Month: May 2017

My blog…mentioned in a BBC radio programme!

/ Margaret / 24 Comments

Even though my blog reader D. had told me some time ago that my blog might be mentioned in the BBC radio station that had interviewed her for the programme they were doing on turmeric, I was happy about that, of course, but I hadn’t really gotten too carried away…until today, when I found and actually listened to the programme, which is available online, right here: goo.gl/Gmda8N

BBC food programmeDieneke’s case study is mentioned toward the end of the programme, so please be patient. It’s a very interesting programme, anyway. With a nice turmeric-based recipe or two, which never hurts!

I have to admit that I got a bit teary as I listened to Dieneke (no point in trying to protect her privacy anymore, since her name is mentioned during the programme!) and her oncologist discuss her case…Teary in a good way, of course!

And at this point I would like to thank blog reader Jan who posted a lovely comment on my April 20th post…the comment that inspired me to have a look for the programme in the first place (but I didn’t think I’d find it):

“On Sunday 28th May 2017 ( repeated on Monday 29th) I listened to a programme on BBC radio 4 FM called ‘The Food Programme ‘. It was talking about health benefits of turmeric and in particular curcumin. The contributor to Margaret’s blog called ‘D’ was interviewed about her use of curcumin and how her MM has stabilised now for five years. Her oncologist was also interviewed and the study was mentioned. It all sounded very positive about curcumin. ‘D’ also said that she had discovered curcumin on Margaret’s blog. The programme presenter called Sheila Dillon also has MM and as I recall had a SCT a few years ago.
I’ve had MM for seven years and have been following Margaret’s blog since then. Have tried numerous alternative treatments but due to extreme pain had five months of Velcade etc last year. Pain now coming back so thinking of doing curcumin. Hadn’t done it before for various reasons.
Margaret this is so exciting! Your curcumin protocol and your blog has been talked about on the BBC!
Thanks so much for all your great work. You’ve kept me going over these seven years.

And ‘ D ‘ thanks to you too for your major contribution .

Best wishes to all,

Jan.”

And finally, thank you, Sheila Dillon and BBC Radio 4, for this very interesting programme! 🙂

Time…or rather, no time!!!

/ Margaret / 1 Comment

Keep-calm-and-carry-on-scanTime is flying by. I can’t believe it’s almost June. How did that happen…where did May go???

And I have so much to do…doesn’t everyone???…So once again I have been “ignoring” my blog. So sorry about that…

It’s all because of my mad spring cleaning. Thing is, the more I put things in order, the more mess I seem to have in every room. Go figure! But putting my house in order is my priority right now. So I have but glanced at a couple of studies I have on my desktop…

Okay, I’m actually not “ignoring” my blog. I mean, I check it every day, approve comments and so on, and I am certain to be posting about some serious stuff soon. I will…I will!

In the meantime, though, take care, everyone!  🙂 

“Long-term follow-up of curcumin treated MGUS/SMM patients – an updated single centre experience”

/ Margaret / 5 Comments

In an email I received yesterday, Dr. Terry Golombick notified me that her team’s most recent article has been  published in the Journal of Hematology and Medical Oncology. It is available for free online…just click here: goo.gl/cEP93h

keep calm and turmeric onAhhhh. Wonderful…absolutely wonderful.

Wonderful, because finally…FINALLY (!!!)…we have a long-term look at a GROUP of MGUS and SMM patients taking curcumin. These are those who participated in the Australian MGUS/SMM study and who “continued to take curcumin over a number of years, of their own volition, even though the studies in which they were participating are complete.”

So this is a “long-term follow-up of 13 MGUS/SMM patients who have been taking curcumin (at a dose of 4 -8 grams daily) for a period of 3-9 years.”

Only one patient, who had cardiac amyloidosis (!), went on to full-blown myeloma and is currently undergoing conventional treatments. The rest of the patients are doing quite well, some better than others…anyway, you can read all the details in the report…

I really hope that this report will encourage more and more centers to start giving curcumin to their MGUS and SMM patients and, why not?, to their MM patients as well. At this point, I could go into a tirade about the short-sightedness of conventional medicine, but, at least for now, I’d rather look at the positive side, which is the publication of some CASE STUDIES, like the one concerning my blog reader D., and this Australian one.

I would like to end this post by stating that we all owe a large debt of gratitude to dedicated researchers like Dr. Golombick who have overcome all sorts of obstacles (I’m sure of that!!!) to help patients like us have the best quality of life possible, for as long as possible…

To all the Golombicks of the world: thank you, thank YOU, THANK YOU!!!  🙂 keep calm and watch and wait

By the way, let me remind you that Dr. Golombick and her team have set up a useful website for all of us who have a type of blood cancer. I’ve talked about it here on the blog, but just in case you missed that post, here is the link: https://www.watchandwaitbloodcancers.com/

KEEP CALM AND…

WATCH AND WAIT!!!!!! 

Eighteen!

/ Margaret / 4 Comments

keep-calm-it-s-our-18th-wedding-anniversary1999 was an important year for me:

1. it’s the year Stefano and I got married.

2. it’s the year of my MGUS diagnosis.

But today I want to focus more on number one, our wedding anniversary. Stefano and I were married in the town hall of Florence (Palazzo Vecchio) on May 8, 1999, which means that yesterday was our 18th wedding anniversary.

We didn’t have any plans to celebrate our anniversary this year. Too much going on. But months ago, shortly after Xmas, a close friend of ours told us that he was planning to surprise his wife on her 50th birthday. He asked us if we would be interested in helping him. Needless to say, we were.

We decided to go to the Dolomites, a mountain range located in northeastern Italy, where, before Easter, we rented a two-bedroom, two bathroom Airbnb-type apartment…near the city of Merano.

wedding ann

Then Mom died (on Easter Sunday), and I almost canceled the trip. But Stefano had just returned from a long and exhausting business trip and needed a good rest (note: he had to be relatively near Florence so he could make sure things were going well at work) and, to be quite honest, I needed to get away for a while…The Dolomites were the perfect location…only a 3.5 hour drive from Florence.

So off we went. But I’ll stop here, since I have photos of our stay in the Dolomites and may post a few.

18 yearsI wanted to end this post by saying that I hope to have many more HAPPY (and HEALTHY!) years together with my Stefano, l’amore della mia vita, my best friend, my partner…the smartest, wisest, most knowledgeable, most headstrong (aiaiaiaiiiii! 😉 ) person I know…Oh, and he’s also tall, dark (although his hair is grayer than it used to be…), and handsome!!!  🙂

Ti amo, moro…

P.S. By the way, you can click on the cartoon to enlarge it…