taco, Kristian, Marianne & Darius. The place totally rocks, has a great beer selection and pretty damn good calamari - it's worth the schlep for those of us way north of the border (so, btw, is Mikimoto's where we went to sober up and chow down on the best sushi I've had in ages). We had such a blast, we're hoping to hook up with some other local bars in ChesCo/DelCo (those of us in the pharm corridor like to start ~~drinking~~ hydrating right after work, so proximity is a good thing) in the not too distant future.

PS/special thanks to Steve "Wasanaccident" Morrison for his kind words of encouragment; now he not only has to live with the horror that Preston & Steve is the official morning show down on the pharm but he also has to deal with the fact that he has 10 women somewhere between Quarter-Life Crisis & menopause swooning over him.

Tags: breast cancer; Breast Cancer 3 day; Delaware; Philly; Happy Hour; Charity; preston & steve

Pharm Report 06-19-06

2006-06-19T16:04:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Well things have gotten quiet so I thought it might be time for a Pharm Report.

Currently the weather on the Pharm is a humid 89 degrees. To beat the heat this week ,the pharm animals are about to converge on a local watering hole - Washington Street Ale house to boost our phund raising efforts. Wednesday from 5-7 with dinner for the Pharmers (and Pharm-hand Bill) to follow at Mikimoto's in Wilmington!

Congrats to Pharmer Jacque on meeting and exceeding her $2,200 goal. She's our third Pharmer to do so. The team total stands at $14,500 putting us at 16 out of 443 teams registered! Keep up the good work girls, we are only $3,000 out of the top ten!

I've been in contact with the Havertown Superfresh to discuss having a Phund raiser there. They've agreed to help so now we need to pick a date. Stay tuned for more information to follow.

Pharmer Jodi

My mother always told me not to discuss politics or religion

2006-06-13T18:27:00.000-04:00

*sniff* My Yiddishe Mamma was right. If Madonna had only taken my mom's advice and not sullied her friendship with Britney Spears (and my religion) by playing Kabbalavangelist they'd still be friends. I'm devastated I tell you, just devastated!

Tags: kabbalah; She who is desparate to prove her relevance; still not a [mature] woman

Time to hear from someone else - Pharm Report

2006-06-08T13:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, so Pammianne has really carried the burden of keeping you all up to date on whats happening with the pharmers. I thought I would chime in as well - thought not nearly so eloquently or humorously as Pammianne.

So the training sessions has slowed down over the last couple of weeks with the end of the school year and the unofficial start of summer we are finding our weekends booked solid with various activities (parties, t-ball, soccer, tennis lessons etc.) - I know, I know, Whaaaa, poor babies. Well the ladies are going to need to start huffing it soon or we will be hurting lasses come October.

The good news is that the Phund-raising is going really well. We've had a great response from our family and friends. We've also had two fund raising events to date where we've raised over $800 total.

For those of you who visit our team's 3-day website we've updated the site with our picture and our banner. We've also posted our scheduled phund-raisers.

On this note, a big thank you to Washington Street Ale House in Wilmington, DE for allowing us to hold a guest-bartender night - on June 21st from 5-7 PM. We will be pouring drinks for tips and of course all proceeds will go toward our 3-day account.

Another big kudos to The Scrapbook Station in Vorhees, NJ they are enthusiastically supporting our team by hosting a Pink Ribbon Scrapper. We are targeting the event to occur on July 15th from 12 PM to 12 AM. More information to come.

So with all these activities going on, how is our phund raising progressing? Well as of today, our team has raised $13,475, well over half-way to our goal of raising $22,000. And for those of you who have noted the big goose egg next to Pharmer Denise's name - she reassures us that she has over $300 in donations that have not been posted to her account yet! Way to go Denise!

Well that's enough for now - those of you who enjoy our blog please take the next step and visit our 3-day site and make a donation to your phavorite pharmer.

Take care,

Pharmer Jodi

Drink For A Cure

2006-06-06T16:47:00.000-04:00

My team mates wouldn't let me go a less respectable route (Tips for _____) for a slogan, so this is the best I could do. Let's just leave it as confirmation that there's a very good reason why I'm in R & D and not working on the Commerical side of the business.

Our next great fund-raising event will be "Drink For The Cure" - a very special Happy Hour at the Washington Street Ale House in Wilmington, DE. The management has been kind enough to let us guest bartend and donate all bar tips to the 3-Day. I'm not sure which of us they'll let behind the bar (while I can, personally, make recommendations on single malts I highly doubt anyone wants me mixing any drinks).

A couple of things to bear in mind:

Smart Happy Hour enthusiasts will stick to something from their beer or wine list
Smarter Happy Hour enthusiasts will drink responsibly and have a designated driver
The smartest Happy Hour enthusiasts will stick around and have a bite to eat

Tags: breast cancer; Breast Cancer 3 day; Delaware; Philly; Happy Hour; Charity

Dystonia is not a country in Eastern Europe

2006-06-05T11:31:00.000-04:00

I wish I could take credit for the quote I used in the title, but I can't. It's actually something that was said by Janet Hieshetter, Executive Director of the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation. Since the pharmers work in an industry directly involved in the development of treatments for illnesses our personal and professional lives often intersect, especially when we're working on drugs to treat common ailments.

