I’ve been busy, which is a miracle in-and-of-itself after months of indolence. I was cleaning the house while I was baking gluten-free orange pistachio Biscotti (I ate them all before I realized I hadn’t photographed them to show you!) and the phrase “Better living through modern chemistry” crossed my mind. It made me laugh. That is exactly what is happening!

A new drug to help with long-time IBS is working. Just a few days left on a 14-day regimen. (If any of you need it, it’s called Rifaxamin 550 mg)
Second: My new oncologist took me off the specialty-drug I’ve been on for 20 years, then lowered the dose of the brand-spanking-new-drug, Jakafi. This has my energy climbing, along with my weight – this drug makes you very, very hungry.
And, the icing on this cake (pun intended) is that along with a doctor recommended dose of magnesium at bedtime, some luxurious magnesium & lavender cream, sent by my sister Andee, to rub on my feet at night, and my dear friend Holly telling me to try the Calm app, I am sleeping well for the first time in years. Are any of you using the Calm app, too?

Back to Better Living… I wondered where the slogan came from, as it seemed like it had been around forever. It almost has.
An advertising agency created “Better Things for Better Living… Through Chemistry,” for DuPont in 1935 to help them convey optimism and progress as they rebranded themselves from a manufacturer of wartime munitions to providing materials like Nylon, Rayon, and Teflon.

Then in the 1950’s and 60’s the phrase was changed to “Better Living Through Modern Chemistry,” and co-opted by pharmaceutical manufacturers to imply that their medicines (mostly tranquilizers and psychiatric drugs) could solve people’s emotional problems. The drug companies wanted to appear as a force for public good.

Both the phrase, and the use of Valium, Librium and amphetamines became commonplace enough that the 60’s and 70’s bands wrote songs about “mother’s little helper,” and the phrase had now changed to “better living through chemistry,” and used tongue-in-cheek as a comment on the over-reliance on drugs by one generation, to the use of drugs for experimentation and personal growth by my g-g-generation.

Which brings me to something that has never happened to me before! Joni Mitchell’s song comes to mind here, “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow…” It must be my age, (age group) but my doctors casually ask, “Any falls lately?” at each visit. I’m always affronted by the question and haughtily think, “Do I look like the kind of person who would fall over?” Ah… Pride.

A few days after Christmas I was standing bent over in my little garden, gathering some oregano to bring in and dry, and pulling a weed or two for good measure. Just as I stood upright I felt myself falling backwards instead. I found myself sprawled flat on my back IN my large rosemary bush and staring at the clouds in the blue sky. My first thought: that wasn’t so bad, and it smells heavenly! It took a minute or two to get my bearings and clamber out of the poor bush, but I emerged unscathed.
I wish I could say the same for the rosemary, but we’re both pretty hardy. I thanked her for breaking my fall, and brought an armful of the broken branches in, used some in our dinner, and put the rest in a large red vase, where she helped usher in our New Year!

As always, thanks for reading, I appreciate you.
XO Donna