I simply adore tulips. Last fall, with the help of a friend, I planted a whole bunch in my back garden…different colors, different types, smaller ones, bigger ones…

And now we can finally admire the fruits of our labors…

Some of my tulips have been blooming for the past week or so, and more are getting ready to…burst.

They’re so lovely, in my opinion, and they give me a sense of happiness when I walk among them or even just look out at them, standing as still as elegant little sentinels wearing colorful hats…

Anyway, here are a few photos I took yesterday, a glorious sunny day here in Firenze!

 

 

 

Happiness can be found in small things…

It’s really true. It’s all a matter of luck, of being in the right place at the right time.

It happened to Stefano and me yesterday. We went bird watching at our usual place, the Parco della Piana in Sesto Fiorentino, just outside of Florence.

We decided to check out the “kingfisher” hut before going to count the black-winged stilts. As it so happened, there was only one other photographer in the hut. Boy, this guy had the biggest lens and most elaborate set-up (camera, tripod, etc.) I’ve ever seen.

We sat down on either side of him and, at his suggestion, pointed our lenses toward the other end of the lake, about a million miles away (!), where you could barely make out a red dot = the female kingfisher’s belly. Then we just waited.

After 15 or 20 minutes, we heard a series of peeps overhead–the male kingfisher returning from his successful hunt. The female got very excited and began preening herself. After a few seconds, the male landed close to her and, after showing off his prey, turning his beak this way and that way, gently fed her the shrimp he’d caught. Awwww…so romantic!!!

We’d seen and photographed the male kingfisher before (I have posted a few photos of him here, in fact), but never the female. And we’d certainly never seen them TOGETHER, so this was an amazing treat. Now, I know this isn’t the best photo in the world (though I tried my best with the camera I have…a good camera, mind you, with a great zoom…but nothing like our new friend’s equipment…), but hey, you try taking a photo of two small red dots in the distance… 😉

Okay, I must go now and get ready…I’m getting picked up soon by a friend, and we’re off for the rest of the day, a fun fun fun day with other friends, too. Have a great Sunday, everyone! Ciaoooooo!

Afterthought: here’s what a HUGE lens can do, and yes, this was taken by the guy sitting next to us yesterday…same place, same kingfishers…but check out the difference! Wow: http://goo.gl/DKgM9n 

Last year Stefano and I took our eldest cat, Puzzola, to the vet because she had peed all over my bathrobe, which indicated in no uncertain terms that she had a urinary tract infection (I wrote a post about this episode in February 2013, btw). The vet confirmed the infection and immediately put her on antibiotics. Then, while checking her out, the vet found a small nodule on Puzzola’s thyroid gland. A blood test confirmed what she suspected–Puzzola had hyperthyroidism. At that time, it was a very mild case…

Puzzola was supposed to go back for a checkup (=blood test) after a month or thereabouts, but all this unfortunately happened while my father-in-law was very ill…and, with all that was going on, we just couldn’t deal with stressing out Puzzola, too. So I just gave her the recommended dose of Tapazole, the conventional drug prescribed for hyperthyroid humans, too. 

For a while I put her (and the other cats, too) on C3 Complex curcumin powder, which I mixed in with their canned food, but, while some (= the eldest cats) loved it, others (= the youngest) simply refused to eat it after a while…Then, when we left for the States to visit my parents last summer, I couldn’t bring myself to ask our wonderful cat/house sitter to prepare the curcumin mixture for the cats on top of everything else she was doing for us. As a result, the cats went without curcumin for months.

A few weeks ago I noticed that Puzzola was more agitated and anxious than before (and it wasn’t because she had begun drinking wine, as the photo on the right might suggest 😉 ). Her behavior was simply, well, odd. I made an appointment with the vet immediately.

Well, in a nutshell, her blood test results are simply terrible. TERRIBLE. Her liver numbers are sky high. SCARY high…

And her hyperthyroidism is now listed as “SERIOUS” (“grave” in Italian). The vet assured us, though, that Puzzola is not terminally ill. But we need to intervene. And that is what we are doing. By the way, this, I hope, will explain why I haven’t been blogging recently. All my free time is spent doing heaps of research on hyperthyroidism in cats…

I’ve looked at clinical trials, I’ve looked at natural remedies…anything and everything. I know all there is to know, practically, about feline hyperthyroidism–its causes (BPAs in cans has been linked to this condition, for example) and treatments. I’ve read heaps of forum comments, both in Italian and English, written by other humans who have hyperthyroid cats…

Anyway, the first changes we made were as follows:

1. We have increased her daily dose of Tapazole. This doesn’t make me happy at all, because this drug comes with a bunch of side effects, including liver toxicity!, but for now she seems to tolerate it well, even at the higher dose.
2. I am back to mixing curcumin into the cats’ canned food once a day. The eldest cats lick their plates clean and most often meow/stare at me for more…the youngest cats will gulp it down one day but turn up their noses at it the next…But the important thing is that Puzzola absolutely loves the stuff. I mix the Tapazole in with her curcumin wet food. Thus far it has worked like a charm.

