motorcycle mania

I had a dream last night that it was dark in the city wherever I lived, and some thing- some BAD thing, was coming/taking over. (though it was never seen) In a corner, I see some Gaga/Christina Aguilera person (right?!) just sitting on a motorcycle (much like the R1  my love loves) in a matching helmet and outfit, posing, ready for a picture. Hel-LO?! I remember thinking. You are just SITTING on a motorcycle and we need to GO! Not that either one of us knows how to ride this thing, but... I got on with her, started it and somehow, got going. Okay, so I may have driven a bit like Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber at first, but I was moving. That is, until we found the whole city was surrounded by some insane mountain.(somehow) I thought Okaaaay... well, this is a powerful motorcycle, let's just get over this and get out of here! ...except that charging a motorcycle up a crazy dream-steep mountain was pretty much only a great way to do a backflip of death and kill both myself and my passenger. Damn. Okay, so we'll go slowly, you stupid mountain! Here I come! I had to use the engine power to try and leap almost vertically, then land on the dirt and slide down to only feet from where I started. But I did it over and over and over again, until I woke up. I will find a clinical trial to help my dad.

This whole thing is more than I can bear. It's more than anyone should have to. To hear straight from his coordinating nurse's mouth, "I'm so sorry, honey. I see this all the time and the life expectancy with this is usually less than a year" is crushing. Still, especially if it is true, there is no time to wallow in self-pity about the looming possibility that the world as I know it might crumble soon. I am alive, he is alive and as long as those two things are true, there is nothing, NOTHING that will stop me from waking every morning, getting my kids to school and getting on my motorcycle to get over that mountain. 

I tracked down Dr. Flaherty, the lead doctor in all of the clinical trials in the NY Times articles, who wrote me back! I was really impressed that he personally took the time to write me, and within a couple of days, too. Unfortunately, he said that there are no more currently trials for PLX4032, which was the drug we were resting our hopes on. However, he mentioned a new drug that hasn't hit the news or markets yet called GSK2118436. So, the door hasn't closed, it's just changed addresses.

Yesterday, I called literally every single doctor and drug company I could scour off of the internet with any link to an applicable clinical trial for him. I even spoke to a few humans in all my message-leaving, all of whom were very compassionate and helpful. I have been working separately on a new diet regimen for him as well, consisting of as many vegan and raw foods possible. I have been reading The Hallelujah Diet ,  The China Study and anything else I can find to pulling recipes from as well as searching the internet for other alkalizing foods and any other form of nutrition and diet therapy to combine. I have brought him wheatgrass shots, which he managed to get down with minimal grimacing. Impressive, considering it takes me a full 30 seconds to reopen my right eye after I take one! We are still looking to find a juicer (both for fruits and wheatgrass), a dehydrator, a pasta maker and a food processor for him so we can fully utilize all of the recipes and foods involved, but one thing at a time.

Of course, all of those things cost money, too. Yeeeaaah. Have I mentioned I'm not working? I lost my job selling fragrance at Macy's because it gave me asthma and pneumonia last month. It gives me time to be with my kids and help my dad, but I'm living on about $200 a month at the moment- thank goodness for SonomaWorks! This is aside from the thousands a month my dad loses due to his inability to work, and aside from the accrual of bills that mount for him monthly for the same reason. Again, one thing at a time.

One thing in the mix to help already is a promotion my aunt and uncle (his sister and brother-in-law) are doing with their company, Glass Dharma  is donating 75% of their sales profit online to the Barry Johnson Cancer Relief fund. You can check out who they are and what they are about by clicking on the link above as well as checking out their promo flyer here. There are a number of ways you can help- buying glass straws is definitely one of them! If they don't fit your fancy, or you just want to give a donation, there are a few simple ways you can, right now at your computer! Remember, every little bit counts. The motorcycle can't make it up that mountain without gas and willpower, only one of which I have in stores.

The simplest way at the moment is via PayPal. It does take registration if you don't have an account, but it is a secure, one-time happening that takes only 5 minutes. Then, simply go to the "send money" tab and enter BPJ716@aol.com as the recipient. There is even a way to donate via text once you have an account! Simply send a text with the amount and e-mail to 729725 (PAYPAL). (ie: Send 500.00 to BPJ716@aol.com). It's that easy, I tried!

Okay, time to hack through the lists and articles that seem to breed by themselves when I'm not looking. On the bright side, the roses are blooming EVERYwhere right now, and you can bet your buttons we are stopping to smell them.