Still awaiting a descision on sponsorship for alloy wheels!

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Today is the last day of March and the appointment for of our first official outing for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research is fast approaching.
The possible deal with Team Dynamics appears to be floundering and it may be down to John to help us out alone.He had already told me that irrespective of Team Dynamics descision to help us (or not!) he will get us sorted.Top Bloke.
I must admit that I will feel some dissapointment if TD don't decide to come aboard with the project as it would have been nice to have had the backing of a High quality British manufacturer, and especially one that is based in the Midlands, my home county.
Sadly, with time now at a premium and the project requiring a major push forward over the next 10 days, it appears that, short of a sudden flurry of activity, John and I will have to go it alone and sort out the best deal we can to get the new wheels sorted.
On a more positive note, Kumho Tyres have donated some spanking new tyres to us to help us along, and we will of course be adding their company banner onto the car in recognition of their generosity .

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Who owns a car like this ?

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Err........it could possibly be mine :-)

Over to Heckington tomorrow to see a man about some alloys !

The man in Question is my new best mate (sorry Glen!) John Leeson who has decided to assist the Scirocco 50 LLR project by sorting us out some rather nice spanking new alloys.

It will be great to see the new wheels and replacing the very tired looking Wolfrace Octanes that have been her shoes for the last 2 years, and as it is Scarlett's birthday the following day (she will be 23!) it is rather right that she gets a nice gift after all of her hard work over the last 3 years.

Will get a few pictures when the wheels are on...can't wait :-)

Oh yes, if you want your alloys sorting or replacing have a gander at John's website to see what he can do for you. Click HERE to see his site.

NOTE:

Sadly, due to unforeseen circumstances..............well OK, I forgot to pick up the tyres from Pitstop for John to fit!,so the wheels have not yet been fitted, but will be soon.....bl**dy memory like a sieve sometimes!.

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Austrailian Grand Prix.Jenson Button may be disqualified for being too cool!

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Well actually this is a complete pack of lies, but what the heck I just wanted to stand out from the mass of other headlines on Google!.

Anyway, now that I have got your attention let me bring you up to speed on the latest developments in our motor sport project, Scirocco 50 LLR!.

On Friday I took a trip over to "Biff", the graphics man's,house to let him take some measurements of the car to work out the size of the graphics that will be applied sometime in the next couple of weeks. We spent about 40 minutes on the pavement outside his house making notes of what size the sheets of vinyl will need to be in order to get the best finish.To be honest I was naive enough about the process to think that all he would do is stick the JPEG images into his computer,print them off on vinyl and there you are sorted!. The truth is that converting Benn's design from simply an image into graphics on a real car is a lot more involved than you would imagine and is going to take at least 2 weekends to finish.

The good news on the Alloy wheel front is that John has promised me that irrespective of Team Dynamics involvement in sponsoring the project, he will ensure that the new set of wheels goes onto Scarlett this week,probably Tuesday AM. I really hope that Team Dynamics does decide that this project deserves their backing, after all its not often that a company making alloys is offered the chance to advertise on a car with 6 wheels!........A bit like a shoe manufacturer finding a model with 4 legs to promote it's footwear range.Hey, that's an idea, maybe next year (if they sponsor us, we could drive around with 3 different types of their alloys on the car at one time, a sort of mobile display stand!....Mmmmmmm, got me thinking now :-)

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Scirocco 2 Morocco make an appearance in April's Top Gear Magazine !

Hoorraaahhhh!......At last, after many failed attempts at getting a mention in a national motoring magazine we have succeeded :-).

My co-pilot Glen sent me a text on Friday night saying that he had been made aware of a picture of us and the Scirocco which has been published in the most recent edition (April) of the Top Gear Magazine.Apparently he had emailed them a few snaps some time back, and against all the odds they decided to publish one.

Ok, so it is only a small picture on page 12, but the fact is that we can now honestly tell people that we have appeared in Top Gear......it's nice to be able to tell them we have appeared ON Top Gear but hey, you never know,perhaps one day we might even manage that.....well after Misters Clarkson,Hammond and May grow tired of driving supercars and decide to turn their attention to much more interesting stuff :-)......this may be of course be a long way off in the future !

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Street Racer.One life lost to Leukaemia,2 lives shattered.A story of love and salvation.

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Firefighter Ally doesn't let deadly disease stop him helping others

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FEARLESS firefighter Ally Boyle is a lifesaver on and off duty. His world collapsed after he was diagnosed with a rare disease which doctors predicted would kill him.

Overnight, Ally - who has worked shifts alongside 9/11 heroes at Ground Zero in New York during a 17-year career with Strathclyde Fire Service - faced the prospect of not even living to see his baby daughter grow up.

It might have been easy to give up but Ally launched a campaign to persuade Scots to pass on the precious gift of life by signing up for the bone marrow register.

Ally, 38, said: "You get the cards you're dealt in life.

