March 2024 – Margaret's Corner

I wonder if these case reports will ever catch the eye of our MM organisations, which, unfortunately, are so heavily sponsored by big Pharma…Doubtful… 😕

Well, Margaret, this is intended to be a celebratory post, and I really don’t have the energy to dive into THAT discussion again. It’s just so bloody frustrating that sometimes I have to let off some steam. But no, not today. Today is a super good day!

A new case report, led by Terry Golombick (if you don’t know who she is, you can do a search of my blog…she’s one of my favourite people on the planet…!!!), shows that a patient with intermediate/high-risk MGUS who has been taking curcumin for 16 years has had “a decrease in disease markers and an increase in uninvolved immunoglobulins.”

Fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.

The study is available online for free (love that!), so you can have a look for yourselves…not hard to read, either: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15347354241242099

16 years, eh? That made me realise that I’ve been taking curcumin now for more than 18 years, which means that this patient began just a couple of years after I did…AND a year after I began blogging. I wonder if I know him…Hmmm…I believe I must, but I have so many readers now that of course it’s hard to keep track of all of you…

Please do get in touch with me, Mr. Fabulous Patient, if you happen to read this post. I’d really love that. Thanks! 🙂

Interesting bit: Mr. Fabulous Patient took a very small amount of curcumin every day, only 2.3 grams a day, divided into two doses, which seems to confirm that we all have a different reaction to curcumin. I also guess that it might (must?) depend on WHEN you begin taking it…It makes sense, to me at any rate, that curcumin would have a stronger effect on a MGUS patient than an SMM one, e.g.

Food for thought.

The study concludes: “This case study adds to the body of evidence that curcumin administration may benefit some patients diagnosed with MGUS with little or no toxicity even after 16 years of therapy.”

Potter: “This box is mine, only mine, even if I don’t fit on it!”

Yes, indeed…no doubts about that in my mind!!!

I am incredibly happy for Mr. Fabulous Patient as well as for those of us who have been doing so well on curcumin … Today is definitely a day of celebration!!!

Take care, everyone. Oh, and, if you have the time, please go read the study and send me your comments…Thanks!

My faithful nurses (of course, Stefano was number ONE)…

I’m usually soooo careful when I leave the house…If I’m going to be in a crowded situation, such as a supermarket, I pull out and wear an FFP2 mask. I don’t shake hands or kiss anyone, even my closest friends. They all know and respect that…

But on Sunday, March 10, I let down my guard, unfortunately. We went to a friend’s house, and when we left, I gave her a hug, just as she was telling me that she didn’t feel that great (Margaret, duh!). We pulled apart, but the damage was done. The following day she came down with a very bad “flu” (or whatever it was), and that hug, plus hanging out at her house on Sunday, meant that I did, too.

I woke up on Monday with a very high fever (on Tuesday night it went up to 40.4° Celsius), and other symptoms that I shall spare you. 😉 But mainly, the high fever was the biggest annoyance. I was really sick that week…then, slowly, I got better, and I’m absolutely fine now. This “thing,” whatever you want to call it (flu or viral bad stuff) is going around, my doctor told me. And, he added, it takes a while to get back on your feet. No kidding.

Anyway, all is (quite) good now. That’s the important thing. I’ve read some interesting things lately, but I need to rest some more before writing a serious post…I just wanted to publish a wee post on the blog today. And wee it is! 🙂

Take care, everyone, and wear a protective mask in crowded situations, even though it’s no longer mandatory… Better safe than sorry…!!!