@Duncan quality of the mini bar and snacks 
If not, work being done to provide the medical frontline awareness of linking up the varying symptoms quicker and getting a full blood work done when presenting with a symptom or two.
Expect atmospheric shots of the trams in the fog
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Great ideas, @clickinhistory, thank you! Wouldn’t it be nice for our treatments to be a bit more joined-up
Please find attached a snap of the F tram on a rare unfoggy Saturday night after seeing Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense at the Castro. It was more like a concert than a cinema as so many people were dancing in the aisles!
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Karl the fog, as it is known around the Bay Area, has been all over the shop recently presumably due to global heating. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for its appearance on Saturday!
Love that cover of theirs, thank you for sharing! Imagine if they ever made one more amazing album 
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Hi Duncan! The only thing I can think of that I’d want to know are what drugs are up and coming. At the moment the choice seems to be blood thinners and/or Hydroxycarbamide (essentially a chemotherapy drug) so the medications seem to be a little thin on the ground, likely because Polycythaemia vera (PV) isn’t one of the ‘glamorous’ blood cancers and is quite rare so I suspect there isn’t much funding for research? As you know, I’m really reticent to go onto the chemotherapy tablets so it would be nice to know if there’s anything on the horizon that would be an alternative and better long-term than chemo.
I’ve heard great things about vegan food in San Francisco so really hope that you find some good places to eat! It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit so would love to know if it is as vegan friendly as I’ve heard as it makes travelling so much easier when you can eat with ease. I’ve often found the USA a little behind the times with vegetarian/vegan food unless you’re happy with a garden burger every day so hoping San Fran will be abundant with choices! 
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Hey @CarolineL, knew you’d have great suggestions, thank you! Ha ha ha “glamorous Polycythaemia vera (PV)” is not how I feel living with it, but it’s definitely not so common to research as, say, breast cancer.
Hydroxyurea does seem to be the main treatment for so many Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) survivors, although I’ve read a few times in recent research about ruxolitinib being a potentially better option. It inhibits the JAK2 gene mutation that most of us have, so less proliferation of blood occurs and thus less phlebotomy is needed, plus it seems to work better for those who can’t tolerate hydroxyurea. Interferon is also prescribed, often for ‘younger’ patients at lower risk of clotting, apparently. I’ll check for information about ruxolitinib at the conference.
Just wanted to say I haven’t forgotten about asking my haematologist that stuff we mentioned recently. I’m in between changing haematologists and have to be wary of what I email back and forth as all my doctors can read my various rants. I will get back to you!
As for vegan food around the Bay Area, well sadly a few of my favourite spots have closed during and since the pandemic. I live on the other side of the bay to San Francisco and tend to eat out here unless I’m doing something specific over in “the city” as locals call it. We had an amazing soul food place in Oakland, Souley Vegan, that did delicious earthy sorts of versions of southern comfort foods, but alas that closed. Lots of places do Beyond burgers, as you can imagine, which are fine. We do have a new proper fully vegan Mexican taqueria though whose chef makes all the meats from scratch, see below 
Know what you mean about travelling being trickier when vegan. I find over here that if you’re in a more progressive urban region like the Bay Area then it’s easy to find vegan stuff, but when you get out in the sticks it’s harder, much like around rural UK, and then veggie burgers will have to do!
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Ooh yeah, that would work! I used to be one of those music fans who wondered why bands kept going into older age, and now I wish more of my favourites would keep on releasing new stuff! Well, if it’s good. Slowdive are a recent example who came back with great new stuff. I fantasise about Portishead doing likewise! And uncannily Talking Heads randomly starts playing in this playlist I’m listening to!!!
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Hi Duncan. That menu looks lush! Glad to know that there are some good eateries around for you and a shame that some couldn’t survive the strain of the pandemic, we’ve had much the same in the UK too.
Good luck with changing Haematologists and I hope that you get someone a little more understanding. Good on you for not accepting who you were given as it’s really important to have a collaborative and good relationship with those who are providing your care.
Enjoy the conference!
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@Duncan just remember you are there to gain insight, plain English explanations and ask awkward questions, not as a fashion columnist or a food reviewer on vegan zeitgeist in the SF region
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Thank you @CarolineL, going to talk things over with my family doctor (who the haematologist has also patronised). It may be that my haematologist is the best of the bunch locally, in which case I’ll have to tolerate him—unless I change health insurance 
So true, @clickinhistory. I do love a good lecture. Hopefully these will provide some useful intel to share here. My husband is attending too so that’ll make it more amusing as he’s a total mischief!
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@Duncan just seen your old school reports, seems the repeated training in detention honed your appreciation of a good lecture.
We had a teacher who wore a certain tie when it came to giving the class a lecture on behaviour and social skills, honestly, my mate did not set off the fire extinguisher deliberately, he fell on it trying to impress one of the girls in the class by leaning on the door frame and missing.
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Ha indeed my school reports probably did suggest I learnt better in detention, I mean, introversion. Already got my notebooks and pencil case ready for the conference, now I need to plan which form of public transport to take across the bay
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Duncan could you ask about hydroxycarbamide dose. How do they work out the max per person and also how do they decide when it’s not suitable? No worries if you don’t get a chance. I am having some new not nice side effects to my increased dosage. If it doesn’t settle I will ring the day ward. Most of all I hope you have a really enjoyable trip.
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Yes, @Liz59 it is always worth checking things out with your day ward.
Please do let us know how you get on and look after yourself
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I can indeed, @Liz59! Great question, I often wonder that myself seeing as we all seem to have such different hydroxyurea doses and frequencies.
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@Duncan have a great time at the conference, don’t forget @Erica s t-shirt, the full on food review for @CarolineL , a babel fish to translate science into real English, a waterproof covering for the notebook (paper version not the movie ), bus and tram tickets, that you have a wake up pointy bit on your elbow to keep husband awake during the lectures and in the words of Mr Tolkien, your handkerchief.
Now have I forgotten anything like rope…? A pencil or two! 
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Aww thanks! Woke early and it’s rainy on this side of the bay so it’s likely a big old fogarama over at the conference 
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