Finding Michigan peeps on Twitter

Are you from Michigan? Do you tweet? Introduce yourself here You will find names of other folks from Michigan on the list.

After you fill in your Twitter name, you are asked to send out a Tweet.

PS Find me at http://twitter.com/mcwflint

Thanks to motownmutt and shawnsmith for the headsup

Michigan man a success in MS stem cell study; coverage upsets me

My January issue of MSFYI and several Google Alerts also had good news about a small stem cell study.

Here's what the newsletter said:

"Three years after being treated with an experimental procedure that used their own stem cells, a small group of people with early cases of relapsing-remitting MS appear to have either halted or even reversed their course of disability."

The study, conducted at Northwestern University in Chicago, involved 21 people who had "autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, a procedure in which their own blood-forming stem cells were extracted, and then reintroduced into their systems after each person was treated with chemotherapy to kill immune cells in their bone marrow."

The goal to "reset" the immune system seemed to work with most:

• 17 showed improved EDSS scores,
  
• 16 had no relapses after three years,
  
• none have had a worsening of MS symptoms.

Previous studies using stem cells in people with more advanced cases of MS have not been as successful, and some attempts have been fatal due to methods used to kill immune cells. A new technique, believed to be safer, was used in the most recent trial.

The study's lead author, Richard Burt, a Northwestern associate professor, said in media reports that the therapy may not be effective in late-stage MS because too much damage from immune cells had already been done. On the mean, those involved in the newest study had been diagnosed with MS for five years.

A larger trial, with 55 patients in the U.S. and Canada, is now planned for what the Chicago Sun Times said: 'First time we have turned the tide' on MS - Injecting early patients with own stem cells seems to reverse disability: researcher."

The Sun Times is where I also learned that a Michigan man participated in the trial. And that's where my disappointment with the media begins.

I was surprised that I couldn't find the Michigan connection in any of reports on the study in Michigan media. Surely, I'd learn more in local media. (I live in Michigan.)

Here's what the Sun Times said:

Barry Goudy, of Woodhaven, Mich., was one of the success stories. Goudy was diagnosed with MS in 1995. Since his stem-cell injection in 2003, Goudy said he hasn't had the fatigue, blurry vision and weak limbs he used to experience with every relapse. Goudy noticed improvement in his symptoms within six months.

Now, he's back to working full-time at a car dealership and said he doesn't have to get weekly and monthly drug injections anymore to keep his condition in check.

Except, I don't think he lives in Woodhaven. I know he's not working at a car dealership, if he ever did. But details beyond his participation in the study are fuzzy after watching what four TV stations did with a video report featuring Goudy and reading a number of reports in various newspapers and medical journals.

The Journal of the Medical Association did a video report in April 2008. Here's an abstract: AMA report on how stem cells treat autoimmune (and other) conditions, focusing on Barry Goudy - who celebrates 5 years free from Multiple Sclerosis symptoms after treatment. Clinical Trials ongoing...

From the JAMA site:

Barry Goudy learned he had multiple sclerosis in 1995. He was losing feeling in his left leg, and then his vision began to go.

“I went back to my neurologist and said, ‘Tell me how I can fight this,’" Goudy said.

Goudy enrolled in a clinical trial in 2003.

After five days of chemotherapy to destroy his immune cells, doctors used his own stem cells to rebuild his immune system.

He said it worked wonderfully for him.

“I have no symptoms of MS. I do no treatment for MS. I do no shots,” Goudy said.

Researchers reporting in the Journal of the American Medical Association reviewed the outcomes of about 2,500 patients who had stem-cell transplants. They found that it helped many patients with auto-immune diseases and even helped improve heart function for patients who suffered heart attacks.

“It's a whole new approach to these diseases. Rather than just surgery or drugs that you can use, (it is) a cellular approach that seems in many different studies to be benefitting the patient,” said Dr. Richard K. Burt, chief of the Division of Immunotherapy for Autoimmune Diseases at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Unlike embryonic stem cells that can only be collected after the destruction of an embryo, adult stem cells come from a patient’s own blood or bone marrow or another adult’s.

“There's very low risk – less than 1 percent mortality from the procedure,” Burt said.

Goudy now leads an active life, even coaching a hockey team.
“I've had five years of good life. Five years! If I didn't do the transplant, I would probably be in a wheelchair today,” Goudy said.

