LIVING WITH MCL

It's not bad enough Edie was diagnosed with multiple myeloma 5 years after my diagnosis with lymphoma, has already undergone radiation treatment [twice], several different chemotherapy iterations, and a stem cell transplant (while I have had no treatments or major symptoms), today she's going for here 2 nd blood transfusion in just 3 weeks. She had to go for the first transfusion about 3 weeks ago, after taking a round of Melphalan , which did a job on her immune system, dropping her hemoglobin and platelets to [I assume] dangerously low levels. (Why else would the doctor order a transfusion?) Her counts did initially recover after the first transfusion, but unfortunately the results of her latest blood test (yesterday) indicated a drop in hemoglobin back down to 7.5 g/dL, the same level they were just before the first transfusion. Her platelets managed to increase from 27 thou/mcL to 55 thou/mcL, but that's not much consolation, as that is still pretty freakin' low, a...

It's a beautiful day outside. The sun is shining, and the temperature is right around 50°F. It's a perfect day for a bike ride, if only the roads were somewhat dry. But just like last Thursday, the roads are soaking wet from last nights rain, and I refuse to subject myself to those conditions. So here I sit, bored to death (so wanting to be out on the bike) composing one of my meaningless posts, this time about Facebook. I don't get the fascination with Facebook. Sure it's a great way to stay in contact with old friends from high school and elsewhere, who may be light years away, but what else is it good for? And what's this new craze of friends pointing out where they are at every given moment in their life? Who cares when someone checks in at the grocery store? Anyways, yesterday we went to my niece's house in Granada Hills for Christmas dinner, and for whatever reason we were discussing the "places" app on Facebook, and I ended up "checking in ...

I'm tired! I'm really tired. And these past 8 days of essentially non stop rain certainly didn't help any. Even today, when I thought I would be able to get out on a real bike once again, I looked out side, and discovered the roads are still soaking wet. So here I am stuck in the house once again. But mostly I'm tired of dealing with my MCL. I'm tired of the endless blood tests, and visits to the oncologist. I'm tired of people asking me how I feel, and then lying to them. I'm tired of putting on a happy face, and going about my life as if nothing is wrong. You'd think (at least I would) after [nearly] 9 years, my body would have figured out there's something wrong, and do something about it. You'd think after [nearly] 9 years my body would have built up some defenses to my MCL, and maybe even mount an offense for a change. But why would I think that? Heck, the best minds in the US can't seem to come together and figure out how to get c...

I never have liked this time of year. The days are shorter, the weather colder, and it rains a lot. And this year is certainly no different. In fact, it may even be worse than most. November started off with February like temperatures, and when the weather did finally return to more seasonal temperatures the rain started. And as of last Wednesday it has been relentless. I did manage to ride through the rain drops last Wednesday, but since that time the rain has prevented me from getting out on the road. (It even seems to be effecting internet access.) I did a spin class on Saturday, with some other club members, which was OK. There was even another one scheduled for this morning, but it was at 6 AM, and that is WAY TOO early. (It seems some people still have to work for a living.) So today I'll probably end up going to the gym, and riding the life cycle or Expresso machine. I might even end up doing the spin class at the gym, but....... Any more I just don't know about anythin...

Well as it turns out, I got the new bike after all . It seems the owner(s) finally resolved enough of their legal issues to at least sell off their remaining inventory of show bikes, and I was fortunate enough to be offered one. I even got a better deal than originally expected, as this bike included handle bars, stem and saddle (which the original deal did not), saving me an additional $200+. I did have to buy two water bottle cages, a new seat bag (for spare tube, CO2 cartridges and a tire iron), and a new mount for my Garmin GPS, but those were cheap in comparison. And on top of that I should be able to get at least $500 for the race wheels that came with the bike, bringing my net cost down to under $2,500. I did buy a set of training wheels for about $200 as a replacement. The only issues being, the bike is sold as is, i.e. no warranty or liability protection, but hey, what fun is life, if you can't live it on the edge. :) Plus the color scheme wasn't my first choice, but I...

There hasn't been much for me to write about lately, except for the [lousy] weather and it's contribution to my feeling of malaise (which I'm not going to bore you with today), but now that the winter season is upon us, and with it the heightened awareness of the greater potential for getting sick, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to post some information I think might help us all get through this season in far better shape. If you have cancer, the question of the efficacy of the flu vaccine has always been a controversial one. Most oncologists will tell you to get vaccinated, because it won't do any harm, and it may be effective, but now there is evidence to support that belief. The available literature shows that patients with cancer do mount an immune response to influenza immunization. It is unclear, however, whether this response is as robust as that seen in otherwise healthy persons. The CDC recommends annual influenza vaccination for this patient pop...