I’m back

Happy Thanksgiving to my US family and friends.  I hope that you’re able to spend time with your loved ones, and that you can share happy memories.  Jerry is definitely pleased that I’m not tied up in zoom meetings for 8 hours a day, and was curled up behind my legs at night, and today was on my lap for a good chunk of the day.  Don is good, although he seems to have had difficulty sleeping last night… today, of course, there’s football running late, so he’s a contented man.

Frankly, I’m exhausted and in some pain after the meetings.  It’s very much like the pain of travel.  At the end of each day, I’d effectively been sitting up and on a screen for a little over 8 hours.  I had to break and lie down a couple of times to give myself a rest, but even with that, each night I was in bed by 6pm band I slept deeply.  Day 2 I had to negotiate with myself to get up and in my chair about 5 minutes before the start of the session; I just wanted to sleep.  Today is easier; I’ve been more rested and ate more regularly (half an hour to have lunch is really unacceptable!  Unless lunch is already prepared, which mine wasn’t, because I was so tired.)  One of my friends dropped off some of my favourite foods and I was able to enjoy that.  My appetite is still small, but I’m actually eating more solids more often, so that’s great.  Given how I feel today, I’ll probably need another day or so to overcome the results of the last 2 days.

Those days, though, were well worth it.  I’m awed, as usual, by the proposals that were submitted.  The new techniques being discussed included things like 3D models to test ideas, reducing the need for animal models (and costs); designing molecules that are activated by particular light wavelengths that can be directly introduced into tumours and directly attack cancerous cells; an extract from a plant (from the Amazon) that shows that it can attack cancerous tumours which is being tested as a treatment for 5 types of aggressive cancers… I mean, it’s awesome.  This round seemed to have a higher proportion of rare cancers with poor outcomes, and paediatric cancers.   I’m sorry that I don’t understand the detailed science more, but the lay versions of the research are jaw-dropping.  I’ve said before that it’s a shame that we can’t just fund all the research, but the ones that were outstanding really deserved more attention.  I won’t know which of them will be funded yet, but we definitely have a good selection as a base.  

I’ve had some discussions with my friends about my volunteering with this.  One of them thinks I shouldn’t because I get so tired, and don’t eat appropriately.  They believe that it’s something of a vanity project, where I’m doing this to prove that I can.  Others think that it sounds difficult and that the preparation alone is needlessly exhausting.  My opinion, obviously, is that I enjoy it, and it’s something that enables me to give back a bit while learning more about the work that is being done to tackle cancer.  There are some gaps, IMO, especially in terms of Canadian statistics on certain cancers; much of the work is based on US or UK information.  That will improve, I think, over time, as there is a growing understanding of the importance of knowing the particular environment.

OK, that’s all for now.  I’m still tired and I’m hungry, so I’ll address that point and then head in fairly early.  I don’t have any plans for tomorrow, so I can lie in late.  I’d chatted with one of my Florida based cousins yesterday and got an overview of their planned dinner tonight… sorry I’m not there to share in the meal!    Good night!