She seems to have calmed down a lot, though sometimes she still goes wacky (her metabolism is on the go-go-go all the time, poor sweetie). Just a few minutes ago, for example, she ran helter-skelter into my study and wouldn’t settle down…aaaaagh. We’re also trying to give her milk thistle for her liver (she’s so difficult, though, and so far hasn’t taken it)…

Her next set of tests have been scheduled for May.

Last week we took her to a homeopathic vet who admitted to having treated only FIVE cats with hyperthyroidism in her entire career. She hadn’t even heard of the feline hyperthyroidism-homeopathic remedy clinical trial that I asked her about. Uhm.

Furthermore, among other things, she suggested that we put Puzzola on a raw meat diet that included chicken and turkey. Yes, raw. Oh, and, worse, RAW PORK. When I brought up the issue of possible salmonella (etc.) contamination, she told us that freezing raw meat KILLS salmonella and other nasties. Well, from what I have since read online, that appears not to be the case: freezing chicken meat can slow down the growth of salmonella, but it doesn’t kill it. Well, I am hugely disappointed and doubt we’ll be going back…

I am taking the diet issue seriously, though. I want to bring down Puzzola’s numbers AND I want my cats to be on the BEST diet possible. I have eliminated anything that contains corn and wheat and by-products (oh yes, I am the crazy cat lady reading labels in pet food stores…), and the raw meat diet is also OUT–even before it began!–but we have been giving all the cats some slightly cooked meat (cooked rare), the same meat we ourselves eat…

We have always given our cats what we thought was the best cat food available (only bought at the local pet food store, no supermarket brands, no crappy cheap stuff with fillers and so on ). But now we’re not so sure it’s the very best. I’ve been looking at cat food that is grain-free and possibly also low in iodine (but not Hill’s y/d, which can also cause problems, it seems!)…

Unfortunately, there are no simple answers…and so my search goes on…

Okay, so I said that I wouldn’t be experimenting with new stuff for a while. But that was BEFORE I began spring-cleaning the house last week (= one of the household tasks I hate the most!) and found something while checking to see how much curcumin I still have. You see, Stefano and I will be spending a few weeks in April (around Easter) with my parents in Massachusetts, and I buy all my curcumin in the U.S. (even though it’s not as “cheap” as it used to be, mamma mia). So I needed to see how much curcumin I had left…

Anyway, while I was checking and counting, I happened upon two bottles of guggulsterone and decided to go ahead and start taking it. Reason no. 1: the bottles are going to expire at the end of the summer. Reason no. 2: guggulsterone kills myeloma cells and does a lot of other good things (just do a “Search” of my website for “guggulsterone” or scroll down my Pages until you find the one on guggulsterone). Reason no. 3: for some reason I stopped taking guggulsterone during my first experiment back in 2012. I’ve completely forgotten why, but I am POSITIVE that it had nothing to do with the supplement itself. It could have been because of all the illnesses and deaths that have taken place in Stefano’s large extended family in the past couple of years (stressful medical situations, including deaths, involving close members of his family…)…too much to deal with…

Anyway, 2014 has begun on a bit of a brighter note. Therefore, when, last week, I came across these two bottles of guggulsterone, I thought: “ah, why not?”

I’m having my next set of tests in late March…so it won’t be long before we know if the giggling gugguls have killed any myeloma cells… 🙂

And now for a couple of off-topic notes.

1. I have received many queries, mostly private, as to which curcumin brand (and other stuff) I take. I cannot reply to everyone, impossible!, but I will write a post about that within a few days…so stay tuned!

Hmmm, speaking of queries, I have something else to add. Lately I’ve been getting an increasing number of private and “contact form” messages. So I’d like to make a couple of points. a I’m not a professional blogger, which means I don’t get paid to write my posts or do research (I wish I did!). I have a paying job that I enjoy but that takes up a good chunk of my time AND has nothing to do with the blog or curcumin (in brief, it’s connected to my years of teaching English). So it’s not easy for me to reply to everyone, even though I do my best. If I haven’t gotten in touch with you, try sending me a second email (but first read the next paragraph!). b. unfortunately, I cannot (and will not) give advice on treatments of any sort or dosages. My blog details my own personal experiences with curcumin and other naturally-derived substances. But that’s as far as it goes. I’m very VERY sorry, but I hope you will understand that I simply cannot give out any medical advice (I have a doctorate in linguistics, not medicine!)…Perhaps this will explain WHY I don’t always answer those types of queries…Again, sorry!

