Could Stem Cells Be Used To Cure Crohn's Disease?

ScienceDaily (2007-12-03) -- Scientists are investigating whether stem cells could be used to 're-boot' the immune system and provide a cure for Crohn's Disease. A major clinical trial is been launched to find out whether stem cells taken from a sufferer's own body could provide effective long-term remission for tens of thousands of people in the UK and many more worldwide. ... > read full article

mr. darcy, mr. knightly, gilbert blythe, and the rest...

there's a reason these men are so iconic. there's a reason they're so attractive to girls like me.
what's so attractive about them? why do they make us swoon?
in my opinion, these men are held in such esteem as exemplary males not just because they were handsome or dashing, but because of the way they pursued the women they loved. in their pursuit, each made sacrifices, and made their admiration known through subtle but powerful demonstrations of their devotion- like what darcy did for elizabeth's family...
these men had their charm too, but i'm convinced that the most admirable thing about them was their good character.
well, i'm 22 now but i haven't quite lost my ideals. the men of jane austen and books like them are not too much too hope for. i hope.

dream

I love to dream.
The downside is dreaming and then waking up and finding that what you dreamed (dreamt?) never really happened.
What a letdown!

So it was nice to wake up this morning and to find that what I remembered was NOT a dream, but in fact really happened yesterday.
About 12 of my friends came up from Bryan this weekend! I've been thinking for a couple weeks that Jess was coming home and we'd get to hang out, but upon arriving at her house I was in for the surprise of my life. (to the point of near-cardiac arrest) :)
It really meant the world to me that I got to see you guys. I deinitely could not have made it to January to get back! I don't even know how I've made it so far!
Anyway, I have the best friends in the world.
This has probably been the hardest few months of my life, and seeing my friends (the fam) made me feel more special than I can say.
It was no fun saying goodbye. I'm counting down the days till next semester. Then again, I might just have to get up there before then...

interlude

i'm taking a break from the monotony of my online biology work (blah) to share...
things are wonderful on my end. fall has finally reached its potential- meaning it is finally as cold as it should be at this time of year.
thank goodness for november. it's a month many seem to have a distaste for. in fact, i remember anne (of green gables) remarking how grey and ugly and cold and dark that month was. actually, i rather like it, and not just because it's the month of my birth. :)
i think it's because i enjoy the anticipation of something almost more than the thing itself. in this case, it's christmas. i enjoy looking forward to christmas probably more than christmas day.
funny.
i've been writing some things on the side. and reading some more. i have a lot of things i'd like to be reading too. i wish i could just absorb all of the contents of them by osmosis and be done with it. it'd be much quicker. then again i don't wish that. it's just too fun to read all of that for myself.
besides feeling sleepy all of the time, i've been feeling pretty great. and to boost my mood even more as far as my health is concerned, i was told by a surgeon last week, that though surgery is likely in my future, it is not pressing. nothing for now, and that's completely due to the grace of God. the dr.s continue to be perplexed by the contradictions they see in my tests and my symptoms. things may look bad on the films, but symptomatically i'm feeling good. so the conclusion is to stick with the current plan: humira every other week and a low dose of prednisone (halelujah).
Halelujahs all around.
now off to battle with chemistry-ish things. anyone care to help? not my cup of tea...

watching and waiting

here's hoping america is as intelligent as i believe they are...
hilary can't answer a question sufficiently. oh wait, she can't at all.
i won't make any absurd statement about how i'll move to another country if she wins, but i'm sure as heck going to do all i can to keep her from being my next president.
how does everyone else not recognize this??


it's just too bad there's no front runner for the conservatives right now.
bummer.
at least there's only four more presidential terms until i can run!
i'm kidding...

hey, on a completely different note, no surgery in the near future. and when the surgeon looks at my tests and then looks at me, puzzled, because i don't symptomatically need surgery, i have only one explanation.
"Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin"

muet math. charlotte, nc. amos' southend. 10.26.07.