I'm sure that over the years of working on compounds to treat/prevent pain, I've heard about dystonia in passing and, to be honest, never gave it a second thought. Now I work on a product approved to treat Cervical Dystonia (aka spasmotic torticollis) which is due to involuntary contractions of the neck muscles and causes abnormal movements of the head. If you're a midge like me, you know how sore you get when you're looking up at someone/something much taller for a long period of time; if not, you can probably remember how uncomfortable you've been when you crook your neck to hold a phone in place because your hand weren't free. Just imagine if you were forced to sustain a position like that indefinitely, then toss in some muscle spasms to make your head jerk around and you have a inkling of what life is like for someone with cervical dystonia.

In this country we hear an awful lot about some diseases, Breast Cancer among them, because the disease touches everyone and we hear about other disorders because a celebrity becomes a patron (usually after the celebrity or someone close to that celebrity is directly affected by the disorder). There are many disorders we hear little, if anything, about despite the fact it affects the lives of thousands of Americans on a daily basis.

Dystonia is the third most common movement disorder after Parkinson's and tremor. This week is Dystonia Awareness week. I just figured I'd take a couple of minutes to recognize that I may be complaining like crazy about my little anterior tibialis problem while training for the 3-Day, but at least I have the freedom to move.

Tags: dystonia; movement disorders; health; medicine

Gene Mutation ID'd

2006-06-05T06:44:00.000-04:00

A gene mutation that may be involved in the initiation in a major form of breast cancer has been identified by Scientists at Thomas Jefferson University in Philly & Albert Einstein School of Medicine in NY. The Caveolin-1 (CAV-1) gene normally helps suppress tumor formation in breast cancer, absence of the gene had previously been linked to hyperplasia and tumor formation in animal studies.

The team, led by cell biologist Michael P. Lisanti, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cancer biology at Jefferson Medical College and Richard Pestell, M.D., Ph.D., director of Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center, found that a known mutation in the Caveolin-1 gene is present in approximately 19 percent of all breast cancers that are fed by estrogen – so called “estrogen receptor-positive” cells. The group also discovered six new Caveolin-1 mutations associated with estrogen-driven breast cancers. As many as nearly 35 percent of such breast cancers may carry Caveolin-1 mutations, Dr. Lisanti says. Caveolin proteins, which play important roles in cell communication, are also involved in a number of diseases and conditions, such as cancer, atherosclerosis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and muscular dystrophy.

The researchers, reporting in June 2006 in the American Journal of Pathology, say their results open up the possibility that Caveolin-1 mutations may be involved in the development of estrogen-positive human breast cancer, which accounts for some 70 percent of all breast cancers.

Tags: breast cancer; Health; Medicine

Welcome to the Afterlife Party

2006-06-04T09:55:00.000-04:00

With all the hysteria surrounding the impending Omenesque birth of the Damien child next Tuesday, it's nice to see someone outside of Hollywood preparing to embrace 6/6/06. The fine folks of Hell, Michigan will be throwing one heckuva shindig on the day. The gates of Hell (planned to be installed outside a children's pay area) will be opened and you can buy a square inch of Hell at the town souvenier shop for $6.66. No word on whether shopping will be tax-free or not, the state sales tax is - you guessed it: 6%.

Tags: Hell; 6/6/06; the ultimate party animal

Mr & Mrs Smith sequel: gramps has a new target

2006-06-02T20:18:00.000-04:00

I know some grandparents aren't the funny cookie baking, pressie giving bundles of fun we all imagine, but this is beyond bizarre

Police said the pair initially offered $100 to an undercover sheriff's deputy to kill their son's wife, their 10-year-old granddaughter, two step-grandchildren, ages 14 and 16, and the family dog.

More money was promised after the killings, said Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Christie Mysinger. [CNN]

The reason for the hit? The grandparents wanted to off the spouse and children (and the dog) of their 31-year old son because they had done such a wonderful job raising their boy that he's in jail pending trial for 22 charges of sexual battery, molestation and showing obscene materials to their grandaughter and the girl's step-sister. Anyone want to take bets on whether the hit-granny complains bitterly about how her grandchildren don't come to visit her in prison?

Tags: sexual molestation; Crime; grandparents

The pseudo calm before the storm

2006-06-02T09:32:00.000-04:00

Our first Swinging Summer Thursday was a huge success as we managed to raise $363 with the temporary tatoos.

If you look closely, you'll see a few phunny pharm
escapees in the background

Boobalicious

2006-06-01T10:06:00.000-04:00

The down-side about a short commute to work in the morning is the fact I only catch a snippet of Preston & Steve (my guess is that this limited exposure has probably saved me from numerous car accidents and a need to wear Depends while driving). Despite the limited listening time, I do manage to learn all sorts of interesting things from the show. As a matter of fact, just this morning I found out:

Anna Nicole Smith's rumored pregnancy is about as real as her boobs
The new silicone breast implants are just like gum drops

I just thought I'd pass my newly acquired knowledge on.

