Stefano and I returned to Italy a couple of days ago. Those ten days we spent in the U.S.A. might well have been the worst days of my life thus far…worse even than when I received my cancer diagnosis…I mean, it was simply awful awful awful, every day, every minute of every day…

The “good” thing is that Stefano and I did get to Cape Cod in time to say goodbye to Mom, and in fact she is still alive. But I don’t think she will last very much longer. She is amazingly weak…The nurse practitioner, whom Stefano and I went to see shortly after we arrived, told us that “there is no going back.”

She’s dying. She isn’t eating enough to keep herself alive…

The “funny” thing is that she is drinking colas (sweetened, carbonated soft drinks) every day. This started back in February, when she began experiencing a lot of nausea after her second hip operation. She now drinks two or three colas a day, at least. My mother wouldn’t have touched a cola with a ten-foot pole a few months ago. But now she finds them “refreshing.” Under other circumstances, that would have been very amusing…very amusing indeed.

She is also drinking small shakes containing Ensure (yes, yes, yes, I know that this stuff is crap, mainly water and sweeteners and chemicals…But she likes the taste, so…whatever…).

The entire time I was there, the only solid food I saw her eat was a small slice of quiche…oh and a tiny bowl of jello. She waves food away. She doesn’t want any. My sister has tried bringing her all sorts of goodies. Nothing has worked.

And now it’s too late.

Stefano and I went to say our final goodbye to Mom on Monday morning, before leaving for Boston Logan airport. She was turned on her side, fast asleep.

I began saying, more loudly each time, “Mom…Mooom…MOM…MOOOOOM!!!!!,” but she didn’t wake up. I began gently shaking her shoulder, then a bit more forcefully, still calling her. No reaction. The thought that she might have slipped into a coma crossed my mind, so I ran to the nurses’ station for help. A nurse rushed in and did what I had done, talking to Mom and shaking her shoulder.

Mom finally opened her eyes. And so we had a little more time together. I pretended to have an allergy when I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I told her that we are all okay (and similar “goodbye” sentences)…But she seemed not to notice…The tiny little creature in that bed really isn’t my Mom anymore…

Later on that day, I thought that going into a coma wouldn’t be such a bad way to go. No pain, just…sleep. I hope that will be the way she will slip away from us…

But let’s get to the title of my post. When it rains, it pours.

Exactly a week ago, on Thursday evening, my Dad said he didn’t feel too well and wanted to go to bed before dinner. My sister and I tucked him in, and he reassured us that he would be okay. After dinner, I went upstairs to check on him, and he looked and felt awful. He had a fit of the chills, so I took his temperature, which turned out to be rather high. I went downstairs to tell my sister and get him a glass of water and some Tylenol. The two of us decided to take him to see the doctor in the morning if he wasn’t feeling much better.

When I got back upstairs, I saw Dad staggering toward the bathroom, moaning and groaning, all bent over. I rushed to him and grabbed him just in time, before he fell down, I mean. He’s a tall guy, too heavy for me, so I yelled for help. Stefano and my nephew came running and gently lowered Dad to the bathroom floor. My sister called an ambulance, while I asked Dad some questions to make sure he hadn’t suffered a stroke. He was a bit confused but answered the basic questions…

The long and short of it is that Dad spent three days in the hospital. Diagnosis: pneumonia. He is now out of the hospital and, get this!, he is in the same clinic where Mom is, except Dad is in the rehab part…

So right now, Mom and Dad are under the same roof, and he can visit her for longer periods of time. That is not a bad thing, all things considered. They have been happily married for 61 years…

It was hard for me to get on that plane bound for Italy on Monday. I broke down at the airport when I realized that I probably won’t see my Mom alive again. But Stefano and I had to get home. And it’s just as well we did…

My cat sitter called us as soon as we landed to let me know that she’d found quite a bit of blood on the bathroom floor the previous evening. She had examined all the cats but hadn’t been able to figure out which one had been bleeding…

So Stefano and I went looking for Puzzola, our eldest cat, the only one who hadn’t greeted us at the door. We finally found her all scrunched up a corner of the bathroom. She wasn’t moving, and she didn’t react to our calling her name and petting her. When we spotted the blood underneath her, we rushed her immediately to the vet clinic.

