Finally home!

July 23, 2023 / Margaret / 4 Comments

Well, we (and our 8 cats!) actually moved back home a few weeks ago, but I have been so busy that my head has been spinning. Plus, big news: I have a cataract in my left eye, so I can’t stay at the computer for very long. Luckily, my normal routine hasn’t been affected, and I can still drive, but I will have to get the cataract removed in the autumn, for sure. No biggie (says the gal who had hip replacement surgery, hehe…btw, my new hip’s doing great!). It will get done…but first, we’re going on vacation! In about ten days or so…can’t wait.

Funny how time just flies by, as I mentioned in my June post. Is it because I’m in my early 60s (just had my 62nd birthday a few days ago, actually…and to think that years ago, after my diagnosis, I believed I’d never make it to 50…hah!)? I mean, does time go by faster as you get older? I’ll have to look that up. 😉

Puffin with sand eels, near the Isle of May, Scotland, June 2023

Anyway, I finally have access to my beloved computer…not that I have time to do any research now, except for research concerning our upcoming holiday (hehe), but this means that in September I should be writing more often–famous last words! 😆

Okay, so Stefano and I went to Scotland in early June. We spent most of our holiday in Anstruther, a small lovely coastal town in Fife, about an hour northeast of Edinburgh (where we also spent a few fantastic days…ahhh, I love Edinburgh!), yes, Anstruther where we took two boats trips to the Isle of May and Bass Rock to see puffins and also gannets and various other sea birds. Fabulous. It was one of our best holidays ever, and I can’t wait to go back next year. Such a treat…My cataract let me post only one photo, see above…

Anyway, guess where we’re going in August? Yes, that’s right…back to Scotland. 😉 But this time we’re heading north, to Orkney…and from there, driving back southeast-ish, slowly, we will be visiting castles, circles of stones, lovely coastal villages and so on. Oh, but first, the day we land in Edinburgh, we’re finally going to the Tattoo…we bought tickets months ago…Now that should be fun!

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing fine and dandy! Take care! I have to sign off now, or I will get a headache (cataract, uff!)…Ciao, Margaret

Incomplete test results…

March 15, 2023 / Margaret / 8 Comments

Hi everyone! Time flies, doesn’t it? Sorry about not writing in so long…but I can assure you all that I’m fine, Stefano is fine, the kitties are fine. All is well, in sum.

Except…we’re still not back home yet. That means that I don’t have access to my wonderful PC (if I’d had any idea it was going to take this long, I would have moved my computer over here, duh), and I have to use my iPad now to do anything, including write this post. Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPad, but I have all my data and stuff on my PC and, well, it’s just harder to work on the iPad…at least, for me. Pazienza…

I have received a lot of queries but just haven’t been able to answer because of the above and lack of time. I’m over at our house most days, supervising the work and doing some cleaning….I threw away all the articles I used for my Ph.D thesis, e.g…..boy, that was hard, but it had to be done. Bam bam bam, into the recyclable garbage. Sorting through stuff (I mean, why did we keep so many empty boxes and junk in general????) is taking up a huge amount of my time now. Plus, the cats need attention. And Stefano!

Most of the answers to your queries can be found in my posts, all you have to do is a Search of my blog. But I do apologize for not getting back in person to so many of you…

I had blood tests done about 10 days ago…and here is a funny not-so-funny story. There is a new computerized system now for making lab appointments. Before, I just called the blood center, spoke with an actual human being, and made an appointment. Now it’s all done online: you get on a website, type in ALL your data (believe me, it takes heaps of time since you have to plug in all the numbers on your doctor’s certificate….such a ridiculous system, IMO. Plus, if you want to go to another lab, you have to start over…Who was the genius who came up with this new system???). At any rate, in the end, you get a number with which you get called once you are at the lab. Now, with the new system, the lab receptionist theoretically doesn’t need a printout of your list of tests (hematocrit, creatinine, etc.), but in actuality the communication between website and receptionists, at least for me (but I know of other cases), means that some of the test pages simply get “lost“. In my case, one of my three pages didn’t get put into the system. Of course, I was totally unaware of this, since this was my first experience with having a machine make the appointment for me…So, after being checked in by a very nervous receptionist (more proof that this new system needs some serious revising), I went in to have my blood taken by a nurse. I noticed that she took only five vials of blood and told her that wasn’t enough, but she said that I was wrong. Hmmm. Well, I wasn’t, of course, but it wasn’t her fault. It was the blasted system’s fault.

I love computers…they’re great tools, blablabla. But sometimes I think it is best to do things the “old” way, and talking to a human being for something as important as blood tests is vital.

So this means that I only have a bit more than half of my tests. No total protein, no C reactive protein, no calcium. C’mon! But my hemoglobin is 12.2 and my M-spike is slightly better than it was last year. Also, my light chains are better. So far, therefore, I’m pleased.

I’m going to have the rest of my tests done next week…this time, I’m going to check the list carefully before I go in to see the nurse. And I’m printing out everything…I’m not going to let a machine screw up again!!!

Oh dear, I have to go now. It’s getting late.