Last July, Goudy reached the five-year mark. You can read about some of his early MS treatment efforts.

ABC-12 in Flint was among the stations to pick up the JAMA video last winter, including information about Goudy in a report on stem cell research.

WRAL did a report too, using the video.

In 2006, in a radio show he was working in the automobile industry (read the transcript)

He's testified on stem cell research, where some other details are fuzzied up.

I'm fairly sure he's now a hockey coach at a suburban Detroit high school - contract approved in August. I thought about tracking him down - it's that need to know urge. But then realized there's no reason to intrude on his life. I just need to remember to keep question what I see and read on "news" reports.

Related posts:

If I ask, will questions go away?

Old drugs inspire hope for those with MS

Advance newspapers get warning of closure

Over in New Jersey, employees heard the Jersey Journal and some weekly newspapers may close in spring if finances continue the way they are.

The Jersey Journal is an Advance Publication, like The Flint Journal, Ann Arbor News, and the other "Booth" newspapers in Michigan.

The Evening Journal Association announced to its employees today that the company would cease publication of The Jersey Journal and a string of weekly newspapers in Hudson County on April 13, 2009, if its revenue is not sufficient to support the papers' reduced expense plan.

Here's some background.

Does anyone from North Dakota read blogs?

Even " competitors" like to help out from time to time. That's why I have been Tweeting, Friendfeeding and just plain begging in search of someone from North Dakota who willl visit Free From Editors just once so Jim of L-Town who is warming up in California can finally say at least one person from each state has read his blog at least once.

His whining, I mean blogging, about this lapse got me curious about some of my stats. I was surprised to find folks are translating me into Dutch (Flemish), Spanish (Castilian), and Croatian.

And though I'm not cross-checking this against a state or country list, I like watching the cities change. I get Flint, Lapeer, Frankenmuth, Ann Arbor, Troy, a few of the New Jersey, Ohio,Louisiana, Alabama, Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon sites that show up. I've worked with people from those places. I am not surprised by Knoxville or Napier or Washington D.C. I'm Internet buds with people from there. Even Phoenix, Nashville, and Miami makes sense - Girl Scouts, you know.

But Australia? Or New Zeeland? How do you find me?

And do you know anybody from North Dakota who could just read this 49 and once to go.

Let's give Jim of L-Town an easy post to write when he returns to reality from the land of the stars.

Equal time for newspaper lovers

Most of what's written about newspapers these days is doom and gloom. But there are some who are enthusiastic about the medium.

Like Ken Paulson, who was from USA Today, and delivered a speech recently that highlights his belief that it's wrong to pick on the "ipods of the 1980s." After all ...

"there have also been huge layoffs at Home Depot, and no one is predicting the demise of hammers."

His speech is on the National Press Club under the headline of Newspapers are Fact-Checked, Hand-Delivered, No Pop-up Ads. What's Not to Love? Paulson Says.

The speech was picked up the Newspaper Project, the website to balance the doom and gloom of others.

"NewspaperProject.org was launched in 2009 by a small group of newspaper executives to support a constructive exchange of information and ideas about the future of newspapers. While we acknowledge the challenges facing the newspaper industry in today’s rapidly changing media world, we reject the notion that newspapers—and the valuable content that newspaper journalists provide—have no future.

"Unlike websites that feature negative, gloom-and-doom stories about newspapers, this website will be devoted to insightful articles, commentary and research that provide a more balanced perspective on what newspaper companies can do to survive and thrive in the years ahead."

(You didn't miss buy a newspaper day because you were busy chasing down the groundhog, did you?

'Mom cooks me ... like a turkey'

A 4-year-old's heart is breaking because her Mom "doesn't love her anymore."

My heart breaks when I read that her mom put her in the oven and "cooks me like a turkey." I had hoped it was a misguided mother's attempt to get her daughter warm during this cold spell.

But that wasn't the goal of the Hamtramck's mom, who also singed her daugter's eyelid with a screwdriver,

I have so many questions. How could the girl stand still long enough for her mother to do that to her face?

How did the mother get her into the oven? Pretend they were acting out a fairytale? Shove her in?

I want to know more. I know that I can't. I fear others will follow the mother's lead.

Why is it still so easy for some to become parents.

It is enough to distract me from the horror of the new mother of 8 babies, who already is mother to six children. It is not the size of this new family or even that all of the kids are under 8. It's the mother and how unlikely it is that she will qualify as a good mother anytime soon.

