close encounters

We had a close encounter yesterday with a famous artist. Well, the famous artist's self-portraits to be precise.  Paul Gauguin.  It's an eye opening exhibition at Tate Modern...not just the famous pictures Gauguin painted in Polynesia and Brittany, but drawings, prints, ceramics and woodwork, as well as some fascinating background information about his life and times.  Exhausting, but well worth a visit.


More close encounters coming up shortly at the Mesothelioma Patient and Carers Conference in London. There will be talks on a wide range of subjects by representatives of the medical profession, both national and international; Asbestos Support Groups; those working on different approaches to help mesothelioma patients, and patients themselves, including Debbie Brewer and Mavis Nye who both share their experiences on blogs (links top right) and play an active role in the Facebook Meso Group, plus Graham Sherlock-Brown, whose PETAL philosophy was so comforting and inspirational to us in those early days following Steve's diagnosis. It will be great to see and hear them in the flesh!


Not only that, but Prof Vogl from Frankfurt will be talking about chemoperfusion - the technique he uses to deliver chemo to the diseased area, allowing higher doses whilst minimizing the impact on healthy body tissue.  Although it doesn't work for everyone, some - like Debbie - have had truly amazing results in terms of tumour shrinkage.  There's a session on mistletoe - nothing to do with Christmas decorations - about its role in boosting the immune system, and another on the role of immunotherapy, an area of research that's showing promise in the treatment of mesothelioma.  

With us in the audience will be many other people whose names I know well from the online meso community. However, this will be our first opportunity to meet them face-to-face.  Really looking forward to it!  It will be a special day, I'm sure.  And for us, the special day will finish somewhere completely different.  But you'll have to wait and see where :-)  Come back next week to find out more.......