"When things go wrong, you can either be miserable about it or turn those same cards into a winning hand. That's what I'm trying to do.

"Sometimes, I'll pick up my daughter Jessica and have a wee cry but it's not in my nature to feel sorry for myself. I'd rather help other people."

Now his bravery has been recognised with a nomination as an Our Emergency Services Hero in the Daily Record Our Heroes Awards.

Despite fighting a devastating disease which leaves him in pain 24 hours a day, Ally, who is area commander for East and West Dunbartonshire, organises clinics in fire stations across Scotland where potential donors can sign up for the bone marrow register by giving a tiny sample of saliva.

Thousands of patients all over the world have had the chance of life through a transplant thanks to the register which matches up donors with potential recipients.

And teaming up with the Anthony Nolan Trust, who run the database, is the perfect partnership for dad-of-one Ally.

To see the full article click HERE to visit the Daily Record website.

Well done Ally, your courage and commitment serve as an example for many others around the world.Best of luck with your own fight, and the utmost respect to you for still helping others even though you are fighting your own battle.A true hero :-)

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If only.....

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If only there was as much money spent on finding a cure for cancer as there is spent on Televised sport events!.

Flicking through the channels you find footballers earning £70'000 per week, Formula one drivers earning £4-5 Million per year.Golfers playing a round in Morocco for a top prize of 1'361,205 euro's.
In a world were sport and entertainment pay such riches, yet the people that we trust the lives of our loved ones with,doctors,nurses ,care workers etc are so poorly rewarded by comparison, is it a surprise that modern day youngsters aspire to be singers,actors or sports people.
One day maybe far off in the future, the world may realise that if they want to save the seriously ill, feed the hungry and put a roof over the homeless, they need to re assess their love affair with celebrity and start to put more of their adoration on the souls in this world who truly do make a difference to the lives of others, and lets stop paying actors who pretend to be doctors more than real doctors...you know it makes sense!.

Leukaemia patient Maddi Green to walk with Sir Ian Botham

A ten-year-old leukaemia patient from Worcester is going on a charity walk with Sir Ian Botham.

Maddi Green will join the cricketing legend in the grounds of Croome Court, near Worcester on Monday 12 April. The walk begins in the Worcester High Street, and goes for ten miles through the city, before ending up at Croome Court. Sir Ian is walking through ten towns over ten days, to raise money for the charity he is president of.

Maddi was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in February 2008. Her father Jerry said: "Maddi had been feeling unwell, had lost her appetite and was looking pale - which is why our GP had asked for a blood test.
"Twenty-four hours later Maddi's diagnosis was confirmed, and in that single day, her life and the lives of everyone who loves her, changed forever." She has lost her long brown hair three times due to chemotherapy treatments, and is due to finish her treatment in April, the same month as the charity walk.

To join Sir Ian and Maddi on the Croome Park Walk on the 12th April or any of his other walks, follow this link to sign up for Beefy's Great Forget-Me-Not Walk .

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Scarlett's first outing.Beefy Botham's walk at Croome Park Worcester.

The date for Scarlett's first "official" outing in support of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research has now been decided. She will be attending Sir Ian Botham's Forget Me Not walk at Croome Park on the 12th April 2010. If you are attending the park for the event then please feel free to pop across to the registration area and say hello and have a closer look at the car.

Worcester is approx 125-130 miles from Sleaford, so do also keep a look along the route out as you drive down there for a 22 foot long 6 wheeled,articulated Red Scirocco driven by yours truly !.

Right, all I have to worry about now is getting the graphics on the car, sorting out the fitting of the alloy wheels and giving the car a bit of a polish.....still, got a good 20 days to do it in.....gulp!.

If you are not already aware of the 10 day "back to back" walk itinerary that Sir Ian will be doing, here is a link to the website for more details: http://www.beefy25.com/

And this is a map of our suggested route down to the venue at Croome Park: ROUTE .

:-)

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Anyone want 4 used Alloy Wheels ? Now on Ebay.

I have decided that in order to fund the wheels for the new look Scarlett, I need to sell the old Alloys.These have now been posted for sale on Ebay and fingers crossed will not take too long to find a buyer :-).

Bargain at only £99 for 4 alloys!.Some people that I know spend £200 on 2 tyres!.

Check out the sale if you are interested.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140392673706&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT#ht_1556wt_1165

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Reaper In Sicily guitarist Matthew Jenkins diagnosed with leukaemia

Sad to hear that the rock group " Reaper in Sicily" guitarist Matthew Jenkins has been recently diagnosed with Leukaemia.

Reaper In Sicily shot to fame last year by winning the Kerrang!-sponsored Black XS Livesound battle of the bands competition.

Here is a video showing Matthew and the band performing their track "We are the show"

S2M wish Matthew all the best in his Leukaemia Journey.Take care, you can beat this thing! :-).