She's been on disability for at least 5 years - pain from an on-the-job injury prevents her from working and led to her divorce in 2008. (She says depression from pain led to her marriage disolving. Is her ex taking the high road and not sharing his side, or is no one asking him?)

How much did birthing and -- I hope -- taking care of the first six contribute to her disabling pain. Why in the midst of the physical pain and emotional pain of splitting from your husband would you choose to have more children? And what sane medical staff agreed to do the procedure?

Why is it so easy for some to become and stay parents?

It is almost enough to make me want to stop reading the news.

Happy Tweets made me 'pretty' mad

Oops. I learned early this morning two things - I can still jump (to conclusions) and hot buttons stay hot.

It started with a visit to Happy Tweets, where I put in my Twitter name and learned I was "pretty" with a score of 512.

Wait - don't I have the green-haired cartoon as my profile pix? That's pretty? And what's pretty got to do with happy?

See, I am striving to be happy and positive and grateful and even optimistic. I want good health. But pretty stopped being a goal a long time ago. I mean whose defination of pretty reigns supreme? And how come it is usually women who cover up their faces and lips with all those layers.

Now maybe part of the sensitivity is all the hoopla over "He's just not that into you" and Jennifer Aniston's comment on Jay Leno last night that when she was 10, her mom was saying you should never leave the house "without your eyes on." OK - 10? And did anyone ever say that to a male? (iPhone turned Aniston to Boston! and leno doesn't own his own name as an an URL and NBC uses TNT for the address? What does that stand for? The nightly tantrum?)

I digress. How can my tweets reveal that I'm pretty? I went looking for the interpretation, which meant I had to scroll down. That's when I saw the word "happy."

Pretty happy ... on the non iPhone days :-)

Facebook's 25 Things gets noticed by Time, NYT; gives me some attention

Wow, even Time and the New York Times have noticed this 25 things thing which was on Friendfeed -- even has a room there -- and has exploded on Facebook.

The Time article can tell you just how much time - OK, estimated time -- has been spent coming up with these lists. Author says about 10 minutes per list and there's been .... sorry, get that # from Time as I am Iphone blogging tonight so I cannot copy and paste. While you are there, you can also read some of the things the author wishes people would not have said. It's worth a read - and no names are attached, Midgets, why 1 teacher quit, something about middle school - surely that's enough to get you to go look.

Unlike some, I have enjoyed reading most of the lists that I have found on Friendfeed and Facebook. Susan Mernit has helped point out quite a few with ongoing posts that take just one item from each list.

Plus, I have had a grand time just clicking away on lists for folks I barely know or don't know. I didn't realize you could read some notes of non"friends" just by clicking on the word "note" next to their name. The openness depends on how users fix their settings - you can even control access by note. (I'm working on a Facebook privacy post, but that's for a day when I'm using a computer to blog.)

My reading lists of non-friends is fair - Google searches for "25 things you don't know about me" have been sending folks to my January list - the one with the photo of the Japanese bluegrass band. We will see if they come back.

A dozen eggs may make the difference

Sometimes life is not fair. You get yelled at, you want to yell. Or at least get rid of some of your frustations.

In an Everything Changes blog post, Kairol Rosenthal shares "10 truths,"about cancer and includes this:

4. Smash. Put one foot in front of the other, roll with the punches, yell, cry, and break things as needed.

I really liked this recommendation: Smashing a dozen eggs in the shower. She says it is "cheap, satisfyingly messy, yet easy to clean up." I can easily imagine tossing one hard against a shower wall. I can visualize the tension melt away as I plow through a dozen behind a closed door. With the shower running, no one would hear me either.

Yet my family thinks that's a bad idea because they say the eggshells won't go down the drain.

I brought up the idea during a discussion on why there"a a broken glass in the trash. Eggs would be cheaper then breaking glasses or china, I suggest. It is quickly pointed out the breaking was an accidental drop, not a throw. (And if I were an assuming type of gal, I'd say the looks suggest they would never throw china and wonder if I would toss in anger. I only throw when I need more broken china for a mosaic.)

They also don't want me kicking any of the dogs either, even if it is their howling, or yapping or snarling that sends me over the bend.

I guess that leaves blogging and/or journaling. (Yes, journaling on paper and in private so I can keep a few still talking to me. )

You know eggs would be faster. I think I even have a coupon.

