The Question is - are you eating well?

I am not a doctor and not a researcher, but I have been following the progress of a few Multiple Myeloma patients who have opted for Stem Cell Transplants (STC). Some have had success with an auto SCT (using their own cells) and some have had success with an allogenic (using cells from a close match) transplant.

Some months ago I was the cheer-up-leader for a photographer in the UK, Sean Tiernan, who was recovering from his allo STC - using his brother's cells - but he succumbed to pneumonia, something that is a horrible risk for those people with brand-new immune systems. (If you click the link you can read his blog.) This does not mean that I am a supporter one way or the other for STCs, only that going through that process is often a lonely one and I try to offer hope and encouragement in my postings.

Corn tortilla and sausage for the first course, with scrambled eggs and
perhaps hugo (juice) mora (blackberry) or naranja (orange) to follow.

One of my MM pals is a non-secretor, so he is not eligible for an STC and instead has been managing with a chemical combo that he acknowledges has sustained him beyond his 'shelf life' but has not really stopped the progression of the disease. He is also a writer who doesn't delude himself about the outcome, or about how the doctors sometimes make decisions for one patient based on the data for the disease either disregarding individual conditions or overlooking it to get to a quick result. For him, and you can read about it on Deludia, it was nearly an early end.

David Emerson had chemo and the STC and has undergone other therapies. (Click on the page called GALEN and read his history and the choices he made.) A recent article about alternative therapies said that conventional medicine gets recognition for cancer cures and the alternative field gets labeled as criminals when their patient(s) die and we never hear about those who are living many years after a cancer diagnosis. One blog I am following is written by a woman who is following the Gonzalez protocol based on nutrition and pancreatic enzymes. Here is her story.

Dr. James Berenson, a nationally recognized researcher of MM, has stated he does not encourage his patients to go the STC route. But the medical team led by Dr. BB at the University of Alabama takes the position that being aggressive with tandem STCs gives the greatest chance for a complete remission (CR) and there are more than a few MMer's who are in CR now from Dr. BB's regimen. You can read Nick Van Dyke's blog here.

It is too bad there is no comprehensive data on MM routes toward the cure... like there is for say, buying a car. You can find out which cars have a history of problems, which cars can go over 200,000 miles and not break the bank, and you can evaluate one car against another (or several others) to make your choice. I'd like to see something like this for the STC route, so patients have more information when making that choice. But for now, there is some collaboration going on in Boston, MA with Dana Farber Cancer Institute to develop a more personalized treatment plan - very interesting report here.

Chicken salad with celery bits and mayonnnaise on a bed of lettuce,
with toasted almonds and half a sliced apple covers all the bases.
Making homemade mayonnaise is really easy, by the way.

Another of the MM blogs I follow is that of 'Minnesota Don' who has incorporated nutrition changes into his lifestyle and who demonstrates with his national running campaign (Don is only a few states shy of having run a marathon in all 50!) how his food works for him.

Sadly, another well-informed MM blogger, Lonnie Nesseler,  http://nesseler-medical.blogspot.com/, recently died after 14 years with the disease, probably from the damages caused by his treatments. Lonnie posted in December of 2011 that after a second 'fill-up' of donor cells and going through another hellish hospital experience, he was in Complete Remission at long last. Awhile after that he posted on the MM FaceBook group a link to this report on the abuse of vitamin supplements.

Unlike other blood cancers that are more responsive to a 'standard of care' regimen, it seems to me, as a person/caregiver standing on the sidelines, that MM is more like an individualized disease and thus is harder to treat with the menu options of STCs, chemotherapy and other drugs. It's like going to a restaurant and asking the chef to please feed you, but in order for you to survive, he will have to make an educated guess as to what food combinations are best for you.

In that line of thinking, I have been listening to a book called "Healthy Eating, Healthy World," by J. Morris Hicks and J. Stanfield Hicks which discusses the interconnectivity of nature and mankind and how we are failing our own potential by how we eat. We are eating out of our natural range, causing serious health issues for the human population and damaging our environment because of the demand to provide more beef and dairy cows, chickens and the huge chemically-covered corn and wheat fields. Not to mention that the structure of wheat has changed over the past half century, so we aren't getting the nutrition from that grain that we used to. Read this about wheat and Dr. William Davis' book on it.

Bananas are still one of nature's most amazing fruits.
Sadly the chemicals used to preserve them for market
are affecting the workers who harvest them.

The Hicks' theory is the threat of becoming a 'vegetable' through a stroke is best overcome by eating raw vegetables. I am not sure I totally agree with that premise, but eating more healthy vegetables - and not those from GMO! -  certainly brings benefits.

Currently the bloggers Dom and Nan are doing quite a bit of research and reporting on the GMO issue and stem cell findings (especially as it relates to MM) and you can follow them here.

The peasants in South America (where I live for part of the year) can best afford the local fresh fruits and vegetables with a little chicken, goat and beef once in awhile. They walk a lot, work hard and live by the sun, starting their work when it comes up at 6 and stopping before it goes down at 6. Obesity never used to be a problem here, but as the camposinos strive to be 'richer,' they eat more sugar, consume more empty calorie foods with the result that both diabetes and heart disease are on the rise and if they acquire a motorcycle, they seldom walk when they can ride.