I hope everyone is well and happy! Stay strong! 🙂

Stomach flu

October 31, 2022 / Margaret / 8 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I came down with a nasty case of viral gastroenteritis, more commonly known as the stomach flu. No idea how I got it…but…I got it. Well, at least Covid wasn’t involved in my case; my family doctor told me that a (small) percentage of his patients with my symptoms had turned up positive for Covid. That would have been a most unwelcome double whammy!

Anyway, I was quite sick for about a week, sleeping most of the time, eating nothing but bananas and toast, and watching heaps of TV series and documentaries…The cats were very helpful nurses, always by my side, or on top of me, making sure I was always warm…

Even now that I am better and almost back to my regular daily routine, I still feel very tired and weak and have to take frequent breaks. I am also concentrating on rebuilding my devastated gut microbiome, which will take some time, I think…

Speaking of microbiome, at the first sign of sickness, more or less in mid October, I stopped taking curcumin, for obvious reasons… Stopping curcumin scared me, of course, since the myeloma monster is always lurking about inside of me, but I think I’ll be okay…Positive thinking, as always. I took my first dose of curcumin today and, as soon as the doctor gives me the go-ahead, I’ll go in for my usual blood tests to make sure there haven’t been any big changes. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, that’s what has kept me “busy” in the past couple of weeks or so…And before that, I was spending my days cleaning and trying to keep the cats out of the way of the workers who are (still) working on renovating our house. It’ll be worth it in the end, but boy what a huge, dirty project…mamma mia.

That’s about it…I hope to feel strong enough to write some research-related posts soon. For now, I’m taking it easy. In fact, I need a nap right now, or a TV series… 🙂

Take care, everyone! Ciao!

An ancient and very important Irish creature

September 14, 2022 / Margaret / 2 Comments

(No, not a leprechaun…hehe.)

Wow. What a trip! Stefano and I, and our friends, actually got back at the end of August, but since then I’ve been busy with finishing the translation of an article and other stuff…no time to write a post. Here I am, though, finally!

We spent three weeks traveling around Ireland, from Dublin to Kilkenny, then down to Cobh (near Cork), and then, after stopping at Mizen Head, Ireland’s most southwesterly point, up to Kenmare, Dingle, and Doolin.

It would take me hours to write about all the beautiful things we saw and all the things we did…and about the Irish people, warm and friendly and very funny. Today, though, I have time just to pick one of my favourite things, perhaps my most favourite, in fact.

Valentia Island, one of Ireland’s most westerly points, is where, between 350 and 370 million years ago, a tetrapod, which sort of looked like a big lizard, came out of the sea and left a series of footprints (and a bit of a tail and body drag, too) on a (then) tropical, muddy shore, which turned to rock over the years, as you can see in these photos.

This, incidentally, is one of only FOUR sites–the other three are in Scotland and Australia–in the entire world that documents the transition from water to land of a vertebrate…an enormous turning point in evolution, of course. Oh wait, wait, I just read of another tetrapod print site recently discovered in Poland…I will have to look into that. I was already planning a trip to Scotland to check out the other tetrapod prints! 😉

Stefano and I have a fascination with dinosaurs…When we were in Scotland a few years ago, we spent quite a bit of time searching for dinosaur tracks on various beaches (I posted about this part of our trip, with photos). But this meter-long Irish creature lived and walked on Earth long before the dinosaurs…Extraordinary. I must say that I was a bit overcome with emotion when we got to the bottom of the cliff and were able to view and photograph these well-preserved prints. Imagine how it must have been back then…

Oh dear, I must go now, so I will quickly choose a couple of photos…I hope you enjoy them… Ciao! 🙂

New curcumin myeloma clinical trial

August 5, 2022 / Margaret / 20 Comments

Well, well, well, how about this bit of news??? Yesterday I wrote a quick Happy Holidays post that I would have published here today (Stefano and I are leaving tomorrow for a three-week holiday in Ireland, with two of our best friends and their young daughter), but then this morning I saw the news about a new clinical trial titled “Curcumin as adjuvant therapy to improve remission in myeloma patients: A pilot randomized clinical trial,” which I just had to share with you. How could I not? Wowsie!

Here is the link to the free, easy-to-read article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35919637/

Check out the Conclusion: “Curcumin has an efficacy in improving overall remission and decreasing NF-kB, VEGF, TNF-a, and IL-6 levels in myeloma patients.”

And so we have more proof…and this proof comes from actual myeloma patients, not from cells grown in a Petri dish. The evidence is piling up!

I wonder when (or if!) our myeloma luminaries and organisations are going to wake up to the fact that curcumin has a real potential to help us myeloma folks at every stage of this cancer. If I could, I would tell them (the above luminaries and organisations) to ignore the profits and benefits (international conferences held in exotic locations, e.g.) they receive from the big pharmaceutical companies and to focus instead on us, their patients, and on our wellbeing. (Hah! Utopia, I know. Not going to happen…)

It’s so frustrating to see no move in that direction. And so we must move on our own, for example by printing out these articles and giving them to our specialists. It’s going to be a slow process, that’s for sure…But I see no other way at present.

