LIVING WITH MCL

After feeling so terrible during Thursday's bike ride , I took Friday off, hoping to rejuvenate my body. Instead I went to Surf City Cyclery to buy a new set of tights and gloves, in an attempt to lighten up the load just a little, in anticipation of this mornings ride. I knew it was going to be cold this morning, but I was not expecting it to be below 40°F, my self imposed cut off point for going on a bike ride (there isn't enough clothing to keep you warm below that temperature), so when I woke up this morning to see 37°F on the wall thermometer, I was in total dismay. (And it's not even sunrise yet, so it will get even colder.) I know it's a lot colder in other parts of the country (so I shouldn't complain too much), but this is southern California, and this is only November. We don't normally see these kind of temperatures until February, in the height of winter. As if life isn't depressing enough for me, why does the weather have to spoil one of the [ve...

2 pounds is the amount of added clothing I've needed the last couple of days due to temperatures being in the low 40's when I go for my bike ride in the morning. At least I hope that's the reason I've been struggling on the bike so much this past week. And today's ride was just the pits. Not only was I the last one up the hill, but my time up the hill was the slowest in, I can't remember how long. Then on the way back, I couldn't even keep up with the group, and ended up riding most of the way home alone. I'm sure the 11.1 g/dL hemoglobin didn't help either, but that hasn't seemed to have had much of an effect lately. Up until this week, I actually thought I had been riding pretty good, so I have to attribute it to the weather. Still I was demoralized, and I sure hope this isn't a preview of what's in store for us this winter. We didn't have much of a summer this year, and I'd hate to think we're not going to have a fall eithe...

I just discovered yesterday, the new bike I was expecting to get next month ( yes, the one I originally decided not to get, but then changed my mind because it was too good a deal to pass up ), and which I already forked over $2,750 for, is no more. The explanation is the financing for the new business fell through, and the partners in the business have parted ways. Tony, the principal promoter of the company and an ex-professional cyclist, claims all the money will be refunded by December 15th, and he is working on resurrecting the business in the near future. I hope it works out for him, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  I'll just be happy if I get my $2,750 back. But in the mean time, not only am I out a new bike, I just sold my spare bike, and now don't have a back up for emergencies, and replacing it is going to cost a lot more than $2,750. Plus I spent another $200 on a new set of wheels to replace the race wheels (which I was hoping to sell) the new bike was comi...

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...

The month of November is not starting out so good. And I'm not just referring to my normal complaints, i.e. shorter days, colder than expected temperatures (44°F this morning), work, and a myriad of other issues I won't get into now. It even goes beyond the fact Edie's lastest chemo regime (Bendamustine) isn't working, and she going to be starting on Melphalan and Prednisone as soon as her counts improve. It all started last Wednesday when I discovered a friend (family almost) went into the hospital for brain surgery because of seizures, which was complicated by the fact an artery was nicked during the surgery. Now she's in an induced coma, and there does not seem to be any clear indication of her prognosis, or even when they are going to bring her out of the coma. Then on top of that, Edie's sister just called to inform us her oldest brother just suffered a massive stroke, and the prognosis doesn't look good. I was shocked. I just saw Norm when we were back...

I don't know what's gotten into me. I hadn't even heard of this Thoroughbred race horse until last Sundays 60 Minutes featured her . She was 19 for 19 in the win column, and was poised to make history by winning her 20th consecutive race at the prestigious Breeders Cup at Churchill Downs, and then retire. She didn't win, but she sure made it a horse race. Coming from dead last, some 20 lengths off the pace, and in a field of 11 other males, she almost pulled it off with a tremendous stretch run to finish second by a nose. What's surprised me was the emotional connection I (and a lot of others as well) developed for this horse. I didn't have any money bet on her, nor would I have benefited in any other way from her winning, but still I felt that connection. It's sort of how I feel when my beloved Steelers lose, but I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and I've been a fan of the Steelers ever since I can remember. But like I said, I only heard of this hors...

Happy days are here again. Well, sorta-kinda-maybe. One of the longest election cycles, in memory, has come to an end, and I can finally get back to watching live TV again. Now while the election didn't go exactly how I had hoped, and my faith in the intelligence of the American electorate took a big hit, fortunately [most] Californians did not get swept along in that same wave that has over taken much of the rest of the country. All that remains now is to see what transpires over the next two years before all the insanity begins again, but at least I can take solace in the fact, I won't have to listen to the likes of Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina any more. Some things you just can't put a price tag on.

