Calling all TNs

Here are 50 festive facts to get you in the mood for Christmas...

1 US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.

2 ROBINS on cards were a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.

3 ALTHOUGH now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.

4 THE tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.

5 DESPITE the tale of three wise men paying homage to baby Jesus, the Bible never gives a number. Matthew's Gospel refers to merely "wise men".

6 CAROLS began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.

7 CAROLS weren't sung in churches until they were introduced by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century.

8 HANGING stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas's donkeys. He would leave small gifts in return.

9 THERE is no reference to angels singing anywhere in the Bible.

10 NEARLY 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.

11 THE word Noel derives from the French expression "les bonnes nouvelles" or "the good news".

12 JESUS was probably born in a cave and not a wooden stable, say Biblical scholars.

13 THE abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.

14 THE world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.

15 THE chances of a white Christmas are just 1 in 10 for England and Wales, and 1 in 6 for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

16 MANY theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.

17 JAMES Pierpont's 1857 song Jingle Bells was first called One Horse Open Sleigh and was written for Thanksgiving.

18 BEFORE turkey, the traditional Christmas meal in England was a pig's head and mustard.

19 IN 1647, after the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell banned festivities. The law wasn't lifted until 1660.

20 In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.

21 THE Greeks celebrate Christmas on January 7, according to the old Julian calendar, while Xmas presents are opened on New Year's Day.

22 MANY parts of the Christmas tree can actually be eaten, with the needles being a good source of Vitamin C.

23 THE holly in a wreath symbolises Christ's crown of thorns while the red berries are drops of his blood.

24 THE first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by civil servant Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843. Featuring a family drinking wine, one sold for £8,469 last year.

25 HANGING presents on trees may come from the Druids who believed the tree was the giver of all good things.

26 THE largest Christmas cracker - 45.72m long and 3.04m in diameter - was pulled in Australia in 1991.

27 THE long shopping spree before Christmas began in America when relatives of soldiers posted overseas in the Second World War were encouraged to mail gifts early.

28 JINGLE Bells was the first song broadcast from space when Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra sang it on December 16, 1965.

29 ASTRONOMERS believe the Star Of Bethlehem, which guided the wisemen to Jesus, may have been a comet or the planet Uranus.

30 SANTA has different names around the world - Kriss Kringle in Germany, Le Befana in Italy, Pere Noel in France and Deushka Moroz (Grandfather Frost) in Russia.

31 THE word Christmas comes from the Old English "Cristes maesse" meaning "Christ's Mass".

32 THE bestselling Xmas single ever is Bing Crosby's White Christmas, shifting over 50million copies worldwide since 1942.

33 IN Britain, the best-selling festive single is Band Aid's 1984 track, Do They Know It's Christmas?, which sold 3.5million copies. Wham! is next in the same year with Last Christmas, selling 1.4million.

34 UPSIDE-down artificial Xmas trees are sold to allow more gifts to be piled under.

35 SINCE 1947 Oslo has sent an Xmas tree to London to thank them for our help in the Second World War.

36 CHRISTMAS pudding was originally a soup made with raisins and wine.

37 LONDON sweetmaker Tom Smith created the first Christmas crackers in 1847, based on the sweet wrapper design.

38 SANTA Claus comes from a Dutch folk tale based on Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas, who gave gifts on December 6.

39 BOXING Day gets its name from all the money collected in church alms-boxes for the poor.

39 KISSING under the mistletoe is thought to spring from Frigga, the Norse goddess of love, who was associated with the plant.

41 THE Beatles hold the record for most Xmas number 1 singles, topping the charts in 1963, 65 and 67.

42 ELECTRIC tree lights were invented by Edward Johnson in the US in 1882.

43 THEY may date back to pagan traditions, but the earliest known reference to a Christmas tree is in a German pamphlet from 1570.

44 THE highest-grossing festive movie is 2000's How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which has raked in £175m so far.

45 THERE are 13 Santas in Iceland, each leaving a gift for children. They come down from the mountain one by one, starting on December 12 and have names like Spoon Licker, Door Sniffer and Meat Hook.

46 RUDOLPH the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.

47 GOLD-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.

48 THE first Christmas celebrated in Britain is thought to have been in York in 521AD.

49 IN Greece, Italy, Spain and Germany, workers get a Christmas bonus of one month's salary by law.

50 IN the Czech Republic they enjoy dinners of fish soup, eggs and carp. The number of people at the table must be even, or the one without a partner will die next year

LOL!!!

Loretta - That is fantastic!!!  That's what I'm hoping for  I'm also having a bilateral mastectomy with tissue expanders after chemo.  How did you do with that?  Is it painful?  lol.  I'm a weenie. I'm a nurse but really dumb about my own cancer and treatment, go figure. haha.  But how did you get your tumor get staged if you had chemo first?  Is that something they do at surgery?

CRACKERS

Tom Smith, a London sweet shop owner, invented the Christmas cracker. After spotting French bonbons wrapped in paper with a twist at each end in 1847, he sold similar sweets with a “love motto” inside. He then included a trinket and a bang. His Bangs of Expectation included gifts such as jewellery and miniature dolls. By 1900, he was selling 13 million a year

MISTLETOE

Ancient druids believed mistletoe could cure illness, aid fertility and protect against witchcraft.

The tradition of kissing underneath mistletoe originates from Scandinavia. According to a Norse legend, Loki, an evil god, made an arrow out of mistletoe and used it to kill Balder, the sun god.

The mistletoe repented and was planted on a tree so it could do no more harm. It became a symbol of love.