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New cancer treatment gives hope to lymphoma and leukaemia patients

Cancer researchers have high hopes for a new therapy for patients with certain types of lymphoma and leukaemia.

PCI-32765 is a new drug being assessed in a Phase I clinical trial at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Centre in collaboration with the Clinical Division of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).
This is one of 35 such trials under way through a partnership between the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Centre at Scottsdale Healthcare and TGen, which enables molecular and genomic discoveries to reach patients through Phase I trials as quickly as possible.
'Progress in developing new treatments for cancer has been painfully slow as only 2-4 percent of all cancer patients enroll in clinical trials. This is especially true for uncommon cancers such as leukaemia's and lymphomas,' said Dr Raoul Tibes, Director of the Haematological Malignancies Program at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Centre and an Associate Investigator at TGen.
Clinical trials test the safety and effectiveness of new drugs prior to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Participants are volunteers for whom other cancer treatments have failed. Arizona is one of many states in which clinical trials often are covered by health insurance.
'This study is going very well. It is a very promising agent,'' Dr Tibes said of PCI-32765, which uniquely targets the molecular abnormalities of lymphoma cells. 'This is a recently identified cancer mechanism that we are going after with this drug in lymphoma cells.'

To Read more about this news click HERE to visit the Science Centric Webpage.

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Flemish Researcher Finds Leukaemia Gene in Half of Patients.

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A Flemish researcher has made an important discovery in the war against acute leukaemia in children. Pieter Van Vlierberghe discovered a defective leukaemia gene carried by almost half those afflicted with the disease.

The discovery was published this week in the influential journal 'Nature Genetics'. Van Vlierberghe (39) made the discovery while working at the University of Ghent, just before his departure for a three-year stay at the prestigious Columbia University in New York. Further research is being undertaken into the discovery in both Ghent and in New York. The `leukaemia gene' appears to be on the X chromosome, of which males have one of and females two. This means that males with a problematic X chromosome do not have a backup 'copy', which explains why boys suffer more from leukaemia than girls. The acute form of leukaemia, or blood cancer, is a disease that mostly afflicts children and is much more aggressive than the forms that strike in adulthood. 'The traditional chemotherapy already provides an 80 percent chance of survival,' says Professor Frank Speleman of the Ghent team. 'This discovery is important for the 20 percent that still succumb to the disease. We are also keen to develop less aggressive forms of treatment, as chemotherapy has many side effects, such as growth retardation, teeth problems and so on. Chemotherapy increases chances of getting cancer later in life too.'

Het Laatste Nieuws /Oostkust ; Tuesday 16 March 2010 ; p.8
Editor in chief: Paul Daenen
Address: Brusselsesteenweg 347 1730 Asse-Kobbegem
Phone: +32 ()02/454.24.01
Circulation: 345877 ex.

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Car-puccino Scirocco runs on Coffee...honestly !

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This must be the most weird Scirocco project that I have ever seen, and I have seen a few!.

Apparently the car runs on Coffee, although checking out the text of the article a little closer it may not be the most efficient or cost effective form of fuel as it needs a "refill" every 30 to 45 miles and a top speed limited to 60 mph.The makers estimate it will take them about 10 hours to drive 210 miles!. Never mind, still is an amazing machine...well it is a Scirocco after all :-)

Just as a footnote to my post its worth mentioning that I have seen this particular car before.In fact it was once owned by a fellow member of the Scirocco Register!. Last year at the annual national meeting of the club at RAF Cosford this Scirocco was the subject of some..erm....fixing, after its exhaust snapped off on our return to the campsite after the meet.
Sander, one of our mates from Holland (and an excellent car mechanic), spent a couple of hours using several of my tools (including a wood chisel which is now completely blunt!..thanks Sander!) to separate the 2 halves of the exhaust before fashioning a temporary repair on it. As far as I am aware it is still on the car now. I have the "nub end" of the section that was chiseled off in the boot of my car....in fact I may yet make some sort of trophy from it and give it to Sander at this years meeting in July :-)

To view the full article click HERE and to go to the Mail Online article click HERE.

And here is the BBC Video explaining the project:

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Sergeant Susan Luther, con artist and poor speller...you have been busted !

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Time again then for another example of an Internet scam that is currently doing the rounds at the moment.This one claims to be from Sergeant (NOT Sergent!) Susan Luther who is based in Iraq (NOT Irag!) and who would like me to launder $3.2 million Dollars for her!.......what should I do?

If you get this awful,terribly spelt piece of junk sent to you, try not to laugh too much as you drop it in your SPAM folder!.

Anyway,without further ado here for your entertainment is the afore mentioned piece of comedy junk mail (Although I get the feeling that whoever sent it really thought the rest of us are as dumb as they are!)....