We are the only ones who can push for a change…

Well, I’m about to go on a lovely holiday with some of my favorite people in the world, so, to be honest, right now I want to think positive, happy thoughts and not go on a long rant about big Pharma and the obvious (financial) hold it has over the cancer system. So…enough.

And now I have some packing to do, including putting my bottle of curcumin inside my carryon suitcase. Can’t forget my curcumin! 🙂

I hope you all have a lovely August and stay well (wear your masks!). I’ll see you after I get back, at the end of the month…I’m going to try to get some nice shots of the beautiful Irish coastline for the blog. Fingers crossed. Anyway, take care, everyone, and…ciao! 🙂

The hidden village: Isola Santa

June 28, 2022 / Margaret / 2 Comments

Last Friday was a holiday here in Florence…San Giovanni, = St. John, Florence’s patron saint. So Stefano and I decided to spend the three-day weekend in an ancient village called Isola Santa ( = Saint Island) up in the Alpi Apuane (Apuan Alps), a mountain range in northern Tuscany. Isola Santa is perched on the side of a mountain and reachable by a rather steep walk down from the main road where we parked our car.

We were hoping to escape the horrendous heat wave that has hit Florence in this period…really awful, damp heat…

And, in part, we were successful, although it got warm there, too, during the day…but nothing like Florence.

We’d never been to what turned out to be a very interesting area of Tuscany, famous mainly for its marble quarries (Michelangelo!), which were clearly visible at many turns in the winding mountain road.

So…Isola Santa. The ancient, fortified village was originally built in the Middle Ages around a lodging for tired pilgrims and travellers…

In 1950, however, the inhabitants of Isola Santa were forced to abandon their homes, and the village essentially became a ghost town for decades.

The consequences are still clearly visible…caved-in roofs, ruined walls covered with ivy and other plants, and so on. What happened was that a hydroelectric power station/dam was built upriver, creating an artificial lake that submerged part of the village, including the old mill (we saw some ancient ruins emerging from the water).

In 2001, though, a couple decided to bring the village back to life and embarked on an ambitious renovation project. To sustain the costs of this renovation, they began renting rooms and studio flats. They also built a restaurant and a café.

We stayed in a double room on the third and last floor of the ancient guard tower, with lovely views of the mountains and the lake and, of course, parts of the still-ruined village.

The village, its lake, and the woods surrounding it are super peaceful. Magical, really. Oh, and no TV, no Internet, no Wi-fi, very few people around. We spent two and a half days in almost total isolation from the world. Bliss.

One of the most amazing features of this lake are its reflections…it’s almost impossible to distinguish a reflection from the thing being reflected (as in the last two photos). Paintings, almost…

Ohhh, and our walks along the lake, in the woods…wow. Such peace. No noise, apart from the wind blowing through the trees…The best was just sitting on a bench in the woods and listening to the water…to the wind…so relaxing…

Such a treat…such a lovely treat.

P.S. I took these photos with my cellphone…

Châteaux de la Loire

June 14, 2022 / Margaret / 4 Comments

Wow, what a trip! The villages, the scenery, the food and, of course!, the castles, the fabulous châteaux of the Loire Valley.

Here’s the list of all the castles we visited from May 28 to June 4 (June 3, really, since we left for Annecy on the 4th). So, 7 full days in the valley.

During our two-day stay in Blois we visited the following castles: Château de Blois, Château de Chambord, Château de Cheverny, Château de Chaumont.

Chateau de Chambord (the exterior was being restored, so, unfortunately, my best photos are of the interior)

We spent most of our stay in Tours, and from there we visited these: Château de Chenonceau (perhaps the most famous, deservedly so), Château de Loches (it’s more than a castle, more like a fortified village atop a hill), Château de Villandry, Château d’Azay-le-Rideau, Château d’Amboise, Château du Clos Lucé (Leonardo da Vinci’s last home), Château de Chinon (more of a fortress than a castle), Château de Langeais. And we had an outside look of the Château de Saumur.

The towns we visited were Bourges (its cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site…but I remember Bourges best for its half-timbered houses, see photo 2, and its macarons, which were amazingly tasty, and, hey, I don’t really care for macarons, normally), Amboise, Chinon, Loches, Chédigny, and, of course, Blois and Tours. Lovely Medieval centres.

And also a 12th century abbey, the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, where the body of Richard Lionheart is buried (but not his heart, which was embalmed and sent to Rouen, and his entrails, which were buried in Chalus…a bit gruesome, yes, but I thought it was really interesting) next to his wife and his parents.

Village of Chédigny, lovely roses everywhere

Speaking of the parents, I have read quite a bit about this period of history, especially about Richard’s mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine (have you seen the BBC series “She-Wolves: England’s Early Queens”? Well, I found it enthralling…And Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of the…she-wolves). Anyway, that was all very interesting…Lots of history, there…

Okay, here are a few of my million photos (the earliest ones, up to Villandry…I may post more in the coming days)…

Château de Villandry, famous for its stunning gardens

Oh, a quick note: with my “new” (relatively speaking, since I had the operation in late November) hip, I walked between 10-13 kilometres a day without any problems. Up and down hills, up and down stairs, too. I was, and am!, very pleased!