Light at the end of the tunnel
We brought Peekaboo home from the clinic almost a week ago, last Saturday evening to be exact. I thought that she’d slowly return to her usual self once she got home, but it has taken longer than expected. Reason: we ran into a few problems…
Problem number 1. Like most (all?) cats, Peekaboo was REALLY bothered by the Elizabethan collar, a cone-shaped torture device that prevents cats and dogs from licking or scratching or biting their wounds (Note: these three photos of Peekaboo are “post-Elizabethan-collar” photos. The white and red stuff around her neck is just a temporary bandage that doesn̵...
Source: Margaret's Corner - July 27, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll mandibulectomy in a cat Source Type: blogs
Quick update on Peekaboo
I took our cat, Peekaboo, to the vet two days ago, around lunchtime. When her new CAT scan results came in, my vet told me that, even though the melanoma had spread a bit in the past two weeks, the cancer hadn’t gone into the jawbone yet. She recommended that we do the surgery.
After asking a few obvious but almost-impossible-to-answer questions (will the surgery PROLONG HER LIFE without impacting her QUALITY OF LIFE, blablabla), I called Stefano, and we both agreed it was our only choice at this point, even though there really aren’t any guarantees: this sort of cancer is very aggressive, so it may come back a...
Source: Margaret's Corner - July 20, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll cat surgery feline oral cancer feline oral melanoma Source Type: blogs
It ’ s not just malignant. It ’ s very aggressive.
All of Peekaboo’s test results are in (see my July 4 post; Peekaboo is one of our cats…11 years old…I took the above photo of her in 2015).
The biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of an aggressive malignant oral melanoma.
I won’t go on and on about all the discussions Stefano and I (and friends and family) have had in the past couple of weeks, especially this past weekend…all the going back and forth (surgery…or no surgery???), all the online research we’ve done, reading horrible stories on various cat forums, the heartbreak, the anxiety…”what should we DO???”…
Y...
Source: Margaret's Corner - July 16, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll feline oral melanoma mandibulectomy in a cat Source Type: blogs
A case report: the antibiotic roxithromycin induces PR in a patient with smoldering myeloma
Well…Well…WELL!!! I’ve got a very interesting item for you today…
Many many many thanks to my blog reader Charlotte for this gem: goo.gl/hMsWov
The link will lead you to a case report about a 86-year-old patient (with IgA lambda smoldering myeloma) who went into partial remission after taking roxithromycin, an antibiotic, for just ONE MONTH. This happened last year in New Zealand.
The patient’s paraprotein, which had been increasing since he was diagnosed in 2008, dropped from 46 g/L to 20 g/L.
That’s a 57% decrease! Wowsie.
And another thing: in addition to his other markers remaining...
Source: Margaret's Corner - July 12, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll myeloma roxithromycin Roxithromycin monotherapy inducing a partial response in a patient with myeloma: a case report Source Type: blogs
“ Crystal structure reveals how curcumin impairs cancer ”
Wow, VERY EXCITING BIT OF NEWS that popped up in my Google Alerts yesterday.
My post title is the title of a new study revealing a previously unreported biochemical activity of curcumin. This very important study, carried out by three research teams (University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Peking University, and Zhejiang University), shows how curcumin attaches to, and INHIBITS, a gene called DYRK2, which is associated with cellular growth and/or development. This inhibition diminishes the proliferation of cancer cells. It reduces the tumor burden.
How about THAT?
Here’s the link to the University ...
Source: Margaret's Corner - July 11, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll Crystal Structure Reveals How Curcumin Impairs Cancer University of California San Diego School of Medicine Source Type: blogs
Possible case of feline oral (malignant) melanoma
Because our 11-year-old cat, Peekaboo, has been very aggressive toward the new kittens…stalking them, pushing them into corners and then hitting them until, screeching like hyenas, thus giving us heart attacks, they manage to escape (mind you, she doesn’t hurt them, no blood is shed, e.g., but she really scares them, and that isn’t nice at all!), I finally took her to the vet clinic yesterday morning for a checkup.
When, back in May, I took Pandora and Pixie to the clinic to be spayed, I spoke about this aggressive behavior with the vets who agreed with me that Peekaboo might have some sort of painful phy...
Source: Margaret's Corner - July 4, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll cat oral melanoma oral melanoma in cats Source Type: blogs
For the first time, the FDA approves a CBD-containing drug
As I have written in previous posts, CBD, or cannabidiol, an active ingredient of marijuana, kills myeloma cells, so the news I came across early this morning is of huge interest to me.
In a nutshell, for the first time ever, the FDA has approved a CBD-containing oral solution (= a strawberry-flavored syrup) for the treatment of rare but severe forms of epilepsy in children.
Note: this syrup does not contain THC, the ingredient in marijuana that makes people “high.”
It may not come without side effects, such as sleepiness and increased liver enzymes (like most anti-seizure drugs, it appears), as you can read in...
Source: Margaret's Corner - June 28, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll CBD Epidiolex Source Type: blogs
A new commission looks into the adverse effects of blood cancer treatments
This morning I read an IMPORTANT Science Daily article on how the adverse effects, tolerability, and toxicities of conventional treatments for blood cancers (including myeloma, of course) have not been reported/disclosed as well as they should have been, to put it mildly. See: goo.gl/ou9CNg
Well, this may change soon enough: a new commission set up by The Lancet Haematology has been looking into these adverse effects and toxicities, considering in particular the long-term, chronic effects that don’t go away even after the completion of treatment, such as neuropathy, which can be crippling.
