Catching Up....

Right after I posted my last blog about my life in Moses Lake, a couple of special friends died suddenly, within two weeks of each other.

The first one was my former boss at the Peninsula Daily News. Rex Wilson moved to Mexico to join his wife, Olga, in their family business and was suddenly diagnosed with lung cancer and just as suddenly left us all behind three months before his birthday.

The second was a fellow I met while traveling about eight years ago, William Good from Florida, and who became, along with his wife Sandi, delightful additions to my life online as well as when they came to Washington State to visit family. Bill was traveling in Spain with Sandi when he had a heart attack in mid-February, less than two weeks after my boss.

I tried to talk to my husband about the grief I was feeling, but he did not really understand the joy that having any exchange with these fellows gave me - their laughter, their quick wit, their expansive natures causing the lights in my world to shine a little brighter. In some ways it felt like my Dad had died again because there were aspects of each of these fellows that must have reminded me of him.

Then, getting over those sad days, my son-in-law announced his Multiple Myeloma was causing numbers to rise and he was going to have treatments again. So I retreated once more and found myself self-diagnosing anxiety and took on the objective of becoming a healer with art therapy.

"Celtic Knot Flower" is a design from another CZT that
I incorporated into a 12 -inch by 12-inch acrylic work.

This art therapy is called Zentangle™and though it is not advertised as a therapy per se, it is well understood that meditation is helpful and this process of drawing certain patterns was clearly helping me.

Something from my journal that has color and light in it.

I signed up for and was accepted to the 33rd session of training for Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZT) in Providence, Rhode Island for the end of March and beginning of April, 2019. For four blissful days I did nothing but eat, drink and draw with lots of laughter and fun. I concluded my trip with a fresh lobster dinner to celebrate achieving this certification, feeling pretty sure it might be awhile before the next trip and lobster!

Me with my seminar roommate, Norma G.
from Brazil. We had a good connection
and helped each other along.

Home again, I find I am not quite ready to begin teaching The Zentangle Method because I feel I still have so much to learn myself. But I have incorporated it into my existing art activity and have some fun plans for doing more in the future.

This is a small frame purchased at a yard
sale; making the Zentangle appear to be
more worthy... 

This is a Zendala, using tangles from Zentangle, Inc.

The other shoe dropped when we heard that a relative was
diagnosed with cancer, so I made her a blanket with pink
symbols for healing but it had special meaning for me as
it had patterns I have used in tangling.

Relay for Life and others...

In the midst of preparing for a kind of relay race back to Colombia to close up and out my life down there, I walked the Relay for Life locally to honor my many MM friends and others who are holding on through adversity with cancer. In particular I want to recognize a 'blog-pal' called Karen who has been a reader and supporter here as well as on other blogs. (NOTE: Swim Across America in Seattle will be happening next month - September 7. I have heard rumors that a new and younger member of the family might be competing so I will be donating and will be there!)

Karen and I have never met, never even spoken on the phone, and yet I feel as if I know her from her postings. A compassionate, upbeat and direct-speaking individual, Karen has been through the wringer with the death of her beloved Hugh from MM and her own health challenges. As I walked around the track, ticking off the laps, I sent healing energy to Karen as I know she was having surgery yesterday.

If you are a walker or a runner, perhaps you will join me in simply sending healing thoughts to Karen - or anyone else facing health issues - as you walk or run. Thoughts are things, I am finding, and while the action of walking or running is somewhat of a meditation, it is also a time when we who are lucky enough to be doing it can send some of that vibrant energy onward.

My trip to Colombia will be short and very busy, so I may not post here until I return. I leave you with some pictures from the past couple of weeks and this thought... I have eliminated ALL SUGAR, even in its hidden forms (malodextrin, dextrose, sucrose, corn sugar, etc.) from my diet and body for the past 50 days along with white things like potatoes, rice, (even brown rice) pastas, breads, etc. sticking to fresh vegetables (organic when I can get it) and various proteins. With mild exercise, I have gotten rid of almost 30 pounds of excess baggage (glad they didn't weigh ME at the ticket counter before!) and corrected some health issues of my own.

The Olympics with beach grass in the foreground, WA

The beach grass in close-up at Port Williams, WA

Protection Island, in Puget Sound, Washington

I'm not quite a shadow of my former self, but I'm working
on it. Photo of me with my beach-walking buddy.

Fighting Dis-Ease by What We Eat and What We Don't

June's full moon is in Sagittarius and tonight, the 15th,
there will be a total eclipse lasting about 100 minutes.

