Baby's Breath flower can boost anti-leukaemia drugs by up to a million times

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Scientists unveiled a major medical breakthrough that could revolutionise the treatment of leukaemia patients and save thousands of lives.

Experts have discovered that an extract from the white flower commonly known as Baby's Breath can boost the efficiency of anti-cancer drugs by a staggering million times.
They found that molecules called saponins, extracted from the Gypsophila Paniculata plant, appear to break down the membrane of cancer cells.Read more:

To read more about this exciting discovery click HERE to view the Mail Online Website.

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Stanford Hall VW Show on Sunday.

On Sunday myself and "mini me" will be driving over (and down!) to Stanford Hall to display Scarlett at the annual Volkswagen Show. We will be in area "C" so if you fancy popping along and seeing the car on the day, do say hello and let me know what you think about it, and this blog :-).

For details about the Stanford Hall Show click HERE.

When Scirocco's have a leakaemia!

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On Tuesday I had a leak......No, not that sort of leak!, more the sort you have that causes your cars cooling system to loose 2 litre's of coolant every 21 miles!.

Tuesday morning was one of those "leaky" days.I set off from home as per normal but noticed within less than a mile that the engine temperature had attained "normal" far too quickly for such a relatively cool morning. By the time I had reached Newark the gauge was reading one needles width to the right of the gauge and at this point I decided that it was worrying me enough to warrant a more in depth investigation.

I pulled into the fuel station just outside Newark on the A1/A46 junction roundabout, and after popping the bonnet I was rather dismayed to see a pool of water forming under the car, below the radiator. Closer inspection revealed that it was not actually the radiator which had sprung a leak, but the water pump itself which had developed a hole in it's case no larger than the head of a pin, and which was now causing the pump to squirt a fine jet of fluid out which then hit the radiator and then flowed onto the floor below the car.

After speaking to a nice fella called John at the garage I was pointed in the direction of the outside cold water tap were I filled up a 2 litre milk carton. I got the whole 2 litres of water into the expansion tank and even then it brought the fluid level up to barely minimum. I filled the bottle again,called work to tell them my situation, then drove carefully back to Sleaford and spent the rest of the day fitting a new water pump."Vee" belt and topping up with fresh water and antifreeze.

The cost of the repair? £5 for the Vee belt, nothing for the donated "recon" pump and a few skinned knuckles which I gained trying to free several well seated bolts!.

Can't complain though, the pump had given 23 years of service before it finaly gave up the ghost, and I would guess that there are few cars that can claim that accolade :-).

Leukaemia survivor's £1,400 gift for research charity.

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A SCOTTISH leukaemia patient has marked his 50th birthday with a donation to the charity that helped save his life.

Brian Milne, from Balmedie, near Aberdeen, became the first person from the north-east of Scotland to be successfully treated for leukaemia following a bone marrow transplant 23 years ago.

The transplant was carried out in Glasgow in 1987 when Mr Milne was 27, his sister an art student from Peterhead who was 23 at the time, donated the marrow to help save her brother's life.Mr Milne was given a clean bill of health three weeks after his surgery, following chemotherapy at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Yesterday he returned to the infirmary to hand over a cheque for £1,400 to Leukaemia Research.

Mr Milne said: "A year after my transplant, I met my wife Shona and years down the line we had our son, Jason, thanks to several rounds of fertility treatment. Jason is now 14 and I wanted to give something back, raise awareness and let people know that there is always hope."

Mr Milne was given a clean bill of health three weeks after his surgery, following chemotherapy at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Yesterday he returned to the infirmary to hand over a cheque for £1,400 to Leukaemia Research.

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Foreign doctor with poor English 'misdiagnoses toddler's leukaemia as trapped wind'

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A toddler with leukaemia was misdiagnosed as having trapped wind by a foreign doctor working at a scandal-hit out-of-hours service, her family claimed today.

Taylor Codling, three, had a temperature of 40C (104F) and her skin had turned yellow when her father rushed her to a weekend clinic.

But in a check-up that lasted just two minutes, the Eastern European doctor diagnosed trapped wind and sent them to pick up a bottle of Gripe Water from Tesco.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1265643/Foreign-doctor-poor-English-misdiagnoses-toddlers-leukaemia--trapped-wind.html#ixzz0m6X43JT3

It's Funny Video Compilation Time Again !

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After all the misery of the last few weeks it's time for a Funny Video compilation :-)

OUCH!

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How a David Beckham haircut saves Leukaemia boy Maddox.

A 'David Beckham' haircut saved a young boy's life after Maddox Tallowin's parents spotted strange lumps on the back of their his head and his neck after giving him an ultra-short Mohican-style crop.

It was quickly diagnosed that the three-year-old had leukaemia and, within a day of discovering the bumps, Maddox was in hospital undergoing chemotherapy.

‘It was more luck than anything else that we found it,’ said father, Ben, 32. ‘The sides were short but when we touched the actual mohawk, there were these bumps on either side of his neck at the bottom of his head.

