LIVING WITH MCL

As it turns out, I shot probably the worst round I have shot in well over a year. I didn't even break 100. My tempo and sequencing were both way off, and I just couldn't manage to get them back. I should have stopped after nine, but I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. I did manage 3 pars and a birdie, but even that wasn't enough to lift my spirits. :( Oh well, it's off to the range tomorrow.

Well, it's been about 4 days since my last post, and there hasn't seemed to be anything of consequence worth reporting on lately. The plant, where I work, is on it's annual preventative maintenance shut down, so I haven't had to go in to work at all this week. In fact, I don't have to go in until July 10th, when some visitors, from Boeing, are coming to do a fracture critical (quality) audit. The plant doesn't start up again until July 23 rd , but after that, Edie and I are going to the International Pinot Noir Celebration that week in Oregon , and won't be back until July 31 st . So to keep busy these last couple of days, I've either been riding my bike or playing golf every day, and sometimes even doing both in the same day. Today I'm playing golf. Yeah, I know. Life's tough! Anywaze, I've been pretty happy with my golf game as of late, as I prepare for the Long Beach Men's City Championship July 6 th , 7 th and 8 th . I have t...

German researchers have found recreational sun exposure is associated with reduced risk for cancers of the lymph system, or malignant lymphomas . The number of vacations spent in sunny climates was inversely associated with a diagnosis of lymphoma, the researchers report, especially for Hodgkin lymphoma and B-non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Mantle cell lymphoma falls under the latter category. After accounting for other factors associated with lymphoma risk, the researchers found that individuals who spent more than 1,190 cumulative days in sunny locations had a 60-percent lower risk than those in sunny locations for 350 days or less. Whoa!! I think I've exceeded the 1,190 cumulative days, having lived in Southern California, and Houston, TX, for the last 29 years. One exception was high UV exposure during outdoor leisure activities up to age 15 years, which was associated with an increased risk of lymphoma. Oh! I guess that must have been my problem. When I was 15 years old, there weren...

Well if you haven't figured it out by the title, today is my birthday, and I'm 59 years old. WOW! It's almost hard to believe, considering just over 5 years ago, I was having doubts that I would ever get to be 55, let alone 59. Back then, I said if I could get 5 good years, I would be happy, but now that I got those 5 good years, I'm not at all happy. Nothing has changed. I still have MCL, and I now I want another 5 good years. It's just so hard, knowing you have a terminal illness, and trying to live life as though you didn't. It's so hard to get up every morning, put on that happy face, go to work, play golf, ride my bike, or do any other myriad of things, as if nothing was wrong, all the time knowing the disease could hit me anytime. But it's also hard not knowing when it seems everything is more difficult to accomplish, or you have to take a nap after doing all those things you love, whether it's the disease that is gathering strength, de...

This morning, I decided to ride my bike part way to work. That's something I used to do quite often, but rarely do anymore, for whatever reason, but this morning I decided to do just that. It was an unusually nice morning for June, typically characterized by cold temps and fog or heavy overcast, but this morning was totally different. So with only a few scattered clouds, and temperatures above 60°F, I picked a nearly perfect day to park my car in Malibu, and ride the last 16.2 miles in to work. But before heading north on PCH, I decided to take a 3.25 mile detour up Yerba Buena Rd to the junction at Cotharin Rd. It was a great climb, especially when I stopped about half way up to view the Pacific Ocean through the hills of Malibu. It's tough to appreciate the view through a camera phone, but trust me, it makes the climb worthwhile. (It's a lot prettier later in the day, when the sun is high in the sky, and the wind has picked up, clearing out the haze.) The return ri...

Well not exactly just yet, but 9 months from now, during the grape harvest season. I know I've indicate before that I don't like making plans so far in advance, and this is the second time I've done just that this year , but I find if I don't make plans when I'm thinking about it, I end up not making them at all. Besides the airline tickets are fully refundable. So last night, I went out on a limb, and made reservations. But it was a trying experience. I started out at Orbitz and thought I had found the flights I wanted. There was just one caveat. I had to hurry as there were only 4 seats left. So I hurried, and clicked select . Unfortunately, after clicking select, I received a message that the tickets were no longer available. I guess I must have waited too long. So I tried 3 other similar flight itineraries, and was greeted with the same message. Bummer! Not to be deterred though, I went directly to the source - Air New Zealand . At the Air New Zeala...

You never really appreciate how fortunate you are, until you experience misfortune yourself, or you learn about the misfortunes of others. I spent the other day going through a number of patient blogs on the internet. I started when I came across They call me Galvez , which is about a 31 year old who had a brain tumor, and wrote a book about his experiences. Then I came across The Journal of a Prize Fighter , about Duane Baily-Castro who was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease (HD) in 2003 and had relapsed in 2005, and now is pondering the possibility of a transplant. I reviewed a few more, until I got to a particularly depressing one about a 22 year old from Redondo Beach, CA , also diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease (HD) about 5 years ago, and had already relapsed for a third time, and has since died on May 7th of this year. At that point I stopped searching. It was starting to get too depressing. :( The latter two were particularly depressing, because HD is supposed to have a much better ...