A couple of the blogs I read about Multiple Myeloma offer some insight to this disease, and ways to live with it or fight it. In particular, Pat Killingsworth and his wife, Pat, offer several blogs on the subject of cancer, unfortunately due to personal experience. If you have stumbled onto mine for this reason, I hope you will click again to find the Multiple Myloma Blog and read Pat's entries. He is an endless researcher, one of several erudite MM bloggers, and easy to read.

My objective in taking on this subject today is that I do believe in the benefits of eating good, natural foods and I am (because of a certain cancer risk in my family) a proponent of curcumin and take it daily. I want to remain healthy and so I do also take supplements along with a daily fresh fruit, vegetable and some protein.

I have commented before that certain elements in our lives seem to be making a lot more people vulnerable to various varieties of this disease of cancer - key word "dis-ease." Stress is listed as a major contributor to heart disease. It is really disturbing that so many more people under the age of 50 are being diagnosed with MM, but I don't think stress of any kind is sufficiently toxic to cause dis-ease.

And it is not my intent to lay blame at the foot of the sufferer - already in anguish at feeling ill and perhaps powerless, this would be cruel. But I will ask these questions: Can we be certain that the water we drink is really safe? Do we really know what happens to the food we eat, before we eat it? What can we do to maximize healthy living before we face any kind of illness?

With all the threats of "Swine Flu," "Bird Flu" and just plain, but potentially deadly "Flu," we have to avoid the sugars (hidden as well as variations), sugar substitutes like aspertame and Splenda, which are horrendous liver limiters, are forbidden in other countries around the world!  Did you know that various flu viruses feed off sugar in the cells to proliferate? Getting off sugar is one of the hardest addictions because it is everywhere - but for your own good, start reading the labels...

Using a sugar-substitute is not the answer either. Did you know that aspertame is even in chewing gum now - both the sugar-free and NON sugar-free types! And aspertame does not leave the body easily - unless you know what to do - it creates a toxin that keeps building up and arresting the liver's function. Here is one solution I found: Dr. Janet Hull - you might want to take some time to read this link. Here is another recent (2012) link about a study of the effects of aspartame on the brain. If you are thinking drinking a can of diet soda can't be that bad - think again!
Here's what they found:
- 42 percent higher leukemia risk in men and women (pooled analysis)
- 102 percent higher multiple myeloma risk (in men only)
- 31 percent higher non-Hodgkin  lymphoma risk (in men only)

If you think switching to sugar-sweetened sodas is an improvement, it apparently is not. The soda ingredient is just generally bad for you.

A rare double rainbow awhile ago... hopeful only if one
is awaiting, and wanting, rain. We have had plenty.

I discussed once before the issues I have with water flouridation and how horrible it is for liver function as well. Since I have been living in South America, I have lost over 30 pounds! Part of it is due to eating more fresh fruits and vegetables and NEVER using a microwave for anything. And, to the best of my knowledge, the water in the local city is not flouridated at all.

For those of you who are using a microwave to heat up things, are you aware that those precious nutrients in the food you cooked before in the oven or on the stove are, once in the microwave oven,  being permanently altered by the microwaves? This is making the food or water (at best) hot stuff to eat and (at worst) changing the structure from nutritious to toxic for you.

Margaret on her blog reminds us regularly that using natural supplements, in most cases, enhances certain treatments for MM or the bones being attacked by MM. I am not a doctor nor a nutritionist, but I am aware that when we eat foods that are most closely connected to their origin (not in packaging with convoluted ingredient lists) we fare better.

In line with that, here is a recent list from the Environmental Working Group of the 15 best foods to eat because they are relatively free from pesticides: "Clean Fifteen" list: Onions, sweet corn, pineapples, avocado, asparagus, sweet peas, mangoes, eggplant, cantaloupe, kiwi, cabbage, watermelon, sweet potatoes, grapefruit, and mushrooms. NOTE: Margaret recently reported (June 9th) that asparagus is high in a certain enzyme that is not beneficial for those with certain cancers.
Items listed as being list of "dirty" produce are celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, nectarines (imported), grapes (imported), sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce, and kale/collard greens because they are most likely covered with pesticides.

There are a couple of MM sufferers who have eschewed (pardon the pun) traditional chemotherapies and gone their own way to find a solution. Margaret spoke of one this last week who has accomplished huge success but has been tormented by various organizations for his claims. I have read of another who is taking taking PolyMva and has also achieved a kind of remission from what I can determine.

