This year, I increased the surface of my vegetable garden. Long term objective: being self-sufficient (:-)!).

I have two cherry trees, but during the week I spent to Spain the birds eated all! Fortunatly they did not like the apricots or the strawberries…

Up to now, I did not get any cuncumber, but the eggplants annd the zucchinis are doing great! For the first time, I tried red bell pepper and yellow pepper… Of course I planted also tomatoes!

Those days, in the Paris area, the weather has been pretty bad, cold and weat! Not too good for a big harvest! But this morning, August 11th, I got a lot of eggplants and also zucchinis:

Everyday, in the morning or at night, my thoughts are “flying” toward people at Saint Antoine hospital who saved my life 7 years ago and in particular my kind graft doctor, toward my family, my friends and my stem cells donor, who were all there to support me during those difficult times: I love you all!

On June 16th, 2016, I entered in room 426 in the Department of Hematology at Saint Antoine Hospital to have a hematopoietic stem cells transplant. A week later, I received the new stem cells, courtesy from a very young anonymous lady donor. Only 3 weeks later, I was able to leave the hospital, much earlier that I had thought… After a few bumpy weeks in August, ending with a new stay in the hospital, I went back to life, with a few kilograms left behind :-)! For several years now, as stated by my fantastic graft doctor, I have been in remission…The “only drawback” I can see is that it did not prevent me from “aging”!

Everyday, I am thinking of the group of people who saved my life: the team at the hospital, and in particular my always optimistic graft doctor, my family and my friends, and of course my stem cells donor… I love them all :-)!

On June 16th, seven years ago, I moved in a nice small room, with air conditioning, in the Department of Hematology at Saint Antoine Hospital in Paris. It was the first step toward receiving a new bath of hematopoietic stems cells from a young anonymous donor, a girl.

After the first week of “chemotheraphy”, to get ride of my defective hematopoietic stem cells, it was time to get the new stuff! Marie, the nurse in charge of performing this ( I was her first time :-)!), did it perfectly well (June 24th).

After 3 weeks only, because the stem cells were doing a great job, I was released on July 13th!

Of course, there were up and down during the first few weeks/months, but here I am, after 7 years! No problem what so ever, just getting older ;-)!

How lucky I have been! Because of the great team at Saint Antoine, and in particular my fantastic graft doctor, my wonderful family and friends, my anoymous donor, I am enjoying a second life!

Something is still disturbing me: my stem cells donor is a girl, so I have two DNAs in my body! For years, I thought that it was biologically impossible, but I was wrong! So, I am a true chimera :-)!

With years, I became a big fan of Saint Antoine (Saint Anthony), the real saint I mean! So, each time I visit a church, I look for a statue of saint Antoine, and, when possible, light a candle! I have been so good in promoting this saint around me, that now I get photos from around France and Europe, sent by family members and friends :-)! I ended up making my own statue in my modeling class! Here are “samples”…

A gift from my family: Saint Antoine from Saint Léonard church at Honfleur (Normandy):

Thank you all! With love!

We just came back last sunday from a visit to Spain- Andalusia. We had a great time there, visiting several cities and hiking in beautiful parks…

We first arrived in Seville, where we spent just one day, as we had been there before. We visited the cathedrale and la casa de Pilatos:

On our way to Cordoba, we made a stop to Zaharra, which is one of the numerous “white villages” of Andalusia:

We did a hike in Garganta Verde park: a long trail down to the bottom of a canyon, followed by a painful back to the top…

In Cordoba, we visited the Cathedrale-Mosque and various other places, like the Jewish neighborohood…

It was time to go to Ronda… but before we walked the “caminito del Rey”… At first it was kind of frightening because mainly of “the bridge” between the two faces of a ravine, but in fact the most scary part was when we realized that for most of the time we walked on footbridges which were above an empty space ! Great experience, worst it!

Ronda is a nice small city. It is made of two parts connected by an old bridge.

We also spent some time in Antequara…

It was time to go to Granada to visit the cathedrale and the famous Alhambra…

It was time to go to Malaga to catch our flight, back home…

We had little time to visit Malaga: a smartphone and a wallet were stolen from my backpack near the Picasso Museum…

We were very lucky: the weather was perfect and “the tourits” were not too numerous… I had plenty of time to eat ice creams:-)!

I would like to dedicate those photos to the people from the Hematology Department at Saint Antoine Hospital in Paris, and in particular to my wonderful graft doctor! I have been so lucky to meet her/them…

With love.

