Taking off

Just briefly…I wanted to say that tomorrow Stefano and I are zooming off for about 10 days (= holiday…yaaaaay!) with a couple of our friends. I don’t know if I’ll have access to Internet during that time, so I just thought I’d publish a quick post.

Well, I hope you’ll have as much fun as I plan to have!!!

Take care, everyone! Ciaoooo! 🙂 

A terrible loss for everyone

Since yesterday evening, this is what I’ve been hearing on the news: it’s a terrible loss for Catholics, it’s a terrible loss for people of all faiths…

Of course it is, but let’s not exclude anyone. What happened yesterday in Paris is a terrible loss for everyone, even for non-believers like me.

I broke down and wept when I saw the footage of the fire devastating the medieval cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Horrifying…

Simply horrifying…

Stefano and I were in Paris in August of 2018. We were very lucky to have a great view of Notre Dame and the surrounding area from our hotel room.

Anyway, here are some of the photos I took back then.

This is how I want to remember Notre Dame…intact…

High school principal dies after donating bone marrow…

Thanks to Karen for providing the link to this incredible story. At first, like other readers, I thought he’d donated his stem cells to try to save the life of a teenager in France, but no, he’d donated his bone marrow.

Still, I’d never heard of anything like this…I wonder if he had an allergic reaction to the drugs…? Anyway, I suppose we’ll learn more in the coming days…

Here’s the CNN article: https://cnn.it/2P4nV0z

I’m feeling rather stunned…

Specific criteria needed for different types of myeloma

Yesterday I came across a Science Daily article discussing a recent study on the need to have different diagnostic criteria for the kappa and lambda types of myeloma. Apparently some patients with the lambda type go undiagnosed, based on current criteria.

Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/2GfulHf

And here’s an excerpt: “Current testing trends lean toward looking in the serum only which also can lead to problems detecting lambda-associated conditions.”

I wonder how many have had that problem…?

Exposure to permethrin increases risk of developing multiple myeloma

I just read a bit of news that I thought I’d share here on the blog.

A new study shows that exposure (NOTE: “a high lifetime exposure“) to an insecticide called permethrin increases one’s risk of developing MM. This insecticide is used in public health mosquito control programs, for example. Eeeeek!

Here’s the article, for those interested: http://bit.ly/2G1haJN

I’ve been reading some interesting stuff lately…I just have to find the time to post about it all! Anyway, have a great weekend, everyone! Ciao! 🙂Â