Well neither did I, but I actually got a hit on my website from someone in that country, so I thought I would investigate. Moldova is a real country, landlocked between Romania and the Ukraine. After WWII it was annexed by the old Soviet Union, but eventually declared its independence in 1991. It's also part of GUAM . No not the south sea island owned by the US, but an organization of four states, Georgia, the Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, whose goal is to counter the influence of Russia in that area. I guess I could go on and on, but if you're really interested in learning more just click on one of the links above. I just thought is was fascinating that someone from the country of Moldova accessed my website. It really is a small world!

Just got back from a weekend in San Diego. Had two great dinners at Croce's and Bluepoint Coastal in the Gas Lamp Quarter , and played a round of golf at Salt Creek Golf Club . We also discovered a nice little wine bar in Old Town , called the Wine Cabana, where we tasted some wines we hadn't tried before. It was a relaxing weekend, and with the exception of a very disappointing golf game on Saturday, it was good to get away. Still, as I was driving home today, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact, I hadn't ridden my bike on Saturday or Sunday. I did ride Friday, before heading to San Diego, and I did manage to get a run in on the treadmill at the hotel, but that didn't help the fact, I missed the Saturday ride. Saturday is the ride that gets my competitive juices flowing , and when I miss a Saturday ride, I feel as though I missed something important. Now missing a Sunday ride isn't a big deal, because I can always go for a ride on Monday (typically ...

Today I went for my monthly blood test, and I was pleasantly surprised.  My absolute lymphocyte count dropped to 67 thou/cumm from 92 thou/cumm, which is the lowest it's been since November 2005. Under normal circumstances, I would consider this drop merely a fluke, as a result of technician error or some other reason, such as the fact I did a relatively intensive bike ride this morning (40 miles and 1500 feet of climbing), but in the latter case, I would have expected all my numbers to be up, rather than down, due to dehydration, including my lymphocyte count. Instead everything was up, except for my lymphocytes. My hemoglobin was up to 12.8 g/dl from 11.9 g/dl last month, the highest it's been since July of last year, and my absolute neutrophils were also up to 10 thou/cumm which is the highest they've been since I've been keeping track over 5 years ago. And what I think is the most significant factor is, the percent lymphocytes dropped to 81%, which is the lowest it...

Those have always been good words to live by, and now there is one more piece of evidence to support that thought. The Mayo Clinic has just released a report Fluoride-Related Bone Disease Associated With Habitual Tea Consumption Everything we've been reading lately has indicated tea, especially green tea, has great antioxidant properties, and even though, I have now come to the belief that over indulging in vitamins and supplements, played a contributory role to my contraction of MCL ( for which there is increasing evidence ), I didn't believe that to be the case with green tea. Unfortunately I'm not able to access the entire report, so I don't know what the Mayo Clinic considers an excessive amount. At most I drink on average 4 to 5 bags worth of green tea per day, so whether I am prone to bone disease is still in question. (Maybe a doctor, or someone else who has a subscription to the Mayo Clinic Proceedings , can read the entire study, and report back to everyone.)...

Don't drink too much, and if you do, drink lots of water. Like we use to say when I was in the army, It's a good thing I drove, cause I never could walk home. That's a pretty much how I felt yesterday, after Edie and I had a few friends over for wine and gumbo. I did manage to awake my usual time this AM, but I unhappily discovered, after getting my tea ready last night, I didn't replace the tea pot directly under the spout, and only about half the water made it into the pot. The remainder, as you might be able to guess, ended up all over the kitchen counter. It was also tough going on my bike ride this morning. Fortunately the club went out relatively sedately (I'm guessing others must have felt the same), giving me plenty of time to sweat all the toxins out of my system. The last 20+ miles, however, was the antithesis of the start of the ride, reaching speeds of 34 mph at one point. That's pretty much my top speed, even with the favorable wind and a good dr...

I just learned yesterday that Bjarne Riis, winner of the 1996 Tour d'France, admitted to using EPO from 1993 to 1998 . And this comes after recent confessions by Erik Zabel and teammate Rolf Aldag for also using EPO . Then there was Ivan Basso , winner of last years Giro d'Italia, and one of the team leaders on the Discovery Channel team, until he opted out of his contract after confessing to attempted doping . Basso said he made contact with a doctor at the heart of the Spanish investigation, Eufemiano Fuentes, and gave him a blood sample with the intention of doping - but never actually did. ....... "It was a moment of weakness on my part," Basso said. "I accept responsibility and I am ready to face my punishment." He still faces disciplinary action, and a likely suspension, regardless of his intentions. As a cancer patient, I am keenly aware of the effects of EPO (having considered taking it myself due to a low hemoglobin count), as a performance enha...

