Mixed bag

Well I feel human again. But I'm sad at the announcement of Linda Smith's death at 48. I'm just one of thousands who loved her sense of humour, and her ability to be withering about so many aspects of life on the Good Ship UK.

The number of remarkable people that cancer robs us of.
I always think of this whenever I hear arguements about gene advances that may allow us to decide not to carry some cancer genes in the future - who would we miss out on? The very pattern of DNA itself was more or less cracked by a woman who died of ovarian cancer - Rosalind Franklin.

I got a call from a friend this morning, she has Stage 4 breast cancer to her spine. Her options seem to be narrowing down to clinical trials now. All I can do is listen and be supportive. But I hate seeing her struggling through the labrynith that is the NHS once again.

Things are happening in breast cancer - Herceptrin is a fantastic breakthrough, but it only helps one in five woman who happen to have cancers that are "HER 2 postive ". Sadly that's not my friend, or me.

Enough already, I'd better get on.