Thank goodness it turned out not to be a hemorrhage of any sort but “only” a very bad bladder infection. So now she is on antibiotics…and she is going to be fine.

Welcome home.

P.S. Incidentally, Priscilla, the cat who had convulsions before we left for the U.S.A., is fine. The vets couldn’t find anything wrong with her…nothing in her X-rays or in her blood tests. We’ll just keep a close eye on her and hope it was a one-time, weird thingy.

Well, as the nurse at the Cape Cod nursing home informed me last week over the phone, my Mom is “on her way out.” So Stefano and I are leaving on Saturday for the U.S.A. To say goodbye to Mom…hoping to get there in time…

Sad times.

I can’t concentrate right now on anything beyond the necessary daily tasks, such as taking care of the cats. Speaking of which, this morning one of my cats, our 11-year-old Priscilla, suddenly fell out of her hammock, located on the tall cat tree next to my desk, and went splat! on the ground. Her paws gave in…I think she landed on her stomach. Then she began having convulsions. Very scary. I threw myself on the ground and held her and soothed her until the convulsions stopped. She is stable now, asleep on our bed, but I’m taking her in to see the vet-neurologist this afternoon. (This is a recent photo of her.)

When it rains, it pours. So true.

Anyway, take care, everyone! I will try to post updates from time to time during this very difficult period for me and my family…Ciao!

This morning I watched a 5-minute animation on immunotherapy, which is still in the early stages AND doesn’t work for everybody, but is still something worth following, methinks. Here’s the link to the short video: http://goo.gl/CZPhMH

We’ve had a family emergency: my Mom fell down in the living room and fractured her hip a few days ago. She’s in the hospital now and has already had an operation to put three screws into her hip. So far so good. When I spoke with her yesterday, she was already out of bed, sitting in a chair, having lunch. But my parents are going to need some help in the next few weeks. So I’m leaving for the States tomorrow…

I find myself apologizing (again!) to those of you who have written to me and have not yet received a reply. I really need an assistant! 😉 A helpful hint: whenever you have a question, please use the blog’s “Search” box (in the upper right-hand corner) first, before dropping me a note, I mean. That Search box is such a handy tool: I use it myself from time to time, in fact. I mention this because often I see that many of your queries have already been answered on the blog…

That said, I’ll try to answer every single message when I get back to Italy in early March. That’s the best I can do. This has been a horrendously busy period for me, and the next few weeks are going to be hectic, too…Still, sorry about the wait!!! Really really sorry…

Okay, I’ve been up since 4:30 AM, and I have about a million errands to do today, so off I go. Take care, everyone!!! 🙂

On Saturday morning Stefano and I joined a group of about twenty friends on a guided tour of the museum of the Opera del Duomo. The Opera del Duomo, roughly translated as Cathedral Workshop, was founded in the 13th century with the aim of supervising the building and maintenance of Florence’s magnificent cathedral, the Duomo.

After undergoing a period (three years, I think) of top to bottom renovations and a much-needed expansion, the museum reopened in October 2015 (and in fact one of my closest friends worked very hard on this enormous project…I’m so proud!!!), thanks to the purchase and renovation of adjoining buildings, including a former parking garage and a theater. So in October, for the first time ever, the Opera del Duomo’s rich collection of medieval and Renaissance sculptures, consisting of 750 statues and reliefs, finally had enough room to be put on display. And I must say that it is FABBBBBULOUS. Stunning, simply stunning.

We saw one of the museum’s most famous sculptures: Michelangelo’s unfinished Pietà, which, the guide told us, he worked on by candlelight, after he got home at night, when he was 70 years old. Michelangelo evidently didn’t like the way the sculpture was turning out, though, because at one point, in a fit of rage, he hit it with a hammer, damaging it here and there (especially Christ’s arm, which has been reattached–the scar is clearly visible).

