First, an exciting bit of news, sorry it comes so late!, for those who live in Tuscany.

Tomorrow, October 20th, beginning at 3:30 PM, Dr. Robert Kyle will be meeting with MM, MGUS and SMM folks at the Hotel 500 in via di Tomerello, 1, Campi Bisenzio, right outside of Florence. Here is the information in Italian: 

La nostra associazione ha organizzato per il prossimo 20 ottobre un incontro con uno dei nomi più prestigiosi dell’ematologia mondiale, il Dr. Robert Kyle. Questo medico statunitense ha letteralmente dedicato la sua vita professionale alla ricerca e alla cura dei pazienti affetti da mieloma multiplo. L’incontro, che é aperto ai pazienti, familiari di pazienti e addetti ai lavori, si terrà presso l’Hotel 500 in località Campi Bisenzio dalle 15:30 in poi. Dopo una brevissima presentazione sulle terapie più aggiornate per la cura del mieloma, il Dr. Kyle sarà a disposizione dei partecipanti per rispondere alle loro domande. Per partecipare e per ulteriori informazioni vi preghiamo di scrivere a mielomahelp@gmail.com. Segue una breve biografia del Dr. Kyle. More info, in Italian: http://goo.gl/O1bfT

Of course, I’ll be there! With Stefano and a blog reader, now friend. I am SOOO incredibly excited about this meeting. You see, I spoke with Dr. Kyle by phone in 2005, when I didn’t yet know much about myeloma, but even so, I did realize that my markers were worsening, so something bad was going on (back then). Well, I remember that we spent about an hour or so on the phone, and he reassured me that I was doing OK, that I was in the “watch and wait” category and shouldn’t have any chemo, which is what my Italian hematologist (back then) was suggesting…more than suggesting, actually–he was pushing me into it (but my gut said no, and it appears that I was right!). Anyway, long story short: I’ve always been grateful to Dr. Kyle for his kindness and the time he dedicated to me, a complete stranger from Italy. Tomorrow I will finally be given the opportunity to shake his hand and thank him in person…fabbbbulous!

Yes, of course, I will tell him how I’ve been doing, about curcumin (we had a few exchanges in 2006 about that, actually) and so on. And I hope to have the time to ask him about diet specifics. As I’ve written in previous posts, and on Facebook, I think it’s really amazing that our doctors/specialists are pretty much ignoring all the scientific proof concerning the impact of diet on our immune system and so on. I’m sure there are exceptions, of course…But the recommendation to follow a generically “healthy diet” is not acceptable to me anymore. What does that mean? Nothing. It really means nothing. We need specifics. Of course, I’ve given some dietary indications here on the blog, many in fact…but I would really like our specialists to spread the word a bit and get on the diet wagon, so to speak. We don’t need to be given false hope. Diet won’t cure myeloma. No question. But it can help us in the fight against this terrible cancer. I know that. For certain. 

Speaking of diet, today’s post title also mentions “eating your medicine.” Sounds a bit odd, eh? Well, thanks to Jessica, yesterday evening I read an interesting article by Mark Hyman, MD, on “FOOD AS PHARMACOLOGY.” See: http://goo.gl/DG1Gc He speaks about food and vegetables, which is great, of course…but doesn’t mention spices. Let’s not forget that spices are super important. Prof. Aggarwal, in his book “Healing Spices,” says that spices are more important than herbs…

So yes, eat your veggies, eat your broccoli (see yesterday’s post), but also add that turmeric. Add that ginger. Add that black cumin. Add all those healthful yummy spices. Yum yum!

Finally, for those of you who are Laurel and Hardy (and Santana) fans, or not!, here’s a hilarious video…just for laughs! See: http://goo.gl/3kq6G Enjoy! 🙂