Oh, say can you see?

I remember the day being a protective oldest sister changed my world

I accompanied my brother to his at-school eye exam and became quite upset with the doctor who kept asking the same question over and over. Finally, I had enough of the badgering.

"How can he tell you what direction something is pointing when it is just one big blob.?"

Whoops! His exam quickly ended and I was on that seat looking at what clearly was not a blob.

Long story short, i needed glasses.


I remember vividly the day I got glasses and saw individual leaves on a tree, spokes on a bike wheel and words on a chalkboard.

But why didn't I tell someone about my poor eyesight? Who knew it was poor?

At age 7 I thought the world was supposed to be a Monet painting, massive blends of color that left details to the imagination or a upclose investigation. I thought the way things looked in books and on television was part of the magic of the products. (Yes, I sat close to the TV.)

What we live with daily is our reality, our normal. With luck, the reality is good.

Or we find change through the right person or tool at the right time so that our world no longer is an Impressionist painting.
ng

If I ask, will questions go away?

It's another sleepless night (and getting to Seattle remains on the bucket list) so if I out the questions that are inside will they go away? Or will I at least get answers?

Who is the Amanda behind the breast cancer donation fund on the Michigan form?

Was the Michigan man in the stem cell study selling cars, working in a car factory or managing something in an auto company when he was diagnosed with ms? Did he get a buyout? Is his career as a high school hockey coach fulfilling a dream? How much did it cost him to participate in the study?

Does a person come with a set number of hours of eyesight?

If so, is it better to ration how long and on what you use your eyes for or just splurge and do as much as you can now?

Did I burn too many hours on books and computer screens? Was it reading by flashlight under the bedcovers?

If you wait, do some cancerous cells heal on their own?

Do MRIs and the other fancy tools tell us too much today?

Is it lying to say you didn't have a fever if you don't take your temperature?

How long will a scale tell you the right weight?

Why do people without children make scrapbooks? What happens to their scrapbooks when they die?

How do they decide how many days you need to take an antibodic?

Why do I still want more hours in the day, heat in the house and friends to be happy?

What is happy?

Do you still need to use drops to make your eyes wet if you are crying?

Why isn't waking up enough?

Old drugs inspire hope for those with MS

Some good news about multiple sclerosis -there are some possible new uses for old drugs -- one used to treat leukemia and another to treat TB or leprosy -- could help with MS.

It also looks like those who can't face shots may be able to take an oral drug instead of shots

Over on the peer-reviewed Ploson (Public Library of Science, you can read about how Clofazimine could be a "promising immunomodulatory drug candidate for treating a variety of autoimmune disorders," including MS.

But for an "in English" explanation, I like what Julie Stachowiak's says over in her Multiple Sclerosis Blog:

"The drug clofazimine was developed in the 1890s as a treatment for tuberculosis. Clofazimine happens to also interfere with a molecular pathway that controls the immune response. Basically, clofazimine prevents signaling from the exterior of an immune cell into the interior (where it can "rev up" a response). They result? An inhibited immune system that is less likely to attack the myelin and cause the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (in theory)."

Wait, an even easier explanation is on the John Hopkins press release, starting with the subhead:

"Leprosy medicine holds promise as therapy for autoimmune diseases"

Johns Hopkins pharmacologist Jun O. Liu is quoted saying:

“We never expected that an old antibiotic would hit this target that has been implicated in multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and type 1 diabetes.

Until now, clofazimine’s presumed target was not human cells, but bacteria. But we discovered the drug has a tremendous effect on human immune cells that are heavily involved in both the initiation and execution of an effective immune response.”

The Johns Hopkins researchers uncovered the drug’s latest potential during an ongoing and exhaustive screening of FDA-approved drugs designed to identify new uses for them, according to the press release.

The Hopkins team was specifically hunting for immune system control agents within the Johns Hopkins Drug Library, a collection of more than 3,000 drugs in pharmacies or being tested in phase II clinical trials.

The press release, under the main headline "Teaching old drugs new tricks," goes into detail about the methods the researchers used. It was a lot of work but I'm glad they were so patient. More work to come.

My latest edition of MSFYI from MS Focus had this item on a possible oral drug from Merck:

Oral Drug Cladribine Reduces Relapse Rates in Trial

Another oral medication for MS may be headed toward the FDA approval process after meeting its end-points in a phase III clinical trial.