The guide told us that Nicodemus’ face (that’s the tall guy holding Christ in his arms) is considered to be Michelangelo’s self-portrait. That’s the wonderful thing about going around a museum with a guide, something that Stefano and I rarely do because we hate to be rushed from place to place, and we like our independence, but I have to admit that a guide CAN give you some interesting bits of information that you otherwise would not have.

For instance, she told us a cute little anecdote about the actual building of the cathedral’s dome. Incidentally, did you know that nobody has been able to build a replica of the dome? That’s right. It has never been done successfully. All the dome replicas have tumbled down. How did Brunelleschi do it? A mystery. An amazing feat of engineering…And we may never figure it out…

Oh, I almost forgot the anecdote, hehe…here it is: according to legend, Brunelleschi used breadcrumbs to show his assistants how to place such a heavy dome on top of Florence’s cathedral. Once they’d understood what they needed to do, he ate all the breadcrumbs, thus destroying all the evidence. He left no plans, no drawings, nothing specific, anyway. How about that, eh? I knew that nobody had been able to recreate this wonderful dome, which I believe is still the largest brick dome in the WORLD, but I hadn’t heard the breadcrumb story…And hey, who cares if it’s not true? It’s cute!!!

An entire wall of the museum’s largest hall, which can be viewed from the upstairs galleries, too (and it’s great to have a different perspective, statues at eye level, etc.), is covered by a spectacular full-scale model in resin of the original medieval façade of the cathedral, which was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296. The original façade was never finished and ended up being destroyed in the 16th century (the Duomo’s current façade was built in the late 19th century).

Opposite the resin façade, you can have a close-up look at two of Florence’s Baptistery’s original doors, including Lorenzo Ghiberti’s exquisite, gilded bronze doors. These two doors were removed from the Baptistery and cleaned in the late 20th century, as I recall.

This means, of course, that the doors photographed by thousands of tourists outside, in piazza Duomo, are actually copies…beautiful copies, but copies nonetheless. The only original door out there right now is the North door, which however is supposed to be cleaned up and placed next to the other two inside the museum soon, so hurry up if you want to take a photo of it out in the open…By the way, these two doors are enclosed in glass, which makes it possible to see not just the external gilded sides but the internal wooden paneled sides, too. Very interesting…

Anyway, I don’t want to bore you with too many details (all the various galleries in the museum, Giotto’s Bell-tower gallery with its 16 life-size statues, the Choir galleries with the pulpits by Donatello and Luca della Robbia, etc. etc. etc.), but I hope you will enjoy the photos I took…yes, you can take photos inside the museum…no flash. The one on the left, by the way, is Donatello’s extraordinary “Penitent Magdalen,” a 15th century sculpture of polychrome wood (one of the few that survived the Renaissance, btw!) that really could have been made yesterday by a famous modern artist.

Okay, enough, before this gets too boring! 😉 I highly recommend that you make time for a visit to this museum on your next trip to Florence! Ah, and don’t forget to walk up (or take the elevator up) to the museum’s panoramic terrace, which offers a breathtaking view of Brunelleschi’s dome and the rooftops of my beautiful city. I took the photo on the right up there, in fact. Another recommendation: buy a cumulative ticket. Our ticket, which cost 12 euros, enabled us to visit the Baptistery as well as an art exhibition going on right now in Palazzo Strozzi. So check it out and see what’s being offered.

Next, as planned, we visited Florence’s Baptistery, with its newly cleaned facade. I hadn’t been inside the Baptistery since I was a kid, I think. Ah, it’s a real beauty. Definitely worth seeing. Plus, it will give you an advantage when Dan Brown’s “Inferno” comes out. 😉

After the Baptistery, our group split up, and Stefano and I headed off to have a romantic lunch in town. Alone. We went to a small restaurant where we’d had dinner years ago, while we were still in the dating phase.

We began chatting (my, er, “fault,” as usual! 😉 ) with an adorable young British couple having lunch next to us. They asked us if we had recommendations on places to have decent meals. I jotted down a few restaurant names for them, and we continued chatting. After lunch we went to the above-mentioned art exhibit, and then took the bus back home to our kitties.

