LIVING WITH MCL

As it turns out, I shot probably the worst round I have shot in well over a year. I didn't even break 100. My tempo and sequencing were both way off, and I just couldn't manage to get them back. I should have stopped after nine, but I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. I did manage 3 pars and a birdie, but even that wasn't enough to lift my spirits. :( Oh well, it's off to the range tomorrow.

Well, it's been about 4 days since my last post, and there hasn't seemed to be anything of consequence worth reporting on lately. The plant, where I work, is on it's annual preventative maintenance shut down, so I haven't had to go in to work at all this week. In fact, I don't have to go in until July 10th, when some visitors, from Boeing, are coming to do a fracture critical (quality) audit. The plant doesn't start up again until July 23 rd , but after that, Edie and I are going to the International Pinot Noir Celebration that week in Oregon , and won't be back until July 31 st . So to keep busy these last couple of days, I've either been riding my bike or playing golf every day, and sometimes even doing both in the same day. Today I'm playing golf. Yeah, I know. Life's tough! Anywaze, I've been pretty happy with my golf game as of late, as I prepare for the Long Beach Men's City Championship July 6 th , 7 th and 8 th . I have t...

German researchers have found recreational sun exposure is associated with reduced risk for cancers of the lymph system, or malignant lymphomas . The number of vacations spent in sunny climates was inversely associated with a diagnosis of lymphoma, the researchers report, especially for Hodgkin lymphoma and B-non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Mantle cell lymphoma falls under the latter category. After accounting for other factors associated with lymphoma risk, the researchers found that individuals who spent more than 1,190 cumulative days in sunny locations had a 60-percent lower risk than those in sunny locations for 350 days or less. Whoa!! I think I've exceeded the 1,190 cumulative days, having lived in Southern California, and Houston, TX, for the last 29 years. One exception was high UV exposure during outdoor leisure activities up to age 15 years, which was associated with an increased risk of lymphoma. Oh! I guess that must have been my problem. When I was 15 years old, there weren...

Well if you haven't figured it out by the title, today is my birthday, and I'm 59 years old. WOW! It's almost hard to believe, considering just over 5 years ago, I was having doubts that I would ever get to be 55, let alone 59. Back then, I said if I could get 5 good years, I would be happy, but now that I got those 5 good years, I'm not at all happy. Nothing has changed. I still have MCL, and I now I want another 5 good years. It's just so hard, knowing you have a terminal illness, and trying to live life as though you didn't. It's so hard to get up every morning, put on that happy face, go to work, play golf, ride my bike, or do any other myriad of things, as if nothing was wrong, all the time knowing the disease could hit me anytime. But it's also hard not knowing when it seems everything is more difficult to accomplish, or you have to take a nap after doing all those things you love, whether it's the disease that is gathering strength, de...

This morning, I decided to ride my bike part way to work. That's something I used to do quite often, but rarely do anymore, for whatever reason, but this morning I decided to do just that. It was an unusually nice morning for June, typically characterized by cold temps and fog or heavy overcast, but this morning was totally different. So with only a few scattered clouds, and temperatures above 60°F, I picked a nearly perfect day to park my car in Malibu, and ride the last 16.2 miles in to work. But before heading north on PCH, I decided to take a 3.25 mile detour up Yerba Buena Rd to the junction at Cotharin Rd. It was a great climb, especially when I stopped about half way up to view the Pacific Ocean through the hills of Malibu. It's tough to appreciate the view through a camera phone, but trust me, it makes the climb worthwhile. (It's a lot prettier later in the day, when the sun is high in the sky, and the wind has picked up, clearing out the haze.) The return ri...

Well not exactly just yet, but 9 months from now, during the grape harvest season. I know I've indicate before that I don't like making plans so far in advance, and this is the second time I've done just that this year , but I find if I don't make plans when I'm thinking about it, I end up not making them at all. Besides the airline tickets are fully refundable. So last night, I went out on a limb, and made reservations. But it was a trying experience. I started out at Orbitz and thought I had found the flights I wanted. There was just one caveat. I had to hurry as there were only 4 seats left. So I hurried, and clicked select . Unfortunately, after clicking select, I received a message that the tickets were no longer available. I guess I must have waited too long. So I tried 3 other similar flight itineraries, and was greeted with the same message. Bummer! Not to be deterred though, I went directly to the source - Air New Zealand . At the Air New Zeala...

