Strange Cure for MS?

It seems that a number of MS sufferers were accidentally "cured" of the disease while an attempt was being made to study how it progressed. The quotes are there because MS is a tricky disease and seven years without symptoms doesn't conclusively prove that it won't come back. In fact, doctors were expecting it would, but so far it hasn't. They used harsh chemotherapy drugs to destroy the sufferers bone marrow, and then gave stem cell injects to make it regrow. They were expecting a temporary remission and were trying to find out how long it would take for full MS to return. Instead, seven years later, its still gone.

Who Ordered it to be Morning?

Groan. I didn't get a heck of a lot of sleep last night, but I'm trying to get my hours moved around so that I'll start getting up reasonably early in the morning so that I can make a good attempt at this entire 9-5  (or perhaps 10-6) thing that I'm doing.  I like the idea of perhaps eventually settling on an 8:00 am wake-up time. That way I don't need to be asleep before midnight, so I don't feel like I'm losing my evenings, and it gives me two hours to wake up, drink coffee, shower, eat breakfast, read LJ and the like, before I sit down and try to get some work done.

Today though, I was up at 7:00 am because our house guest suggested we go out for breakfast this morning as reward for both of us having to get up with too little sleep. I managed (barely) to drag myself out at 7:00 after falling asleep at 1:00 am, but it turns out that he was up until 5:00 am getting some work done. So, we've rescheduled the breakfast for 9:30. That gives him a chance to get a bit more sleep, but still gets us out the door and eating with time to spare for him to get to his meeting today, and for me to come back and get some work done.

Not, mind you, that I expect to get much done today. Its been many years since I was able to be reasonably productive on only 6 hours sleep. Heck, I'm not sure I've ever really managed to get anything done on a day with that little sleep. However, so long as I manage to stay awake today and get to bed at a reasonable hour so as to get 9 or 10 hours tonight to make up for today, I should be productive tomorrow and the next day.

That, at least, is the plan.

Uncertain News.

I got a phone call a couple of hours ago from my Father. One of my cousins suddenly passed away unexpectedly.  I'd never met this particular cousin. I'm not even sure I had ever heard of this cousin before. However, I do remember her mother, my Aunt Ruth, with great fondness, although I only ever met her once (we stayed at her summer house once, ages ago, before it was sold to Shania Twain...)

We had been planning to go visit my Aunt Ruth sometime this summer, to renew old acquaintances and because she's getting on in years now. This has suddenly thrown the whole thing into a different light, and plans are getting rethought. We'll probably still not be visiting before summer though, as my Mom is currently on a boat on the Rhine somewhere and couldn't accompany us...