June update and some thoughts...

Well here we are, I've left you alone for a while and we've all gotten on with life.  Let's get the health update out of the way - I saw Tony on Friday and he was happy with all of my bloodworks, general health and that my lymph nodes were fine.  As he said, in general I would know if I'd fallen out of remission.  So that is good news.  Yippee.

I had also collected Kathryn from the airport that morning, she has now returned from the USA with her brand new degree in hand.  She is back with us at home (a culture shock I'm sure), looking for work and the next stage in life for her.  Liz and I did a quick one week visit to the USA during May in order to be present at Kathryn's graduation - you can't miss something like that!  We crammed a lot in to 7 days. Graduation, help KT pack up, drove from California PA to Washington DC for a couple of days, drove to New York city for three days and then the big flight home leaving Kathryn in NYC with her besties.  Hayley recently successfully completed her first Practical teaching placement - she did very well and seems a natural.  Kyle is in his last year at school and has recently finished some exams.  He also qualified for Triathlon age group sprint world championships, to be held in London in September.  So he is going to be busy with school, training (if he can shake the illness he has had for a while) and the Worlds.

Comment on MCL
It's been an interesting few months on the medical side of things. When we started this journey we resolved to do everything possible at that time - hence the heavy chemo and the auto stem cell transplant, our thoughts being that new treatments are being developed all the time.  Recently we've seen very promising drugs being put through testing and being given special status in order to allow them to quickly progress to approval - in the USA!  Australian approvals apparently tend to hang off of European approvals more so than the USA.  So once approved, we here in Australia need to hope that the Aussie approval process is equally adaptive.  You may ask why? the main thing about the new drugs under test is that they have reduced side effects and are less toxic - a movement in the right direction.  I do know of people who are in tests for these new drugs and it does sound promising - but as usual not necessarily a panacea!!

"The cancer to have"
Recently our former Queensland Premier was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma - blood cancer if you prefer.  Of course the press were into this big time and as usual were using their limited knowledge of the subject matter.  A facebook friend wrote about the article and the way it was presented.  Please have a read and hopefully increase your awareness of the impact that these illnesses can have.

"Today we learned that our ex Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has been diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, to the reporter who stated if you were to get any cancer this is the cancer to get....this remark angered me to the point I had steam coming out of my ears....what a load of B S no cancer is good be it blood cancer or a solid cancer. Yes some Lymphomas can be cured but many of us have been doing battle for many years with numerous relapses. To that reporter come live in the life of a NHL cancer patient going through chemo and a bone marrow transplant. Because Anna Bligh is a high profile woman she will get all the attention....but think of the quiet fighters out here doing battle on a daily basis not knowing what the future holds for them. I am sorry she has cancer I hate CANCER but this is not an easy cancer to beat. We need to educate the public. I don't usually get on my soap box but I have friends who have Hodgkins and that is supposed to be easier to beat than Non Hodgkins and they are fighting for their life ~~~ Cancer is Cancer no matter what flavour~~~~~"

Thanks for reading.