LIVING WITH MCL

While there is still quite a bit of scatter (and those are 6 month moving average data points), everything that counts, i.e. lymphocytes, platelets and hemoglobin, are slowly moving down. I only wish the platelets and hemoglobin were moving in the opposite direction of the lymphocytes , then I might be a lot happier. Just not sure how that opposite trend bodes.

Well, if you're like me, you watched the 60 Minutes interview with Tyler Hamilton Sunday night, and like me, you're probably even more confused now than ever. Did he, or didn't he? That is the question. Tyler's accusations of doping are certainly compelling, but just because he admitted to doping, doesn't mean Lance did as well. Nor should we automatically accept what Tyler is saying as fact. After all, remember what I said before , everyone has an agenda. Plus Tyler is receiving limited immunity for his testimony. As for me, I choose to believe Lance. Not only because I find it difficult to believe anyone who has survived cancer would take illicit drugs, but because with all the scrutiny he has endured, there has never been any evidence of a failed test. But whether the accusations are true or not, what bothers me more than anything is our governments collosal waste of time and resources investigating these accusations. With all the problems facing this country, wh

Teddy Roosevelt said, Every man of power, by the very fact of that power, is capable of doing damage to his neighbors; but we cannot afford to discourage the development of such men merely because it is possible they may use their power for wrong ends..... Perhaps the greatest harm done by vast wealth, is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own hearts. Just something to think about during these tumultuous times!

Many in the world may not even know who Seve Ballesteros was, but that doesn't make his death today, any less significant. And his death isn't significant, as some may think, just because he was a great golfer from Spain, beloved in the same vein as Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. Nor is it because he had lymphoma, because he didn't. He had brain cancer. His death is significant, to me anyways (and the reason I keep posting, despite my best intentions to take a break from blogging), because he was not very old. He was only 54 years old. That's 9 years younger than me now,  and 1 year older than I was when I was diagnosed with MCL. IMO, that's way too young to die. How much did he miss out on doing or seeing? So let this be a lesson to everyone. Misfortune can strike any time, anywhere, and when you least expect it. Don't let life pass you by. Don't wait till it's too late. Don't wait for the future to do the things you want to do, and are capable of

Received results from some interesting blood tests today. Some of which I haven't received in a long while, and some I'm not sure I've ever seen before. CREATININE, SERUM LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE (LDH) AST (ASPARTATE AMINOTRANSFERASE), SERUM ALT (ALANINE AMINOTRANSFERASE), SERUM BILIRUBIN, TOTAL, SERUM ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE ERYTHROCYTE SEDIMENTATION RATE TOTAL PROTEIN, SERUM Creatinine and LDH are routine tests, both of which were in the normal range. But it was a different story for the remaining six tests. Four of the six were in the normal range, but two, the ALT (ALANINE AMINOTRANSFERASE), SERUM , and the ERYTHROCYTE SEDIMENTATION RATE where outside the norm. The ALT being low, and the Sedimentation Rate high. Now ALT by itself, being low, doesn't seem to be an issue (and according to my doctor, there really shouldn't even be a low range), but when you couple that with the AST, an AST/ALT ratio above 2 can be an indication of alcoholic liver disease. Mine is at 1.9