LIVING WITH MCL

It looks like the sale of the company I work for, and our sister company, is going to be completed tomorrow. Still don't know what immediate changes, if any, will occur, except there was one benefit. We did get our Christmas bonuses early. Plus I learned the fiscal year of our purchaser ends in March, which means I can collect another bonus in only 6 months, assuming of course I'm not asked to leave earlier. Either would be OK, but I was hoping to work until at least March (after which I won't care what happens), since Edie isn't eligible for Medicare until March, and I can save myself a few bucks on health insurance premiums. The only problem [if you can call it a problem] is, since we've stopped all shipments of products to our customers, while the purchase takes place, the shop won't be operating the next two days, except for clean up on Wednesday, which is an issue only because we were scheduled for our internal audit on Thursday, and if no one's there, ...

Maybe an even better question to ask is, who doesn't know? As I was leaving the coffee shop, after my bike ride on Saturday, one of the guys I ride with frequently, mentioned he read my blog the other day and commented on some of my posts. WOW! I was a shocked, or at least I was taken by surprise. Now while I've never tried to hide my lymphoma or my blog [my email address does include my domain name], neither have I ever made it my mission to inform the world.  So why then was I so surprised when he mentioned he read my blog? It wasn't so much he knew, and I didn't realize he knew [although I probably should have], I think it just had more to do with the venue where he mentioned it. There were several other club members still there, who expressed surprise I had a blog. I just hate to think everyone would find out, and then I start getting treated differently than they would if I didn't have lymphoma. Oh well, such is life. I don't think that has happened so much...

Saw my hematologist today, and we decided the best thing to do is wait another month. We talked about possible treatments, and I was glad to hear she (my hematologist) was amenable to using  Rituximab as a single agent therapy instead of going for all out chemo. I was also interested to learn she was surprised my platelets were as high as they were, considering the size of my spleen. She has seen several others patients, with smaller spleens than mine, exhibiting much lower platelet counts. Removal of the spleen is another possibility, and could provide several years of relief, but there are a few downsides to that approach. Not only would I be off the bike for a few months, it will require the taking of antibiotics for many years, or even the rest of my life, until other organs take up the spleens functions, and the lymphoma has been known to spread to those other organs, including the liver, which would not be desirable outcome. She even mentioned the possibility of radiation to the...

As if the company I work for being bought out, and the onset of fall, with the weather changes and the much shorter days it brings isn't enough, I just received my latest blood work today, and it was not to my liking. Not only did my lymphocyte count drop from 94 thou/mcL to 62 thou/mcL (which may or may not be a good thing), my hemoglobin dropped back down to 11.4 g/dL, and my platelets continued on their downward slide, dropping to 158 thou/mcL from 172 thou/mcL last month, and 200 thou/mcL in July. What's really disappointing, I went on a pretty hard bike ride this morning, and climbed the 2 miles up to the top of Turnbull Canyon within 2 seconds of my best time this year. I was really feeling good, that is up until just now. It's always possible the hard bike ride, and the slight dehydration, may have skewed the results, but I'd have thought the results would be higher (like my creatinine, which was up to 1.2 today), not lower. Whatever, something is going on. Eithe...

Can you believe it? Is nothing safe anymore? It now appears that daily ritual of taking a shower can deliver a face full of potentially pathogenic bacteria. which means it's probably not good even if you're not immune compromised. I've actually heard that taking showers was bad before, but I thought it had something to do with the inhalation of steam. Not sure why that would be a problem, so I just ignored it. But this report seems to shed some additional light on the subject At the very least you need to switch from that plastic showerhead, you may be using, to a metal one. Come to think of it, maybe that's the reason for the French Paradox !

You have such a wonderful outlook on things I hear that statement, or variation there of, directed at me all the time, and I think it's time I set the record straight. I admit I may have a rather unique perspective on life, but I sure don't have a wonderful outlook on things. In reality, I have a very bleak view of things, and anything that may appear otherwise is just a facade designed to fool you. Oh yes I'm the great pretender Pretending I'm doing well My need is such I pretend too much I'm lonely but no one can tell Ok, so I'm not lonely, but still the lyrics are fitting. To clarify, I will start by saying my life has been good. I have had some ups and downs [we all have], and even now, having been diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma, I still consider myself lucky. I grew up during the best of times [the good ol' days]. It was a time of innocence, when you could travel the country, or the world, without fear. It was a time of great prosperity, when we al...

At first glance you'd have thought it was just any other southern California morning. The excessive heat and humidity, we'd been experiencing over the last week or so, was gone, and it was the typical morning (overcast and 62°F) I've grown accustomed to, and actually enjoy, as I headed out shortly before 7 AM to meet the group for our Wednesday bike ride. Of course while the weather was back to normal, the ride was anything but. Turtle was there, but now that school is back in session, none of the other usual crowd of fast guys were there (a few being teachers), so Turtle just didn't push us that hard, and neither did anyone else. Not even Ricardo who's on a par with Turtle, or Gerry who I think is over trained just a little. Then I discovered 3/4 of the way to the coffee shop in Corona Del Mar, even Robbie (who is basically a fixture at the coffee shop) turned around early. The rest of us (8) went on to Corona Del Mar, but it was only Ricardo and me who stopped at...

Well just to clarify, I am in bad shape. I may even be getting worse every day. I never really know for sure whether it's my MCL, the fact I'm 61 years old now (7 years older than when I was diagnosed), or just the psychology of everything that causes me to have so many ups and downs. Still, compared to others, I'm not in too bad a shape for the shape I'm in. Recently I learned a friend and cycling buddy of mine was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bladder cancer. Now after two unsuccessful operations to stop the spread of the cancer, he has to have his entire bladder removed. They can simulate a new one from his small intestine, so at least he won't have to carry a bag around with him, but it won't be the same as a real bladder, and there will be issues he's going to have to deal with for the rest of his life. Plus he'll be out of commission for 2 months while he heals. Then I have another friend, [and cycling buddy], who tore a retina in his left e...

Don't you find it ironic, when our elected representatives say "we just don't have the money to provide universal health care to everyone in this country", they don't have any trouble finding enough tax dollars to pay for their own health care, and the health care of millions of government employees. Don't you find it ironic, when our elected representatives say "we just don't have the money to provide universal health care to everyone in this country", they can manage to find 100's of billions of tax dollars to fund two wars [Iraq and Afghanistan], and provide those citizens with health care. And don't you find it ironic, when our elected representatives say "we just don't have the money to extend unemployment benefits any longer", they don't have any trouble finding plenty of tax dollars to fund salary increases for themselves, and for millions of government employees. It just seems when it's of benefit to our elec...