To read the full story click HERE to view the Metro.co.uk Website.

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Ellen MacAthur Trust. What a great idea!.

The Ellen MacArthur Trust takes young people aged between 8-18 sailing to help them regain their confidence, on their way to recovery from cancer, leukaemia and other serious illness.

This is a fantastic organisation which allows kids fighting cancer to experience the freedom and exhilaration of sailing.

HISTORY
In the summer of 2000, some months before the start of the Vendee Globe Round the World race, Ellen MacArthur went sailing in France with a group of children with cancer and leukaemia. The trip was organised by a French charity called A Chacun son Cap loosely translated as everyone has a goal. After this Ellen described this as one of the best days sailing she had ever had. “We laughed so much we had tears in our eyes and the kids were just incredible.” Having seen first hand what a great time the kids had sailing with A Chacun son Cap, and after also working with Sargent Cancer Care, Ellen began to investigate the possibility of starting something similar in the UK. The Ellen MacArthur Trust became a registered charity (no. 1096491) in late 2002, and was officially launched by Ellen on 2nd January 2003. In Ellen’s words:
“These are really special kids. In many ways they are just they same as everyone else, they are interested in the same things as kids their age, they have the same goals in life, but the difference is that they do this with a huge challenge ahead of them.
I face challenges out on the water, but these are challenges that I choose to do. They, on the other hand, don’t have this luxury. They battle against something harder than many of us could ever imagine and they do it with the biggest smiles on their faces. To me they are truly inspirational and if the EMT can help them in their battle in any way then that is a fantastic achievement.”

To see what this charity offers click HERE to visit their website.

*Note: Ellen is giving a talk about the Trust at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham tonight (6pm). I can't go due to work (sadly!), but if you can get it sounds like a very interesting event.

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Volcanic Ash effecting Satellite GPS Systems around globe

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The mass of fine particle now circulating the globe as a result of the Volcanic eruption in Iceland have been blamed for GPS systems such as Satellite navigation units in cars and navigational aids in aircraft becoming slow to acquire a signal and in some cases absolutely useless.

This is due to the fine particles of volcanic ash reflecting the signals from the satellites orbiting the earth and blocking their transmission of data to the units on the ground.

Andre Ward of the Institute of Geological Information and Technology Solution service (UK) said "People may observe a longer duration awaiting satellite lock when they boot their Sat Nav's, and some may find that their systems are unable to locate a satellite fix at all. My own system which I have in my car which normally takes 60-90 seconds to gain satellite lock is now taking up to 5 mins to acheive this".

The grounding of aircraft around the world due to the presence of the volcanic ash in the atmosphere is due to worries about the effect of it's ingestion into jet engines, damage to wing leading edges and aerodynamic surfaces and also it's effect on increasingly sophisticated navigational aids.

The particles of volcanic ash are expected to disperse over a few weeks, but in the meantime people are being urged to rely less upon GPS navigation systems and be prepared for possible interruptions in the facility.

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Volcanic ash cloud could put lives of bone marrow patients at risk

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The ban on air travel in much of Europe is putting the lives of people waiting for bone marrow transplants at risk.

The disruption caused by the Icelandic volcano ash cloud means patients have been left waiting for treatment. In the UK, 16 bone marrow treatments scheduled over recent days have not taken place, the BBC has learned.

The Anthony Nolan Trust, which arranges the worldwide transport of bone marrow, says couriers have had to use trains and ferries to enter the UK. The bone marrow is used to treat leukaemia and lymphoma. A spokesman for the trust said bone marrow had to be moved within 72 hours before the cells died.

To see the full story please click HERE to view the BBC website.

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Echte Freundschaft Gibt's nur unter Mannern.....True Friendship :-)

Excellent current VW advert asking if you would consider the German scrappage scheme spotted by Eric from the Scirocco Register. Glad to see that Volkswagen have finally realised a fact that we have known for some time ! :-)

Nein danke! (No thanks!)

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All graphics now fitted...now to see if we can get into Stanford Hall!

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On Thursday morning I dropped the trailer into Biff's for it's final graphics fit, then on the way back home later in the day I stopped to pick it up and allow him to fit the last couple of sections to the car also. By 6:20pm the last piece of the puzzle was fitted and after thanking Biff for his excellent work (free of charge!) I made my way back home.

Biff is based in Newark and works from his home.This guy is not only one of the hardest working people I have ever met, but also one of the most genuine and generous also. Without the help and dedication of this guy, the design would have just remained as it was, a drawing done by Benn on a computer, but with Biff in charge of things the concept is now reality, and the car is now going to be seen by hundreds if not thousands of people, and I will help to spread the word about the wonderful work that the Leukaemia and Lymphoma charity do :-)

As I type this blog entry I am also sending a request to the organisers of the Stanford Hall Volkswagen Show which is being held on the 2nd May, asking them to allow me a pitch. It may not happen as it is quite late in the day regarding allocation of space, but you never know!. Fingers crossed that I will be lucky and get the car (and trailer) on display at this popular venue.