"Dear Friend,

My name is Sgt,Susan Luther. I am an American soldier with Swiss background,
serving in the military with the army 3rd infantry division.With a very
desperate need for assistance, I have summed up courage to contact you. I found
your contact particulars in an address journal. I am seeking your kind
assistance to move the sum of ( $ 3.2 million u.s.dollars )three million, two
hundred united states dollars to you, as far as I can be assured that my share
will be safe in your care until I complete my service here, this is no stolen
money, and there are no danger involved. I am presently in a hospital
recovering from injuries sustained in a suicide bomb attack.

Source of money:

Some money in various currencies was discovered in barrels at a farmhouse near
one of Saddam's old palaces in Tikrit-Iraq during a rescue operation, and
it was agreed by staff Sgt Kenneth buff and I that some part of this money be
shared among both of us before informing anybody about it since both of us saw
the money first. This was quite an illegal thing to do, but I tell you what? No
compensation can make up for the risk we have taken with our lives in this hell
hole. Of which my brother in-law was killed by a road side bomb last week.
Please view website for confirmation;
http://www.voanews.com/burmese/archive/2003-04/a-2003-04-20-1-1.cfm

The above figure was given to me as my share, and to conceal this kind of money
became a problem for me, so with the help of a British contact working here and
his office enjoy some immunity, I was able to move the money to a security
company in bangkok thailand as a diplomatic baggage. They are now waiting for
us to provide the name of beneficiary who they will transfer the funds to. The
reason i want you to claim the funds on my behalf is that as a soldier,

i cannot present a concrete evidence on how i made such a big amount of money
down here. Besides the US Government is trying their best to keep their eyes on
soldiers here inorder to effect a high level of discipline among us.The moment
i am sure that you are willing to assist me, i will give you the information of
the security company and the security code of the baggage.I want
you to tell me how much you will take from this money for the assistance you
will give to me.

One passionate appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this matter with
anybody, should you have reasons to reject this offer, please and please
destroy this message as any leakage of this information will be too bad for us
soldiers here in Iraq. I do not know how long we will remain here, and i have
been shot, wounded and survived two suicide bomb attacks by the special grace
of God, this and other reasons i will mention later has prompted me to reach
out for help, i honestly want this matter to be resolved immediately, please
contact me as soon aspossible, my only way of communication is email.

Yours in Service.

SERGENT SUSAN LUTHER Camp MXP-512 Third Infantry Division Unit(T.I.D.U),
Abul Uruj,bagdad,irag "

Lol, i so can't believe that anyone would fall for such a comedy effort of a scam...they can't even spell Sergeant or Iraq correctly!..

:-)

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Now.Empty your mind of pointless thoughts and worries..and listen to this :-)

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A Glorious Dawn.Symphonies of Science feat Carl Sagan.This mix puts into perspective just how immense and wonderful the the life we have been given is, but also how important we all are to the bigger picture......the story of creation itself,A Glorious Dawn.

Enjoy :-)

For more "Sciencepop" visit the Symphony of Science Website by clicking HERE

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Final Design has been chosen.Congratulations Benn :-)

The design that we have now chosen is this one designed by Benn Perry of the West Notts College. Slightly "tweeked" by my good friend and Co-pilot Glen Place :-).

Benn's design is now in the process of being cut ready for the application to the now bare (!) Scalett (I removed her old graphics last weekend...ooeerr!).

Many thanks to all of the students who submitted a design for the project, you should all be very proud of yourselves, and I am sure that you will all go on to be very successful in your future career's in the graphic design industry. Just remember to include this challenge in your future CV's :-).

The wheels, as mentioned earlier, are still not confirmed yet, but other than that, this is what Scarlett will look like during her stint as the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Promotional car.....

Looking Great don't you think ?

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A possible lead on the hunt for new Wheels maybe?

I popped over to Heckington today to have a chat with a guy called John who is trying to secure some new alloy wheels for the 2010 project.He has "connections" with a manufacturer (who's name will remain secret until a deal is struck!) and feels that there is a good chance of them donating a set or two to the cause.

John has a business refurbishing alloy wheels and suggested the possibility of securing some new "shoes" for Scarlett during a recent telephone conversation. Fingers crossed this foray into securing a supplier may soon turn up something good !

Halifax Bank Robbers.Take from the poor to pay the rich !

(.Published Date: 27 February 2010)

"LLOYDS' 6,000-strong army of Halifax staff in Calderdale will all get bonuses worth hundreds of pounds – despite the bank running up a massive £6.3 billion loss.

An employee on £25,000 a year can expect up to £1,000, providing performance targets are met.

The bank is 41 per cent owned by the taxpayer after its takeover of HBOS.

Yet hours after announcing huge losses for the second year in a row, a spokesman revealed rank- and-file staff would be rewarded again this year".

Now,let me tell you a story................

A lady that I know was telling me about a situation that she has found herself in recently involving the Halifax Bank.

