Pneumonia?

Looks like I may have pneumonia. Fortunately, my hospice nurse is absolutely fabulous and is taking great care of me (in addition to John, of course, my chief cook and bottle-washer). BTW, he disagrees with her diagnosis, and even though he doesn't have a medical degree, he has acquired a certain on-the-job-training and I'm hoping he's right. Am adding a new antibiotic to the one I started a few days ago. So, if I don't call or email you back in the next few days, I'm sleeping a lot!

Getaway

After a more than a month battling the Stomach Bug from Hell and hardly leaving the house, I had the worse case of cabin fever I've ever experienced. So, this past Monday, John and I took off for three nights at an inn once owned by the Carnegie family on Cumberland Island, a beautiful and undeveloped barrier island in southern Georgia.

Traveling is getting more and more challenging for me but the physical difficulties were definitely worth it. We had three wonderful days of walking and biking through live-oak forests, wildlife viewing, and relaxing on a the inn's giant porch. Cumberland is home to a lot of lucky animals, including wild horses, white deer, and turkeys who roam the ruins of old mansions. Our favorite by far was the prehistoric-looking armadillo. (Click here to see more pics.)

Now it's time to get back to work, researching alternatives to the Dacogen I'm currently taking. I wouldn't get my doctor's final opinion on the Dacogen for another few weeks, but my white count has gone up since the last round so I'm worried.

My Huffington Post piece continues to bring in suggestions for alternative treatments from people around the world, including a new email from Israel about a Chinese anti-cancer medicine. I haven't had any luck with Chinese medications before, but I'm ready to try something new.

Hope you are all enjoying spring.

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!