A lovely day. Simply lovely. 🙂

As I announced a few weeks ago, Stefano and I spent the holiday season visiting my parents on Cape Cod, U.S.A. We had a very nice, quiet visit…My parents are now in their upper 80s but still doing quite well, knock on wood! 

The title of my post should continue “…had I been able to.” In the States, the only computer I had access to was my mother’s old Apple computer. And it was so maddeningly slow that I finally gave up on it.

So instead of writing a holiday post back in December, I’m going to write one now…now that I’m back in Florence (we landed in Florence yesterday afternoon) and able to access my fabulous, FAST desk computer. Let’s just pretend for a moment that it’s around December 25th. 😉

Let’s see. I wanted to tell the story of our flights to the U.S. and back to Italy.

First, our flight to the U.S.A. on December 23rd. While Stefano and I were waiting in Frankfurt Airport for our connecting flight to Boston, we heard our names being called. We went up to the gate agent who informed us that we had been upgraded to Business Class because the flight was overbooked and also because of Stefano’s frequent flyer status. Well, knock me over with a feather!

Flying in Business Class has been on my “bucket list” for a while now. But we haven’t been able to afford it, so I figured I’d never have the opportunity (no big deal, really…I mean, I have more important items on my list!). This upgrade was therefore a completely unexpected and fantastic early Xmas present for me. I got so excited, in fact, that I began doing a little happy dance, right in front of all the other passengers and gate agents. Such a happy moment. 

And there’s more: our plane was one of those double-deckers. Yes, you guessed it: our seats were located upstairs, on the top floor! Another wee item crossed off that bucket thingy! 😉

I was so thrilled that I couldn’t sit still. I examined every item in the holiday goody bag; I checked the settings on the seat (you can lie FLAT if you want to…the seat basically turns into a rather narrow but comfortable bed); I watched three movies; I stretched out, and I drank a glass of champagne…total bliss. Needless to say, we had a wonderful flight–even the food was very good. I felt like a princess… 

so much so that when we reached the check-in desk at Logan Airport in Boston day before yesterday, I asked the agent how much it would cost for us to be upgraded again to Business Class. I figured it would be too much, but it doesn’t cost anything to ask, right?

Her fingers went clickety-clack clackety-click on the computer, and after a few minutes she told us that our return flight was overbooked and we’d been upgraded to Business Class…AGAIN. Unbelievable. I felt like a little kid opening presents on Xmas morning…

However, I have to confess that I felt badly for the folks marching past us on the plane on their way to their seats in Economy (where I’ve always traveled, of course, and where I will travel again, no question about that!). I mean, I strongly believe that all seats should be comfortable on long flights, not just Business and First Class seats. All seats.
But…that’s the way things go. The more money you can spend, the more comfortable you will be. When I told my parents about feeling badly about traveling in Business, Dad remarked, “Oh well, then of course you must have gotten up and given your seat to someone else, right?”

(He’s such a clown…)

Um, no. I didn’t.  The thought didn’t even cross my mind, I admit.

But I did feel a bit guilty for traveling in such luxury…I felt it wasn’t fair…and it isn’t, really.

Anyway, here are a few of the photos I took while I was on Cape Cod.

Beaches…guests at my parents’ bird feeders…a seagull in the fog in Chatham (Massachusetts)…two very playful dogs running on the beach (they ran up to us and got us a bit wet and sandy…so cute!)…and so on. If you hover over the photos, you should be able to read my comments on most of them…

I guess that all that remains to be said is: Belated Happy New Year, everyone!!! 😀 I’m off to feed my hungry cats and have dinner now…Ciao!

Stefano and I are leaving for the United States tomorrow morning…very early…zzzzzz.

We’ll be back in Florence on January 6…so we’ll be spending exactly two weeks with my parents on Cape Cod. We are, as usual, leaving our cats in very good, capable hands, those of our fabulous house and cat sitter, also a good friend. 

