LIVING WITH MCL

Now that my hand is starting to feel better, and I was thinking this morning might be a good opportunity for a bike ride, it turns out to be the coldest morning since I had my hand operated on. Oh well, maybe it's for the best, and I should give my hand some more time to heal. I'm not so much concerned about being able to ride my bike, but what might happen should I get a flat. I still don't have a lot of strength in my hand, and any excessive effort (usually required when putting the tire back on the rim), does cause some pain. So I guess it's off to the gym again!

Because I sure can't say much about the rest of the week. Even my beloved Steelers, defeating the Baltimore Ravens to start off the week, didn't do much to stem the mostly negative tone to the week. It started on Tuesday, when I put gas in my car at the neighborhood gas station, before going to work, and soon discovering the gas station 1 mile down the road was selling it for 6¢ less per gallon. That was followed by my realizing I had forgotten to brush my teeth before leaving the house (and I was too far from home to turn around). Then the work week seemed overly burdened by some very annoying customers [thank goodness Becky was there to calm me down]. One customer even sent us a letter stating we weren't working to the latest revision of a specification that was released barely a month ago. The audacity! How can they

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

Yes, I got the splint and bandages removed, but it sure doesn't look pretty . The hand still has some numbness and swelling, plus it hurts to move the pinky and ring fingers, but according to the doctor, that is all to be expected. He had to do a lot of cutting. I just hope the hand improves a lot more by the time the stitches come out next Thursday. In the mean time, the doctor gave me a few exercises to do to help the mobility and reduce the swelling. Time will tell, but I'm  still hoping to be back on the bike by the 1st of February. At the very least, now that the heavy splint has been removed, I should be able to start running again.

Who needs enemies! As you can see by the photo to the right, it was a perfect day for a bike ride, and this is the kind of sympathy I get from a couple of my riding buddies, as I sit at home unable to ride my bike. My only consolation is to try and rub it in to some of the less fortunate in the world, who are experiencing something less than ideal weather. Don't you wish you were here [there]? I know I sure do.

I am definitely feeling a lot better than I have been in the last couple of days. My hand no longer hurts, so there is no need to take any more pain pills [something I am pleased about], but there is still some swelling, causing pressure on my hand, forcing me to keep it elevated as much as possible. And I'm still essentially helpless, unable to easily do simple tasks like brushing my hair, showering, fixing myself something to eat etc. as any exertion on the hand, even just letting it drop below my elbow, is painful, and that is very frustrating. I know, I'm such a whiner, but I can't help it. I just can't wait to get this cast off on Thursday, and then get back on the bike. This sitting around the house all day is getting real old about now. The only upside to all this is, at least I haven't gained any weight.

This is worse than the two weeks I had to fend for myself, and take care of Sylvia, when Edie was in the hospital having her transplant. The only difference this time is, I don't have to do anything [because I'm unable]. Edie is taking care of me. I am just feeling so helpless. I can barely function on my own. Edie even had to cut up my dinner last night. This splint/bandage feels like it weighs 5 pounds, and is really cumbersome. It hurts just to move my arm, and I'm getting these strange feelings. At first it felt like I had my ring finger crossed over on top of my pinky finger, then it felt like the pinky finger was bent 90 degrees, and now it just feels like my pinky finger is not there at all. Then there are the unscratchable itches [which are really annoying], and of course the pain still continues, for which I've just reluctantly taken my 6th & 7th Tylenol w/Codeine. [Something I really don't like doing.] Believe it or not, I can remember breaking...

Well, had the operation, and everything seems ok so far. There's no significant pain as of yet, but I'm sensing that might not last long. Fortunately the Doctor gave me a prescription for Tylenol w/Codeine just in case. The bandage on my hand is a little bigger than I had expected or hoped, which is making it very difficult to write this post. Having to use one hand, when you're used to using two, certainly doesn't help. So suffice it to say, the operation went well, and I'm home resting now.

I just received the call from Kaiser, and my check in time tomorrow for my hand surgery is 11 AM. (The operation is scheduled for 1:30 PM.) Plus I paid for the procedure, so there's no turning back now. I have to admit I am a little nervous. This will be my first time undergoing an operation with a general anesthetic. I did have microsurgery performed on my left index finger back in 1980, but that was with a local anesthetic, and the operation took less than 30 minutes.  This operation is expected to take about an hour and a half. I'm not so concerned about the hand surgeon, what's the worst that can happen? But the anesthesiology, now that's a different story. I've been told by quite a few people, including Edie, that is the most dangerous part of the operation. I'm hoping I'll feel a little more at ease after meeting the anasthesiologist in pre-op. Even more worrisome maybe the fact I can't have anything to eat or drink after 11 PM tonight. I'm no...

I just realized, even the cost of generic drugs, which can be purchased for less than the insurance copay, were still being credited, by the Prescription Part D insurer, towards the amount spent on drugs for the year, helping to fulfill the initial drug cost requirement ($2700 for 2009), after which you enter the "donut hole". This is despite the fact the insurer pays nothing out of pocket, nor ever will, for those drugs. (At least that's the way it works for the AARP Prescription Drug plan through United Health.) So in other words, you would be better off purchasing the generic drugs on your own, through a WalMart, Costco, or Target, and not use your Prescription Part D insurance, and then using a different one of the pharmacy's for your non generic drugs. In my case, or in the case of my aunt, had she done that (in addition to not using Rite Aid), she would have saved about $700 last year.

