LIVING WITH MCL

Why does the mere thought of using [table] salt make most people cringe? Salt isn't a problem. Sodium is, and you're right, there is some sodium in salt ( approximately 39% ), but that doesn't make it bad. Too much may. Of course too much of anything can cause problems. Besides, sodium is essential for human nutrition. It is used to transmit nerve impulses, and is found in every cell of your body. Most importantly, salt imparts great flavors to food, when used in the proper proportions. So you would think, at the very least, such highly rated chefs would not hesitate to use it in their food. One can only wish. Went out to dinner last night at Michaels on Naples . A very highly acclaimed Italian restaurant in Long Beach. At least you would think so by the price. I just wasn't impressed, and I'm not sure whether I'd go back. While Edie's dish, spaghetti with lobster, had some noticeable flavors, my lobster risotto was as bland as could be. Granted the risotto ...

When it comes to life, it should be a simple decision. Right? Well, I used to think that, but now maybe not so much. It depends on how you define quality of life, and what the alternative is? I like to think, when the time comes, it will be a simple decision for me, but since that time hasn't come yet, how can I really be sure? Now consider the same question when it comes to food. Is that as simple a decision? For me it is. When it comes to food, I always choose quality over quantity. Still the question arises, how do you define quality? Some people may equate quantity with quality. Some people may prefer lightly seasoned food. Others more seasoned. Like wine, we all have different tastes and what I like, someone else may not. I bring this up as a result of the dinner Edie and I attended this past weekend with the wine group we belong to. I thought the food was awful [tasteless]. The portion sizes were large, and the price was right (including no corkage), but the food, IMO, was ta...

I finally received the work release from my personal doctor in the mail today, and I took it to the company I was planning on going to work for. As it turned out that wasn't the proper procedure. I was supposed to provide it to the clinic where I had my preemployment physical, so they could review it, and give their blessing. OK fine! I wasn't happy about it, but reluctantly I did so. I drove back to the clinic, and handed the release form to the receptionist, explaining the situation. She reviewed it, and got my records, after which she made some comments, which I bearly paid attention to. What I did get from her comments was she would give it to the doctor, but there would be about a 90 minute wait. I asked her if I needed another physical, and she said no. I didn't see any point in sitting in that germ infested room with 25+ other people, when I didn't need to, so I left the paperwork with the receptionist, expecting her to give it to the doctor, and then send the ap...

No matter how much I may want it, I can't will the pain in my chest away. But the thought of the pain continuing on, regardless of the length of time, and the continuing need to take Oxycodon has been weighing on me ever since I left the hospital, so I keep trying. I keep trying to extend the time between doses of Oxycodon. If I don't, how will I know if I'm making progress? The other day, I managed to go 13 hours between doses. I even thought I was making progress. After each passing hour, from the previous dose, I kept telling myself the discomfort [pain] wasn't that bad, but I was only fooling myself. It wasn't until after the 13th hour, when I finally relented, and took an Oxycodon, that I realized just how much pain I was truly in. The relief the Oxycodon provided was unmistakeable. It was like the weight of the world was lifted from my chest. Why did it take me so long to realize that? Ever since my diagnosis, I have been resistant to the taking of medications...

I must be getting better, because I'm ahead of my scheduled physical therapy. I'm able to walk for 12 minutes at a time, 3 times a day, covering more than a half mile each time. My schedule has me at only 10 minutes, 3 times a day. More importantly, I know I can do more. I'm just hesitant to progress too fast for fear of over doing it. The pain in my chest is also dissipating, albeit not as fast as I would like, and it isn't so much the pain anymore that is so bothersome, but rather the heaviness in my chest that is persisting. I've cut my Oxycodon down to once every 4 hours from every 3 hours, and was even able to go to the bathroom today without taking a stool softener (I still had to take a laxative), which I am attributing to skipping my midnight Oxycodon. But most notably, I know I must be getting better, as my appetite has returned. I actually went back for seconds last night, something I haven't done since I got home from the hospital. I haven't gaine...

Today didn't seem as bad as yesterday. The food wasn't quite as good (I was told it never is on the weekends), but I've been blessed for a second day without a roommate (something I doubt will last much longer), and Edie kept me company most of the day, which helped the time go by a little faster. I was also able to take a shower and shave, which made me feel a little better. Still, I haven't been told anything about when they're going to operate, and I was just informed by the nurse that I'm not allowed to have the tea kettle, I use to boil water for tea, in my room. Oh well, I thought that was something that could happen, but no one said anything for a day and a half, so...... Anyways, for now I've hidden it in the bottom drawer of the nightstand, and I'll be more circumspect when I use it tomorrow. I just wish the Cardiologist, the surgeon or somebody would come by and give me some more information. I'm pretty sure this waiting and the anxiety it...