Pictures from Croome Park,Worcestershire,12/04/2010

OK.Croome Park,Worcestershire.Wonderful venue for the Forget-Me-Not walk that we attended on Monday. Croome was one of the locations that hosted a "Beefy Botham" walk and although it took us nearly 3 hours to get there it was so worth it!.

Myself and Mini me (Andy Jr) left Sleaford at about 08:35 and after a rather tedious drive which involved a few traffic jams and a road accident (not involving us!) we arrived at Croome at 11.25 to find that it was already a scene of busy preparation and everyone was excitedly anticipating the arrival of Sir Ian which was scheduled for a few hours later at approx 13:30.

We positioned the car alongside the start line and I then got out some polish and a few cloths to remove the accumulated dirt and dead bugs that we had picked up on our trip down. Andy Jr was in his element as he loves wide open spaces, and I lost count of the amount of times he ran up and down the grassy slope that we were parked upon :-).

We had some sandwiches and a drink, then before too long it was time to get in position to see Ian and his entourage arrive at the corner of the field having walked from Worcester centre already!. To say that Ian has something of a fast pace of walking would be something of an understatement , the fella almost flies along, and to be honest my attempts at capturing his arrival on the video camera almost had me falling over myself! :-).

In a few moments the group gathered at Croome had dropped in behind Ian and within a minute or so the whole crowd was disappearing into the distance. Time for a lovely pot of ice cream then!. I had Honey and cinnamon and Andy had Mint Choc Chip....which he then swapped for mine as he decided mine was nicer!.

55 minutes later the first walkers appeared on the horizon, and crossed the finish line to rapturous and enthusiastic applaus from the onlookers. Beefy was not far behind those first across the line, and acknowledged the waiting crown with a few waves :-).

After the last walkers had returned Ian circulated amongst them and signed autographs. Myself and Andy were introduced and he very kindly then signed out T-Shirts ....and the roof of the car!.

I must say that having met Sir Ian Botham for the first time on Monday I would describe him as a good,honest guy who genuinely believes in what he does for the LLR charity, and would like to thank him for making our little trip to Worcester such a memorable and enjoyable outing.

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Hey Benn.....name not in lights yet...but vinyl still looks good! :-)

Sorry that Benn won't be able to get to the "Beefy" Botham Walk in Worcester 2morro, but at least he can still take pride in the fact that everyone who see's the Scirocco will know who designed the graphics on her :-).

Anyway, not to worry mate, I will shortly be bringing the car over to the college so you can get a better look at what your design looks like in 3D!.

:-)

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90% of Vinyl now fitted...looking good!

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On Friday, Biff spent around 6 hours fitting the rest (almost!) of the vinyl to the car.Got to admit that it is now looking like it means business :-)

Good news..bad news......better news!

. The good news? I have won a pair of tickets to see the "Night of a thousand Voices" at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The bad news? Kwik Fit emailed me today to say that they don't do sponsorship :-( which is a shame!. Better news? The weather is looking very good for the next few days, and Biff's vinyl cutter is now working! :-).
Tomorrow it's back over to Newark to get the last of the graphics sorted, just hope that I can get it all together before Sunday!.

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More delays today :-(

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Today was the day that the last final part of the graphics design was to be applied but sadly due to circumstances beyond our control (Biff's cutting machine was unavailable!) the planned work has had to be postponed until at least this Friday. This will mean that the car will be finished only 48 hours ahead of it's first outing to Santa Pod on Sunday, followed by it's appearance the next day at the "Beefy's Walk" at Croome Park. To say that I am getting stressed would be a slight understatement !.

Anyway, in the meantime Biff is going to cut out all of the remaining design components ready for a final push on the 10th.....fingers crossed this will be a good day :-).

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First stage of graphics application carried out today.

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I set off for Newark upon Trent this morning at 08:45 and arrived at Biff's place at just after 09:15. Biff and his mate Tony began the task of applying the first stage of the graphics just after 09:30 and I got out of their way and spent a day with my family whilst they set about the task of turning Benn's design into the real thing!.

I arrived back at Biff's at a about ten past 4 and was amazed to see the progress that they had made since I had last seen the car several hours previously. I now have to go back to Newark again on Monday afternoon to get the last of the "coca cola" stripes applied to the car and trailer, then one more visit will be needed to apply the info and sponsors graphics.

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Guess who now has a new set of alloys and wheels fitted ?

Glad to report that a deal was struck between john at Wheelcraft and Team Dynamics Alloy wheel manufacturers, and as a result, Scarlet is now wearing a full set of matching "Tornado S" Black alloys!.

I think you will agree that they suit the old girl very well!. Tomorrow we are off to see Biff at Paw-prints graphics in Newark to get the first set of vinyl's fitted...it's all starting to fall into place now!

I must also mention my good friend John at Pitstop Garage in Sleaford who has yet again helped me out with this project by donating 4 brand new tyres free of charge....well i hope they are or I am going to get a big bill next time i see him!....Cheers John :-)

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