Bee-ware!

What a real treat last week!  I spent three days attending a conference on bee pathologies, covering everything from varroa (a mite) to viruses, bacteria, fungi, and even other insects.  Fascinating stuff! From nine to five every day I was back in class, taking notes and asking questions – it reminded me so much of my college days in biology, especially in parasitology class.  The lecturer was J-P Faucon, Director of the Laboratoire des Pathologies des Abeilles, one of the leading research centers in Europe in this domain. The conference was held at the Lycée Agroenvironmentale near Arras, France so I stayed at our place in Heuchin and drove back and forth every day.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the conference was meeting other bee nuts.  The average participant was in their 50’s, male, and either amateur or semi-professional.  The typical opening conversation was along the lines of “Where are you from?  How many hives do you have?” The most experienced beekeepers were so open about sharing their know-how with beginners like me.  One of the highlights of the day was eating together in the school cafeteria, a culinary experience in France compared to what I remember from my high school days.

I had signed up for the conference in January with no idea at the time of where I would be in my treatment cycle.  However, I figured that if I registered, I could always cancel, whereas if I didn’t register I couldn’t attend.  Planning ahead for events that are NOT related to my cancer is so important for me since it seems to extend my horizon.  The bee conference is an excellent example because it reminded me that I’ll have other things to do “on the other side” of the treatment, such as taking care of my two hives.

For the moment when I look at my diary, it seems heavily cluttered with doctors’ appointments; exams of all sorts (blood tests, PET scans, MRIs, etc.)and Round 4 of the chemotherapy coming up this Friday.  On one hand, it is such a relief to know that the treatment is working, but it’s impossible to look forward to the fact that I’ll be feeling like Puppy Poop in a few days.

Yesterday Mr. T and I spent almost two hours consulting with an immunologist to whom we had been referred by Dr. Forton.  He gave us a presentation on the importance of the immune system in cancer patients, as determined by longevity, and the deleterious effects of such factors as the chemotherapy itself, as well as nutritional deficiencies (in particular zinc, selenium, iron, and Vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E and folic acid). He went on to describe the action of various medications whose “side effects” act as immune system boosters.  All claims that he offered were backed up with documentation of clinical trials. 

He then prescribed an extensive blood analysis to determine my base levels for the above-mentioned minerals and vitamins among other things.  I felt an immense satisfaction since this was the first time in my life that a doctor seemed to be pre-occupied by nutrition and its effects on disease, or more accurately on combating disease by enforcing the immune system.   We headed home with my prescription for the various medications, and the vitamin and mineral supplements he had mentioned.  I was walking on air when we left because I felt like I had just added a new card to my deck of solutions.

On the way home, we stopped at a traffic light right across from the local Apple store.  He looked at me and said “Do you want a Mac?  After all, it’s Valentine’s Day.”  A fine example of what he does best -- Techno-love – and an offer I couldn’t refuse.  He had obviously already done his homework on the subject, so we were in and out in about 25 minutes with my new Mac on order and a sack full of gadgets. 

Now I'm walking on MacAir!