 

I didn’t want to post an anonymous Xmas greeting on the blog today, so I went through our old Xmas photos and, well, here are a few. Of course, the main theme is…cats, cats…and more cats!!! 🙂

If you hover over the photos, you’ll be able to see the date each photo was taken, etc. You can also click on at least some of the photos to make them bigger. I don’t know why the “make ’em bigger” option doesn’t work for ALL the photos…technological mysteries…

I’ll be back online day after tomorrow…Again, I apologize to those who sent me messages to which I haven’t replied yet. I’ll try to get to them in January. 
If you would like an answer before then, please send me another message, since I won’t be able to access/read your “old” messages (which have been downloaded onto my main computer, this one, that is). 

HAPPY AND HEALTHY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!!! 🙂

A few days ago, a very kind and generous blog reader sent me the full study that I’d mentioned in my December 18 2015 post. Here are a few highlights…

First, I’d like to say that what I really like about these researchers, Golombick et al, is that they are looking for NONTOXIC ways to “develop early intervention strategies.” As you know, the conventional myeloma world is looking mostly at TOXIC early intervention strategies, which, as we know, can be very risky (just read my December 7 2014 post about the subpopulations of myeloma…).

Before I go on, this study is really a sort of “summary” that combines the data from previous studies carried out by these researchers on MGUS, SMM, and early-stage CLL patients. So we can actually access all the data on our own…

Since I’ve already posted about the MGUS and SMM patient studies (plus the one on a patient with laryngeal amyloidosis, which you can find by doing a search of my blog…), I wanted instead to focus a bit on a study carried out on early-stage CLL patients, a study published back in June but that I didn’t know about until this morning (it’s not myeloma-related, you see…). And the only reason I found out about it is because it’is discussed in our above-mentioned “summary” study. Here’s the link (to the CLL study): http://goo.gl/IPqo1n You can download and read the entire shebang for free…

Now for a bit of VERY interesting information: these CLL patients, 21 individuals with stage O/1 CLL (that is, early-stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia), took Meriva curcumin. Meriva, non C3 Complex curcumin…

Well, well. For the past three years or so, I’ve actually been curious to try Meriva, and back in 2012 I actually wrote a post about it. I should really test Meriva at some point…In fact, it makes sense to buy some while I’m in the U.S.A. for the holidays (we’re leaving day after tomorrow!). So now it’s on my list of things to buy…

You’re probably curious about dosage, since I was, too. You may find this incredible, but the dose administered to the CLL patients was just two grams a day. No kidding. Two grams…

And at that dose, a small percentage of these CLL patients had a more than 20% decrease in their absolute lymphocyte count, which is very good…this decrease occurred after just a few months in 4 patients out of 21. The rest of the patients didn’t respond to curcumin, apparently.

At least, they apparently had no response to this type of curcumin, and/or to this dosage (this last sentence is my own, by the way…just a thought I had while reading the study…). Hmmm, I wonder what would have happened if those CLL patients had taken a higher dose…just wondering…especially since I can’t even imagine going down to 2 grams a day…nope…no way!

Well, perhaps a dose increase might be an idea for a follow-up study…Anyway, this is an interesting study, and I know it’s not a myeloma-related one, but please go have a look, at least at the Results, Discussion, and Conclusion parts. There are a lot of details that I don’t have the time right now to post about…

Let’s get back to our MGUS, SMM, and CLL study now. It ends by suggesting that curcumin may be beneficial to some folks with MGUS, SMM, or early stage CLL, and that early intervention with curcumin “may lead to prolonged survival and delay in progressive disease in some of these patients.”

Plus, as we know, the obvious advantage of curcumin is that it is not toxic at all  (unless you have gall bladder issues, so please do be careful about that!!!).

I agree with the conclusion reached by these researchers: we need larger studies. The problem is where to find the funding for these larger studies…same old, same old…uff.

In the meantime, I would like to send a message to Dr. Golombick publicly: THANK YOU, THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!, for your indefatigable work on behalf of blood cancer patients. 🙂

P.S. I might have asked this in a previous post, but does anybody here take Meriva? If so, with what results? And what dosage? Thanks! 🙂