It is not my objective to foster false hopes. But I do continue to believe that organic foods along with quality supplements and other elements combined, especially the water we drink every day, can make a huge difference in our health. So I don't know if this has been helpful, but what I want on this day of the eclipse is to wish all my readers better health!

Multiple Myeloma Takes Another One

I dedicate this sunset photo to Hamada
who, according to Susie, loved them.

The news from Susie that her beloved husband Hamada had passed away on November 23 from the consequences of Multiple Myeloma was no real surprise after her continuous updates of his failing kidneys, but it was still very sad news for those who have come to know her and the love of her life through her blog and her poetry.

It is also a horrible reminder that without aggressive and skilled medical intervention, this disease will show no mercy and will steal life long before that life should have ended. There was a notice on one of the MM sites that some people in the UK are putting forth an extra effort to educate the medical community about the symptoms of Multiple Myeloma since it is often mis-diagnosed, losing valuable time for the disease to gain a stronger position.

Reading other blogs often provides links to new information or theories which may bear fruit, for example "Riding the Wave" or "Margaret's Corner." I would not want to forget Phil Brabb's blog, MM for Dummies, and the efforts to fund-raise with Cancer Kickers, providing an inexpensive way to bring MM more into the public eye.

Education is something that should be happening world-wide since it appears that more and more individuals are facing this fight and at younger years (in MM for Dummies this week there is a story of a young woman in her 30's). I know I will continue to do what I can to educate those I meet about it, encouraging people to be more proactive in their discussions with their doctors and more than that, pushing them to eat healthier, more natural foods. I have also tried to get the message to President Obama that the government Veteran's Administration has not demonstrated compassionate care for our vets and in the U.S. there is a huge population of veterans suffering from MM.

This is no consolation for the wife of a man who loved her and who was well loved in return - nor will it bring him back. But perhaps those who are about to be diagnosed with MM or those who have recently been discovered to have it will take time to read the various blogs and make some educated decisions about their treatment so they can have a better chance at the remission that is sought after.

Swimming Across America in WA #2

This will be the second year for Swim Across America in Seattle on Lake Washington. It takes place on Saturday, September 11 and here is the link for all the information about the long distance swimming event, which gets under way VERY early in the morning... good place to see the sunrise!

http://www.swimacrossamerica.org

I was a volunteer last year and have offered again for this year but have not heard back as yet. Whether or not I am doing that, I will certainly be there to support the swimmers.

The upside-down triangles are prayer flags which are filled out by anyone who wants to remember someone who has been affected by cancer or by family members paying tribute to the swimmers or for groups to recognize someone. Last year I honored the late competitive motorcycle rider, Andre, who wrote the blog "http://motocancer.blogspot.com/" He was afflicted with Multiple Myeloma.

My dream is to not have to put anyone's name up there for this disease or any other kind of cancer.

As you can see, the weather was ideal for this kind of an event. I will be intending for a repeat version for this year as I cannot imagine how much harder it might be to complete such a course in the rain or other inclement weather.

As the swimmers complete their two miles, there is a group of volunteers ready and waiting to help them out of the water, give them refreshments and a towel. When it is all over and done, the donations received will be going to the local Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, as it did last year.

HOPE WE WILL HAVE LOTS OF SUPPORTERS!!!

A Creative Solution

She walked into the waiting area of the airline departure lounge with her head held high. And on both sides I saw flowers. How perfectly lovely they are, I thought. I wanted to get a better look and pondered how I could approach without seeming maddeningly intrusive.

If I'd been traveling with anyone else, I might not have had the courage to do this, but when I'm alone I seem to have a different kind of bravado.

I found the right words and she was more than willing to allow me to look and even better to take this photograph... I thought about what a creative solution this was for her situation (she said she has alopecia and is not under chemo treatment), and how others might gravitate to it... provided the tattooist was approved by the medical team.

What do you think?

A year ago...

I didn't know what MM stood for.

I didn't know that Multiple Myeloma (MM) was a terminal illness.

Life is terminal, but this disease gives it a capital "T."

It was several weeks before I came to understand that this incurable affliction might have the possibility of  'management' to ameliorate the terminality of it... to find a way to arrest it for awhile... some even realize a remission. But that news was slow to come as the reality emerged of a disease that can be so individualized it can make all treatments seem like clinical trials.

I didn't comprehend that lots of individuals who are too "young" by the statistical models were being infiltrated by a cancer that used to be strictly in the elderly; cells that are so pervasive, so crafty, so capable of mutating and multiplying that this disease is significantly on the rise in younger men and women. Why? 

