I've said in several previous posts that I would expound on various subjects later and haven't gotten around to it, yet. Oops. Life has been throwing me curve balls and having me jump through hoops, lately, so I haven't had much chance to keep people updated on everything. I can barely keep up with myself, these days.
Here's the skinny...
I can:
-Regulate my own body functions performed by my lungs, kidneys, intestines, etc. (HUGE deal)
-Jump (sorta- I have the landing down, the take-off is still kinda rough)
-Run (it ain't pretty, but I can kinda, in a weird way, do it)
-Ride a bike (I rode all by my self on Monday!)
-Stand all day long
-Walk for a few hours
-Go weeks without throwing up, getting a bloody nose, or coughing up small woodland creatures
-Be outside for more than 10 minutes without my skin cracking and falling off
I don't have to:
-Measure out every thing I eat
-Manage my blood sugar
-Do blood filtering very often
I still:
-Get winded easily
-Feel a buzzing in my toe at all times
-Have to watch what I eat
-Get infections a lot
-Probably can't eat that
-Have hope that I'm going to beat this thing
I am:
-The least moldy I've been (my fungus is dying off!)
-Getting physically stronger
-On normal Candida levels (my yeast is back in check!)
-Exhausted
-Quitting my day job (tomorrow's my last day)
-Starting a company with my business partner (we've been working on it for about a year, now it's kicking off)
-Moving to TX for a bit and then moving to LA at some point I told you big changes were coming...
-Grateful
-Blessed
I'm headed to Texas for a wedding this weekend, for a week. Then I'll be back in San Francisco for a week. Then I'm off to LA for a week or so. Then to Texas indefinitely.
There. Consider yourself updated.
Showing posts with label I think we're onto something. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I think we're onto something. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Hallelujah Healthcare Reform!
Two months ago, I voiced some of my opinions on the healthcare in our country. Two years ago, I wrote about my frustrations with being denied insurance repeatedly.
I'm happy to know that our president and the majority feel the same way, as today marked the passing of Obama's new health care reform law.
The biggest clincher in the new law, for me, is the fact that now insurance companies cannot discriminate or deny coverage to those with underlying conditions. Obviously, those are the people who need it most, and instead we have been repeatedly kicked while we're down.
I was just venting to my dad and best friend last week about how trying to stay on top of my medical bills is a full time job, in addition to actually BEING sick, which is another full time job, on top of my actual job. What happened to taking care of the sick and injured?
I'm eager to see how this all unfolds and I hope things turn for the better.
I'm happy to know that our president and the majority feel the same way, as today marked the passing of Obama's new health care reform law.
The biggest clincher in the new law, for me, is the fact that now insurance companies cannot discriminate or deny coverage to those with underlying conditions. Obviously, those are the people who need it most, and instead we have been repeatedly kicked while we're down.
I was just venting to my dad and best friend last week about how trying to stay on top of my medical bills is a full time job, in addition to actually BEING sick, which is another full time job, on top of my actual job. What happened to taking care of the sick and injured?
I'm eager to see how this all unfolds and I hope things turn for the better.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Hope
A friend linked me to this article. My infectious disease specialist had mentioned this just last week and I wasn't able to find any articles at that time. Apparently they just released the info a few days ago (I guess I'm in "the know" being on the inside? Hmm)
It's interesting to think about. Stanford has some great programs going on right now. I'll be working with them when I start my clinical trial in a few weeks.
'Baker's yeast protects against fatal infections (8-9-11)
Injecting mice with simple baker's yeast protects against the fatal fungal infection, aspergillosis, according to research published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. The work could lead to the development of a human vaccine that protects immunocompromised people against a range of life-threatening fungal infections, for which current therapy often fails.
Researchers from the California Institute for Medical Research, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Stanford University gave mice three injections of killed Saccharomyces (baker's yeast), one week apart. Vaccinated mice were able to survive high doses of Aspergillus – the fungus that causes aspergillosis. Mice that survived also showed a reduced infection load in their organs.
Aspergillosis is the leading fungal killer among immunocompromised individuals. It is an invasive infection that attacks the lungs, can disseminate to other organs, such as the brain, and can lead to kidney and liver failure. The disease currently has very high mortality as the current available therapy has a high failure rate.
The research team used a simple yeast preparation as a vaccine against Aspergillus in mice. They found that unmodified yeast gave just as much protection against the development of aspergillosis as yeasts that had been engineered to display Aspergillus surface proteins. Dr. David A. Stevens, from Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, in whose laboratory the studies were performed, said, "Our results suggest that the protective component of the yeast is in the cell wall. What's more, the simple preparation we used has been shown by us to also protect against infection due to three other fungi that cause human disease – Candida, Cryptococcus and Coccidioides."
Baker's yeast is being studied by other groups in human clinical trials for other purposes and appears to be safe. "Research to date, including our study, supports the development of a yeast vaccine against all pathogenic fungi that infect humans. Such a 'panfungal' vaccine would further reduce mortality in immunocompromised individuals," explained Dr. Stevens. "While vaccinating all individuals with impaired immune systems would be a formidable challenge, there are certain patient groups that might be the initial target of a vaccine effort. These include transplant candidates, leukemics following induction therapy and also patients diagnosed with solid tumours."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-08/sfgm-byp080811.php'
Who knows, this could be the start of something really great.
It's interesting to think about. Stanford has some great programs going on right now. I'll be working with them when I start my clinical trial in a few weeks.
'Baker's yeast protects against fatal infections (8-9-11)
Injecting mice with simple baker's yeast protects against the fatal fungal infection, aspergillosis, according to research published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. The work could lead to the development of a human vaccine that protects immunocompromised people against a range of life-threatening fungal infections, for which current therapy often fails.
Researchers from the California Institute for Medical Research, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and Stanford University gave mice three injections of killed Saccharomyces (baker's yeast), one week apart. Vaccinated mice were able to survive high doses of Aspergillus – the fungus that causes aspergillosis. Mice that survived also showed a reduced infection load in their organs.
Aspergillosis is the leading fungal killer among immunocompromised individuals. It is an invasive infection that attacks the lungs, can disseminate to other organs, such as the brain, and can lead to kidney and liver failure. The disease currently has very high mortality as the current available therapy has a high failure rate.
The research team used a simple yeast preparation as a vaccine against Aspergillus in mice. They found that unmodified yeast gave just as much protection against the development of aspergillosis as yeasts that had been engineered to display Aspergillus surface proteins. Dr. David A. Stevens, from Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, in whose laboratory the studies were performed, said, "Our results suggest that the protective component of the yeast is in the cell wall. What's more, the simple preparation we used has been shown by us to also protect against infection due to three other fungi that cause human disease – Candida, Cryptococcus and Coccidioides."
Baker's yeast is being studied by other groups in human clinical trials for other purposes and appears to be safe. "Research to date, including our study, supports the development of a yeast vaccine against all pathogenic fungi that infect humans. Such a 'panfungal' vaccine would further reduce mortality in immunocompromised individuals," explained Dr. Stevens. "While vaccinating all individuals with impaired immune systems would be a formidable challenge, there are certain patient groups that might be the initial target of a vaccine effort. These include transplant candidates, leukemics following induction therapy and also patients diagnosed with solid tumours."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-08/sfgm-byp080811.php'
Who knows, this could be the start of something really great.
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