She receives about £150 per month in family allowance, and this is paid directly into her Halifax current account.She had a very modest £25 overdraft set up for those times when there is too much month left at the end of the money, and everything was going fine.

Imagine her surprise then when she received a letter from the Halifax bank advising her that because she had exceeded her £25 overdraft by £2.70 (yes, 2 pounds and seventy pence!), they were going to charge her....£5 per day until she took it down to within the pre-arranged figure of £25!. Even after she gets the figure down to £25 she is still going to be charged £1 per day until the overdraft is cleared completely.

Now I understand that the banks are a business, and I also understand that customers are made aware of possible charges, but £5 per day seems a little excessive for a £2.70 "oversight".

The bottom line of this story is that this lady is now facing a £55 bank charge in April....one third of her family allowance is going to be swallowed up by those lovely people at the Halifax.

What makes it more despicable is the fact that this is a company who have recently been bailed out of financial ruin by the humble taxpayers of the UK because THEY could not control their own finances and were responsible in part for the recent melt down of the finances of the country, and now it appears that they have found a very nice way of thanking those same tax payers by slamming them with excessively unfair charges. Also noteworthy is the fact that (by pure coincidence of course!) this is the same bank that is making a big noise about the fact that they will "reward" people who pay in £1000 per month by giving them...yes, you guessed it...£5!.

Surely this is indeed then what could be termed as a "Reverse Robin Hood" policy,taking from the poorer souls in our society and using these ill gotten gains to line the pockets of the better off,not to mention giving their staff generous bonuses!.

"Get a little extra help with the Halifax"...I somehow don't think so.

"If money is the root of all evil,then surely the banks must be the metaphorical "tree" that they are attached too......and they probably have a "branch" near you!"

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this post, please join the Facebook group and tell us your story.Follow this link to join:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4796947231

An article about this story:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/savings-and-banking/bank-charges/article.html?in_article_id=492223&in_page_id=507

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Scirocco Limo for a wedding anyone ?

Streeeeeetttttccchhhhhh........

Saw an interesting Rocco on the owners club website today.How cool is this ?......:-)

Leukaemia Charity cuts hair and raises over €30,000

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TEAMS of teachers, children and employees from various organisations raised over €30,000 for a Leukaemia charity in a sponsored head-shaving event in Nicosia yesterday.

Thirty eight people, divided into 14 teams, competed to raise the most sponsorship at the event, held the Da Capo Cafe on Makarios Avenue in aid of the Leukemia Charity Challenge4Life.

Da Capo's team came first, followed by Phileleftheros newspaper in second, and the Ministry of Health in third, all raising undisclosed sums for the charity.

Health Minister Christos Patsalides and Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou also attended the event

The two-member University of Nicosia team with English teachers Katherine Fincham-Lewis and Mike Hadjimike raised almost €2000. Fincham-Lewis said "I did it because it is a really good cause, and an event like this helps to involve the kids at a grass roots level. This is much better than simply donating to a charity."

To read more click HERE to view the Cyprus Mail Website.

For more information about the charity and future challenge events, visitwww.challenges4life.org.cy

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New hope in treatment of childhood leukaemia

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Zurich researchers have found a new treatment approach which they hope will help young leukaemia patients who don’t respond to conventional therapies.

Leukaemia is a malignant disease of the blood and bone marrow, which accounts for a third of childhood cancers.

Despite great progress in leukaemia treatment, recurrence of the disease is common. Treatment in these cases is often challenging because of the resistance of the cancer cells to the drugs currently available. Modern treatment processes are still very long and hard for the affected youngsters.

The Zurich University Children’s Hospital team, led by Jean-Pierre Bourquin, conducted their research around acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the most frequently occurring form, of which there are up to 70 cases a year in Switzerland and up to 1,000 cases in Europe.

“By learning in international cooperative studies how to combine available chemotherapeutic agents, we have made incredible progress with the treatment of childhood leukaemia in the last 30-40 years, so that we can now cure more than 80 per cent of cases of ALL,” Bourquin told swissinfo.ch.

“But we still have a sub-group of patients that are resistant to whatever we do for them and we urgently need new kinds of treatments.”

These can be first timers or relapsed patients, he added.

Bourquin and his group investigated a substance called obatoclax mesylate and found a positive result: it actually lowered resistance when used in conjunction with chemotherapy.

To Read more click HERE to view the swissinfo.ch website.

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Warning over possible cancer risk from stem cell therapy

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Experts fear that a Victorian man with leukaemia may be the first Australian ''infected'' with cancer after treatment at a private overseas stem cell therapy centre.

Stem cell specialists and patient support groups are calling for more public education about the dangers of such services, saying they get hundreds of calls a year from people considering using them - and the numbers are rising.

The companies advertise on the internet and via local information sessions, offering injections of foetal stem cells and stem cells extracted from the patient's spinal cord. They claim to treat conditions such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, autism and spinal injury.