Cladribine, a drug already approved to treat leukemia, was tested in two dosing levels, both of which reduced relapses seen over one year’s time in people with RRMS when compared to placebo.

More than 1,300 people participated in the CLARITY study. Those in the “low dose” group had 58 percent fewer relapses, compared to those taking placebo; those in the “high dose” group had 55 percent fewer relapses.

Reported side effects included low white blood cell counts as well as headaches and cold-like symptoms.

The Pharmaceutical Business Review said that Elmar Schnee, president of Merck Serono, plans to apply for FDA approval of the drug’s use in MS in mid-2009.

For those with a fear of injections, an oral medication is good news, as so far the only medication that helps prevent relapses is given as injections. Some can be done by the person with MS; some only at a medical faciltity.

It is still hard for me to believe that the first drug known to help prevent MS attacks was approved by the FDA in 1993 - just a year before I was officially diagnosed. I was lucky to get Betasaron and years later Copoxone, which was approved in 1996. I've had fewer side effects from Copoxone and find it fairly easy to do the daily injection.

My knowledge of injections saved us 100-mile round-trip back to the cancer center for a day-after chemo shot. With coaching, my daughter also has joined "Yes, I Can" corps and can give herself a shot now.


By the way, I learned that there were at least 150 MS clinical trials under way in 2008.

You can stay up on the latest with the electronic newsletter from the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. My mom discovered the quarterly print magazine MS Focus in her doctor's waiting room. I found the monthly e-updates over on the web site. Both are free.

No roll of blogs, but I read 'em

February 3 is Blogroll Amnesty Day, which started off when one blogger wanted to trim his roll of blogs without guilt. Other bloggers thought that was horrible, knowing that links to other blogs are one of the best ways to help folks find new blogs. They followed the lead of this blogger who turned it into a happy occasion by linking to five blogs that had less traffic than their own. (It goes without saying they had to like each of the blogs.) So despite the lack of a blog roll on the website, I can tell you about some of the ones I'm reading.

Mandy from MS Maze put together MS Bloggers at your Fingertips! picking it up from Lisa Emrich of Brass and Ivory who asked MS bloggers to spread Linky Love!

Traffic isn't a big concern in my decision to list some of the blogs I read. Do check out those two MS ones, plus Access Denied - living with multiple sclerosis and A Place to Scream and My journey with Multiple Sclerosis.

I switch diseases here (to cancer) but get inspired by Everything Changes

I still have a thing for libraries so SuperPatron stays on my favorites as does Ed Vielmetti's Vacuum.

And I'm really happy that Susan Mernit blogs a lot more often than she was for awhile.

And I have no idea why, but I am fascinated by the Junky's Wife.

Mmmm. I still remember when getting some co-workers to blog was a chore so it's nice to "keep in touch" via these blogs by folks who once worked or are working at The Flint Journal:

• David Sullivan's That's the Press, Baby
• Jim of L-Town's Free From Editors
• Pat's Blog
• (Tom )Wickham's World
• Todd Seibt and Michael Robb's TeamBoxer
• Doug Pullen
• Paddywack Designs
• Andy Heller
• Theresa Roach's Girl on the Rocks
• Jared Wadley and a bunch of folks combine on It's Just Sports
• Bill Khan and Chris Machniak still do Runners' Finish Line
• Offbeat, where Bryn Mickle picked up Jim Smith's practice of sharing unusual happenings from the crime beat.
• Brenda Brissettee Mata
• Amanda's Life and Times
• DaBlade's Chattering Teeth

(OK, ex- and co-workers who else has decided that blogging isn't the end of the world and is missing from my list?)

Two of my favorite quilt blogs have Flint-area connections - Michigan Quilts and Joe the Blogging Quilter.

Flint Expatriates is in my Flint rss folder because I love learning about this city's yesterdays.

I'd like to tell you about more blogs, I have to go do more research on how a twenty-somethings pays the outrageous price of beating cancer, what can be done with glaucoma and how to kick the blues without seeing another doctor.

Oh yeah. I did write about some of my word-related blogs before, remember Blogs replacing need for editors, talk

What you didn't know I had in common (or not) with 25 who agreed to be FB friends

I twisted and turned and finally spit out another 25 things by looking at what I had in common with Facebook friends who had already a 25 (or more) list because I didn't want to add to anyone's to-do list.

