Well, let’s see. There’s good news, and there’s bad news. Compared to my last set of tests, done months ago, my red cells, hemoglobin and hematocrit have slipped slightly below the normal range. Just a shade, so I’m not overly concerned. I can bring those numbers up with diet…

Let’s continue with the bad news.

1. My m-spike: it’s gone over 3 for the first time since 2011. Bummer, that. But I’ve seen it go up, then down, so again, I’m not overly worried. In my last set of tests, e.g., my m-spike was lower compared to previous tests. I therefore expect it to go down with my next set.
2. Total protein is also up: 10.7. It’s been as high as 9.9, but this is the highest it’s ever been. This number HAS TO COME DOWN. Period.
3. Gamma globulins are up a bit, too. Okay, Mr. Gamma, I’m on to you…you’d better watch out!!!
4. So is my parathyroid…up, just a wee bit. This means that I need to get back on my daily vitamin D (I stopped a week before the tests, following my family doctor’s advice, which was to stop taking it a week before getting tested).

Ah, but there’s a bunch of GOOD stuff, too! And here’s a bit of advice that has helped me tremendously in the past 8 years plus: when you go over your test results, try NOT to focus on one or even two bad numbers. Look at the WHOLE picture. Things might not be as bad as you think…Okay, here goes:

1. Beta-2 microglobulin: no change. 🙂
2. C-reactive protein: it’s LOWER than it was last time (it’s gone down a whopping .20, which doesn’t sound like much, but consider that the normal range is as follows: “less than .50“!!! Is that a 40% drop? Something like that…I’m not a wiz with numbers…
3. IgA: slightly up, from 6 to 7 (yes, I know, it’s just a smidgen, but even the slightest change in the right direction is more than welcome!!!). No change in IgM, but, as long as it’s staying put, I’m happy.
4. Ferritin (= iron stores) is up from 31 to 39. My serum iron is slightly lower than it was months ago, but still way within the normal range.
5. Creatinine (serum) and creatinine clearance (both serum AND urine) are both fine. In fact, all of my creatinines (they ran a bunch of creatinine-connected tests this time) are fine. 🙂
6. Freelite chains. They’re still high (but then, they’ve always been high, so I wasn’t expecting a miracle), but they have improved A LOT compared to last time. Big move in the right direction.
7. No Bence Jones. As usual.
8. UPDATED on November 30: serum calcium is also way within the normal range.

Now, I wanted to discuss the next test separately from the others. You see, I had a new test done, a test I found out about in the Australian MGUS curcumin trial, in fact. This test checks one of the breakdown products of bone called “deoxypyridinoline” (hey, try pronouncing THAT fast, three times in a row, I dare you! ;-)). This deoxythingy is a specific marker of osteoclast activity and bone resorption. In simpler terms, it helps determine if you have bone disease or not. Well, my deoxythingy result is fully within the normal range,. Oh, and so is my deoxypyridinoline/creatinine ratio. Purrfect.

I think that’s about it. In conclusion, I’m not ecstatic (I would certainly have been much happier if all of my MM markers had simply…disappeared!!!!!), but I’m not devastated, either. In this last period, you see, I’d gone down to 6-6.5 grams/day, and, I admit this publicly!!!, there were days when I didn’t take it at all, for one reason or another. I now realize that THAT was a HUGE mistake. These test results confirm that I need to be on a regular AND higher dose of curcumin. I’m not taking my albumin, total protein, Hgb levels and m-spike numbers lightly, believe me…

So, no more 6 grams for me. I’ve already gone back up to my usual 8 grams. And I’ve added 1.5 grams of quercetin (which I’d stopped taking, because I ran out of it), too. And, well, we’ll just to have to wait and see how I do next time! No worries.

First, what is the Vasari Corridor?

In a nutshell, it’s an elevated, enclosed passageway connecting two important Florentine palaces: the Palazzo Vecchio and the Palazzo Pitti. It runs over the Ponte Vecchio, which is the most spectacular part. It’s about a half a mile, or one kilometer, long.

If you look at my first photo, on the left (on the top left, you can see a reflection in the window, which is kinda cool), you can see the Corridor…Look about halfway down on the right…the Corridor, with two small windows, sits on top of the arch jutting out from the building (the Uffizi Gallery). See how it continues over the Ponte Vecchio in the distance (same sort of windows)? In the second photo, you have a closer view of the Corridor, located just above the shops jutting out from the bridge and the arches (see the white-ish part). (You can make most of the photos bigger by clicking on them.)