Private, largely unregulated clinics in Asia and Europe charge tens of thousands of dollars plus travel costs. However few have published, clinical proof of their efficacy, relying instead on slick websites and individual testimonies.

Advocacy groups for people targeted as possible clients will meet in Canberra today to discuss how to protect people from being emotionally and financially exploited.

The stem cell treatments ranged in quality and safety but very few, if any, offered genuine hope, said Dr Kirsten Herbert, a hematologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and clinical adviser to the Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC).

''One man in Queensland paid $40,000 for a treatment [at a private German clinic] and was told he needed two or three more [visits] for a treatment that I cannot imagine, even with the most blue-sky open mind, could have helped him,'' she said.

''But they will take his money and not do anything to look after him when he leaves. If we practised a treatment like that we would be disbarred.''

Dr Herbert plans next month to investigate the case of a Victorian man being treated for leukaemia, which was diagnosed after his recent return from overseas stem cell therapy.

She said it was difficult to prove a link, but there was an international precedent: in February the journal PLoS Medicine reported the case of a teenage Israeli boy who developed brain tumours from experimental stem cell injections at a Russian clinic. Dr Herbert said cancer was a rare but possible side-effect of experimental stem cell therapy. ''Most stem cells grow in a culture that is exposed to proteins and hormones that encourage growth, and cancer is out-of-control growth, so these cells have a greater potential to cause cancer,'' she said.

Other risks included contamination from animal products used in laboratory processing of the stem cells, which could introduce Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Some clinics also instructed patients to go on medication to suppress their immune systems, with potentially dangerous side-effects. ''They don't follow these patients up,'' Dr Herbert said. ''They prescribe and wave goodbye without any duty of care.''

The financial and emotional risks to patients were just as great, Dr Herbert said. ''Most likely, the treatment you are going to receive is not going to work.'' It was important not to demonise people who sought these cures, but instead to help them find the right advice.

Patient advocacy groups are meeting stem cell experts in Canberra today to discuss a co-ordinated approach to public education on overseas experimental treatments.

The ASCC is about to release a patient handbook to help people critically analyse stem cell treatments. It has a list of questions to ask before signing up.

Source: The Age.com.au © 2009 Fairfax Digital (23/11/09)

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Risks 'taken' in illegal cord blood collections

Parents, hospitals and private firms are being warned over risky and illegal collections of umbilical cord blood.

The Human Tissue Authority said if proper guidelines were not followed samples may be contaminated and safety compromised on maternity wards.
The regulator has received reports of untrained and unlicensed people taking the blood - with one sample even obtained in a hospital car park. The blood is sought because of its potential role in combating disease. It is a rich source of stem cells, which are used to help treat diseases such as leukaemia.

But some believe the potential of stem cells goes much further. Stem cells can been used to create many different types of tissue and, in theory, could be used to repair and replace damaged organs as well as treating diseases ranging from Alzheimer's to cancer.
Due to the growing interest in the issue, the HTA started regulating cord blood collection in July 2008. Since then its routine monitoring of sample collection has raised some worrying findings, according to the regulator.

To read the full story click HERE to visit the BBC Health Website.

But what is Cord Blood and how is it used?Watch this to find out :-)





Liquid Gold ? Oh no, this is far more precious than that.
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Joel by mum Ann Spence

The story of Joel Spence, by his mother Anne.

Jan 1st 2005 was when my husband, family and I got told that Joel had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Joel was so very poorly at this point, and we didn’t know whether to cry with relief because at last we knew something was wrong with him, he was rushed to Queen’s medical centre.

Weeks before diagnosis, my local GP had repeatedly told us Joel just had a virus but I knew something was seriously wrong with him. None of the doctors would believe me then, and nor did I realise I would be thinking “my child now has cancer”
I always remember thinking to myself I would wake up in a short while, and that it was all a dream, but sadly later that day we were going to be another number on a children’s oncology ward. As we entered the ward I remember seeing a little boy about 4-5 years old. He was sat on a bike rigged up to a machine giving him medicine; he had no hair and a sick bowl in one hand, but the most amazing smile I have ever seen.

Later that day the doctors said about what would happen from now on, regarding Joel’s treatment. We were in shock at how long it would be. There would be more than 3 years’ worth of treatment for my little boy to go through, with chemotherapy every day until the day the treatments ends.
The doctors asked me if I had any questions and the only thing I asked was if his hair was going to fall out. Now looking back I feel silly for not asking things like “will he be ok?” or “will he die?” But no, I asked “will his hair fall out?” We were told it would but not to worry has it would take a few months. I looked at Joel fast asleep, in a big bed with him so tiny and held his hand. I cried a cry unlike any other I have ever cried in my life. It was similar to when you’re a child with snot and everything flowing with it because I was so scared. No-one could make this better or go away, and no one could really tell us at that point Joel was going to be ok. It was overwhelming.

