LIVING WITH MCL

I had a few moments, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts that were on my mind this morning (for whatever reason), as I contemplated the ten years since my diagnosis with MCL. How is it possible I've managed to survive all this time without ever having received any treatment, and so many others have not? Am I so unique? Are there others who have gone as long or longer? I sure would like to know. Everybody has good moments and bad moments, but it's the ability to learn from those bad moments, and not dwell on them, that separates greatness from not so great. And finally, with all the talk about the Supreme Courts deliberations over the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), I was wondering. Why is it unconstitutional to force people to purchase health insurance, yet not unconstitutional to force health care providers to provide free health care to individuals in cases of emergency (reference the EMTALA )? Is it because emergency room care isn't health care, as someone rec...

For anyone who is of the misguided belief the US government has any more control over gasoline and oil prices than they have over other commodities, allow me to introduce you to the little known concept of supply and demand. It sort of goes like this. When demand exceeds supply, prices go up, and companies increase production to fill the void. When the opposite is true, and supply exceeds demand, prices fall, and companies cut back on production. Eventually a point of equilibrium is reached, and prices stabilize. It's a simple concept, and it's what free market economics is based upon. It's what drives businesses to expand or contract, to invest or divest. So why is it so many people have a hard time grasping that concept when it comes to energy prices? What makes people think we can just tell large, independent, global, multinational corporations, such as Exxon-Mobil, BP etc. to drill for more oil in the US (without considering supply/demand dynamics), and they will immedi...

Over the past 15+ years the game of bowling has changed dramatically. Not only has the equipment changed, making it easier for bowlers of all ages and physical conditions to participate, and score well, but there have even been major advances to how the lanes are prepared for the start of bowling. No longer is it just heavy oil, light oil, long oil, short oil, or no oil, with the latest equipment, the amount of oil can be varied from front to back and side to side, producing a myriad of patterns designed to make the game more interesting, more challenging and as you might surmise, more frustrating. No longer does the "one ball fits all" approach work any more either. In order to navigate all the differing possible lane conditions, you need to have a varied selection of bowling balls. Most pros will tell you the average bowler needs 3 balls, plus a ball for spares, but to be an above average bowler you'll need at least 6 balls, with many possessing more than that. But just...

I'm stuck lying around the house with a bad back [again]. (Fortunately there is a golf tournament to occupy me somewhat.) Don't know what I did to deserve it, but I've found that often to be the case. So since it's been over a week since I've posted anything, I thought I'd take this opportunity to just 'ramble' about a few things that come to mind. Edie is still on Velcade + Dex maintenance therapy. She switched to every other week, because every week was just getting to be too much, and also started subcutaneous injections of the Velcade instead of the standard infusion. While the research seems to indicate there is no difference between subcutaneous injections and infusions, I'm not so confident. Especially now that her counts have started to rise slightly. That of course could be the result of going to every other week therapy rather than every week. She gets another blood test on Monday, and has an appointment with her oncologist and another Velc...