this was a great show. i was a little worried when eisley came on and had some sound issues. thankfully these were sorted out before mute math took the stage. and owned it...
speaking of eisley, let me first say that i was never as into them as alot of my friends, especially some bryan folk. but recently i've enjoyed a song or two of theirs and was curious to see what they'd be like live...
they were pretty good, but their set was a lot longer than i expected. i was really only familiar with their latest single, invasion, and enjoyed their performance of that at the end...
mute math was fantastic, of course. the crowd was HUGE and so into it. ingrid and i were stuck in the middle of a sea of people, where i was able to catch glimpses of the stage, enough to know that this was a great show.
i was especially jazzed that they performed peculiar people. i love that song.
control was as wonderful as ever. i loved this particular version too... i think at this point there have been several live versions i've heard, but this was my favorite.
one day i'd love to hear progress live... :)
i'm no musical expert, but i have to say that i thought this particular show was exceptional. they were definitely on last night.
after the show... was surreal. i've never seen caution tape separate those guys from all the people hoping to just get a glimpse of them. we waited outside for a few minutes as well though, even just to exchanged hellos, which we did as they were heading off in a car to the airport. thanks for taking a couple minutes, roy! really good to see them...
they're playing in new orleans today. wow. praying for those guys...

frustrated

tapering off prednisone...
pros:
swelling finally going down, little by little
insomnia gone
ravenous appetite gone

cons:
more pain
don't feel as upbeat and gung ho
constantly feeling in need of a nap again
weird appetite- only wanting certain things now and then
nutrition down according to dr.
iron levels are low again according to the dr.
platelet count high again... means disease is active.
emotional

SIGH. i can't wait till this is over. i'm already over it. no more prednisone. i don't care how amazing i felt on it... it's not worth it.


going to see the dr. next week. both my doc and the surgeon, just for a consultation. who knows what they'll say, but i appreciate prayers.

at church yesterday, someone in my church family expressed very genuinely how excited she was to get to Heaven, to see the glory of God realized. how exciting is that.... PLUS, the whole glorified body thing is something to look forward to as well.
just like the title of my blog, THIS is just for now. our lives on earth, all of our trials are so miniscule in the great plan He has, and that just makes me want to make the most of it. my job is to take that and use it to bring Him honor. humbling.

hmm, this blog has quickly turned into one that is primarily keeping track of my health, which is unexpected. but there's that.

on a different note, i'll be seeing mute math this weekend and that is definitely something i've been looking forward to ever since the tour dates were posted months ago. :)

bright red

i realized something tonight. the passions i have- for music, for writing, for people, all come from the Lord.
the blessings in my life and the things that bring me joy, even all the little things, bring me joy because i know where they come from.
it's like every good thing i encounter is increased tenfold with the knowledge that, as Scripture says, "every good thing is from above."

that's a nice little bit of contentment.

tonight i did my nails. it was actually my new years' resolution this year- to paint my nails more often. kind of a vague resolution, but i think i'm doing pretty well at fulfilling it.

tomorrow there are a lot of things to get done, including calling for more information about that stem cell study. sounds intense. i should sleep now!

:buenas noches:

ups and downs

a few setbacks lately. trying to figure out if the humira is really kicking in or if it's really been the prednisone working its "magic" this whole time. so far it looks like the latter, mainly because as i've been tapering down on the pred, i've not been feeling quite as good. sigh.
now there's talk of getting involved in a research study at duke. either that or going back to remicade, which is an IV drug that has been really great for me in past years. after those, the only other option is surgery. yea, that's not going to happen!
i could definitely use your prayers right now!
i could also do better about taking these things (well, everything)to prayer myself. i've been trying to do that more lately, and i'm relearning what an impact that can have on spiritual health.
also relearning: feeding the right areas of my life is important. and starving the areas that i know need correction is important too.
buenas noches.

fall-ish

today was jes' first football game of the season. and with a cool breeze and an avg. temp. of 70 degrees for the day, it really felt like fall.
so today has been really nice- especially compared to yesterday. it was a long day at duke. what should have been a quick CT scan turned into almost four hours in the office. most of that time was various nurses doing their best to start an IV in my small veins. six attempts. and they ended up giving up, doing the CT without IV contrast... oh well. :)
i gave myself another dose of my miracle drug, humira, last night. it's actually something i look forward to, especially since i'm able to give it to myself without much timidity. ;) now i have a glimpse of what diabetics deal with EVERY day, not just every other week...
my other miracle drug, prednisone, is definitely proving to be a blessing and a curse. i started out taking 40mg after being in the hospital and have been slowly tapering since then. 40 mg gave me serious insomnia, mood swings(good AND bad ones) increased appetite, and a lovely moon face among other side effects. what's a moon face, you ask? well, think chipmunk cheeks.
needless to say, that last one makes me completely insecure. as in- i'd rather noone see me until it goes away. maybe next month i'll be social again!
okay. enough of that.
tomorrow:
- Dolphins vs. Cowboys (go miami!)
- season finale of hgtv's design star
- la iglesia

another day, another scan

tomorrow i head to duke for another cat scan. time to check on things, on my progress. then the following tuesday, i'll see my doctor to discuss the results.
also tomorrow is my next humira injection. no big deal. i'm a pro. ha!
fall is something else i'm looking forward to. maybe i've mentioned that here and there. i may be addicted... to this particular season. it seems to always be synonymous with the best shows, the best weather, the best fashion, of the year. one of the things i most look forward to is mute math's tour with eisley.
by the way, everyone be sure to look for mute math's performance on jimmy kimmel live next week. they'll be performing their song typical. in reverse. just like the video.
i'm jazzed.

a few wise words from macarthur

"Sin is basically excited or incited and guilt is produced, so that hopefully we come to the conclusion that we are exceedingly sinful.

