During Easter weekend, we visited Cinque Terre and Pisa. The weather was so-so but we were able to walk most of the trails staying “dry”! Then, we visited Pisa… At this time of the year, tourists were already there, including us :-)! Here are some photos taken at various places,La Spezia, Porto Venere, Manarola, Vernazza, Corniglia, Monterosso el Mare…
A few days after coming back home, we travelled to Toronto to visit our family there! It was the “begining of the spring” there, with cold weather and typical flowers like tulips… It was great to be with the family again!
Next month, it will be the ninth anniversary of my stem cells graft! If I can travel and enjoy life it is because I had the chance to be saved by an extraordinary group of doctors and nurses at Saint Antoine, and in particular my fantastic graft doctor, my anonymous stem cells donor (too bad I will never know her and meet her… or maybe one day she will come over this blog and will recognize herself), my wonderful family and friends: I love them all!
This spring is the ninth spring since I had the chance to have an hematopoietic stem cells transplant which saved my life. Time is flying! I had the chance to meet extraordinary people at Saint Antoine Hospital in Paris, and in particular my wonderful graft doctor. Without them, my anonymous stem cells donor, and my fantastic family I would not be around! I am thinking of them every day…
Here are some photos taken in my garden of the first flowers… Enjoy!
This February, like we did last year, we spent a week in Nice and around. We were expecting a better weather than last year, which was very rainy! Indeed, this time the weather was better, without rain, but with little sun: no need to use sunscreen!
We first spent a few days in Cassis to visit the Cassis rocky inlets (calanques de Cassis). The weather was not too bad, so we walked there but also made a visit by boat!
We then headed for Nice and the villages around. We visited Matisse museum, a few churches (Saint Antoine statues ;-)) …
We also visited Eze exotic garden…
We attended the Nice carnaval on our last evening before going back home…
Back home, I noticed that Spring was arriiving in our garden :-)!
Today, February 28th, is my last day as an emeritus researcher with the CNRS. Tomorrow, I will be “a volunteer” in the lab called Physics of the Cells and Cancer at the Curie Institute (the same lab I have been for years!).
Before finishing, I would like to thank my great graft doctor and the team at Saint Antoine Hospital: If I can still enjoy life, it is because they did a fantastic job, with the help of my stem cells donor, without forgetting my wonderful family: I love you all !
Greetings from Bures-France! This year again, I have had the chance to be involved in several “artistic activities”, such as stained glass, fusing glass, and modeling, without forgetting pastries!
As this year is arriving to an end, I would like to take the oportunity to thank all the people who saved my life eight years ago: doctors and nurses from the Department of Hematology at Saint Antoine Hospital, and in particular my fantastic graft doctor, my anonymous stem cells donor, my wonderful family, and my friends! I am thinking of them everyday! I love them all…
Last weekend, for my birthday, we spent a night in a luxury hotel near Chambord Castel. Chambord is one of my favorite place. I have been there several times, but each time we are subjugated by the beauty of the castel, inside and outside. One bonus when spending the night near by is that it is possible to tour the park at dark…
Here are some photos taken last weekend:
I hope you will like!
Last weekend, we visited the Chartres cathedrale, another of my favorite place! Our goal was to have a look at the Saint Piat Chapel ( the cathedrale “trésor” is there). Four new “stained glass windows” made by a Korean artist are exposed there, with otherstatues and religious artifacts. Wonderful and moving!
Of course, I visited too my great friend Saint Antoine, offering him a candle to thank him for taking good care of me and all my loved ones!
I always remember how lucky I am to be around and to enjoy my new life! Thank you to the people from Saint Antoine Hospital Hematology Department and in particular my fantastic graft doctor! I don’t forget my family, my friends and my stem cells donor.
This Fall again, we visited our family in Toronto. We spent 3 weeks there. We had such a great time. Our grandsons are changing so fast! They are now 5 years old and 13 months old!
We did not travel outside Toronto this time. We just visited the railroad museum with our older grandson, and Brick Works with our younger grandson. We visited also the street art alley in downtown Toronto.
It was the begining of the Fall season, with the bright colors illuminating the forests, and the Halloween decorations poping out in every garden.
As usual, we came back with the flu! Canadien virus do not like us!
Eight years ago, on November 10th, I used the subway to attend the 20th anniversary of our lab at the Curie Institute. It was my first public transportation after my stem cells graft. I asked permission to my graft doctor, who said yes. But I had to wear a face mask, and do not eat during the lunch buffet… I was so bad looking, no hair, white skin, that nobody wanted to speak with me: most of them were thinking that it could be the last time they might meet me alive… But I was so happy to be there!