Quality of life has always...
Source: Margaret's Corner - June 26, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll adverse effects blood cancers Lancet Haematology myeloma neuropathy Source Type: blogs
Food items we should avoid “ like the plague ” …
I just read a very interesting interview with/article about a food poisoning lawyer (imagine that…!!!) who shares his knowledge about food, potentially contaminated food. And some of it isn’t so obvious.
That is why I’m posting the link to the article, as a warning/reminder to those of us who have weakened immune systems: goo.gl/NG3oty
I never buy prepackaged (washed? Hah!) salad, e.g., or anything that has been cut and washed by others. I never go near salad bars, no matter how clean the restaurant looks. Bacteria bacteria bacteria! Better be safe than sorry…
After my SMM diagnosis, I began growin...
Source: Margaret's Corner - June 24, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll food poisoning sprouts Source Type: blogs
Researchers test curcumin in new bone-building study
After enhancing the bioavailability of curcumin using polymers, a group of Washington State University researchers proved that curcumin can increase bone growth by between 30% and 45% in a matter of weeks: “The presence of curcumin in TCP results in enhanced bone formation after 6 weeks.” (Quoted from the abstract.)
The researchers are currently testing other natural extracts as well, namely “aloe vera, saffron, Vitamin D, garlic, oregano and ginger [… ] that might help with bone disorders, including those that encourage bone growth or that have anti-inflammatory, infection control, or anti-cance...
Source: Margaret's Corner - June 16, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll bone building bone formation curcumin myeloma Source Type: blogs
“ It ’ s just a cat … ”
Last summer, when we were forced to put down our two eldest cats, Puzzola and Piccolo (Puzzola, in June; Piccolo, in September), Stefano and I were absolutely devastated…overwhelmed with grief. Losing a pet is like losing a piece of yourself. A piece that is gone forever.
Piccolo (left) and Puzzola in 2005
Plus, in addition to all this emotional (at times, physical) pain, we also had to deal with the “it’s just a cat/dog/etc.” attitude of pet-less friends/people who just don’t get it. Last summer I remember hiding my despair from some of my closest friends, the pet-less ones, which wasn’...
Source: Margaret's Corner - June 15, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll grieving for a pet; pet loss Source Type: blogs
Quick post
Wow, it’s been a long time since I last published a post. Everything is fine, more or less…This has just been a super busy period…
In a nutshell: our two mischievous kittens (see the awful cellphone photo on the right) were spayed a couple of weeks ago after the scare with Pandora’s heart turned out to be just that. I mean, it was just a scare, luckily!!! They are doing just fine and are as mischievous as ever.
Then Stefano and I spent four days at a cousin’s wedding in Avellino, a town near Naples, then there were a million things to do once we got back to Florence, teaching English blablabl...
Source: Margaret's Corner - June 6, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll bronchitis myeloma spayed kittens Source Type: blogs
Mice don ’ t vomit
The fact that mice don’t vomit is one of the many things that I learned while reading an extraordinary May 16 Boston Globe article about an experimental cancer treatment that cured, yes, cured a dog, a golden retriever, from soft tissue sarcoma. This cancer treatment, immunotherapy, might possibly (someday) help human patients, too.
Anyway, have a look here: goo.gl/DyBnJZ
Really quite amazing. Incidentally, many thanks to Cynthia for posting the link to this article on Facebook…
Quick update: our 8.5 month old kittens, Pandora and Pixie, were sterilized on Monday and are doing well, phew… Tomorrow I̵...
Source: Margaret's Corner - May 23, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll golden retriever immunotherapy sarcoma Source Type: blogs
Check-up
This morning one of my best friends and I took Pandora and Pixie (my two 8.5 month old kittens) to the vet clinic for a pre-spaying check-up to make sure they are healthy enough for surgery…heart, lungs, etc.
Pixie was fine. But when Pandora’s turn came, I related this incident to the anesthesiologist: one day, not too long ago, Pixie (probably in heat) was zooming like a maniac around the house, with Pandora right behind her. After a few minutes, Pandora threw herself down on the carpet, panting like a dog, with her tongue out. Pixie was resting, too, but normally (no panting, i.e.).
I’d never seen a ...
Source: Margaret's Corner - May 15, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll cats spaying vet Source Type: blogs
Positive reinforcement may have an effect even on … PLANTS!!!
Okay, this post really has nothing to do with myeloma (although one could argue that it’s related to stress, in some way…), but I found it absolutely FASCINATING.
It describes an experiment by IKEA, which recently placed two of its own plants in a school in Dubai and asked students to verbally abuse one of them while talking in a positive manner to the other. See: goo.gl/DJFsBF
As you will see in the video, after only one month, the “abused” plant looked terrible, all wilted, with brown-spotted leaves, while the “complimented” plant was healthy, with lovely green leaves.
As you can read ...
Source: Margaret's Corner - May 10, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll IKEA plant bullying Source Type: blogs