2. Completely off topic: Stefano and I would really like to spend three days in New York City the week of April 21st (we haven’t been there in YEARS…and in any case we haven’t been there as a couple, yet!), so for the past several days I have been looking at hundreds of bed and breakfasts, airbnb places, tripadvisor, booking.com, hotels.com listings…you name it, I’ve looked at it! I’m confident that I’ll find something, even though our budget is tight.

I have excluded anything that isn’t within easy walking distance of a fast train or bus to Manhattan (no point in spending most of the day commuting!)…and I have now found a few options that look nice and clean and more or less, gulp, affordable for us…Now, I am mentioning this mainly because my hotel-b&b search has been eating up a lot of my time, which means, among other things, that I’m not reading any studies right now, phooeydooey…But I also thought that some kind New York blog readers might have some helpful suggestions, which would be most welcome and perhaps save me some grief…! Thanks in advance. 🙂

Anyway, I will get to the studies soon…and report anything of interest, as usual! Take care, everyone, and…ciao for now! 🙂

This morning Stefano and I picked up my February 27 2014 blood test results and went to the doctor…even though I already knew…But hey, it’s always a good idea to get an expert’s opinion!

As you may recall, my November 2013 test results weren’t that great. I’d tried testing a lower dose of curcumin for a bunch of months. Didn’t work!

Well, I’m pleased/happy/ecstatic to announce that today’s results were an entirely different story…

In a nutshell, what should have gone up WENT UP; what should have gone down WENT DOWN. 

My m-spike and monoclonal component, for example, have gone down. Not by a huge amount, but enough to impress my doctor. More good news: my hemoglobin and hematocrit are now back in the normal range…my light chains have also gone down…all very nice. My total protein is down, too (10.4, down from 10.7…yeah, not much, but I’ll take any decrease, especially after what I heard Dr. Gertz say…). My creatinine, which has always been in the normal range anyway, went down a wee bit more…which wasn’t necessary, but…eh, why not?

My other two immunoglobulins (A and M) are still the same number as last time, so they’re stable. B2M, also stable. Parathyroid is back in the normal range, dance of joy.

In sum, I couldn’t have wished for better results in such a short period of time…My doctor was relieved, too, and commented that evidently I respond very well to curcumin, but at the 8-gram/day dosage…

Let’s see. In addition to increasing my curcumin intake from 6 (back) to 8 grams/day, some with and some without bioperine, here’s a list of the other stuff I’ve been taking in this period (since November):

1. 1.5 grams of quercetin with bromelain
2. a spoonful of molasses/day
3. a heaping teaspoonful of flax seed lignans mixed in yogurt, every day (thanks for this useful tip, Lisa!)

I think that’s about it…Oh well, of course I take vitamin D, and sometimes a (good) multivitamin.

The main lesson I’ve learned from this slightly harrowing experience: we have to be on our guard at all times. This doesn’t mean we need to be obsessive and compulsive about stuff (that would be very BAD, since by now we know that stress has an impact on this cancer) OR freak out if we have one bad test result. But if six or eight grams of curcumin–or whatever else for that matter–has been keeping our numbers stable, why fool around with it? Why rock the boat, as the saying goes?

Learn from my mistake…

But today, at least, I’m not thinking about past mistakes. I’m celebrating…not just with my family and friends, but with all of you, too! Thanks, everyone! 🙂

This morning I read an incredibly scary news story. The Environmental Working Group (= great organization!) analyzed more than 500 “food” items and found that they contained “a potentially hazardous industrial plastics chemical.” It’s a chemical FOAMING agent. No kidding.

Now, I live in Italy and don’t buy any of these brands…but still, I wonder (shiver!) how widespread this really is…In any event, I thought I’d warn my U.S. readers to stay away from these brands (and yes, there is a full list…see below link)…

So, the next time you go to the supermarket to buy a Sara Lee blueberry crumble breakfast bread or Pillsbury’s Italian bread or any of the items on that list (hot dog and hamburger buns, bagels, pizza and pastries, e.g.), stop for a second and ask yourself the following question: would you ever chew on a yoga mat…or on your own plastic flip-flops? And also think of all that chemical foam ending up in your stomach…

😯

Here’s the link to the EWG story: http://goo.gl/QyZabA

Freeeeeeeeaky!

