LIVING WITH MCL

And the fact I'm not quite in the same physical condition I was in prior to my surgery, I might consider myself normal. Even my blood counts were back to the [abnormal] levels they were prior to my bypass surgery. Saw my cardiologist yesterday, and my primary care physician today. Both gave me the thumbs up to start increasing the intensity of my exercise (as tolerated), with of course the caveat of not overdoing it. The cardiologist even said I could ride my bike, but I wasn't buying that. I'm gonna still hold off for at least a little while longer. I was also told I would be on the statin drug, the blood pressure drug and the baby aspirin the rest of my life. I was resigned to taking the baby aspirin and statin the rest of my life, but I was hoping to someday get off the blood pressure medication. BUMMER! The most interesting thing I learned yesterday was the cardiologist telling me I was done with Cardiology. Since my recovery was so far advanced, they didn't need to...

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...

Deep down, I must have always known stretching was a waste of time, since I've never stretched on a consistent basis, and I've never been the worse for it. I'll admit I did believe some of the hype that it prevented injuries, but that still never provided enough incentive for me to do it on a regular basis.  But now this 2004 report [how come it took so long to get this out?], by the National Center for Injury Prevention Control (part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), seems to confirm there is very little, if any, benefit from stretching. Warming up before exercising [something I do] is important, but there is no evidence stretching pervents injuries. It may increase range of motion [which is a good thing], but that's pretty much it. WHEW! One less thing to worry about. :)

It seems based on recent discussions on the MCL message board, and a review of my first post on fatigue , I may have led some people to interpret I believe fatigue to be psychological. So let me set the record straight. FATIGUE IS NOT PSYCHOLOGICAL! There are many factors which can contribute to the feelings of fatigue, which are psychological, e.g. depression from having a terminal illness, but that doesn't mean fatigue isn't real. It is real. I know, because I experience fatigue every day. I just try not to wallow in such feelings, and rather attempt to do something about it. There is no doubt in my mind that as we get older our bodies don't respond as they did in the past. There is also no doubt that cancer patients, who have undergone chemo and/or a transplant, have had

Sailor take warning? I've never held much credence in that statement, because I've never found it to be true, but then again, I'm not out at sea. Got up this morning, and this picture of the sunrise got me to thinking about that saying. Maybe the red sky, just isn't red enough, as the forecast for today is partly couldy and a high of 81°F. Of course maybe the red sky has more to do with my hand then anything else. I just can't do much with it, as there is still considerable swelling. Fortunately, with the exception of slight twinge every now and then there is little pain. The worst part is, I'm starting to have trouble maintaining my weight. So Friday I decided to go for a short run (to ease back into exercising), and then Saturday

The worst part about being on vacation [although some might add it's the best part as well], is the greater tendency to over indulge. Couple that with no exercise, and that spells disaster, at least for the waistline. And I have managed to do just that. Even though I have managed to get three, 3+ mile runs in, I don't think that is enough, and I'm still certain I've gained a few too many pounds. It's gonna really be hard to get back into my routine when I get home.

Yep, you guessed it!  It's raining.  But I'm not too disappointed, I really didn't want to go for a ride today anywaze.  I think I'll just workout at the gym this morning, and go for a short run on the treadmill.