A cow's revenge?

If you're looking for more inspiration to stop eating meat, here's the latest report on why it's so bad for us.

Update on my treatment

Just wanted to let you know that I finished my third round of Dacogen (straight up, no anti-nausea chaser) today. My doc says we should know by the end of the next cycle if it's working. That will happen in mid-April.

Since Dacogen is my last best option from the Western medicine world, I've decided to pursue some other avenues--just in case. I will be reading the Moss Report on AML over the next few weeks. Moss reviews all treatments for cancer, including alternative methods which are apparently a lot more commonly used in Europe. I hope to schedule a phone consult with him once I get through the report...

Lots of kind folks from around the country responded to my Huffington Post op-ed with various treatment suggestions. I'm going to look those over as well.

Signing off until next weekend. John and I are off for a mini-trip!

So they can avoid cancer....

Since eating habits begin in childhood--and eating habits are such an important risk factor in developing cancer, please consider signing an important new petition asking the government to provide healthier foods in the schools. The petition also calls on Congress to make sure that all kids at least have the option of a vegetarian option each day. This is an issue I worked on for years at PCRM and care a lot about. In many schools, kids have to choose between chicken nuggets and foot-long hotdogs. Please forward to all your friends and get your kids to sign as well!

If you're really into this topic and live in the DC area, check out this neat conference on childhood obesity my former employer is putting on this June.

More good news on soy

Check out the latest study showing soy consumption in young girls may help prevent breast cancer.

Another milestone

(Photography by Michael Cantor Photography/www.mjcantor.com)

Today is my 22nd wedding anniversary and given that it's the 22nd of March, the day seems especially auspicious. John deserves an award for putting up with me for this long, especially the past six years! I often think that partners, siblings, and family of critically or chronically ill people have an even harder time than their loved ones.

At any rate, we had a great day. Not only was it sunny and 65 but we had a yummy lunch at Great Sage, our favorite vegetarian restaurant in these parts, and then a fun afternoon poking around the very funky (in a cool way) Hampden neighborhood in Baltimore. I think that pink flamingos were born here.

A happy tummy

Three wonderful things are happening for me this week. One, my dear friend Bonnie is visiting from Seattle and we've been having a lot of fun together. Two, she's been cooking me up some of the greatest vegan meals in the world.

Tonight we had a quinoa salad with capers, olives, apples, celery, carrots and tumeric-coated tofu, along with a pureed carrot ginger soup. Yum. Here's a pic of the soup. And three (drum roll, please): the Stomach Bug from Hell went back to Hell! I can finally chuck the bag of Depends!

More good signs!

I must have nine lives as I think this particular Stomach Bug from Hell is not going to do me in. I actually had enough energy to stay up all day yesterday and go out and do several hours of errands. Life is good today! And as you can see, the trees are blooming. Yay!

Turns out that I probably don't have the specific super bug -- C-diff--that my doctor has been treating me for. Not sure what I have but I think my turnaround might be thanks to the probiotic I started taking last weekend. Here's a really useful article on probiotics from Health Magazine. Apparently, they can help with a number of health issues, not just stomach ailments. Thanks to one of my nurses for turning me on to the article!

Hopeful signs

Just as we're beginning to see some small signs of spring around D.C., I'm finally starting to think I may eventually beat the Battle of the Evil Stomach Bug. I'm not out of this particular woods yet, but at least I had enough energy to go out for a drive today and do some errands--on my own!

The stomach bug from hell

A number of folks have asked how I'm doing as I haven't posted for a while. Unfortunately, I'm still trying to get rid of my awful stomach bug so I don't have much news to report. (I certainly don't want to go into the details of this bug--trust me, you don't want to know!) One piece of news is that I have started taking probiotics since the antibiotics haven't worked yet. I'm hoping one of them will start working soon!

I have a piece on HuffPost today

Here's the link to a piece I just wrote explaining how I can justify taking animal-tested drugs even though I'm against animal experiments. If you don't already know that I'm on hospice, I hope you wouldn't get upset by reading this article. Hospice has changed over the years and thanks to my wonderful health insurance, I can pursue treatment while I'm hospice. So, if I'm lucky and my medication starts working--which I certainly hope will happen--I can always get off hospice. Just wanted you all to know that!

Major investigation on animal research tonight

If you read my blog, you know I oppose supporting animal research. Tonight, Nightline will expose the horrors of a primate lab in Louisiana. (Here's a write-up.) If you follow this issue, you know this story is not anecdotal. The problem is widespread and the best solution is to support non-animal tests by only contributing to those medical charities that don't fund animal testing. Avon and Hadwen Trust are two examples. Others can be found at http://www.HumaneSeal.org.

Our canaries

A friend and I were just talking about what an epidemic breast cancer has become. She said something pretty powerful I wanted to share: "Have our breasts become some sort of canary for the toxins in our environment?" Not a cheery thought but with the ever-mounting numbers of (mostly) women with breast cancer, I wonder.