Author: Kurt Brindley

He's tall, but he hopes to accomplish more in life than just that...

An Important FDA Safety Announcement for my Donor Stem Cell Transplant Brothers and Sisters

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FDA warns about increased risk of cancer relapse with long-term use of azithromycin (Zithromax, Zmax) antibiotic after donor stem cell transplant

The French study which the FDA based a recent safety announcement on had to be discontinued after two years because the rate of the return of cancer and even death was too high in those patients with cancers of the blood or lymph nodes who undergo a donor stem cell transplant and were taking the antibiotic azithromycin (Zithromax, Zmax) long term to prevent a certain inflammatory lung condition [LUNG GVHD/BOS].

While this FDA Safety Announcement focuses on those taking azithromycin long term as a measure to prevent Lung GVHD/BOS, if you’re like me and you have been taking it long term to treat Lung GVHD/BOS, you also might want to discuss this announcement with your oncologist and consider whether or not the risks exceed the benefits.

After discussion with my oncologist I have decided to discontinue taking the antibiotic after having taken it now for over eight years. I will undergo a PFT in a couple of months to see if there has been any further degradation to my lungs as a result of discontinuing the drug.

You can read the full FDA announcement here and you can read the announcement from the drug manufacturer here.

Best of luck to you all.

#vote

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When On the Third Draft…

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Like the delicate wing flap of the dainty butterfly, every manuscript edit, regardless how slight and seemingly insignificant…

Creates chaos.

 

To check out “A Sound of Thunder,” the Bradbury short story discussed in the video, click here.

#prayforthechaos
#amediting

 
 

Featured image courtesy of Wikipedia

 

Hooray for Hollywood

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Great news, friends!

My short film Leave will premiere at the LA FEMME FILM FESTIVAL in October!

The entire cast and crew, which includes yours truly, is very proud and honored to be able to show our film for the first time to the world at such a prestigious event.

We are also proud and honored to finally be able to share with you a short teaser of the film right now.

This teaser is shared from the Vimeo account of Leave’s talented producer Jeff Hammer; so, after you finish viewing and sharing it with all your friends and family, please make sure you check out the rest of Jeff’s amazing work.
 


 
BTW, if you’d like to read the short story from which I adapted the screenplay, you can receive a free copy of it and other stories when signing up for my newsletter.

Hope to see you all at the festival!

Cheers!
 

#californiadreaming

 

Redemption

Kurt Brindley3 Comments

There’s nothing Fixed that can’t be Broken

Praise Jove, for without them, the Broken
And all the Hope and Possibilities for which they allow
There is nothing Redeemed
There is nothing made New Again

Beam of Sun meet Fall of Rain

Alas, mourn not the absence of the Sol
Rejoice instead for the cool quenching of the Aqua
And the Unbounded Inactivity for which the Downpour allows
For it is that, the Inactivity
And the Idleness, the Nothingness it requires
And the Silence, the Stillness it provides
That allows for the Divinity of the Dreams
To Shine forth Anew
And Redeem the Soul

David Gaughran

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So, as I near the completion of my new novel, I’ve been investing much time lately in that most unfortunate of necessities that every self-respecting self-publishing author must invest in – marketing research.

Yeah…

Marketing is something of which I detest greatly and something at which I fail miserably.

Fortunately for me, however, in my quotidian research for marketing excellence, I stumbled upon (whatever happened to StumbleUpon anyway?) a publishing and marketing guru named, you guessed it…

Continue reading “David Gaughran” →

It’s Deja Vu All Over Again: TREE OF SMOKE by Denis Johnson, a Review (of sorts)

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As I sit and watch the surreal press conference between Trump and Putin after their so-called historic summit, where, after recently treating our allies like dog shit, Trump behaves like a sycophantic lapdog to a murderous dictator who wants nothing more than to destroy and subjugate the U.S. of America in retribution for how the U.S. of America destroyed and subjugated his beloved U.S.S.R., I am reminded of how I felt, or better yet, how my fuzzy, nightmarish memories leave me feeling from the surreal and tumultuous times in the U.S. of America during the late-Sixties through the mid-Seventies, you know, the era of national madness beginning with the Tet Offensive through the Watergate break-ins and subsequent hearings to Nixon’s humiliating yet palliative resignation and ending with America’s humiliating yet palliative retreat from South Vietnam.

Continue reading “It’s Deja Vu All Over Again: TREE OF SMOKE by Denis Johnson, a Review (of sorts)” →

Leave Is In The Can!

Kurt Brindley4 Comments

It’s been over a three-year process but Leave is finally completed and I can’t tell you how happy and proud I am of it. I especially can’t wait until you can see it.

But first it has to go to the film festivals and we have already begun the submittal process. I will send out updates of the (many (hopefully)) festivals that pick it up.

We will have a trailer for it soon and once it’s ready I will release it, as well as a very cool documentary of the film’s making, here for you to check out.

In the interim, I invite you to check out some of the work Leave’s amazing producer Jeff Hammer has recently been involved with.

Jeff wrote, produced, and directed the feature film Live Or Die In La Honda, which is being distributed by Freestyle Digital Media and can be streamed on Amazon and other services.

He also produced a web series called Personal Space which has also been picked up by Amazon and can be streamed on Amazon Prime.

Like I said, Jeff’s an amazing dude so check out his work if you have the chance.

Things are getting crazy (and by crazy I mean frikkin’ awesome)!

Enjoy!