My first day at the VA has been very fruitful. I've had my blood pressure checked, blood tested, my chest X-rayed, and the West LA team of hematologists blessed my bypass surgery. Now all I have left is an EKG, and for the cardiac surgery clinic to schedule my surgery. (Most likely Tuesday or Thursday.) The only problems so far, besides total boredom, is they've got me on an 1800 calorie, low sodium diet (that's normally how much I eat for breakfast), and there's no internet access. I had to switch phones with Edie. It's going to be a long weekend. :(

There used to be a time when I enjoyed going on vacation, but now not so much. I don't know if it's simply because of all the little things I hate about traveling, i.e. packing and unpacking, checking into and out of hotels, airport hassles etc. or simply the fact I don't need to travel anywhere. I already live in an area which has everything most people dream of in a vacation. I sure don't need to drive very far, or fly to all corners of the world, to get away (my justification for our latest trip to Solvang/Santa Inez). I can go to Disneyland for that, and still sleep in my own bed at the end of the day. Sure it's enlightening to experience new places, but I've seen most of the US, and I've been to France, Italy and England. I lived in Okinawa for 18 months, and vacationed in the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Fiji (twice), Tahiti, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. I've even been to New Zealand. I don't need any more enlightening. Plus, I'm not into ...

Catal Restaurant in Downtown Disney (Anaheim, CA) just called to cancel a beer dinner they were having tomorrow night, for Oktoberfest, that Edie and I had reservations for. I was told only one other couple had made reservations. Can you believe it? In a county of over 3 million people there weren't 26 other people willing to pop for 50 bucks for a 5 course meal, including all the German beer you can drink, at a top notch Orange county restaurant. And there's even free parking! What is the world coming to? That's never happened to me before. It just boggles my mind.

Our trip to the annual Aureole Wine Weekend in Vegas has ended, and we're back home recovering. It's hard to believe a weekend of [over] eating and [over] indulging in wine, could be so tiring, but by the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, I was pretty much exhausted. I even cancelled reservations we had at LeCirque for Sunday evening, opting instead for hamburgers at Hubert Keller's Burger Bar. They are very good burgers! I have to admit, I didn't think it was possible for Kevin (Aureole GM) and William (Master Sommelier) to top last years event , but they did. This was even despite my initial reservations because of the theme, white burgundy's and Spanish wines, but I have now come away with a new appreciation for both, especially the Spanish wines. Of course these were not your usual Spanish wines, primarily focusing on the wines from the Priorat region of spain, i.e. Carinena (Carignan), Garnacha (Grenache), Syrah, Cabernet Savignon, and Merlot, with of course...

Remember the advice about drinking 8 - 8 oz glasses of water a day? Well, studies have now shown that may not be such good advice , and could actually be harmful. The study also concluded drinking caffeinated beverages has no deleterious effects on hydration either. I had read about caffeinated beverages not causing dehydration before ( from a study commissioned by the Tea Advisory Panel in the UK ), so that isn't surprising, but the debunking of the myth about drinking 8 - 8 oz glasses of water is new news to me [despite it being old news to many others]. Under some circumstances, significant fluid intake — at least eight 8-ounce glasses — is advisable: for the treatment or prevention of kidney stones, for example, as well as under special circumstances, such as performing strenuous physical activity or enduring hot weather. In those cases I'm guessing you may need to drink even more [and it doesn't even have to be water], but the best advice now appears to be Drink when y...

It seems everyone is getting into the wine business nowadays. In Costco the other day, I noticed Jack Nicklaus now has a wine with his name on it. GIMME A BREAK! There are already too many producers on the market, and it's getting harder and harder to find the good ones. Why do we need to flood the market even more? And while [a high] price is certainly no guarantee of quality, you can pretty much rest assured anything under $10 is not going to be very good. Between $10 and $20 dollars, you might get lucky and get the occasional good wine, but the pickin's are slim. In general, if you're not willing to spend at least $30 for a bottle of wine chances are you're not going to be drinking a good wine. Now I don't mean to imply spending $30 or more will guarantee you a good wine, but at least you should have a 50-50 shot at it. And even better odds the higher the price. But in most cases, they'll at least be palatable, which is more then I can say for the cheaper ver...

If you're as devout a [green] tea drinker as myself, you're no doubt concerned and somewhat conflicted about the news coming out of Japan. Specifically that up to 679 becquerels per kilogram of Cesium have been discovered in Shizuoka Prefecture, the largest green tea growing region (42%) in Japan. 500 becquerels per kilogram is the permitted max in Japan [and Europe] . [note]I should note, the maximum allowable amount of Cesium is 1200 becquerels per kilogram in the United States. In this case, I'm going to stick with the Japanese and European limits. First off, they have a lot more experience dealing with nuclear power, plus with the influence big business holds over our elected representatives, there's no doubt in my mind where their loyalties lie.[/note] There is, however, more to consider before jumping to conclusions or panicking should you have or accidentally purchase some of this tea. The processing of green tea starts with picking, steaming, drying and rolling...