But then I cried! Proposition 20, removes elected representatives from the process of establishing congressional districts and transfers that authority to the recently-authorized 14-member redistricting commission comprised of Democrats, Republicans, and representatives of neither party. Not necessarily a bad idea, but Proposition 27 eliminates the [recently-authorized] 14-member redistricting commission and consolidates the authority for establishing state Assembly, Senate and Board of Equalization districts with elected representatives who draw congressional districts. That is just getting ridiculous! What happens if both propositions pass? What California really needs is a proposition to end all propositions, or if we don't want elected representatives to run the state, then how about a proposition to disband the legislature, and put everything up for a vote of the people [letting the special interests run the state]?

Since it's raining today, I didn't have much to do [I couldn't ride my bike], so I thought I'd complain about some of the little things that bug me. I know I'm not supposed to sweat the little things, which I don't [for the most part], but these are so minuscule, I figure they don't really count. One of my biggest complaints are walnuts, or any kind of nuts, in chocolate chip cookies. Nuts have no business in chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies are sweet. They're a dessert, and nuts provide an unwanted texture, and flavor that takes away from that. Nuts don't belong in chocolate chip cookies. And come to think about it, nuts don't belong in brownies either, but I don't usually eat brownies (I don't particularly like them), so I don't really care. Still they don't belong. They're OK in Snickers, but that's about it. Another complaint is with people who buy [or rent] a convertible, and then drive around in it with...

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...

I've come to the realization I spend way to much time sitting in front of my computer. I've actually known this for a long time, but I just don't seem to be able to do much about it. Some of it is actually productive, like answering work emails, keeping track of my finances, and logging in my miles on the bike, but that only takes up a small portion of my time in front of the computer. Too much time is spent playing around on Facebook, reading emails from other lymphoma survivors (OK, that might actually be considered worthwhile), and reading news and political commentary, sometimes even commenting when the urge arises. Even writing this blog seems to occupy more time than I would like. And now that I have my DroidX, I find myself spending even more time staring at a VDU (visual display unit). Certainly the internet has been a boon to the world in many ways. Most notably for the amount of information that has been made much more readily available to everyone, and something ...

I don't get the Toyota (my commute car) washed for at least 3 months, because I always seem to leave before the car wash guy arrives at work. But yesterday he arrived early, well before my departure time. So I decided to have it washed. He was actually a welcomed sight, as the car was pretty dirty. But guess what I discovered when I woke up this morning? That's right! It rained, and is still raining. It's not raining very hard, but none the less, it is raining. It's just a good thing I didn't plan on riding this morning. I might have really been disappointed then. Now I'm just wandering if anyone is going to show up at the coffee shop.

Well I got my dose of NE Ohio and Pittsburgh this past week, and the experience can pretty much be summed up by those 4 words. I didn't expect much from Newton Falls, but neither did I expect what I saw. The area is unbelievably depressed. Abandoned factories, store fronts and houses are everywhere, and what houses aren't abandoned are unbelievably dilapidated. It was truly depressing, to see a place I lived for 4 years, and where Edie grew up, deteriorate so much. But I was even disappointed in Pittsburgh as well. I had heard so much about how Pittsburgh had changed, and while there where a lot of improvements, especially in the downtown area, most of the city was either unchanged or depressed as well. The streets are narrower than I remember, the houses smaller, the streets in worse condition than in LA, and riding a bike in this city can definitely be hazardous to your health. Plus all my favorite breakfast and deli haunts were replaced by Starbucks and Brueggers. Even the f...

Here's another reason not to like about living back east. Can you believe it's 7:05 AM, as I'm starting this post, and it's still freakin' dark outside. And it's not because there is a heavy cloud cover [due to threatening rain]. Sunrise isn't until 7:23 AM. Heck, back home I'd already have been on the bike for about 20 minutes [not posting to my blog] heading down to the marina for my bike ride. And it's not just the sunrise. Everything seems to start later back here. The stock market doesn't open until 9:30 AM, Sunday football games don't start until 1 PM, and by the time Monday night football starts, I'd be getting ready for bed. Plus it makes dealing with companies out west (assuming you're still working and not retired) more difficult, having to wait for everyone on the west coast to wake up and get to work, before you can accomplish anything. I'm sure the fact I've lived in CA much longer than I lived in Pittsburgh or NE...

