LIVING WITH MCL

In fact, I've found it seldom works. Have you ever had one of those days where you didn't do something, you could have done, and now regret not doing? Well today was one of those days. The club bike ride this morning was Laguna Canyon. It's about a 70 mile ride (which is pretty close to my self imposed limit). I hate the rollies on the way to Laguna, and then the ride through the canyon can get pretty fast at times. So I pretty much decided, even before I left home, I was only going to go as far as the fountain in Laguna Beach, and then turn around (about a 60 mile ride). But this morning was pretty heavily overcast (the sun is still struggling to make an appearance at 1 PM), and there was a relatively strong head wind, which helped keep the group a little more subdued than usual. I was actually able to stay with the group all the way through the rollies, and was feeling pretty good, which is very untypical. I was even considering doing the entire ride, but on the way down...

I just realized my 7th anniversary of being diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma, has come and gone with barely a notice. And with the exception of the very recent passing of Dan Seals , of England Dan and John Ford Cooley fame, I might not even have thought of it at all. Dan Seals was only 61 years old (a mere 4-1/2 months older than me), and he died of Mantle Cell Lymphoma , after receiving a [reportedly] experimental stem cell transplant , at the NIH in Bethesda, MD. He was diagnosed in August 2007 . It's just serves as a stark reminder of how cruel life can be sometimes, and how fortunate I have been these past 7 years.

That's what Edie said when I asked her what she had decided to do about Chloe . Chloe just does not seem to be getting better [at least not very fast], although except for the fact  she sleeps 22+ hours a day, and still won't eat on her own, she doesn't appear to be sick. So Edie has to force feed her every day, make sure she gets enough fluid, and give her all sorts of different medication. I don't know how she does it. I know I wouldn't have the patience. Anyways, at least Edie doesn't have to worry about me. My latest blood counts are essentially status quo. My lymphocyte count is back under a 100 thou/cumm (99.9) again, hemoglobin is maintaining at 12.4 g/dl (low average for a woman) and my LDH is normal at 141 IU/L. The only thing of some concern is my platelets were under 200 at 196. That's still well within the normal range (130-400), and I have had at 6 readings below that number over the past two years, but when you plot a graph of the 6 month movin...

And I'm not really that disappointed. I would have preferred riding, but I still haven't regained my previous form [not that I was ever in such great form] from before my hand surgery, and I don't think I'd have been up to todays scheduled ride, Palos Verdes, which has a lot of climbing, and is usually pretty fast, especially on the way home. So instead I'm content to just sit at home, surf the net, watch TV, and rest up for a short hard ride tomorrow, and racing Tuesday night. The one thing good about only having to go into work two days a week is, you don't have to fit all your exercising into Saturday and Sunday. There's lots of other time. Oh, and it also gave me the opportunity to find and add a new local weather widget to my sidebar, so I, or anyone for that matter, can more easily keep track of current weather conditions.

Here it is, the most beautiful day of the year (the sun is shining, and it's 74°F outside), and I'm relegated to sitting in front of my computer, patiently waiting for some one to email me or even call. I couldn't even get in a good bike ride this morning. I tried mind ya, but my back was hurting, so when I got a flat about 10 miles out, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to turn around and go home. I ended up getting in about 20 miles, but they were hardly quality miles. So after taking a shower, and checking my email, I promptly sat down in front of the TV, watching the talking heads discuss everything from Bernie Madoff, to how to make a 30 minute meal. That's when it dawned on me,

Bernie Madoff's favorite charity - The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF). It seems Bernie had a soft spot for the LRF, since his son Andrew, a now previous member of the board of the LRF, was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma in March 2003. [That's interesting, because I can remember hearing about an anonymous contribution of $10,000,000 made to the LRF in late 2003 or 2004. All we knew then was it was from someone living in New York City, and while there is still no confirmation yet, it sure does make one wonder just a little.] The other thing of particular note, of the many charitable institutions that invested with Bernie Madoff, the LRF, either fortuitously or by design, was not one of them. Information courtesy of Vanity Fair .

OK, maybe Ponzi Scheme isn't exactly the correct term to use, but if you're not yet convinced the stock market is rigged, and designed to facilitate the transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy, you might just be after watching this interview with Mad Money's Jim Cramer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Be sure to watch part 2 and part 3 , for the really enlightening stuff! The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Jim Cramer Pt. 1 Now don't get me wrong, there is still money to be made in the stock market. Just don't think of the stock market as a form of investing, it's really nothing more than a legalized form of gambling. For every dollar someone makes, someone else loses a dollar, but the big boys always take their cut off the top of both transactions.

That's Chloe, our new little kitty. (Edie's had her heart set on a new cat for awhile.) It's been a long time since we've had an 8 week old kitty around the house, so I have a feeling this is going to be a real learning experience. I've already discovered kitties are much more needy, and she likes to follow me around the house a lot. I did manage to get these two pictures. The one on the left, Edie had to pose her on her scratching post, and I quickly took a shot. It seems kitties don't like to sit still for very long either. The second was pretty much luck. She turned just as I snapped the picture, and she pretty much got the bejeezus scared out of her when the flash went off. As for Morris, he's not taking things very well. We've tried to keep them apart mostly, but the one time they did meet, Morris hissed at her, and then stormed out of the house. He did come back though. It's just may take some time for them to get used to each other, but I'...

Here it is 6 AM Wednesday morning, it's 48°F outside, and it's still dark. I remember just last week at this time, the sun was starting to rise, and I was already preparing to meet the group at 7 AM for a bike ride, but now it's an entirely different story. It will barely be light at 7 AM when I get to the marina, and it will definitely still be dark when I have to leave the house to meet the group. So here I am, drinking my tea, having already gotten up late, and instead of starting to get ready for my ride, I'm blogging. How depressing!

Last night after dinner, I realized my throat was starting to feel sore, so I decided to go to bed a little early, hoping that might help. (I usually like watching Lost on Wednesday night, but I figured I could record it and watch it Thursday.) That didn't seem to help much. I didn't sleep that well, and I ended up  getting out of bed at 3 AM to make some tea with lemon and honey. So here I sit wondering whether I should go to work or not. I don't really feel that bad, but my throat is still sore and annoying (the tea didn't help), and I don't want it to get worse, as it seems everyone at work is sick as well. I can probably get away with not going in today, as business has slowed some what, but I know as soon as I decide not to, someone's going to need me. Then of course there's the thought of sitting around the house doing nothing which isn't that enjoyable either, but neither is the thought of an 80 mile drive to work and then the same drive home. Oh...

This has been another tough week. It wasn't as stressful as last week, except maybe for the near crash, when I inadvertently touched wheels in the hammer zone on Saturday, reminiscent of the crash involving Levi Leipheimer and Lance Arstrong in the 3rd stage of the Tour of California this year. Fortunately I didn't crash, and take down any riders around me. That would have made for a really lousy week. Anywaze, I did manage to get my first full week of cycling in, since my hand surgery, riding about 200 miles, which is pretty good for February. My hill climbing ability is still lacking though, as is most every other aspect, and I really struggled on today's ride, especially on the way back, as speeds easily exceeded 27.5 mph, the point at which I had to drop off, and watch everyone just ride away from me. I ended up having to time trial [myself], into a slight head wind at about 22 mph, until I was able to catch back on to the back of the group, thanks to some favorable tr...