Wednesday night, Edie and I both went to bed at 10 PM, confident in the knowledge we were recording the last hour of Lost to watch Thursday evening. So it came as quite a surprise, when we sat down this evening to watch the last hour of Lost , to discover it was not in our recorded programs list. I was devasted! What could possibly be worse, then not seeing the season finally of Lost ? Well, OK, now I can think of a lot of things worse, but at that moment, it was at the top of the list. Fortunately ABC had the foresight to load the last hour on the internet. We had to download some free software, and it took a minute or two to figure everything out, but in the end it was a relatively painless endeavor.  And there were only limited commercials. Thank you ABC for turning a potential devastating situation, into a happy ending!

On my bike ride today, I worked a little bit harder, and went a little further than I planned, but ultimately it was worth it! No matter how much people bad mouth Southern CA, I still can't imagine living anywhere else. Where else can you be ride a bike along the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean one minute, and an hour later, be climbing hills, and confronting wildlife. At the start of the second climb of 5 that we managed today, Old Fullerton Road, we encounter 3 deer scurrying across the road in front of us. We obviously scared them, and I didn't have a chance to get a picture. But then on the 4th climb, when I got to the top of Turnbull Canyon, there was another deer, about half way up the hill, staring at me, as I rode by. I took 2 pictures with my phone, but one, for some reason didn't get stored in memory, and on the other I couldn't make out the deer in the picture. Obviously camera phones aren't the greatest, for getting spontaneous pictures. I've only e...

Anyone still wondering how I have been able to make an 80 mile one way commute to work for the past 18 years, check out this 15 second commerical for ING. Click on the picture to the right and pay particular attention to the last 5 seconds. You might get some perspective on one reason. The driver is driving the same section of PCH, I pass by everyday on my way to work. I only wish I had that same '62 Chevy Impala to make it. If I did, I might be able to do it more often than 2 days a week!

Well, I went and bought the new (new to me that is) driver, I eluded to in my previous post . I decided on the Taylor Made R7 425 , and so far I am pleased. And today I went out to give it a test drive (no pun intended). I shot a respectable 91, which is better than I have shot in the past 3 months at Eldorado Park , the course I normally play (being only 3/4 of a mile from the house), and that includes what I shot in the Senior Amateur Championship last week. While I am still not as consistent as I would like, shooting a 43 on the front 9, and a 48 on the back 9, including two triple bogeys, I am starting to feel better about my game, especially since I have decided to give up on the triathlon training , and concentrate on bike riding and golfing. I've also decided to play in the Mens City Championship in July. I'm hoping by then, I will have honed my game sufficiently, to be more competitive than I was last week.

I'm beginning to learn that training for a triathlon takes a lot of time and dedication. Maybe even more time and dedication than I'm willing to give. Well at least more dedication, and if I consider the fact I'm not willing to give up on my golf game just yet, than time is also a factor. Maybe if I were younger it wouldn't be such a factor, but at 58 (soon to be 59), it's just not as easy. At least that's my excuse. The problem being, after exercising, I'm usually worn out, and require a nap. Now when I was only cycling, I was able to overcome the feeling of fatigue, because I could always find time to rest, and still be able to golf whenever I wanted. Plus I didn't have to ride everyday to stay in shape, providing time for my body to recover. But now that I've added swimming and running to my exercise routine, sometimes even doing 2 or 3 of the events in the same day, there just doesn't seem to be enough time left over, after resting, to ...

The Long Beach Senior Mens Championship is finally over, and even though I didn't finish in the money, at least my final round was semi decent. I shot an 89, which included one triple bogey and 3 double bogeys. Everything else was either a bogey or par. I could have even shot about 5 strokes better had I had a little more luck, but hey, that's golf. Like life, the ball doesn't always bounce the way you want or even expect it to. Still, I had a good time except for a brief moment, when I got a little frustrated with my game, and reacted somewhat inappropriately. That is the first time I ever reacted that way since starting to play golf again, about 4 years ago. Hopefully, I won't do that again. In the mean time, now I can get back to concentrating on my cycling and training for the Long Beach Triathlon in September.

I am not doing a very good job of defending my championship. :( Like yesterday, I shot a decent front nine today, and then pretty much fell apart on the back nine, ending up shooting another miserable round of 95, putting me in a tie for 12th place, 14 shots off the pace. I don't really have too many excuses for my lousy play except to say, because of the unusually cold winter we had this year, I wasn't able to practice as much as I have the last couple of years, and I just haven't been able to generate any consistency. But there's no sense worrying about that now, tomorrow is another day, and I still have time to redeem myself, and maybe even finish in the money. And if all else fails, there's always next years tournament.