1) Like Norma Z., I love coffee (before noon)

2) Like MBW, I asked my husband out first ... if you count asking "You don't want to go out with me, do you?" because I didn't believe the guy I was with was right about why Larry was suddenly around so much.

3) Like Jim of L-Town, I was the editor of the State News at Michigan State University. My "year" started early and ended late and had lots of ups and downs but taught me lots about running newspapers.

4) Like MWG, I reluctantly did the buyout thing. But it is turning out to be the best thing in the world as it is giving me a chance to mother my cancer-fighting daughter, work virtually with new people and organizations and rediscover passions buried by workaholic tendencies.

5) Like MB, I believe open communication is the best way to solve problems

6) Like EC, I worry a lot about food and believe that health care could be forever changed if we fed people right.

7) Like IC, I find being a parent challenging yet rewarding.

8) Like SC, I spend way a lot of time on news sites (and those dealing with journalism and writing and ... You get the idea... a lot of time)

9) Like CW, I love(d) to take baths to relax, then curl up with a good book. But I only do the book part now because hot baths (and weather) make me limp. (thanks ms).

10) Like AR, I believe democracy is not a spectator sport.

11) Like JWJ, I love bluegrass music. (I didn't know that until I moved to Flint, Michigan.)

12) Unlike BE, I was never fired from a job.

13) Like MH, I booked (and organized) concerts and I can’t go to a show now without picking apart the lighting, sound, stage presence, musicianship, etc. Like, had I been in charge of this weekend's 32nd Ann Arbor Folk Festival, I would have ....

14) Like JR, I sometimes need a hug.

15) Like PB, I sometimes try too many Facebook applications (but it's OK for folks to ignore them.)

16) Like MLJ, I am an Internet junkie.

17) I learned a lot about coaching writrs from Bruce DeSilva, Jack Hart and Don Fry.

18) Like RS, I will copy edit anything and everything before me, which is why I really hate it when I get a brain burp and can't find the perfect words.

19) Like VC, I can read type upside down. (These days, it needs to be large print though)

20) Like GG (who is on Facebook, but I discovered through his Life, Work and the Pursuit of Excellence blog I want to learn something new every day.

21) I learned a lot about Flint and Irish music from MK while producing and hosting a music show on Flint's former public radio station.

22) Like RJW, I'm not crazy about talking on the phone. I thought once I left the newsroom, I'd enjoy it more. I don't.

23) Like CC, I started drinking coffee with cream and sugar. I cut both out the first time I successfully lost 100 pounds.

24) Like SH, I don't have a mousepad.


25) Like SM, I enjoyed looking at this meme. My twist was picking out facts in common with people who posted 25 (or more) things about themselves.

(and almost everyone I named here has already produced a list of at least 25 things so I haven't added to anyone's To-Do list. There are two exceptions - one had already been tagged by others so peer pressure would guarantee a finished list as soon as the home repairs are done, I'm thinking; the second has sent me a zillion or more application invites and I miss our early morning or late night chats)

This post first appeared as a Facebook Note, where names, not initials, are used.

Zig-zagging through changing priorities

The marked-up table

A yell for Mom from the kitchen ended a recent nap rather abruptly. Imagine the wild thoughts that ran through my mind as I made it from the bedroom to the kitchen where I found my daughter - a daughter who knows not to put a glass of liquids or hot food directly on the cherry table once owned by her late great-grandmother and now loved by her mother .... a daughter who knows the table pads are less then 3 feet away, placemats even closer and a bagful of read newspapers just across the room.
The crafting whiz was putting together another fleece flower kit and needed to expand a pattern by using wax paper and a printed paper. She carefully traced the basic outlines and then cut out her material. The yell came when she started cleaning up for the day and saw her "light" etching.

A few questions later and I discover she and her boyfriend discussed just covering the etching with a placemat or two, returning to Tennessee and a few other options. But she decided to tell the truth and face me.

She knew I had tried protecting the table over the years. She was the one who broke the thick glass that once covered the table. She knows no meal is served directly on the wood. She has watched me cover the table before using a rotary cutter on the my latest batch of fabrics or clays.

What she didn't expect was me laughing.

At first, I was amazed that a 24-year-old forgot basic lessons of crafting. But then, I was amused at her reaction. After all we've been through lately, a few more scratches in the table hardly matter. Yes, I like nice things and I like them to remain nice.

But I enjoy more the days she has the energy to create fleece flowers, crochet hats, and make her creatures from pom pons.

