LIVING WITH MCL

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The results of my latest blood work on Wednesday, and subsequent exam revealed essentially no changes in my condition. Lymphocytes had actually come down slightly, hemoglobin was back above 13, and spleen and liver were unchanged. Platelets were up, but my doctor didn't seem to think that was anything unusual. I'll wait till my next CBC to see if it is a trend or not. As we usually do, we talked about possible treatments when the time comes. My doctor went through some new information he had learned, and to my surprise indicated that in indolent lymphoma's the trend was to try Rituxan alone as an initial treatment. That had been my choice of treatment for awhile now, but when we had talked about it previously, he indicated it may not be the best approach. Even two other experts, I sometimes consult with in France and the UK, indicated that while it would likely do no harm, they weren't of the opinion that it would do any good either, and recommended against it. St

At least that's one piece of good news. It's not that something drastic has changed in my condition, but it's been awhile since I posted so I thought this might be an appropriate time to post at least one piece of good news. No offense Denver fans. Like I said, not much has really changed for me. I still feel fine, but my performance on the bike is not as good as I would hope. Maybe it has to do with the weather? It's been very cold here lately, making training more difficult due to the extra clothing I need to keep warm. The cold weather coupled with the accident that kept me off the bike for awhile, I hope is the real reason I seem to be getting into such bad shape. Plus I am getting older. Maybe just the fact that I'm 57+ is another reason I can't keep up with the 30 year olds. I 've also started running on the treadmill at home. Running is great exercise, (you can get an equal or greater aerobic work out in a shorter time), but as with everyth

Being a slow health care newsday (referring to my other blog ), and not having posted anything to this blog lately, I started getting a little fidgety. So I went blog hopping, and came across this article by a 3rd year med student on the west coast. It may be a little late for me and some others, but his thoughts on why you don't want to be hospitalized just seemed worth sharing. Hospitals: Worse Before You're Better "Above all, do no harm," is pretty much bullshit. Let me warn you. You do not want to be a patient in a hospital. One, it means you're sick enough to need to be in a hospital, which is pretty sick. Two, we'll make you feel much worse until you feel much better. If you do get admitted, please just expect the following to happen. If you're in a teaching hospital, with attendings and residents and medical students, more of this may happen. Be prepared in advance, so that you don't get all crabby when I try to be happy-nice medical student a