Ok, so it was only just over $900 worth of wine (that just didn't sound as dramatic). Still that's a lot of wine! Even if some of them are a little on the pricey side. And that's on top of spending close to $800 for groceries this month, which believe it or not has been about average for us so far this year. Is it even possible for two people to eat $700+ worth of food in a month? No wonder there's no room in the refrigerator [or freezer], and I never seem to be able to find what I'm looking for. (I just found a bag of flour tortillas this morning with a January 19th sell by date.) So is that what happens when you stop working? You spend too much time shopping, and you lose all track of money as well as time. [Or is this what inflation looks like?] I'm not going to make my 20 year plan if I keep this pace up. Of course maybe I won't have to. :) [note]On a positive note, we have managed to reduce our gasoline expenses by about $50 a month. I likely would have...

So why shouldn't we be able to eat all the sweets (sugar) we want? The only good thing about the rain is I have plenty of time to peruse the internet, and find something worthwhile and relevant to post, instead of the useless dribble I'm usually posting. And today is one of those days. Sugar has always been a concern for me, especially after having my first [and only] PET scan. In order to determine if there is active cancer, a glucose mixture is injected into you, which then migrates to the cancer cells, and is picked up on the scan. So I decided sugar must be bad, and it would be best to severely restrict my intake of sweets in an attempt to stop the progression of my MCL. Now if you love sweets, especially chocolate, like myself, you've probably discovered no matter how good your intentions are, restricting sugar intake can be a daunting task. I did it for quite awhile, but now I pretty much ignore that advice. What's more important, I soon came to believe after lear...

Just got back from my visit with the oncologist, and my platelets are back to normal (198 thou/cumm), which is a wee bit better then the 112 thou/cumm reported on my last test . (It looks like my instincts were correct. It was obviously a bad test.) Even my ferritin and Vitamin D levels were within the normal range. Not only that, but the sun is actually shining right now, which is something we haven't seen a lot of over the past week, but hopefully will be seeing a little bit more of in the coming days. It's still so hard for me to fathom my good fortune to have exceeded 8½ years since my diagnosis of MCL, without requiring any treatment. I'm not sure if there are any others in the world like myself, but I doubt there are many. It could just be I was diagnosed so early, that if there are any others, it's more likely they just haven't even been diagnosed yet. However, I choose to believe it's the cycling, green tea and red [and white] wine that has managed to ke...

Fleur de Lys Aug '10 That's Edie and me having dinner at Fleur de Lys the night before attending the Aureole Wine Weekend at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas this past weekend. Now while dinner at Fluer de Lys was one of the best meals I've had anywhere, it still pales in comparison to what was in store for us the following three days at Aureole . To put it in its proper perspective, I would just say it is probably the only event, or place I've gone to where I didn't miss being off the bike. That's how good it is. The level of the food, wine, and service is unmatched anywhere. It is a little pricey, but there are some things you just can't put a value on. But always remember, you can't take it with you, and the event included 2 dinners, 3 lunches and 2 breakfasts. So it was definitely worth it. Even better is the exclusivity of the event. There were only 28 in attendance, most of whom also attended last year. Some of whom I even remembered. :) One couple even ...

Well, I would have to say there was near perfect weather in Santa Barbara this past weekend for the California Wine Festival. The skies were clear, and the temperatures ranged from the mid 60's to low 70's. It doesn't get much better than that, and it's the main reason we love southern [and central] CA so much. Of course, I can always find something to complain about. It's just this time, it won't be the weather. My biggest complaint was I didn't ride my bike for 3 days, and watching all the other cyclists riding along the beach, heading out for what was likely a brisk morning ride into the foothills, made me envious. Then there was the fact, the hotel we stayed in wasn't what I had expected. It was nice [sorta], and the price was right, but it just didn't have the class nor the ambiance of the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort , or even the Hotel Mar Monte , both of which were on either side of us. Oh, but so what! We didn't go there for the room, ...

Once upon a time, I was going along fine resigned in the knowledge my time on this earth is some what limited.  Even knowing I was anemic didn't seem to phase me. Except for some fatigue [possibly more depression related], I was still feeling reasonably well. At least as well as an anemic, 61 (soon to be 62) year old with a terminal illness could feel. So why in the world did I have to notice the word " hypochromia " on my latest blood test? It was on the two previous tests, and I didn't notice it. So why now? If I hadn't noticed it, I would still be merrily rolling along [pun intended] riding my bike 150 to 200 miles a week, drinking 4 to 5 cups of green tea a day, working 2 days a week, even planning some vacation or what not, with the sole intention of trying not to focus on anything negative. But now that I have, it's hard not to focus on the negative. Especially the colonoscopy, and likely endoscopy, needed to help determine the cause of the iron deficien...

Still believe in the benefits of vitamins and supplements? Still have trouble grasping the idea that vitamins and supplements are a well devised scheme by the pharmaceutical and supplement industries to separate you from your hard earned money? Then maybe this article from Consumer Reports will finally convince you otherwise. Americans .............. spent an estimated $10 billion on them [vitamin and mineral pills] in 2008, according to the Nutrition Business Journal. But recent studies undertaken to assess their benefits have delivered a flurry of disappointing results. The supplements failed to prevent Alzheimer's disease , cancer, heart attacks , strokes , type 2 diabetes , and premature death. "We have yet to see well-conducted research that categorically supports the use of vitamin and mineral supplements," says Linda Van Horn, Ph.D., a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. "Most s...