3 days into our trip back to Ohio for Edie's 40th high school reunion, everything seemed to be going fine. All the reunion events were behind us, and the only thing left was the open house at Edie's sister's house Sunday to get through. I was even sort of enjoying myself. The weather wasn't great, but we weren't spending a lot of time outside either. But then as I was just standing around talking with family, without warning, and for no apparent reason, my nose starts to bleed. Fortunately I realized what was happening (after Edie gasped), and I was able to get to the bathroom without making a mess, and stop it in a very short time. Unbelievable! This is way too reminiscent of what happened just over a year ago, when I eventually had to have my nose cauterized because of spontaneous nose bleeds. The only difference this time is it's my right nostril instead of my left. Why does this keep happening? Nose bleeds aren't listed as a symptom or manifestation o...

It's so hot, Southern California Edison (SCE) just cycled off our air conditioner! It's so hot, even Edie's starting to complain, and that just doesn't happen anymore. And don't believe the graphic to the right. On the back porch, the thermometer is reading 104°F. Can you believe it? This is the first time in the 20 years we've had the plan, which for a reduced rate during the summer, allows SCE to cycle off our air conditioner, for up to 6 hours at a time, should the need arise. And it's only been for 50 minutes since they shut it off. That means it could be another 5+ hours before it comes back on. Now that sure isn't something to celebrate!

When I first sat down this morning, I had every intention of writing a political rant. I was pissed off because I believe Kaiser overcharged Edie for a prescription. I find it so amazing, that after 7+ years of dealing with the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, Kaiser still can't get it right. [Fortunately the quality of care they provide is better than their financial and billing prowess.] This last prescription put Edie $200.50 into the donut hole , but instead of charging her only $200.50 for the prescription, Kaiser charged her $270.50. I assumed, and later confirmed, the extra $70 was the copay for the 3 month prescription for Lyrica. So why was she charged the copay? After all, if she had been within $1 of the donut hole (instead of $721.61), they wouldn't have charged her $995.61 (the drugs only cost $926.61) for the prescription. They would have only charged her $925.61. [At least logic tells me that would be the case.] So why are they charging her the copay in th...

Ever since switching from Direct TV to Verizon FIOS last February, I've regretted that decision. Not only does Verizon have the same issue I was so upset with Direct TV about (so obviously it wasn't the fault of Direct TV), but the FIOS program guide sucks, and the DVR is, by far, the absolute worst DVR in the world. The hard drive is half the size of every other DVR hard drive in the world, and it's not nearly as intuitive as that of Direct TV's. So after 8 hours spent running new cables, and upgrading a few other items, I'm finally back in business with Direct TV. It's a good thing the technician/installer arrived at 9 AM. Yes, there may be an early termination fee (although the Verizon service rep said there wouldn't be one), but with the deal Direct TV was offering, access to every channel for the next 5 months, home media DVR, and NFL Sunday ticket, for only $79/per month, I'm still way ahead of the game. And even after the 5 months is up, the total...

It went into the 90K service for the Lexus, which included a new timing belt, water pump, major tune up (new wires, and platinum spark plugs) and a host of other things, for a grand total of $1,700. I was expecting around a grand, but when my mechanic came in at over $1,900 initially, I was floored, to say the least. I wasn't sure what to do. The car is 17 years old. Was it really worth it? So I called the local Lexus dealer, and after discovering their cost was over $2,100, and after an additional discussion with my mechanic, who sympathetically agreed to do it all for $1,700, I decided it was worth it. Yeah, the car is 17 years old, but it's still a classy car, and has performed admirably all those years, not to mention it still has a suggested retail value of over $8,000 today. Oh well, like I always say, "such is life". I really don't need a new bike. The two I currently have are both only about 3 years old, and are still in good shape. I'm more bored than...

As most of you [should] know, I'm not a fan of vitamins, supplements or anything supposedly designed to boost your immune system. I think they're a scam (and I know about scams), but even if you could boost your immune system, why would you want to? An over active immune system can cause just as much harm as one that is malfunctioning. Even more simply put, an over active (boosted) immune system is a malfunctioning immune system . Still just my saying so, hasn't stopped [no matter how hard I try] the plethora of products on the market (with new ones coming every day), nor the people naive enough, IMO, to use them. Here's an example of a post, from a member of the NHL message board, I found today of particular note. It even includes a new remedy I hadn't heard of before. I have followed a mainly macrobiotic or raw food diet, always organic, for over 20 years.  I rarely had a mere sniffle during that time, so I do believe diet is protective of our health (but darn i...