Saturday Serendipity (July 4, 2015) -- I'm Back!

On March 7th, I posted the following introduction to my weekly round-up of genealogy-related blog posts that I wanted to recommend to others . . . 

"Saturday Serendipity, and most of my other blog posting (other than posts already auto-loaded for publication), will be on hiatus for a few weeks after this weekend while I attend to a necessary medical matter.  I currently plan to return on a regular basis sometime in April."  

Well, rather than a few weeks, the hiatus has turned into more like three months!  To remove any mystery about the medical matter and the long absence from blogging, I decided to post a brief explanation of the reason for the hiatus here because it was a matter of lucky serendipity for me and my family.

Late last year when I went to shave one morning, I looked in the mirror and saw a dark, oval bruise surrounding a mole that had been on my clavicle for decades.  It looked ugly and I had no explanation for it . . . so I got myself to the family doctor pronto and found myself at a dermatologist's office within 24 hours.  He took one look at the mole and announced it was nothing but a  hemangioma (a benign formation of blood vessels), but he offered to excise the mole and have a biopsy done if I wanted.  I said, "Yes, let's do that."

Within a few days the biopsy came back and just as the dermatologist had predicted, it was benign.  But, he told me that the pathologist had also found the presence of "amyloids" and so he wanted me to see a hematologist/oncologist.  I had earlier been experiencing some discomfort and numbness in my feet that was being explored as some possible vein valve insufficiency, but the serendipitous amyloid detection sent things in a new direction and by mid-January I was diagnosed with amyloidosis -- a protein abnormality with its genesis in the bone marrow.

Amyloidosis is a rare condition with only about 3,200 cases/yr in the U.S.  [Interested readers can Google it for more details.]  

The so-called "gold standard" treatment for amyloidosis is a stem cell rescue procedure, which is what Tom Brokaw and Mother Jones political blogger Kevin Drum underwent for their multiple myeloma.  A stem cell rescue involves knocking out the immune system and then being infused with one's own previously collected stem cells.  I underwent the procedure at the world-class Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) during the month of March.  In a follow-up with the treatment team in early June, the procedure was said to be "fully successful" and I am now in "complete remission."

And this is all because of the serendipitous bruise of a mole that led to the serendipitous detection of amyloid during a routine biopsy that I fortuitously asked to be done when the dermatologist offered it to set my mind at ease over the nature of a suddenly bruised, decades-old mole!
  

To begin my gradual return to more regular blogging here at The Prism, a few recommendations for inclusion on your reading list this weekend are presented below.  

Happy 4th of July to all as we celebrate the 239th anniversary of a truly remarkable document -- the Declaration of Independence!

1.    Upfront with NGS posted a nice resource compliments of Thomas MacEntee, "Free Online Genealogy Education Resources."   You can see the post and get a link to the list here.

2.    And speaking of FREE, Janine Adams of Organize Your Family History blog has done the work of gathering in one post a collection of 4th of July research tools available for free for a limited time. See Janine's post and the links here.

3.    Always well researched.  Always well written.  Always well illustrated.  Diane Boumenot of One Rhode Island Family blog, has done it again with her post "A Death at Antietam," which can be read here.  As Diane summarizes, "This is  the story of how the Battle of Antietam played a significant and unexpected role in my family’s history."  It is an engaging piece well worth the time to read and from which one can learn.


4.    Diane Boumenot is a wellspring of information and research sources regarding Rhode Island history and genealogy.  Anyone with Rhode Island roots would be well advised to peruse her blog, One Rhode Island Family, to discover available databases and sources for their Rhode Island research.  Diane's post of June 15th is an example of how she always has her eye out for new research tools and how she shares them when found.  Providence City House Directories are now available online and Diane tells us how and where here.   

5.    James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog posted two pieces this week that should be of interest to genealogists of all experience levels.  One is his list "Essential Books for Genealogy," which can be read here.  The other is a reminder about how and where birth "records" can be found -- and how such records are not limited to governmental birth certificates.  This piece can be read here.    

6.    Heather Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy blog has a nice read about moving the Gay Head Lighthouse on Martha's Vineyard and how her sister sent her on a quick inquiry that netted a new cousin connection.  You can read Heather's post and see her photos here.  

7.    Nancy Messier of My Ancestors and Me blog posted what could be a nice prompt for genealogy bloggers to use periodically -- imagined conversations with ancestors.  Read Nancy's post here and perhaps write your own ancestor conversation post afterwards.

8.   "The Ghost of Midnight Mary" is the most recent post on New England Folklore, a blog by Peter Muise.  Read the horrible basis for the legend of Midnight Mary and see Peter's photographic illustrations here.  
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The Old Glory photo was taken by the author at the 2010 Boy Scout National Jamboree (the celebration of 100 years of Scouting in the U.S.). 
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Copyright 2015, John D. Tew

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