TURKEY

Before turkey took over, the popular Christmas dishes were goose and cockerel or, in the houses of the rich, peacock and swan. The turkey was introduced into Europe from the New World in the 15th and 16th Centuries and, because it was inexpensive and quick to fatten, it soon rose in popularity as a Christmas feast food.

STOCKINGS

In the 12th Century, French nuns, inspired by the legend of St Nicholas – who gave gold to the poor – began leaving stockings full of fruit, including tangerines, and nuts at the houses of poor people. The toe of the stocking would contain an apple for good health and the heel a tangerine because they were very rare and expensive.

PRESENTS

We did not always exchange gifts on Christmas Day. In Roman times, they waited until New Year’s Day to hand out their pressies. But, as Christianity spread, people started giving on Christmas Day – despite efforts by church leaders to outlaw the practice. And the Victorians brought a renewed vigour to the tradition of giving gifts on the actual day itself.

TINSEL

The first mass-produced Christmas decoration, tinsel was made in Europe in the 1600s from sheets of silver alloy hammered until they were paper-thin, then cut into strips. It was designed to reflect the light from candles and fireplaces.

BAUBLES

The custom of hanging fruit and baubles from green tree branches goes back to Roman times.

Then the decorations were used to symbolise the fruits of the Earth and the fiery sun.

SANTA CLAUS

The red-suited Santa we all know was created in 1935, by Haddon Sundblo, for a Coca-Cola advertising campaign. In previous lives, he was a thinner and paler character based on a 4th century Turkish bishop, St Nicholas, who became the patron saint of children. It was in Holland, where he’s known as Sinterklaas, that he earned his reputation for giving away Christmas gifts.

THE TREE

It was German evangelist Martin Luther who first decorated a fir tree in 1510. Queen Victoria’s German-born husband, Albert, brought the tradition of decorating a tree for Christmas to our shores in around 1840. Artificial trees were invented in the 1930s by the Addis Company, who manufactured them using spare machines in their toilet-brush factory.

CAROL SINGING

The word ‘carol’ means dance or song of praise and joy and the first carols were pagan songs to celebrate the winter solstice. Carols were once sung during all four seasons but only the tradition of singing them at Christmas has survived.

HOLLY & IVY

Holly and Ivy have been used to decorate homes since the 9th century because they symbolise everlasting life. The holly represents Christ’s crown of thorns and the berries his blood.

Ivy was also thought to protect a house against drunkenness, while holly was said to keep witches and tax collectors away.

MINCE PIES

Mince pies date back at least to medieval times – and possibly long before. They are descended from a huge pie, baked on Christmas Eve, containing chopped beef, suet, nuts, spices and fruit, of which whole, dried plums were an important constituent.

CHRISTMAS PUD

Christmas pudding, also called plum pudding – although it contains no plums – originated as a 14th Century ‘porridge’ of beef, mutton, raisins, currants, prunes, wine and mixed spices. By the 17th century the meat had gone. The pudding is traditionally stirred from east to west in honour of the Three Wise Men. A 10p piece can be stirred into it to bring luck to the finder.

CARDS

The first Christmas cards were sent in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole, head of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Too busy to write letters, he had an artist design 1,000 cards, illustrated with a festive scene on the front and printed with the greeting, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You”.

Originally published 22/12/2009

I can answer the staging question.

If you have chemo before sugery, the staging is based on imaging only. It's called Clinical staging vs Pathological staging.

The Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation recently held a w ebinar that included three experts advising on strategies for managing worry post-treatment. It was well done. It may still be available on their site.

A friend of mine celebrated 16 years of survivorship yesterday from double negative BC. They didn't look for HER2 then. The chemo standards are completely different today. I wanted to send this ray of hope to this group as there's nothing better than meeting long-term survivors. She was 27 at diagnosis and went on to have three babies after treatment. Our sons are in 5th grade together. She's one of my inspirations. Blessings to the TNs group.

HopeFC - great news! I bring a sandwich, Goldfish crackers, water & FiberOne brownies. A snugglie, book, iPod or tablet. They run your infussions more slowly in the beginning, to see how you'll do. Make sure they call in some pain and naseau meds before your first treatment, so that you will have them. Wishing you all the best!



Hope3 - Sorry about the RLS. I think the benadryl does that. Can you drink tonic water? The quinine in it may help.



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I just made a big pot of beef and veg. soup, from left over, grilled London broil - so good! A friend brought me a box of homemade fudge, I was going to hide it - but at the rate I am eating it, it may be better if someone hides it from me

hope yes my tumor was gone after chemo no evidence at all when they did surgery.  I can not believe you are only taking off 3 weeks from work!  My surgery was 3 weeks ago and there is no way I am ready to go back to work.  I hope you have a desk job.  I work with special needs middle school children that I would have to lift out of wheelchairs and that is not happening for a while.  I will be out of work for 8 weeks. I am just getting to the point that I can lift my arms over my head.  I started occupational therapy last week to help loosen up my muscles.

I think my chemotherapy is A/C????

HopeFaithCourage - A/C is pretty  standard treatment for TNBC.

Hopex3 - it would be unusual, I think, to start physical therapy while you still have drains.

hope-you can not do anything until the drains come out, but mine only stayed in for 1 week.

Horrible, horrible loss of innocent life....

This is one to make you laugh for a change Bernie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2RJN9a_jdM

Hi all - I just received my BRCA results today which are negative - which i am thankful for. After a deep exhale and sigh of relief, I thought I'd research recurrence rates and BRCA - From what I read rates of recurrence are even higher! Can this be true?