Besides, there is always a bottle of Old English polish under the sink. She could - and did - make the lines almost disappear with some elbow grease.

Breast cancer search leads to YouTube

A change in the planned treatment of my daughter's stage three breast cancer led to a recent midnight research search to try to understand why. The second surprise of the day is that YouTube just joined on my list of "good" resources for medical research.

We had celebrated being half way through chemo and the success of the treatment so far - you can't feel the lumps anymore. We were surprised by the recommendation for weekly treatments for 12 weeks instead of four biweekly sessions.


We had been warned to be flexible, especially when getting treated at an institution known for its treatment. (The University of Michigan Breast Care Center is one of 21 institutions that make up the National Comprehensive Cancer Network).

And every medical person I've met has cautioned against researching medical conditions on the Internet. But I have a list of sources and, with 30 plus years in the news business, the skills to evaluate information.

But medical videos on YouTube were a first. It was inspiring to watch a video of the chemotherapy drug taxol killing breast cancer cells. Check it out.

Meanwhile, I'm checking out articles like this one in US News and World Report on weekly doses of Taxol Early research says the new routine increases a patient's long term survival.

Oh, and the other good news? Once we get through chemo and surgery, my daughter will be able to get the radiation treatments closer to home ... that's the daily radiation for six weeks - under the current plan.

OK, enough of an update as I need to get back to this week's post treatment distraction: Sex and the City. I'll post more later on my daughter's effort to update me on the 1998-2004 series that aired during my workaholic years.

Blogs replacing need for editors, talk

I'm into reading my feeds the RSS way, but sometimes I love visiting the original sites. The venture can lead me to new places, new ideas and new ideas. So a hop over to Dave Winer's Scripting News then led me to Word Wise's One (Isn't) the Loneliest Number. He gives us 25 phrases to replace with one word. Example:  Replace at all times:with always. I really like these blogs about language and words because I don't often get the chance to talk about this now that I've left the newspaper.

Plus some of the blogs give us the headlines that could easily be featured in Jay Leno's Headlines on Mondays.

So Dan Sartow's Word Wise joins the other "word" blogs I follow:

• Editrix is "for those who think grammar is hot," which is nice when it is cold.
  
• Headsup is self-described as "thorts and comments about editing and the deskly arts." Expect to learn about headlines such as "Patient buried before Cherry filed report to pathologist" in posts with headlines like When zombies handle the paperwork."
  
• Languagehat is about language and I like it just because I never know what I will be reading.
  
• That's the Press, Baby is the only blog I know of that talks about copy editing and department stores. Author David Sullivan and I once worked on the same copy desk so I knew of his fascination with department stores and his skill at copy editing. These days, he also writes often on the future of newspapers.
  
• The Engine Room is by a sub editor (what we in the U.S. call a copy editor) in the UK. I like getting a non-U.S. viewpoint from time to time. Plus he led to me to a book: Grumpy Old Men, the official handbook. Who knew.
  
• Watch Yer Language is from an editor at The Billings-Gazette and led me to
  
• You Don't Say, is by John McIntrye, a "mild-mannered copy editor."
• Words at Work often reminds me of loaded words such as entitlement that a copy editor or editor once helped with (we all need some help, right?)
• Writer Way is written by Karen Anderson, who knows her way around the web so includes posts about wise web practices as well as advice on writing.
  
• Writing Tools.
• A Capital Idea by a Dallas Morning News copy editor talks about commas, grammar and newspapers.
• Mr. ReWrite whose last entry was about Canada geese.
• Words to the Wise has cleared up a number of food-related words for me recently and shared why -0 wasn't wise to use in a headline near math students.

The advantage of leaving RSS behind is I can see the blogs the writers are reading. Here are some from the blogs above that are about words, writing and editing.

• Common Sense Journalism
• Conjugate Visits
• Grammar Police
• Language and Grammar
• Language Log
• Motivated Grammar
• Talk Wordy to Me
• Testy Copy Editors
• The Editor’s Desk
• The Grammar Vandal
• The Slot
• The Word
• The Word Whisperer
• Triangle Grammar Guide
• Word Porn
• Wordfeeder
• Mike Billings' Copy Editing Corner

This fascination with words must be why the family still won't play Scrabble with me. (and yes, I've shared how many games I've lost on the Internet.)