Once again, I had been very lucky to meet with the fantastic Hematology team at Saint Antoine Hospital: they saved my life! Each day, my thoughts are flying toward the doctors and nurses there, in particular to my great graft doctor! I don’t forget my family and my stem cells donor!
This week, I had my yearly visit with my wonderful graft doctor. Before, I did a blood test analysis…. Here are the results:
According to my doctor, results are “perfect” !
Thank you everybody from the Hematology Dept at Saint Antoine Hospital, and in particular my fantastic graft doctor, for the great job they did! I don’t forget my anonymous stem cells donor, and my family and friends! I love you all!
We are already feeling the first signs of the coming fall, cold mornings, mild afternoon temperatures, just a few flowers… It has been “a family” summer, as our daughter and her family visited us from Canada where they are living. It was great to have them at home !
We spent a few days together in “le Perche” in Normandy (https://www.country-lodge.com/). A nice place to be with children, as there are many activities available (taking care of farm animals, swimming pool, biking,tree climbing).
We also went to visit the Eiffel Tower with my grandson. It was among the hotest days of the summer so it was kind of challenging. But we enjoyed the vue of Paris from the first and second levels. As it was the time for the Paris Summer Olympics, we also had a vue of the Beach Volley stadium. My granson was not scarred to walk on the “glass floor”! He gave me his hand to help me :-)!
All the family is now back home, and we miss them a lot… We will visit them in October…
September is the time when I have my annual visit with my fantastic graft doctor at Saint Antoine Hospital. Before I will do a full blood analysis to check if everything is OK…
I have been very lucky to have my stem cells graft done in the Hematology Department of the Saint Antoine Hospital in Paris! Great doctors and nurses have taken care of me, and I am now starting my ninth year in my new life! I do not forget my anonymous stem cells donor, and my great family and friends! I love all the members of this first class team: they deserve ” a gold medal”!
June 2016-June 2024: it is the eighth anniversary of my hematopoietic stem cells graft! On June 15th, 2016 I entered room 426 in the Hematology Department at Saint Antoine Hospital in Paris. I was “prepared” to stay there for around 2 months.
During the first week, I had to have a kind of chemotherapy to wipe out my defective hematopoietic stem cells. After a few days, I started to lose my hair, so I asked a nurse to shave my head. I really did not mind, although my wife did not like it :-)!
At this point, visitors noticed a new label on my door: aplasia. No more active hematopoietic stem cells in my body, thus very weak defense against infection… tricky times!
On June 23rd, I was scheduled to receive my new stem cells from my anonymous donor (a young lady from abroad). Unfortunatly for her, she had to have two stem cells samplings, not enough stem cells were present in the first sampling…
June 24th: it took less than one hour for Marie, my nurse of the day, to inject “the good stuff”! It was the first time to do it on her own, so she was extra cautious… Although it was “a very big event”, it was no more than a regular blood transfusion…
After just a few days, my new high quality stem cells started to work efficiently, to such as extent that I moved out to aplasia quickly!
Just less than three weeks after entering my room with a view, the head of the Hematology department paid me a visit and said: well, everything is moving fast in the right direction; what about going back home on, say, July 13th? I was chocked! I was prepared to stay at least two months in the hospital, and after one month I was released!
Going back home, was a big challenge as I was still pretty weak and sensitive to infections. But my wife, my family and my friends took well care of me, so that “I survived” !
Of course, we experienced later some unexpected events, and it was a bumpy road toward full recovery! But here I am, eight years later!
I will never thank enough all the wonderful people who saved me, the doctors and nurses at the hospital (in particular my graft doctor), my anonymous donor, my family, my friends. They are all in my heart forever! I cherish them!
Looking forward to the next anniversary!
With love.
In memory of my father who used to sing this song:
This spring, the weather has not been too good in the Paris area… However, it did not sprevent various plants to bloom: roses, rhododendrons, iris, clematis, columbines…
Here are a few photos taken in my garden over the last few weeks: enjoy!
In a few weeks, it will be the eighth anniversary of my hematopoietic stem cells graft… time is flying! I do not forget the people who made “this miracle” possible: the team at Saint Antoine Hematology Department and in particular my wonderful graft doctor, my anonymous donor, my great family and my friends… I love them all!
ppmhk 