My parents recently adopted a gorgeous, 10-year-old black female cat from the Cape Cod MSPCA shelter. There hasn’t been a cat in their house since our beloved Italian cat, Micia, died, many years ago, at age 17. I’d rescued Micia as a kitten in a field near Florence (long story), and she came with us, of course, when we moved from Italy back to the U.S.A. That would have been in the early 1980s…I was in my early 20s, and Micia was barely more than a kitten at the time…

Anyway, because of our wonderful Micia, my parents and I have always had a “thing” for black cats. Amazingly, though, most people don’t like black cats, mainly based on ancient (absurd!!!) superstitions.

In the Middle Ages, e.g., black cats were associated with witches and witchcraft, and millions of them (yes, millions) were tortured and killed all over Europe. It’s a wonder that ANY black cats made it to this century! And even today, in Italy, it is said that if a black cat crosses your path, you have to turn around and go in the opposite direction. I don’t know anyone who actually does that, but I’ve been told that it still happens…

What this means, though, is that black cats are less than half as likely to be adopted from a cat shelter than gray cats. So sad, but true: http://goo.gl/6rSdfS

Well, here’s a news flash: we’re not in the Middle Ages anymore. And black cats, like all cats, are wonderful, devoted life companions.

But this post is really about Muffet, my parents’ new furry companion…

Here is what the MSPCA had originally posted about Muffet (accompanied by a photo): “Hello, my name is Muffet. I am a 10 year old black short-haired kitty. I was brought to the adoption center because I was nervous around the grandchildren, because of this I would do best in a home with older children. I am an affectionate, quiet, lap cat. Please stop by the adoption center to meet me.” Now, I don’t know how long this link will be available online, but it’s been there for a couple of weeks, and today it’s still there, so you can check it out, if you want: http://goo.gl/UXZ33R

So Muffet was taken to the cat shelter because she got “NERVOUS” around the grandchildren, huh??? I mean, instead of showing the grandchildren how to treat an older cat, the grandparents chose to get rid of her. Oh boy, that’s a great lesson to teach the grandchilden, isn’t it? Shameful.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated story. It happens a lot. And it makes me so incredibly angry.

Stupid humans.

Anyway, after reading this online post, Mom and Dad fell in love with Muffet and decided to adopt her…without even seeing her. They knew that Muffet probably would never find a home mainly because of her age. Most people want kittens, or at the most young cats. Not many people will adopt a 10-year-old cat, especially a black one. And in fact, when Mom and Dad arrived at the shelter and announced that they were there for Muffet, one of the volunteers rushed over to hug my Mom. It turned out that Muffet had been at the shelter for NINE months…

Well, I want to tell you that Muffet is the PERFECT cat for my parents. She is absolutely LOVELY, in every sense of the word. My parents have gone absolutely bonkers over her and talk about nothing else, practically. What she eats, what she does, where she goes, etc. It’s all about super Muffet. As it should be.

Muffet is a purring lap cat. She follows my parents around, sits in their laps, looks at them with love and devotion, climbs over them while they Skype with me, sleeps all cuddled up with them at night, and plays with her new toys. She is such an incredibly happy cat. But I don’t think she could possibly be as happy as my parents are…

Thank you, sweet Muffet (my Mom also calls her “Amore,” which means “Love” in Italian)…

And thank you, MSPCA (about 10 days ago, I wrote the MSPCA a private thank-you note, by the way, to which I received an enthusiastic response, which was verrrrry nice…I will send them the link to this post, too…).

The only thing I don’t have is a photo of Muffet in her new forever home, and I won’t have one until I go visit my parents (= in April)…But, if you hurry, you will be able to see a photo of her in the link above (a photo taken of course at the shelter)… 🙂

This morning, after doing some work (as usual), I finally got around to going through the copious notes I took during the patient-doctor meeting with Dr. Morie Gertz (Mayo Clinic in Minnesota) that took place last month, on January 18, right here in Florence…well, just outside Florence, to be exact.

In this post I’m going to focus on the new/most interesting bits of his excellent presentation, which compares myeloma to a garden that is more or less choked with weeds. I’ve heard, and written about, the presentation before (do a search for “Morie Gertz” on my website, using my handy “Search” box, = top, right-hand side). I still took notes on it, since I find it fascinating, so if you have any questions or comments, please get in touch with me, and I can check my notes for you.

Interesting excerpt: “There are no absolutes in this disease, but doctors agree that if the percentage of plasma cells in the bone marrow is above 10%, it’s myeloma.” The part of this sentence that struck me is that there are “no absolutes.” No absolutes…

A bit further on he added that the average patient at diagnosis has 30% plasma cells in the bone marrow. More plasma cells = fewer red blood cells, as we know. And anemia, which gives us fatigue and shortness of breath, is a “cardinal feature of myeloma.” It occurs, he said, in 70% of MM patients.