Greetings from Bures-France! One of my favorite activity is, each morning, to make a tour of my garden. It is a way to “discover” new flowers with fantastic colors and shapes!

Although the weather has not been too friendly, this year is a year for columbines:

We have also a few roses, iris and rhododendrons… it is also a great year for forget-me-not and syringa

I would like to offer this wealth of flowers to the people at Saint Antoine Hospital Hematology Department and in particular to my fantastic graft doctor. They seved my life! I miss them all… It is also for my family and my stem cells donor…

With love.

This time of the year is the right time to plant vegetables… Last year I did it earlier, but late freezing killed everything! So this year, I waited for better weather! Becoming older makes me more patient :-)!

Tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, squashs, pumpkin, red kuri squash!

I planted new strawberries too. Together with the ones planted last year, plus the raspberries. It might offer during the summer some healthy fruits!

We might also have cherries from the two cherry trees, apricots and apples!

All this “hard work” I performed in the garden (;-)!) is possible because of the “hard work” people at Saint Antoine Hospital did, and in particular my great graft doctor (;-)!). Love them all!

Recently, I started slowly to remove myself from the lab. I am still an “emeritus researcher”, but I don’t go so often to the lab, maybe once a week in average. To help me in this detox process, I am focusing on artistic work: modeling, stained glass, fusing…

Using the fusing glass approach, I made several night lights:

I am so happy with the results that I am thinking of making mass production and selling of night lights :-)!

I had also the oportunity to continue working on stained glass, both lead and Tiffany. Some of my productions are now in remote places over the World, Toronto and Boulder. 🙂

My last hobby is modeling. One of my last project was to make a Saint Antoine statue by myself: I am happy with the results :-)!

Thank’s to Arielle, Tatiana and Edouard, my teachers!

Beside, those fantastic teachers, there are also other “students”: I really enjoy being part of these new communities!

I would like to thank the great team of doctors and nurses from the Saint Antoine Hospital Hematology, and in particular my wonderful graft doctor: I dedicate my “artistic work” to them (I don’t forget my family, friend s and my stem cells donor!).

With love!

Coming back from “the winter” in Toronto and Boulder, I find out that the Spring was definitively there in my garden!It was good to see the green and colors everywhere!

Here are some photos taken around my garden:

A small cherry tree coming from my parents garden, which travelled a lot before reaching its place now in my garden… (montmorency cherry tree).

I have pretty sick since a few days high fever, running noze,…), so I could not work in the garden… I made cookies instead!

I would like to share those colorful photos with my family, my friends, and also with the people at Saint Antoine Hospital Hematology Department and in particular my great graft doctor: everywhere I go, they are traveling with me! With love…

Greetings from Bures-France! March was the time for a visit to our family in Toronto, as well as meeting our friends in Boulder. We spent around 3 weeks in North America. We went from a spring-like weather in France to a winter-like weather in Toronto and Boulder (below zero temperatures and snow!).

Here are some photos taken during our trip.

First Toronto:

Then Boulder-Colorado:

Going back to Boulder remembers me how lucky I have been when I came back home in December 2015. A few months later I had to have the stem cells transplant at Saint Antoine hospital. People there saved my life! Thank you all and in particular my great graft doctor! I love you all!

During our visit to our family in Toronto, I had the chance to participate with my daughter to a “science presentation” at the daycare my grand-son is attending: bubbles and colors!

I am looking forward to our next visit to Toronto: I miss them so much…

Greetings from Bures-France!

We are now almost at the end of February, and I am looking forward for the arrival of the Spring! Although we have had some sunny days lately, I miss the good weather and the beautiful flowers: it is grey, both in the sky and in the garden!

I try to pay a visit to my garden everyday…. I even started to work in the garden, mainly increasing the surface of vegetable garden. My goal is to become self-sufficient soon :-)!

The first flowers to show up were the crocus, first the yellows then the blues, to finish with the whites…

Then came the japanese quinces, which are just at the begining of the bloming…

Soon, it will the turn for the primroses, the forsythia, the daffodils…

First camellia and violets!

I am now living my sixth spring since my stem cells transplant! Yes almost seven years! I would like to offer those flowers to the team at Saint Antoine Hospital, and in particular to my wonderful graft doctor, to my family and friends, and to my anonymous stem cells donor: I love you all!