Shut up, listen, and receive ... with grace

I've been thinking a lot lately - all these questions and conflicting answers bubbling up. But the real question should be why am i surprised that answers to the thorniest questions pop up just in time

Today's inspirational reading answered a mess of questions that boil down to two: Should I go to my daughter's chemo treatment and do I accept an unexpected check given for "appreciation."

We don't know where I got the dreaded MRSA infection or the orbital cellulitis. Did it evolve from a sinus infection? Bronchitis? Did I pick up the germs from the hospital where my daughter is being treated for cancer?

The latest medicines seem to make a difference. But then a three-hour yarn and wig shopping trip exhausts me and I don't leave my bed for nearly 30 hours.

Dueling doctors are little help; one reminds me to always avoid hospitals as with multiple sclerosis my immune system is already weak. The other says we will never know where I picked it up from so go and use sanitizer frequently (We buy by the gallon and refill the various packages)

He reminds me to be the mom of a newborn - sleep when they do, eat when they do and accept help from all who offer.

He also also reminds me of my skills of asking questions and how important that is to a 24-year-old fighting cancer
The daughter? She tells me she "has people." (some of those people are lined up for later in the week when I slip away to the 31st Ann Arbor Folk Festival.

A midnight comment shows she's hoping I will be there for the planned celebration of part 1 chemo being done. Look out IHOP.

I waver. I justify going. I justify staying home. But then this quote greets me in my morning reading.

[God] comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
II Corinthians 1:4

Even before I read the short story, I know I am going - armed with my sanitizer.

Then, the author ends with this prayer:

Lord, I also know how difficult it is to accept help. Give me the grace to set aside my pride and receive the assistance offered by the people you send as channels of comfort
- Alma Barkman

And that short prayer is a reminder to me that the only response to an unexpected check given in appreciation is thank you ... to accept it in the spirit it was given, to accept with grace.

Now, I'm off to write the thank you and pack the "mom bag" of goodies that help distract us from the blood red chemo.

Saying goodbye in public

I think it's classy to say goodbye publicly and Paul Keep, the editor of the Muskegon Chronicle in Michigan, does just that.

A lot of newspapers these days seem to let long-time reporters and editors fade away, never acknowledging they left.

Cookies are safe, kosher, less fat - find the news on Myspace, Facebook and Internet

You'll be happy to know Girl Scout cookies are still kosher even though the label is missing from some boxes- the New York Times reported that. And the peanut butter used in your favorite Girl Scout cookie is safe to eat - the Girl Scouts and the two bakeries quickly rushed out press releases on that. Have you ordered yours yet? (details below)

If you know your ZIPcode you can find Girl Scout cookies.

You can read the press release on the peanut butter warnings and talk to Michele Tompkins at GSUSA if you have questions. Or read the statement from ABC bakeries or Little Brownie Bakeries. Want more proof? Then read what the peanut butter supplier said.

Enough about peanut butter. Thanks to BoyandGirlScouts.com, I can tell you about "Rising costs bite into Girl Scout Cookie portions. Actually, The Dallas Morning News reported:

"Fewer cookies were packaged into Thin Mints, Do-si-dos and Tagalongs boxes this year, and the Lemon Chalet Crème cookies were resized to compensate for the rising cost of baking staples. "

Why? Michelle Tompkins, a Girl Scouts spokeswoman, said:

"In the last year, the cost of flour has jumped 30%, cocoa rose 20% to 30% and baking oil has soared between 40% and nearly 200%. Transportation expenses are up 30% to 40%."

By the way, Girl Scout cookies are found online in plenty of places this year. There's the Girl Scout Cookie Group on Flickr for a variety of photos related to cookies.

There's an application over on Facebook that lets you send virtual cookies to friends. There's the Myspace page authored by a "92-year-old woman from Georgia" for the organization founded in 1912 in Georgia. You can watch video of older cookie ads on the page that's been up a few years.

Girl Scout cookies is more than a fund-raiser. Here are a few of the benefits listed over on the official Girl Scout site:

• Girl Scouts practice life skills like goal setting, money management, and teamwork—and they have fun!
• Customers get a great product and get to support girls in their own community.
• All of the proceeds support Girl Scouting in the local community.

Did I make you hungry?


Want more about Girl Scouts? Try these posts:

• Lifetime commitment gets them talking
  
• Who is leading Girl Scouts now?
  
• If you look, you'll find support