LIVING WITH MCL

That was the title of a song written, and performed by Eric Burdon and the Animals back in 1967, which I thought was worth sharing. I can't really say that I remembered it, but that doesn't change the fact the words sure seem so much more appropriate, and poignant now [that I'm older]. Enjoy, and pay particular attention to the last verse.

I know I posted earlier about how I hate this time of year , but I always seem to be so adversely affected by this time of year, I thought it was worth reiterating. I just can't seem to get motivated to do much of anything lately. Sure I go through the motions everyday, and put on airs, but in reality it's nothing more than a facade. And the winter season has barely gotten started. There's still over 30 days of continually shorter days left before the days start getting longer, and even after that, I still have to contend with the likelihood of even colder days ahead, especially in February. (Typically the coldest month of the year.) There's also the rain to contend with. Californians (and I do consider myself a Californian) don't do good in the rain. After all, we don't get much of it, that is except for this time of year. And yesterday was one of those days. It poured. It poured so much, more of San Pedro (just west of us) is falling into the Pacific Ocean. It...

I was thinking last night (I do that whenever I have trouble sleeping), and I've come to the realization, in the nearly 10 years since my diagnosis with MCL (when I was personally awoken to the issue of cancer), there has been a lot of research done, and too many to fathom clinical trials performed, yet there has been very little [monumental] advancement in the way we deal with and treat cancer. We've managed to map the entire human genome . We've even come close to discovering the causes of [at least one] cancer , yet there is still no cure, and our approach to treating cancer remains, as it has been for the past 50+ years, to do nothing more than infuse deadly chemicals into the body, in hopes of destroying the cancerous cells. Even one of the biggest advances recently in the treatment of lymphoma, has been the reemergence of Bendamustine , an alkylating agent developed in East Germany in the 1960's. Yeah, there have been strides made in the use of stem cell transplan...

WOW! 3 posts in as many days, but if you feel inundated with too much information, don't worry. I doubt it will continue. This news just couldn't wait. The results of my colonography are in, and all is well. No polyps or other extraneous stuff. Thank goodness I'm not going to have to go through that again, for at least another couple of years. Hopefully by then I will have forgotten the misery I endured. But it gets even better. A retest of my blood counts showed the approximate same drop in lymphocyte count to 55 thou/mcL (which is within normal lab variation at this lymphocyte level), but my platelets were back up to 159 thou/mcL. Not sure why the increase in platelets, other than the fact I did do a pretty intense bike ride Tuesday morning (which I'm told will cause an increase in platelets), and I cut back [very] slightly on the green tea. Regardless of the reason, it is reassuring. I guess the best thing I can do for myself is try to increase the intensity of my b...