Don't Forget Swinging Summer Thursday tonight!

UPDATE: oops as it turns out, Anna Nicole's boobs are still fake, the pregnancy is real.

Tags: Anna Nicole Smith; Preston & Steve

Swinging Summer Thursday 1: Tatoo You

2006-05-31T15:11:00.000-04:00

On the heels of our first successful fundraiser, the Pharmers are hoping to have some fun and raise some cash at Swinging Summer Thursday in West Chester (PA) this Thursday night.

We'll be set up in booth #81 between High and Walnut Streets selling temporary tatoos and taking donations.

In addition to craft booths and food vendors, this month's live bands will be:

The Swing Kings
&
The Merchant Street Jazz Band

Tags: breast cancer; Breast Cancer 3 day; west chester; Charity

This blog run on girl power

2006-05-29T09:34:00.000-04:00

This is completely unrelated to Breast Cancer or our training (except for the fact I'm icing my shins as I type) but I thought that since this blog was powered by a bunch of people possessing 2 X chromosomes, I'd give props to a pretty cool organization working to ensure women have a chance at empowerment elsewhere in the world. 10,000 girls is a pet project that Thom Haslam of Societas has been working on while living in Dakar, Senegal. The aim of the organization is to encourage young girls in rural Senegal (West Africa) to stay in school to get an education and become self-reliant career professionals (much like the Pharmers).

Tags: Africa; Senegal; empowerment; education; feminism

Pharm Report

2006-05-23T09:31:00.000-04:00

The weather is sunny but cool today on the Pharm - perfect day for a long walk.

All the Pharmers are working hard to get ready for the 3-day. Last night we converted our beloved "Its not about the Book" Club evening into a training night by taking a 4+ mile walk through the borough of West Chester. It was nice but toward the end of the evening it was quite cold. We stopped off for a light dinner before ending our walk.

Fund-raising:
We are nearing our halfway point toward reaching our fundraising goal of $22,000. Pharmer Mel hit her minimum target last week and we have Pharmer Jen, Pam and Jacque are well over the half-way point toward hitting their target. Because of these great efforts, the Phunny Pharmers are ranked 22 out 408 teams registered for the 3-day event! Way to go ladies!

For our next team fund raiser we will have a booth at Swinging Summer Thursday in West Chester, PA on June 1st. We will be selling tattoo's for the kids and providing information on breast health. Of course we will also be accepting donations.

Training:
Pharmer Denise charged us with hitting our training goal this week of walking 17 miles through out the coming week. To make this happen we should complete the following:

Monday = 3 miles
Tuesday = rest
Wednesday = 15 min CT
Thursday = 4 miles
Friday = 30 min CT
Saturday = 6 miles
Sunday = 4 miles

Tags: breast cancer; Breast Cancer 3 day

21 weeks: time to panic call my favorite pharm hand

2006-05-21T13:11:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a good day. We changed the team training walk to Sundat so we could do some fundraising and managed to raise about $420 from the generous patrons at the AC Moore in Downingtown, PA (the whole team is very grateful to Brian, the store's manager, for all his support).

Today, however, kinda sucked (well, at least I think so). We all met to walk the path at Sandy Hollow. I was a half hour late because Tenacious-D was picking fights with Kid Dynamite so getting out of the house was a bear this morning. By the time I got there Chan, Mel, Jen (w/Baby Roo) and Denise were completing their first mile. I didn't even make it half-way around before my anterior "shin splints" came raging back like Jason in one of the Friday the 13th movies. I lagged so far behind that I started doing additional strecthes while I waited for the crew to finish their third lap. I made it around a second time, still lagging very far behind, and then had to be coaxed into a third lap. As bad as they were, I do have to admit that the pain was not as excrutiating today as it was 2 weeks ago when I started having problems. I guess I just thought that things would be much better since I had taken some time off from walking and had been doing some stretching to prevent this. Needless to say, I'm a bit demoralized. Luckily, I refuse to view this as a lesson in futility. I just ordered some orthotic inserts to address my "over pronation" problem and a pair of cold compression sleeves. I also think it's time to call Kelly, my favorite pharm hand, to see if I can get her to help me with some training or at least Yoga to help loosen and stretch the muscles better.

Tags: breast cancer; Breast Cancer 3 day; shin splints

Welcome To The Phunny Pharm

2006-05-20T19:48:00.000-04:00

This October, a bunch of my friends and I (heretofor known as the Phunny Pharmers) will be participating in our first 3-Day. If you haven't seen all the commercials on TV and don't know what the event is, it's a 60 mile walk over 3 days that's being done to raise awareness and funds to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation & The National Philanthropic Trust's Breast Cancer Fund. Yeah, you read that right: 60 miles over 3 days; 20 miles every day - 3 days in a row! This is no small fête for someone who's in great shape, so you can imagine what a challenge it will be for those of us whose bodies are recovering from childbirth and those of us who kinda-sorta let ourselves go over the past couple of years (that'd be me).

Please join us on our journey as we try to raise funds, raise awareness and save the endangered breasts and lives of women and men who are at risk of Breast Cancer.

Tags: breast cancer; Breast Cancer 3 day