I was a little hesitant to go for a bike this morning, because of the heavy fog and damp streets, but today's ride is the annual New Years day ride, and that only comes once a year. So I dawned my tights, long sleeve jersey, gloves and attached my trusty blinking red light to my seat post, and headed down to the Long Beach marina for the start of the ride. Upon arriving at the marina, I discovered I wasn't the only one. There were quite a few riders already there, and a continuous stream of riders still arriving. Plus as we headed down PCH, we continued to pick up new riders as the pack swelled to somewhere easily approaching 300 riders, if not a lot more. [I'm not good at estimating the size of crowds.] It was a little frightening at first, as

And what a year it was. So many things happened in 2008, it's hard to know where to begin. First and foremost was the free fall in stocks, the near collapse of the worlds financial markets, the rise and fall of oil and gasoline prices, and of course there was the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. My faith in the American public was finally restored. Everything else pales in comparison, even the fact Edie and I made it through 2008 not much worse for wear than we started the year, but there was at least one thing of note. Edie did have an autologous transplant in October, but so far she seems to be recovering fine. She still suffers from persistent neuropathy, resulting from the Velcade she was taking for her Multiple Myeloma, but this month she was approved for Social Security Disability so that has helped. Edie no longer has to endure the unendurable anymore by trying to work. But it seems there is always a downside to everything. Now

I actually wrote this post earlier in the week, but not wanting to spoil everyone's Christmas/Chanukah totally, I decided to hold it until today. [Plus it's freaking cold outside, so I had some time on my hands.] I know I'm probably not the only one, but I don't like this time of year. I'm not sure why I dislike this time of year so much. Heck, I don't even know when I started disliking it so, because at one time I actually remember enjoying it, plus Edie loves this time of year. It might have started when I was diagnosed with MCL, or maybe it started when one of my close riding buddies, who helped start our bike club [which has now gone its separate way], died of pancreatic cancer a couple of years before my diagnosis with MCL.

I just received the results from today's blood work, and I'm happy to report my blood glucose is within the normal [average] range at 94 mg/dL. And that was a non fasting result. It seems I forgot I was supposed to fast for the test. I'd like to report the reduction was because I was able to lose the 10 pounds I committed myself to last month , but while I did have some initial success, trying to lose weight this time of year, is proving to be more daunting than I expected. Fortunately I was successful in eliminating 90% of the sweets from my diet, which I think was the contributing factor to the normal blood glucose reading. My lymphocyte count did jump to above 100 thou/cumm again, but that's still basically the same, even slightly lower, than it was last December, despite fluctuating greatly over the past 12 months. [At those levels, there is a lot of error that can occur when interpreting the results, so that kind of fluctuation is not surprising.] Plus my hemoglobi...

Of course I also hate the cold, wind, fog, etc. but today it happens to be raining, so I'm hating the rain. You wouldn't know that if you were looking at the Live Mega Doppler 7000 HD, courtesy of the local ABC news channel . In fact, you wouldn't think it was raining hardly at all. At least you wouldn't think it was raining as hard as it is, but trust me when I say, it is raining outside, and raining rather heavily, for Southern California that is. So here I sit with

I actually thought I was feeling good enough to go for a ride this morning, but after checking the thermometer outside the house, those thoughts quickly disappeared. It was 37°F outside the house, and 39°F at the airport. (We live in our own little micro climate close by a large park, where the temperature is always a few degrees colder than the surrounding area.) 40°F is my cut off point, below which I won't go out on the bike. That's just way too cold, especially when you consider I'm generating a 20 mph wind when I ride, making it feel a lot colder. And this isn't even the

And winter doesn't even start for another 4 days. Two months ago, I came down with a cold, which kept me off the bike for over a week. It even kept me from visiting Edie when she was in the hospital recovering from her transplant. And now it seems I've contracted yet another cold. That's two colds within a two month period. I can't remember having experienced two colds in such a short period, or even more than one cold in an entire year that has caused me to feel as bad as these latest two. Plus this time, even Edie is sick, so now I'm beginning to wonder. Is this due to our

Edie received an unexpected large check today from the US Treasury, designated "SOC SEC FOR INS". The only explanation we can come up with is her application for Social Security Disability was approved, and this was just a retroactive amount since she became disabled. The strange part is there was no paperwork with the check, nor did we receive any notification her disability had been approved prior to today. Seems strange, we wouldn't have received an explanation prior to receiving a check, but maybe the government was just anxious to get some money into our hands so we could help the troubled retail sector. Or maybe it's just our share of the TARP funds, and everyone will be receiving a similar amount shortly :)

I guess I was a little premature when I switched from being a contrarian/pessimist to a contrarian/optimist . I should have known Republicans in the senate couldn't get past their partisan agenda , and do what's best for the entire country, instead of only what's in their own self interest. As I see it now, unless President Bush acts authoritatively, and helps the Big 3 automakers with money from the TARP fund, another large part of the US manufacturing base (which is what has made this country so great) will be disseminated, and we'll be headed for another great depression, which we may never emerge from. Whoever said there were worse things in life than having lymphoma or myeloma, sure knew what he was talking about.

For the longest time, I'd been thinking our economy was headed downward. Lately I was even thinking we were headed toward a great depression of sorts, but a comment by one of the retired, old timers in the bike club, while we were having coffee/tea after our ride, got me to thinking. He said, I'm sure glad I'm living on a fixed income. That's when it dawned on me, while so many people have condemned social security as a ponzi scheme , it may be the true savior of our economy. Sure things will likely worsen some for many in the next couple of months, but there is an abundance of retired individuals, having the protection of that social net, who will ultimately help cushion the blow, until the various proposed stimulus programs are implemented. Social security didn't exist in the 30's, and neither did unemployment compensation, and that contributed greatly to making the great depression 'great'. Plus the numerous stimulus package(s) that were introduced, a...