Can you catch it? Does it spread like a cold? According to the current statistical information, it is of unknown origin, but it gets into the blood plasma, changes the cell structure and starts destroying the organism (human being) from the inside (like termites attacking a frame house) by altering bone structure, creating lesions which weaken the bones. And the reason it's called "multiple" is that when it strikes, it doesn't just arrive in one place, but is often found in many places.

President Obama's directive on stem cell research may eventually help those who are diagnosed with this disease early enough to have more effective stem cell transplants, and other research is going on now to try and figure out how to stop those MM cells from proliferating, even after chemotherapy. And to try and develop a way to keep outwitting cells that can mutate so that, for some sufferers, there are no more chemical solutions.

How do you know if you've got it? The symptoms (and it is unusual for one to have all of them) are subtle. The individual who caused me to be suddenly aware of this invader had been really sick with various sinus infections all during the winter. Because of the small child in the family, it was thought that the new school environment was introducing all sorts of new germs. And a persistent back pain was attributed to over-exercising in order to 'get into better shape,' and thus better fight off the school germs. And fatigue.

Thus it was that finally (and I say finally in that way because the physician was derelict in this respect: the patient did not have a history of being this kind of sick and after the third round of antibiotics for a sinus infection in less than a year, it should have sent up some kind of alarm bells.) the individual received the in-depth analysis required to unearth the cause of the infections - but it was almost too late. Brought back from the brink of kidney failure,  sepsis, blood clots and other complications, treatment was initiated and continues today.

And today, right now, there are other precious men and women fighting their own MM battles across the US and in other countries. And no one really knows what causes it. Cigarettes cause lung cancer and perhaps some pancreatic cancers. Asbestos causes a variety of cancers. Chemicals such as those found in the Love Canal cause certain cancers. Why was MM primarily a disease of elderly men and is now surfacing in both sexes at younger and younger ages? Why do men of African descent tend to be even more vulnerable to it? What were elderly men exposed to 60 or 70 years ago that men and women in their 40s and 50s and even in their 20s are being 'contaminated' by today? How long does it take MM to imbed itself? New information suggests that MGUS may be a pre-cursor, a marker for potential MM sites.

These are some of the questions that the researchers must ask.

Since so many of those currently with MM come from so many different lifestyles, communities, educational backgrounds, social and cultural histories, this does not appear to be an environmental cancer like asbestos. And, for some reason, it appears that this kind of cancer has not received much publicity even though some well-known individuals have succumbed to it: actor Peter Boyle, WalMart founder Sam Walton, author John Ricco, and it is no secret (see link to MSNBC report) that Geraldine Ferraro has been living with it for at least a decade.

There are, now that summer is in full swing, a lot of sites where people are announcing fund-raising 'runs' for those with cancer. I am not here to tell you to donate, but think about a world without cancer... think about what it takes to find cures for any kind of disease and if you think your world is not going to be touched by the "C" word, think again. But think about what is the one chemical that everyone is exposed to now... flouride. In the water, in toothpaste, and where else? Is this the cause? I don't know, but it's caused me to wonder, because a year ago, I could never have imagined what cancer might do to our family.

What if....

What if you were faced with a life-threatening illness and you had to make a decision (in a few short hours, possibly days) which would determine how long the remainder of your life might be? 

Would you know where to do go to get information?

Would you know if that information was reliable?

Would you know what the information-provider's agenda was?

This is what newly-diagnosed, critically ill individuals face and some face it alone, because they don't have partners in their life or because they don't have families or because the relatives are too far away or for some other reason.

I'm not offering up any kind of pity-party for anyone, but I am suggesting that as this fragile green earth spins faster and faster, we seem to have less and less time for our neighbors, acquaintances and even family.

Before I headed out West, I received a phone call from a neighbor to tell me that he and his wife were temporarily moving into "assisted living " quarters because of her cancer treatments and her care requirements which were beyond his capabilities. They have family living nearby and they have friends and neighbors like me. But clearly he wanted me to know that when I didn't see them around that they were open to having visitors in the new place. I was deeply touched and will certainly go and see them when I return.

And it brought home to me, in yet another way, that we are interconnected. That each smile, each touch, each effort made on behalf of another does have value.

So if you are reading this and you know someone who is facing a difficult time, perhaps you will be led to offer up some of your time to do something to ease their challenge. Not because someday you might be facing your own mountain, but because today is all we have... and what we give is our presentness... our being... and letting another living man or woman or child know that they have been seen or heard.