In a culture like ours, committed to the fact there’s no truth, no authority, no rules and no judge, there is a desperate need to understand there is truth, there is authority, there are rules, there is a judge. And it is time not to equivocate on law, but to preach law. It is a time to hold men accountable to the standard."

the rest of this sermon

republicans and the church

i think i feel the same way about bush and the republican party as i do the church. in this way:
i'm sick and tired of people finding faults here and there (yes there are many valid ones) and responding with bitterness and abandonment.
bush is imperfect, has really disappointed me now and then. the republican party as a whole, in fact. but should i abandon my conservative values because i've been disappointed? surely not. yes, i get that it's kind of cool to lash out against the government, but the whining needs to end. it's more important to stand for what's right than to complain about what isn't. i just want to see some more positivity. come on.
as far as the church is concerned, i see the same problem. why is it so popular right now to bash the church? i have personally been burned in the church. i get it. i am fully aware that the majority of church bodies are dysfunctional messes. and the people in them are basket cases. myself included. a lot of the issues in the church need to be adressed straight up, and godly leadership is crucial and too often non-existent. however, all of these things still do not make it neccessary for us to alienate ourselves, distance ourselves from what some disdainfully refer to as "organized religion."
please. give me a break. the church is the church and we should be praying for reform, holding eachother accountable, reaching out to eachother and the WORLD in love, but not tearing ourselves down from within in the process.
that's all i'm saying.

brand new

is it too cliche for me to express how i feel by saying i have a new lease on life? well it's true. feeling this good, not feeling like i'm dragging, too sick to eat or get around is incredible. i forgot what it was like to feel this good- also cliche. but i suppose cliches are cliches for a good reason... it's just nice to want to get out of bed in the morning, to care, to want to run errands and play with jes and eavan. it's awesome. also, i drank coffee this week for the first time in months. with almost no pain. wow.
anyway, last night i gave myself my first two injections of humira. a bit nerve racking at first, but not even a big deal after all. if that's all i have to do to feel this good, praise God!

it's september 1st, and there's a hint of fall in the breeziness. i love it. the anticipation! almost better than the thing itself... not really. :) i love fall.

insomnia breeds this

i am currently teetering somewhere between unnaturally alert and completely exhausted. prednisone. who doesn't love it? the med has this funny way of keeping me awake all night and getting me up way too early. with strangely vivid dreams in between. some make for very good story telling. and laughs from my brother jes. we went on a breakfast and barnes and noble date today (only today has now become yesterday...). i'm kind of in awe at how he's maturing. surely he can't be called "mature" yet, but my 12 yr old brother is wiser and kinder and more musically inclined than most kids his age, for sure. his talent on that keyboard has far surpassed my own, which isn't saying much, but hearing him play pieces he's recently started writing himself is really amazing for me.
just in general, mom and i both love passing along and sharing our love of music to him. which is why the carolina jazz festival was so cool for us as a family. mom and jes and i drove to cary to take it all in. i couldn't believe we were sitting in the fifth row of that amphitheatre watching boney james, randy crawford, michael franks, and jazz other greats perform! wow.
i particularly have been a michael franks fan, maybe not as long as mom, but definitely since she handed me his best of album a couple years ago. i am grateful for that. and for the ear and appreciation for good music that she's passed along to me and passes along to my brother. that, only after her spiritual guidance and encouragement are the most important things she could give me in... life.
okay, so this hiatus from tossing and turning has been beautiful, but i'm going to try to shut these eyes again.

lam. 3:21-25
:because of His great love we are not consumed:

i've been thinking...
most of the time change in life is more of a change in pace than any other kind of change. know what i mean?
sometimes there's a lot going on, sometimes a little. but usually it's the same kind of stuff.
well, to what extent that's true, or not true, it seems that way sometimes.

today i'm thankful for constancy. and there's only one Source of that in my life. guess that's my point.