http://ljb-quiltcutie.blogspot.com/2013/12/blogger-recess.html
I will never figure this out. This blog Google's robot allowed me to post on Myrl'sBlog. I am a bit of seaweed tossed about in a roiling ocean of technology.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
FORCE vs USPSTF: An important tussle.
Linda in Christmas Pageant, at 11.
With Halo
Joseph seems rather young for the part
This seems more than usually idiotic. You may remember our old friend, the U.S.
Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF).
As I understand it, USPFTF is an all-volunteer, all expert panel
recognized (but not supported) by the Feds.
ObamaCare is taking cognizance of it, though, to the extent of ruling
that procedures not rated A or B by USPSTF will not be covered. Can that be right? I’ll have to check*. Anyway, the USPFTF has ruled that cancer
survivors be deemed not eligible for genetic testing. Here is why I think that is a mistake. Ovarian cancer and breast cancer are both
influenced by mutations in the genes named BRCA1 and 2. So, let’s say you survive one of those cancers or the
other. Neither cancer REQUIRES those
mutations; they only increase a woman’s odds of contracting them So, it seems to me, if you have survived
breast cancer (for instance) it is of considerable importance to determine whether
you are carrying the BRCA mutations, because if you are your chances of
getting ovarian cancer are unusually high.
To be fair, I should read the actual USPSTF decision, but
right now I don’t feel like being fair.
FORCE (I’ve written about that, too) – Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered
– is up in arms. Read this link. Maybe you will want to sign the
petition. I did.
*No, that isn’t exactly right. Obamacare only approves plans that offer
coverage for procedures that USPFTF rate A or B. The problem is that this panel of experts is
completely ignoring the needs of cancer survivors. FORCE is righteously enraged.
Friday, December 13, 2013
THE BECK FAMILY CHRISTMAS LETTER, 2013
To paraphrase Ramses II:
She for whom the Christmas tree shines its brightest.
Well, heck, it’s Christmas time again. This is the third Christmas without Linda,
and I seem to be missing her more all the time. She loved the holidays, and her enthusiasm
transmitted itself to all around her, making things special. It won’t be that much fun this year, but I
know she would want me to give it a try, and I am. I spent Thanksgiving with Carolyn (and stayed
on for her birthday), and in a few days I am going to Cordova for Christmas and
New Year’s. There I will meet my two
great grandbabies, Seamus and Evelyn, for the first time, and also enjoy the
company of my three granddaughters, one daughter – and, of course, their
various male support staff. It should be
a blast. Still, Linda’s little ornaments
will spend another year in their box. I
urge you all to consider making an end-of-year contribution to cancer
research. Go to
and do it to honor Linda.
Write something in the “guest book”, too.
I am planning to cover the back of this page with pictures,
so let me use the rest of this side to tell you what I’ve been doing, and what
the immediate future holds. I did get
away from Bellingham some during 2013, but not to anywhere exotic. I did the usual rain-avoidance stint in
Borrego Springs; and I also had a great week in Flagstaff with Kristen and
Joe. I like that country (the Colorado
Plateau and the Big Rez), and I hope to return frequently. I have spent a considerable amount of time
and energy in Seattle, trying to help out with ovarian cancer research. As all of you probably already know, I am a
volunteer with the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research (where I am
trying to help Dr. Rivkin himself with various writing projects), and also a
“research advocate” with the ovarian program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center. Other than that I just hang out
in Bellingham, trying to keep the house livable and the cats fed. So far I have succeeded – with the help of Molly
for the first task, and Bunny and David for the second. When I am in Seattle I stay with Karen, and
we explore the café and movie scene. And
that’s about it. Not very exciting? Heck, I’m 80 – a weekly beer with the boys
fills all my social needs, darned near.
As for the future, well, gnutz, I get to have another joint
replaced. January 10th is the
date, and the weeks before that are filling up with things I need to do – joint
replacement class, stop medications, start other ones, see the doctor, see the
nurse, make out my will, etc., etc. When I got my first tin hip, maybe 20 years
ago, I don’t recall all this fuss. I’m
sure it all is helpful – and of course it also helps guarantee full employment
in the medical professions. So, anyway,
recovery time for an OF is of the order of six weeks, so I may not be able to
spend much (or any) time in Borrego Springs this winter. I should be recovered enough for Karen and me
to take our planned trip: visit Kristen and Joe in Flag, then tour Indian
Country. I will wear my bola tie and
Navajo silver belt buckle and fit right in.
