NBA legend and hall of famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar announced yesterday that he has leukemia, but the basketball phenom says his prognosis looks good.

Abdul-Jabbar, the man behind the sky hook, revealed that he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in December but said he expects to manage the disease through medication and regular contact with his physicians.

"It's something that can be managed," he said to the New York Times. "You can continue to live a productive life without changing your lifestyle that much. It does not have to be a death sentence."

Because his blood and bone marrow cancer is chronic, it is not considered aggressive.

Abdul-Jabbar has been busy within the year since his diagnosis by coaching with the Los Angeles Lakers, completing a documentary about the all-black Harlem Rens teams and writing a children's book -- his seventh book -- which will be published in 2011.

Jabbar, who is the father of five grown children, remains optomistic.

"I'm going to be able to do the things that I love to do," he continues. "Deal with my children, write, coach. I can still live a meaningful life and manage this disease."

Though educational videos like Baby Einstein have recently taken a beating in the press, one Chicago "mompreneur" knows that videos can help children learn – especially if set to music.

Three years ago, Candi Carter founded 'It's Hip Hop Baby' merging her love of hip-hop with her desire to meet the needs of her developmentally challenged son, Emerson.

"In 2006, when my son was three years old I created the first DVD," recounts Carter. "I love hip-hop, I love old school hip-hop. I was just watching TV and It came to me."

'It's Hip Hop Baby' uses the beats and dances of hip-hop to introduce little ones from toddlers to kindergarten the basics – ABCs, 123s and even concepts such bedtime and brushing your teeth. And with It's Hip Hop Baby, music is the key in getting children to connect.

In her quest to be both provocative and to keep it fresh, Tyra Banks is pulling out all the stops (or something) this season on her daily gab fest, 'The Tyra Show.'

In years past, Tyra has gone undercover in fat suits, dressed up as a boy, told us to kiss her fat ass (not so fat anymore) and most recently, shown us her "natural hair" sans weave.

Well tomorrow's show just might take the cake as Tyra promises to show the world its first "televised colonic" right there in her studio, right there on national TV. Colonics or colon cleansings traditionally use powerful jets of water (sometimes mixed with herbs or coffee) to cleanse the lower intestines of fecal waste and to flush toxins from the body. Many women swear by it for losing weight.

As you can see from the photo, Tyra herself is not the lucky recipient of this alt medical procedure but she's standing right there apparently giving us the blow-by-(colon)-blow.

For a video peep of Tyra's televised colonic, go to TyraTV.

Flu season is upon us, and to compound matters, there's this little pandemic called H1N1, or swine flu, which has many shaking in their winter boots.

Schools across the world are recommending that all students be vaccinated (over 75 children have died in the United States since the swine flu's emergence), and health care workers are being mandated to take the vaccine.

Although the Centers for Disease Control has the goal of producing between 195 and 250 million doses of H1N1 vaccine--primarily to protect children, pregnant women and those with chronic health problems--the rollout, which began early this month, has been slow and many hospitals, clinics and doctor's offices are overwhelmed by the sheer number of people clamoring for the shot. Some warn, if unchecked, H1N1 could rival the devastating flu pandemic of 1918.

The CDC will be distributing the vaccines to local health jurisdictions and doctor's offices instead of the usual route of coming directly from the manufacturers. It should be noted that the swine flu vaccine is not the same as the "regular" flu vaccine, which has been stockpiled in time for flu season. Mostly what differentiates the swine flu from the regular seasonal flu is fever coupled with nausea and gastrointestinal discomfort.

"Most of the things that look like the flu now are probably H1N1," explains Dr. Cheri Quincy, doctor of osteopathy and director of the Amitabha Medical Clinic in Northern California.