I'm Back! There's Work To Be Done!

I'm back again, and ready to write some more!

My wife and I just spent 10 days in Europe on a river cruise down the Rhine. A few days in the Netherlands, then Germany, France, and Switzerland. We saw many cool things, ate good food, and met interesting people. 

We've been trying to make travel a priority. We went to Italy a couple of years ago, and we starting planning our next big trip on our way home from this one. We were both lucky when we were much younger to have been able to travel, and that got harder after we had kids. Now our kids are grown, and we think about the health issues that both of us have. I'd be very sad if, one day when we're older, we looked back and say "Remember when we used to talk about traveling? That would have been nice." We don't want that to happen.

So we do what we can to make it all work. Traveling takes time, and money, and energy -- and there are times when it seems like we don't have much of any of those things. But we decided to prioritize these experiences.

To put this in cancer terms -- that's kind of what Survivorship is all about, isn't it? It's about making decisions that let us live the life that we want, on our own terms. So we'll keep driving our 12 year old car as long as we can. I'd rather drink a Kölsch in Cologne than impress the neighbors with a new CL55.

As I said, we met some wonderful people on our trip, especially a group of four from Pennsylvania, two couples who are lifelong friends. They truly made the trip something special. We enjoyed spending time with them.

And of course, as you get to know someone, there is almost always a cancer connection. It's hard to escape. One of our four new friends is a three-time cancer survivor. We shared stories -- of the awful things people have said to us about cancer, and of the importance of trying to laugh sometimes. But mostly we didn't talk about cancer. We drank wine and talked about our kids and won a trivia contest. Like I said -- survivorship. 

I hope you are all able to do the things that make you happy. It feels very good.

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I have been able to look at the ASCO abstracts for this year, and so far, I'm not seeing much about Follicular Lymphoma. I'll start reviewing them soon, including the one that I am a part of (I know I've been promising that -- I'll get to it very soon).

In the meantime, the Follicular Lymphoma Foundation has put out the official announcement for their webinar next week. Here's one of their social media posts:

 

 

I'll be one of the speakers for the webinar, which is happening next Thursday, June 5, at 12:30pm Eastern Time. I'll talk about my Follicular Lymphoma treatment experience. You'll also hear from Dr. Mitchell Smith, the Chief Medical Officer for the Follicular Lymphoma Foundation, and Prof. Andrew Davies, Professor of Haematological Oncology at University Hospital Southampton. They're both going to be fantastic. 

You can read more about the webinar and register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2617476619964/WN_S3L8Al8tQAOjPWBy6ERxCw#/registration

If you have questions for any of the panelists, you can submit them on the registration form. 

And if you can't make it to the webinar, the FLF will post a recording on their website after it is over.

I'm really looking forward to it. The FLF is a great organization, and I'm honored that they have asked me to be a part of this. 

It's good to be back. More to come very soon.