Time went on, and Joel did his nasty chemo suffering infection after infection, but by the end of 2005 we were told Joel was in remission!!! What a great Christmas we had. 2006 was a fabulous year; he was back at school, his hair was back, and the fact he looked like every child at school other than having a set of wiggles and a wiggly bag around his neck we was great!

In May 2007, Joel became so lifeless again with bad heads and being sick all the time. We spent May, June and July in QMC then on July 13th we were told the cancer was back in his spinal fluid, but not his bone marrow; that was clear.
Joel had to go through more chemo, which was much nastier then the first lot of chemo and this made Joel tremendously ill. His bowels stopped working, he couldn’t eat or drink for weeks, and he was on morphine all the time by pump, yet despite this he always had a smile on his face.
As we were in hospital for so long, Joel made lots of friends there, (Reesey, Stephie, Will, Carrie) and we suddenly found we had a new family. Joel called it his hospital family, as he was there more than he was at home.
His brother and sister stayed at weekends and Mondays – Friday was Joel and me. We formed a very special bond as we were together 24/7, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Joel’s sense of humour came out every day and made me and everyone around him laugh. He had nicknames for people on the ward which he made up but we laughed so much about it. He would call one of his nurses “Minty” has her surname was Lamb; and the “Don’t know” doctors, because if he asked them when he was going home they would say “Oh, I don’t know Joel” .

Joel took everything in his stride, even when he had to go to radiotherapy he made a laugh and a joke about it. He would run in the room, try and jump on the bed, and asked to get clipped in his face mask saying “can you hurry up please I want my tea?”
His hair came out again but this time he made a laugh and a joke about it, he called it his magic hair as one day it was there and the next it was gone “see mom it is magic!” he would say.

In March we got told he was in remission again, and we would have to do another 2 years of treatment. I felt we could do this because he was well and thought “let’s keep fighting”
In April, we were walking to the car after school when Joel said “mum, my legs really hurt a lot and I can’t walk anymore” I knew then what it was and took him in to QMC that night.
They gave him an x-ray and found nothing, but an MRI scan which showed everything and he also had a lumbar puncture. Our worst fears were confirmed, it was back. This time it was more aggressive and nastier than ever and our only chance was for him to have a bone marrow transplant.
We as a family got tested, but sadly none of us were a match, so we had to look on the Anthony Nolan register, and we thank God that some kind person joined the register that was a 100% match. From there we thought he was at last going to beat this, but on September 28th we found out Joel was not in remission from his bone marrow transplant.
This meant there was nothing they could do for Joel, so that weekend, the whole family brought forward Christmas, and his 7th birthday as well. We had everything for Christmas; the tree, trimmings, Santa, a snow machine, the works. We wanted to make sure neither Joel nor us would ever forget. For his birthday we had a disco with all his friends and a fire engine ride for him.

On October 29th Joel went into hospital as his face had dropped on one side and he was in so much pain. We just couldn’t control the pain. In hospital they made the pain go away and he spent his last weeks drawing, painting and being funny. Joel died on the 10th November 2008, after a very painful day.
Since he has been gone we have started in his memory, JoinforJoel with the Anthony Nolan trust, and we get people to join the bone marrow register so hopefully there will always be a match for someone if they need it! I have done this because I know someone, somewhere, was willing to help save my son by being on this register

xxxxxxxx Joel Harvey Picker-Spence 17-12-01 until 10-11-08 xxxxxxxxxxx

Story lifted from the Be Child Cancer Aware Website.Click HERE to view.

Rest in Peace Little Man.

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AJUDAR O AFONSO - HELP AFONSO - 救救 AFONSO - AYUDA AFONSO

Afonso is 6 years old, he has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.

O Afonso tem 6 anos, tem leucemia e precisa de um transplante de medula.

Be a donor / seja dador:

http://www.bmdw.org/index.php?id=addresses_members&n

o_cache=1

http://saveafonso.com/bonemarrowdonation.html

Please, for Afonso and many kids like him, do something amazing and become a bone marrow donor ...you may be the only person that is able to give the greatest gift of all, the gift of life, but unless you register, who will know ?

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Want to Recycle your phone? Sell it to me then !

Watching the telly this afternoon I was intrigued to see yet another company hoping to tempt you to sell your mobile phone for them...for not much money !

The company, "mobilephonexchange.co.uk", suggested that people may want to part with their "old" mobile in return for either cash or vouchers. So, to satisfy my curiosity, I logged on to their site and had a gander.

The conclusion? Well, take a look at these prices offered for a selection of popular phones, then decide for yourself!

Sony W302. 2 megapixal camera,bluetooth,MP3.Bought mine August 2009 for £59.Offer= £5 (or a £5 voucher)

Sony W395 2 megapixal camera,slide phone,MP3,Bluetooth.Cost £60 in 2009...offer= £9 (or £10 voucher)

HTC s620 1.3 Megapixal camera,Wi-Fi,Bluetooth,MP3.Cost new 2008 £189.Offer£17 (or £19 voucher)

So, if you want to let companies such as this buy your moby for nowt, drop me a line and i will give you £5 more than their offer for the same thing....simples !