(Hosteen Beck, I will be.) After
that – no clue. Continue to help out in
Seattle. Keep adding to my blog*. Keep drinking beer with the boys. Keep the house passable until Linda and Paul
buy it and I can move into a nice mobile
home with no stairs. And make sure my
fat cats are healthy. Pretty
exciting, don’t you think?
·
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6665628846095491748#overview/src=dashboard
So anyway, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Blogger won't let me post the second page. Grinch!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
IMMUNOTHERAPY and other stuff
A Michigan Fall
When I am home alone, which is most of the time, I have an
evening routine. I ride my stationary
bike for 30 minutes, thus pretending to stay in shape. Then I watch the BBC news, while imbibing a
vodka and tonic. Next I fix dinner, then
sit down to eat it. While eating I like
to watch a TV program from On Demand, which – as most of you probably know –
records certain popular shows for watching later. Until recently this has worked out well, because
it takes me about 44 minutes to eat dinner and that happens to be the length of
an hour-long TV show – divested of commercials.
Lately, however, they have been fixing the shows I like to watch so that
you HAVE to watch the ads – Fast Forward disabled. Thus the show lasts a full hour, and I rarely
stick around for the conclusion. It
follows that, since I usually watch cop dramas, I never find out who done
it. A small thing, but irritating.
The worst of the ads I am forced to walk features a well-known
black movie star, whose name escapes me at the moment, urging me to use the
Capital One credit card. So why is this
important? Because, when I tried to
watch the video that accompanies the link I am about to describe to you, I first
had to watch that same damned commercial!
So, click on the link given below, but skip the video.
The article concerns a boy who entered a clinical trial studying
an immunotherapy response to a type of leukemia that was killing him. The trial, conducted at the University of
Pennsylvania, studies the effects of removing T cells from the patient’s body
and somehow “re-programing” them to attack cancer cells. So far it seems to be successful. T-cells are a part of the immune arsenal, and
I have written about this kind of therapy before. It holds excellent promise for the future. Let’s all hope the poor kid doesn’t
relapse.
I was alerted to this article by faithful reader
Parkfriend. Parkfriend lives in Canada,
and has done so for many years. She is an
American by birth and education, but has taken on a Canadian persona to the
extent that she now wastes vowels in such words as honorable, and (no doubt)
pronounces “strength” as if it rhymes with “tenth”. Strong medicine, that Canadian culture – don’t
visit too often!
Sorry, Parkfriend – just kidding.
Monday, December 9, 2013
TO WALK IN BEAUTY
Our Mexico trip, 2010
This isn’t really about ovarian cancer at all, nor is it an
attempt to be funny. I have been
studying Navajo culture for a few months, ever since I returned from Kristen’s
place in Flagstaff. “Studying” so far
consists of re-reading all the Tony Hillerman Leaphorn-Chee novels. I have ordered a few more serious books; they
lie there on the coffee table looking at me accusingly. When I finish Hillerman I promise to give
them a try. But, I am lazy. It’s my right; I’m an old fart.
The purpose of this blog is to share something I have
gradually come to realize. Hillerman
relates how the Navajo Way consist of “walking in beauty”. I don’t pretend to understand that; all my
life I have “walked” in a constant state of competitiveness and inner
turmoil. But last night I realized that “walking
in beauty” exactly describes Linda. I’m
not going to try to elaborate: you who knew her well will understand. Even when she contracted ovarian cancer she
continued on, in beauty. There wasn’t a
Sing that could save her, nor any trick of modern medicine. But she continued. The world really is a darker place, now that she is gone.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
BACK AT WORK
Looks like an anniversary
In our little Cowgill house
The purpose of this blog is to re-kindle your interest. I have been away for over a week, and so
nothing new has been posted. The result
is that my “hits” dropped from about 150/week – to 6! And all of them from Moldova! (Not really.) So here are some articles I found in the NY
Time, which you might want to read. Well, I doubt if you'll really WANT to read them, but you should, anyway.
The first concerns the availability of new drugs or
treatments to end-stage patients, without FDA approval. Apparently there really is an avenue to do
this (without going to Mexico), but it has its limits. One seems to be not knowing (or not caring) about possible “deleterious side effects.” I’ve always felt that if nothing approved
will work and the patient is going to die, something unapproved could be
administered without violating any
ethical guidelines, No doubt it isn't that simple. Anyway, here it is:
The second item of interest is a blog published in the Times, written by an extremely
articulate woman who has advanced ovarian cancer. Heaven forfend that any of you should ever
experience what she is going through, but it might be a useful exercise to
promote understanding. Linda went
through this, and I didn’t help her enough.
Now I’m trying to make it up to her, when it’s too late. Anyway, here is the latest blog:
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