You never really appreciate how fortunate you are, until you experience misfortune yourself, or you learn about the misfortunes of others. I spent the other day going through a number of patient blogs on the internet. I started when I came across They call me Galvez , which is about a 31 year old who had a brain tumor, and wrote a book about his experiences. Then I came across The Journal of a Prize Fighter , about Duane Baily-Castro who was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease (HD) in 2003 and had relapsed in 2005, and now is pondering the possibility of a transplant. I reviewed a few more, until I got to a particularly depressing one about a 22 year old from Redondo Beach, CA , also diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease (HD) about 5 years ago, and had already relapsed for a third time, and has since died on May 7th of this year. At that point I stopped searching. It was starting to get too depressing. :( The latter two were particularly depressing, because HD is supposed to have a much better ...

Well neither did I, but I actually got a hit on my website from someone in that country, so I thought I would investigate. Moldova is a real country, landlocked between Romania and the Ukraine. After WWII it was annexed by the old Soviet Union, but eventually declared its independence in 1991. It's also part of GUAM . No not the south sea island owned by the US, but an organization of four states, Georgia, the Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, whose goal is to counter the influence of Russia in that area. I guess I could go on and on, but if you're really interested in learning more just click on one of the links above. I just thought is was fascinating that someone from the country of Moldova accessed my website. It really is a small world!

Just got back from a weekend in San Diego. Had two great dinners at Croce's and Bluepoint Coastal in the Gas Lamp Quarter , and played a round of golf at Salt Creek Golf Club . We also discovered a nice little wine bar in Old Town , called the Wine Cabana, where we tasted some wines we hadn't tried before. It was a relaxing weekend, and with the exception of a very disappointing golf game on Saturday, it was good to get away. Still, as I was driving home today, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact, I hadn't ridden my bike on Saturday or Sunday. I did ride Friday, before heading to San Diego, and I did manage to get a run in on the treadmill at the hotel, but that didn't help the fact, I missed the Saturday ride. Saturday is the ride that gets my competitive juices flowing , and when I miss a Saturday ride, I feel as though I missed something important. Now missing a Sunday ride isn't a big deal, because I can always go for a ride on Monday (typically ...

Today I went for my monthly blood test, and I was pleasantly surprised.  My absolute lymphocyte count dropped to 67 thou/cumm from 92 thou/cumm, which is the lowest it's been since November 2005. Under normal circumstances, I would consider this drop merely a fluke, as a result of technician error or some other reason, such as the fact I did a relatively intensive bike ride this morning (40 miles and 1500 feet of climbing), but in the latter case, I would have expected all my numbers to be up, rather than down, due to dehydration, including my lymphocyte count. Instead everything was up, except for my lymphocytes. My hemoglobin was up to 12.8 g/dl from 11.9 g/dl last month, the highest it's been since July of last year, and my absolute neutrophils were also up to 10 thou/cumm which is the highest they've been since I've been keeping track over 5 years ago. And what I think is the most significant factor is, the percent lymphocytes dropped to 81%, which is the lowest it...

Those have always been good words to live by, and now there is one more piece of evidence to support that thought. The Mayo Clinic has just released a report Fluoride-Related Bone Disease Associated With Habitual Tea Consumption Everything we've been reading lately has indicated tea, especially green tea, has great antioxidant properties, and even though, I have now come to the belief that over indulging in vitamins and supplements, played a contributory role to my contraction of MCL ( for which there is increasing evidence ), I didn't believe that to be the case with green tea. Unfortunately I'm not able to access the entire report, so I don't know what the Mayo Clinic considers an excessive amount. At most I drink on average 4 to 5 bags worth of green tea per day, so whether I am prone to bone disease is still in question. (Maybe a doctor, or someone else who has a subscription to the Mayo Clinic Proceedings , can read the entire study, and report back to everyone.)...