A bit of history: the Corridoio Vasariano, as it’s called in Italian, was commissioned in the year 1565 by the Grand Duke Cosimo I de’Medici, on a design by Giorgio Vasari, hence its name. Its main purpose, back then, was to enable the Medici family and their guests to move freely between the two (above-mentioned) palaces, probably via a small carriage…It was also a fast and safe escape route in case of any trouble…

Interesting tidbit: I read that before the Corridor was built over the Ponte Vecchio (= the Old Bridge), the bridge housed a series of butcher shops, which used to dump their smelly waste (ugh) right into the river. Since that wouldn’t have provided a very palatable view for the Medici family, however, all these shops were kicked off the bridge after the Corridor was built and were replaced by jewelry shops, which are still there today…The third photo offers a view of the bridge and its shops…

The Vasari Corridor holds the Uffizi Gallery’s famous collection of self-portraits (from Andrea del Sarto to Chagall), which we were not allowed to photograph. We were, however, allowed to take photos of the views from the many panoramic windows, which offer great views of the river, as you can see. Indeed, these views are really the best feature of the Corridor, in my opinion…in addition to the neat fact that you are walking “over” the heads of the people in the streets below, just like the Medici family did several centuries ago… 🙂

Unfortunately, as you can tell, the day selected for our tour of the Vasari Corridor turned out to be a rather stormy one, which means that my photos didn’t come out as they would have on a lovely sunny afternoon. Oh well. Can’t have everything! 🙂 

By the way, Stefano had never been to the Vasari Corridor before (imagine that!), and I’d been there only twice, many many years ago…so I’d been trying for a while to get access in some way…Not as easy as you’d think, since it’s closed to the general public most of the year, and to get inside you have reserve a private, guided tour, paying an arm and a leg…But we finally got lucky and were able to view the Vasari Corridor yesterday without losing any…limbs or being rushed by anyone… 🙂 

After our amble through the Corridor, which started and ended in the Uffizi Gallery, we had enough time left to check out some of our favorite paintings in the Uffizi, such as Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus,” Botticelli’s “Allegory of Spring,” and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Annunciation.” Overwhelming…so beautiful…If you come to Florence, you shouldn’t miss going to the fabulous Uffizi Gallery…

Even though you can find photos of the Uffizi paintings online, photography is strictly forbidden inside the museum…so, again, we didn’t take any photos of the artwork, Just of the stunning outside views (see my early evening shot of the Palazzo Vecchio, all lit up, taken from the terrace of the Uffizi’s café, for example…)…

Anyway, ’twas a lovely afternoon…apart from the terrible weather, of course! 🙂

We heard about it on the news on Thursday. I turned to Stefano, who still loves playing video-games whenever he has time, and said: “Would you like to go?”

12 hours later, I really regretted asking him that question.

This, by the way, is a three-day weekend in Italy. November 1 is All Saints’ Day (Ognissanti, in Italian), and today, November 2, is All Souls’ Day, or Tutti i Morti (literal translation: All the Dead). It’s a big Catholic weekend, with people going to the cemetery to “visit” their dead family members and so on…

For Stefano and yours truly, though, this three-day holiday means that we get to sleep more for three mornings in a row (if the cats don’t get too antsy, that is!), and spend an extra, fun-filled day together, which is grrrrreat… 

And so yesterday morning we set off for the small city of Lucca, about a 1.5 hour drive from our house. What we didn’t realize at the time was that we were NOT alone. Nope, another (at least!) 5 billion trillion gazillion nerds/families/people were also heading for Lucca…filling up all the parking lots with their cars…and filling up the small streets and squares of this lovely little city, too.

We ended up parking our car quite far from the city center, a good 20-minute walk (each way). But the worst were the immense crowds (see the photo, below, which I took from the city walls of the late afternoon crowd waiting to get in…You can click on some of the photos to make ’em bigger, btw) inside this huge, city-wide exhibit/fair. I’ve never seen so many people, not even at the supermarket the day before Xmas… 

Until we paid for our tickets and got “inside,” we hadn’t realized that the entire city center was devoted to Lucca Comics and Games 2013 (http://goo.gl/s5XPBO). No kidding. This meant that you couldn’t get inside the city walls if you didn’t have a Comics and Games ticket. So yes, this event was HUGE! 

Part of it was a lot of fun, I admit, because almost half the people there were all dressed up in costume, from fancy expensive costumes to clearly homemade and creative ones. People of all ages, not just children. Too bad my photos didn’t turn out too well…I guess I was too busy trying not to get pushed (!), especially down the narrow streets, where we were packed like sardines…not fun at all, that part! 

Another “not fun” part. Later that evening, after we’d finally gotten home, totally exhausted, Stefano discovered that Simon, of my favorite Simon’s Cat, is going to be in Lucca today and tomorrow. Noooooo! If we’d known, we would have gone there today!!! I’m so upset! (Oh well…) Click here for the article, which includes Simon Cat’s new video, “Scary Legs”: http://goo.gl/nwzN0H

By the way, you may have noticed that my blog looks a bit different. Well, it IS different. It has magically turned into a pumpk…I mean, into a proper WEBSITE! 🙂 Oh okay, I confess, no magic was involved. This website (and the blog that preceded it) was created by my friend and tech wiz administrator, Beth. What it means to have, er, “graduated” from a blog to a website, exactly, is still beyond my comprehension, since I can’t even figure out how to change the header photo (it’s a photo I took of a whale whacking its tail on the surface of the sea, near Provincetown, MA, this past summer). And the smiley face option doesn’t work, which is good news for those who hate them er, smilies! (= I’d have put a smiley face right here, but I can’t! Hehe.)

But eventually I’ll figure out what to do with this website…

(Maybe…!)

Update, Nov 4 2013: with the help of my wonderful tech wiz friend, I was able to figure out the smiley issue, so that’s fine now. As for the header photo, well, as you can see, I did manage to change it, so the whale’s tail turned into my Prezzemolo (a funny blog reader pointed that out to me, hehe). I will change the header photo from time to time…