Getting exercise daily is also part of keeping the system operational. Even taking a short walk, if that's all you have energy for right now, is healthful.

The toxins in our systems caused by chemicals used in materials to build our cars, decorate our homes, provide aid when we hurt, and so on, are helping to make it possible for previously limited cancers to invade bodies of all ages. So I feel strongly there is some logic (and benefit) to having a hair sample test done to determine the status of the body along with the other testing that is done to determine the level of MM at diagnosis.

I am not blaming anyone for their diseases, but encouraging all those who are wanting better health to start looking at what you are eating. (You might find my postings about flouride and aspartame interesting.) Particularly look at how many hidden sugars are in the things you buy to prepare quickly. The best thing I have done for my own health has been to live in a third-world country where I am almost 'forced' to eat fresher everything. And so far, South America has one of the the lowest incidence of MM, but as South Americans start eating like North Americans, this may change. Now that I'm living in the NW, I am focusing on eating foods as fresh and healthy as I can find them. TIP: When in the bigger supermarkets, shop the outside lanes and avoid the middle ones where all the preserved foods are.

How can I have good strong cells if I don't give them the nutrition they need? Most of the time when I return to the U.S. I have gained weight and I know it's because I have access to the very tasty, not-necessarily-good-for-me, treats that are so readily available there. I offer up these links to help you make better choices for better health and hope they are helpful.

Hippocrates knew that food was the key: "Your food will be your medicine and your medicine will be your food."

The Market Place

Pike's Place Market is a favorite spot for locals and tourists alike, especially on a sunny Sunday.

The Pike Market is well known for their Market Spice Tea which is available here, and online, too, if you care to order it. It was a big hit with our Colombian friends, so we made a special effort on Sunday to get down here and get some to take back with us. It has a strong orange and spice flavor; a black tea drenched in rich flavor. I have had it also under the title of "Russian Spice Tea," so that may be how it is found in other parts of the world.

A lot of flowers are available for sale here and since better than 80 percent of the flowers sold in the U.S. come from Bogota, perhaps we are seeing some Colombian flowers in this colorful mix!

During the winter a lot of local people come here to get their flowers and they are really priced quite reasonably. Seeing the sunflowers in the back row made me think about all the sunflowers we planted and watered while at the finca and I will be interested to see whether some more have been put in while we were away and how they have progressed.

To the left is a vendor selling every possible kind of rice, 

pasta, spaghetti, vermicelli, etc. on the face of this earth.

Today was the last Summer Sunday in Seattle. This is when you can park for free in a lot of places - no dropping coins into slots - and there are plenty of street vendors, musicians, and lots of wonderful smells and foods... look at the crowd inside the market hall! Doesn't look like the economy is suffering here, does it?

The other great delight is finding all sorts of different kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables. Remarkably, Lorna and Mike, although they have a wide range of shapes and sizes, there was nothing to compare with your zucchini, though I looked long and hard.

Take a long hard look at the vegetable up near the center.
I think this vendor has a sense of humor.

You can find champagne grapes (miniature and sweet), Chinese fruits, Mexican vegetables, and other worldly treats to address any recipe needs you might have. One of the vendors was slicing off bits of a ripe and juicy yellow peach for everyone to sample that was very tempting, but we were on a mission and could not be diverted by our taste buds.

Playing a lively composition, possibly his own creation?

What else might you be searching for? Italian sweets? Washington honey? French pastries? German sausage? Russian caviar? There are incredible restaurants - small and large - along the street. Books? Candles? Potions? Someplace in the market you can find it. Jewelry, clothing, hats, tattoos, spices for food, spices for life.

Seattle has such a variety of cultures. You can walk down this market street and hear voices from many lands, people dressed in a variety of national garb, music from every possible range: classical to jazz, banjo to harmonica, even a piano on wheels was being enthusiastically played by its owner, with CDs to purchase if you like what he's offering.

There are blown glass ornaments, wall hangings made from every possible kind of material, photographs, line art, incredibly lovely creative works by artists who silently watch you walk by and art by those who try to entice you with demonstrations, questions or simply shoving their works at you, hoping their technique will be the one to sway you to part with your cash or debit card.

A balloon creature creator sells his twisted art to all who will buy in the park that overlooks Elliott Bay in Puget Sound.

It is like a smorgasboard of light, sound and color which I am ill-equipped to handle for very long. Like an over-stimulated child with too many sweets from pampering aunts and uncles, I finally have to leave it all behind and head back to the relative quiet of Mukilteo - grateful that I have that choice.

So I leave you with a short video of one of the musicians we heard... enjoy!

Recipe for Rain Soup

The temperature dropped, the rain fell down, the pressure was low and it was time for "Rain Soup."

Start a pot of water boiling... and while it is doing its thing, add some salt.

Then hopefully you have some:

* carrots

* mushrooms

* onions

* shallots or green onions

* parsley flakes

* black pepper

and a chopper/grinder you can put it all into.

Once the water is boiling you dump all the bits and pieces into the pot, and let the pot simmer for at least an hour. Taste and see what else is needed. I added some ginger, some cinnamon, and several tablespoons of potsticker sauce (somewhat spicey).

Serve with Brie or cheddar cheese and crackers of your choosing... or whatever else you might like to have with it.

Then you can watch the rain come down and still feel cheerful, I hope.