By the way, don't be fooled by the "Green" or "Eco" labels on these sites, they are all FOR PROFIT companies and are after getting your phones to sell for a handsome profit.

Just as a footnote, always check every phone buying site for their offers, because the difference in prices is quite remarkable.For example:

Sony W302 offer 1 £5. Offer 2 £25.26 !

Sony W395 Offer 1 £9.Offer 2 £20.09 !

HTC S620 Offer 1 £17.Offer 2 £8.34 !

You have been warned :-)

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Boxer Scott Moises faced his toughest fight - leukaemia.

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Scott Moises is an aspiring boxer, a young man determined to carve out a niche for himself in the toughest and most uncompromising of sports, where blood, sweat and tears are part of everyday life.

But Scott Moises isn't your average young hopeful, dreaming of making it as King of the Ring.

The 22-year-old from Costessey is way above average because he's already beaten one of the biggest battles of them all - leukaemia.

Seven years ago his life was hanging by a thread. He lay in the Addenbrooke's Hospital children's cancer unit, his dream of one day stepping into the ring as a professional in tatters.

Five weeks in hospital was followed by two years of intense chemotherapy and another year recovering.

But as his body flickered back to life, so did the dream, and today Scott Moises is a six-foot-plus lightweight boxer who is proving to be an inspiration to those around him - and those who are suffering from the same debilitating illness.

To read the full story click HERE for the EDP24 Website.

Inspirational Jamie dies of leukaemia

Tributes have been paid to a brave 29-year-old who lost his battle with leukaemia.

Jamie Harris, from Woodview, Renishaw, was diagnosed with a rare form of the disease after suffering flu-like symptoms in September last year and sadly died in the early hours of Saturday after contracting pneumonia.

Friends and family said he fought leukaemia with a "strong and determined attitude."

The former Eckington School pupil described as having "the biggest heart of anyone you could ever meet" had worked for Lincoln Electrics for several years and had recently been promoted.

His mum Susan Powell said: "God truly blessed me when he gave me Jamie. My wonderful son touched so many people's lives and hearts in his short life and I am so very proud of him."

His dad Kevan Harris said: "He was an inspiration to all, from the day he was born to the day he left us. He wasn't just my son, but he was my best friend."

Sister Nikki said: "Jamie was an inspiration to all and the most amazing person I have ever had the privilege to meet. I'm so proud he was my brother."

Jamie also leaves behind two other sisters Natalie and Ashley and nieces Lola and Asha Harper.

His funeral takes place on Friday at 12pm at Renishaw Church. His family are asking for family flowers only and donations to the Anthony Nolan

Researchers convert human blood cells into leukaemia stem cells

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Report from the Asian News International brought to you by the Hindustan Times.

Washington, April 27 -- Cancer researchers at Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) have developed a method to convert normal human blood cells into 'human' leukaemia stem cells.

The converted cells, when transplanted into special mice that permit the growth of human cells, can replicate the entire disease process from the very moment it begins.

"Most human leukaemia research involves studying a patient's diseased cells or a cell line grown from those cells. However, since cancer takes many months or years to develop, just studying the cells at the end of the process does not let you know what…

The full-text version of this article will be available soon on HighBeam Business.

Researchers may have found cause of Leukaemia

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A new study may shed light into why leukemia, one of the deadliest cancers, develops in the first place.

Although leukemia is one of the best studied cancers, the cause of some types is still poorly understood, but experts in the US say a new method may make it possible for healthcare experts to discover why the disease forms.

Specialists at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania said that a newly-found mutation in acute myeloid leukemia patients could account for half of the remaining cases of adult acute leukemia which have no known origin.

Senior author Dr Craig Thompson, director of the facility, said the molecular biology of leukemia has been studied for the last 20 years and experts thought they had found most of the common genes for it.

"Now we're able to point to a distinct type of mutation for half of the remaining leukemia’s for which we didn't know the cause and between one-quarter and one-third of leukemia’s in older patients.

Every year more than 7,000 people are diagnosed with leukemia in the UK, or around 19 people every day, making it the tenth most common cancer, with more than 4,200 new cases diagnosed in 2006 alone.

The new findings, published this week in Cancer Cell, suggest that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients have increased levels of a molecule called 2HG.

AML is a quick-moving, deadly cancer that starts in the bone marrow and soon moves into the blood, and the specialists found that increased amounts of 2HG stem from a mutation in one of two related metabolic enzymes, IDH1 or IDH2.

Dr Thompson commented: "If we're able to block tumours from producing 2HG, perhaps we would be able to stop the patient's leukemia."

Story found via articlebliss .Click HERE to see their website.