I need to find something to help me sleep on Monday nights. I have tried Ambien and Xanax, and neither seems to help me get through the entire night. One of the problems is that when you drink the amount of water I do, you have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Dex also causes me indigestion and sometimes a little stomach upset. I have an rx for 150 mg Zantac, and it’s usually pretty effective. Sometimes it’s not, like last night, and that interferes with sleep too. I was up at 3:00 am and have some things I need to go out and do before I can try to sleep again. Then at 3:00 pm, I have a dentist appointment. I go 3 times a year now.
Category: General
Today I have to start collecting urine for a period of 24 hours to be tested or proteins. This is oe of the things I dislike most. Well, maybe it runs behind bone marrow biopsies and dexamethasone. Probably a lot of other thigs I haven’t even experienced yet. I usually just stay home so I don’t have to worry about keeping the jug handy and how to keep it refrigerated.
After I’m done tomorrow morning, I’ll take it to UNC with me in a cooler and hand it over to the nurse there so it can be sent to the lab for testing. Like most of you, I drink about 3 liters of water plus other liquids during the day. I need to have 2 jugs! The first time I did this, I had no idea, and I only had one. Now I make sure to ask for 2.
Natural Heath magazine had an article this month about the possible benefits of turmeric (curcumin). Th article is entitled, “Prevent Cancer with Turmeric.” It appears on page 28 of Natural Health’s August 2003 issue. It’s not online yet, but their web site is http://www.naturalhealthmag.com
If you’re interested, please contact me, and I’ll email a copy to you to read.
Some highlights are reports of tests done on mice with colon and prostate cancer. Nothing about MM here, but we do know about some in vitro tests done at MD Anderson with human myeloma cells. The article’s author (Meghann Peterson) says, “Research strongly supports turmeric’s antioxidant benefits. It could help prevent and treat cancer, but more human studies are needed.”
My sister let me know that she sent out 20 letters for the IMF’s “Mail for the Cure” campaign. Like I said before, I sent out over 40 letter myself, and had 8 responses. I took it personally, since I know everyone I sent letters to!
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Research has indicated that chronic stress can take a hefty toll on a person’s health, and a new study offers one potential reason why.
Investigators found that older people under chronic stress had higher-than-normal elevations of interleukin-6 (IL-6), an immune-system protein in the blood that promotes inflammation. IL-6 has been linked with various age-related conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, frailty and certain cancers.
“This is how chronic stress can really affect health,” said study author Dr. Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser, a professor of psychiatry at Ohio State University in Columbus.
This is from the American Cancer Society site: “Do We Know What Causes Multiple Myeloma?”, growth of this cancer is stimulated by interleukin-6 (IL-6), a hormone released by certain bone marrow cells. Treatments to block this hormone’s action are being tested in clinical trials. One effect of IL-6 is to stimulate angiogenesis (blood vessel growth). This leads to more blood delivered to tumor cells, which can increase their growth.
Chronic stress elevates IL-6, and IL-6 stimulates the growth of MM?
I had an appointment to have my eyes checked today. I ordered a pair of prescription sunglasses, since mine broke about 10 years ago. I really can’t stand how all the frames are tiny now. Fads really stink. Is it normal to have to pay $400 for glasses?
I went for acupuncture right afterwards. Acupuncture always makes me feel relaxed. I don’t know if I can say for sure that it helps my back pain.
I picked this card up at a local shop, from the stacks of business cards left there by entrepreneurs trying to drum up sales. I blurred out the names and telephone numbers before publishing it to the web, but if you really must have skins and stuff you can get in touch with me and I’ll send you the contact information.
Don’t bacon puffs sound good right now?
There was an article in the Boston Globe online called, “Advances begin to tame cancer” from 7/6/2003. The following quote is taken from that article:
An audacious prediction The prediction that pain and death from cancer
will be eliminated by 2015 — rendering it essentially a chronic, old age
disease — comes from National Cancer Institute director Dr. Andrew C. von
Eschenbach, who runs the most influential cancer research agency in the
world, giving him an unequaled perch to examine the scope and pace of cancer
science. And he is floored by what he sees.
”Many, many people are living with cancer under control. And many
more will do so in the future. It will become like diabetes or
hypertension,” he said in an interview, underscoring that his agency is
committed to meeting the 2015 goal.
I mentioned the article to one of the chemo nurses I saw yesterday. She thinks it’s too optimisitic to believe that cancer will be under control by 2015. I happen to think it’s possible, and am hoping that we’ll see something much, much sooner.