On Monday, February 25, exactly two weeks after our last visit with the clinical trial doctor we were scheduled to see her again. That appointment happened to also coincide with an annual mammogram, a neuropyschology cognitive evaluation, and some routine blood sucking for good measure. Because what's a trip to MD Anderson without a blood draw?.[...]

I've been meaning to put together a post about the conference Julie and I went to. First of all, this is the second time I've been to this conference, the first being a for a poster presentation in February, 2017 in Tampa, I wrote about it here: https://posthope.org/shannons-page-of-hope/journal/210297/quick-update-and-a-very-very-long-post-about-the-very-informative-keto-conference. This time I learned a whole lot of the same content as before. I did see several people I'd met in 2017, I met a few new vendors, and I heard research results that were only slightly more recent, most of which supported the previous work. The poster we presented in 2017 was titled, "On examining the barriers of entering and maintaining the ketogenic diet for cancer patients vs. non-patients: a trans-theoretical (stages of change) approach," and focused on the following. 1) research has conclusively supported KD as a medical diet for treating illness, particularly cancer. 2) There are barriers to entering and maintaining such a therapy for both patients and non-patients. 3) Identifying what those barriers are through qualitative data collection, designing interventions to eliminate those barriers using a stages of change model. 3) Identifying how vendors and other stakeholders can use these interventions to decrease barriers and make it easier for people to enter and maintain a KD lifestyle. Our paper/poster this year focused on how marketing can be used for rebranding KD, so that people think of it as a metabolic therapy rather than a weight loss fad. For over 100 years, low carb/high fat has been used to treat various illnesses by decreasing inflammation, helping a person become fat adapted so that the body doesn't have to rely on glucose (which is a cause of inflammation and the only food most cancers can metabolize) for energy, and increasing efficiency in fat adapted "normal cells, enhancing physical and mental performance. In our paper/poster, we specifically called for the study of where/how those using food as metabolic therapy in this way get their information, who the most influential stakeholders are in this community, and designing a mass marketing message and strategy, with the intent to rebrand the term "ketogenic diet" as a medical diet.. In fact, our title was "The potential role of marketing in promoting KD as the medical diet it has always been." [...]

Not a lot has happened since my last post, however, there is a little news so I thought I'd update all of you. Jason was able to come to Houston for my appointment with the clinical trial doctor. He came on the weekend and we were able to get some things done around Houston. Most importantly, I was able to visit my favorite carnitas supplier, El Tiempo Cantina. Monday morning we got up early and I went straight to the diagnostics lab to get my blood drawn. The last time we saw this clinical trial doctor I had eaten a ton of breakfast before the blood draw and she got concerned about the cholesterol count. Luckily, that visit was just a dry run and it didn't affect anything. This time I wanted to be careful so I got the blood drawn before eating anything, which was not easy to do without coffee. I didn't know for sure that I'd be able to do it without it resulting in assault charges, divorce, or worse. Somehow I made it. Once the blood was drawn, we went straight back home to have coffee and breakfast because my next appointment was several hours later. [...]

On January 15 (3 weeks ago) Katy and Jane arrived in Houston. Kim is usually here for surgeries and although we needed her superior skills of micromanagement, she was not able to come this time. Jason's sister Cass was also able to come over from Austin, so we had some great help. We got up extremely early the following day and drove to the hospital so that we could check in before 6:30. As we were all running a little late and I was feeling like I'd forgotten everything I needed, that was the first time I realized that Kim is the one who keeps us all in line for surgeries and that she was very much missed. We had planned ahead a bit to inform the newbies of what to expect. She wrote a lengthy text describing the basic schedule, needs, and preparatory advice. It was a nice synopsis of what everyone should be expecting and how to prepare mentally for the experience. Since I'm typically extremely busy during the surgery itself, there were things I was unaware of that go on in the waiting area. For example, she kept referring to where they might want to sit, etc., and using the phrase, "for more privacy." I had to tease her that I am not sure what they are all doing out there that they need so much privacy, but that phrase seems highly suspicious to me. I decided that since I'm occupied during that time, it's none of my business. Let them have their privacy.[...]