75% of MM patients experience bone pain/fractures…”All bones are at risk in this disease.”

But how does a doctor figure out that someone–without any obvious symptoms such as the above-mentioned ones–has myeloma? The first signal, he said, is increased protein in the blood. Total protein is mostly the sum of albumin and globulin, he said. A normal person has more albumin than globulin…say, 40 and 30, respectively. But if the numbers are 35 and 50, well, that’s “abnormal.” Total protein is a “useful marker of disease activity,” he added.

Interesting: he said that the “quantity of protein” is different from person to person. Patients ask each another: “What’s your protein level?” But, Dr. Gertz stated, that means absolutely nothing: “you can’t compare across patients. Some make 400, and they’re having terrible problems. Others have 5500 and are fine,” he said. (And I add: no absolutes, right?)

Smoldering myeloma should NOT BE TREATED. I definitely wrote THAT down! 🙂

A few of the patients at the meeting had had allogeneic stem cell transplants, so he talked about allos a bit. Again, if you’re interested in this topic, write to me, and I’ll try to transcribe that part of my notes for you.

Note: he confirmed what I’ve read about our immune system not being very good at recognizing and exterminating MM cells. Big problem.

He also spoke about the post stem cell transplant issue of complete response (CR), partial response (PR), very good partial response (VGPR), etc. Patients always want a CR, of course. He noted, however, that some patients might not achieve a CR but have a protein level that remains the same for 10 years, whereas others might have a CR, but only for one year. So, he asked us, in your opinion is it better to have a short-lived CR or a much longer-lived PR? You can imagine our response…! Again, no absolutes…

Staging (= Stage I, II, III): he said that this is useful mainly for DOCTORS, not really for us patients. It enables doctors to talk about results and clinical trials, mostly. His example: let’s say there are two doctors, one from Rome, the other from Torino, who are comparing notes on their clinical trials (same drugs, of course). The trial in Torino: 80% of its MM patients are in Stage I; 10% in Stage II, and 10% in Stage III. The trial in Rome: 10% in Stage I, 10% in Stage II, and 80% in Stage III. The exact opposite, basically. No matter WHAT you do, Dr. Gertz said, the group in Torino will always do better. And that is why staging is important…

But now we get to what for me was THE MOST INTERESTING THING HE SAID…and I quote (yep, all modesty aside, I’m very good at taking notes…All that training, especially in grad school, has paid off; I guess! 😉 ): “If you’ve had MGUS or SMM for a long time, and progression is slow, it’s harder to treat your myeloma with chemo because of the slow-growing cells.” (Chemo targets fast-dividing cells.)

I couldn’t help it…I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head: “Well, that’s the best argument AGAINST early intervention…” I don’t think he replied…

And I think I’m right…

Just my opinion, as usual!

Today a blog reader/friend (merci!) sent me the link to a very interesting Science Daily article about the superhero-strong antibacterial properties of one of garlic’s chemical compounds, called ajoene: http://goo.gl/W0oNCc While we already knew about the antibacterial activity of garlic, the Science Daily article has some new information that I found really interesting…And that is why I would like to recommend it in particular to those who suffer from (recurrent) infections–a big problem for many myeloma folks.

Now, while I love garlic and don’t mind having “garlic” breath afterwards, my Stefano can’t digest it at all, which means that we almost never have ANY when we’re eating together. But I make up for that as often as possible…when I’m alone, that is (lunchtime, usually). For example, I adore pasta mixed with chopped up and slightly cooked (in olive oil) garlic, parsley, Nigella sativa and a bit of hot pepper. Try it. And yes, I use lots of garlic in this dish…at least 4-5 cloves. Actually, hmmmm, that doesn’t come anywhere close to the amount of garlic mentioned in the Science Daily article, as you will see…But, after all (knock on wood!), I don’t have any recurrent, tough-to-beat infections (I did in the pre-curcumin period, though! Curcumin is another substance that is antibacterial and antiviral…it got rid of my pesky, painful yeast infections, as I’ve written in many posts…)…Anyway, this Science Daily article might, I hope!, be something helpful that infection-prone folks can show to their doctors…

Okay, quick change of subject. Yesterday, while I was working at my computer, my big boy Piccolo jumped onto my desk and draped himself between me and my keyboard, purring like mad. I had to stop working, of course…I mean, I couldn’t reach the keyboard anymore! Anyway, he looked so adorable and loving that I just had to take a few photos and share at least one with y’all!

And now…I’d better get back to work before one of my other six cats gets the same idea! 😉