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27 Jan |
Surprise From My Oncologist My MCL, Treatments
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The results of my latest blood work on Wednesday, and subsequent exam revealed essentially no changes in my condition. Lymphocytes had actually come down slightly, hemoglobin was back above 13, and spleen and liver were unchanged. Platelets were up, but my doctor didn’t seem to think that was anything unusual. I’ll wait till my next CBC to see if it is a trend or not.
As we usually do, we talked about possible treatments when the time comes. My doctor went through some new information he had learned, and to my surprise indicated that in indolent lymphoma’s the trend was to try Rituxan alone as an initial treatment. That had been my choice of treatment for awhile now, but when we had talked about it previously, he indicated it may not be the best approach. Even two other experts, I sometimes consult with in France and the UK, indicated that while it would likely do no harm, they weren’t of the opinion that it would do any good either, and recommended against it.
Still, when the time comes, that is likely the route I will choose, unless of course I change my mind.
Another surprise was my doctor offered the opportunity to begin treatment now. I thought about if for a moment and declined. I’m still feeling fine, and didn’t see the point in beginning now. I will wait till absolute lymphocytes are over 100K (currently at 80K), or platelets start to drop before deciding. So right now I have a little while to go.
My doctors departure to TX is not for about two more months, so I don’t have to make a final decision about a new oncologist just yet. I had pretty much decided on one doctor, because I was told he was more into research, but the one nurse in the office, who I think very highly of, and who told me that doctor was more research oriented, recommended I go with one of the other two in the office. So now I’m not sure what I want to do. At least I have a little longer to decide.
I only wish that was my only problem.
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23 Jan |
It’s on to Super Bowl XL for the Steelers Day to Day Life
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At least that’s one piece of good news. It’s not that something drastic has changed in my condition, but it’s been awhile since I posted so I thought this might be an appropriate time to post at least one piece of good news. No offense Denver fans.
Like I said, not much has really changed for me. I still feel fine, but my performance on the bike is not as good as I would hope. Maybe it has to do with the weather? It’s been very cold here lately, making training more difficult due to the extra clothing I need to keep warm. The cold weather coupled with the accident that kept me off the bike for awhile, I hope is the real reason I seem to be getting into such bad shape. Plus I am getting older. Maybe just the fact that I’m 57+ is another reason I can’t keep up with the 30 year olds.
I ‘ve also started running on the treadmill at home. Running is great exercise, (you can get an equal or greater aerobic work out in a shorter time), but as with everything, there are trade offs. Running is brutal on the body, and it can depress the hemaglobin levels somewhat, which can be another factor attributing to my worn out feeling.
I prefer to think it’s old age! Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Well the weather has finally warmed up today. The temperature this morning was 58°F which is about 20°F warmer then it has been over the weekend. Hopefully the weather will stay nice for awhile, and I can get some good training miles in. In the mean time I’ll stick to the Computrainer at work.
I guess I’ve vented enough for one day. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday, and as usual I’ll have my blood checked. I’m also going to have to pick a new oncologist, since my current one is moving to Corpus Christi [TX] in the next month or two. I’ve pretty much decided on Dr. Chen. I’ve been told he is more in to research, and I think that will be of benefit in the long run.
GO STEELERS!!
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9 Jan |
Just one more reason to stay healthy, eat well, exercise, and wash your hands Day to Day Life, Health Care
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Being a slow health care newsday (referring to my other blog), and not having posted anything to this blog lately, I started getting a little fidgety. So I went blog hopping, and came across this article by a 3rd year med student on the west coast. It may be a little late for me and some others, but his thoughts on why you don’t want to be hospitalized just seemed worth sharing.
Hospitals: Worse Before You’re Better
“Above all, do no harm,” is pretty much bullshit. Let me warn you.
You do not want to be a patient in a hospital. One, it means you’re sick enough to need to be in a hospital, which is pretty sick. Two, we’ll make you feel much worse until you feel much better. If you do get admitted, please just expect the following to happen. If you’re in a teaching hospital, with attendings and residents and medical students, more of this may happen. Be prepared in advance, so that you don’t get all crabby when I try to be happy-nice medical student and ask you some questions. (I realize you probably don’t mean to take it out on me, and that I’m always trying to put on my nice-happy face so that you won’t want to take it out on me, but you’re probably tired and frustrated and you’d take it out on Mother Teresa (may she rest in peace) if she were in my place, too.)
- You will be poked and prodded, have your blood drawn multiple times per day, from multiple arms and wrists.
- You will tell your story to at least three people not uncommonly 8 or more, and you will get annoyed, because we will ask you the exact same questions over and over again.
- You will not get any sleep; people will constantly be bothering you with questions, physical exams, or lab draws.
- You will be told lots of things, by lots of people, often things that use medical mumbo-jumbo. It will be confusing, probably which test you’re getting, or what medicine you’re on. Many times people suck at explaining this stuff in normal terms, so please, please ask.
- You may wet the bed, or defecate in your bed, and it may not be immediate that you get cleaned up.
- You may be in a room with a noisy neighbor, or worse, a demented one that sits in a chair all day with her legs wide open and up in the air, making high-pitched shrieking noises all day.
- You will probably smell, and when you do get washed up or get a sponge bath, it won’t be that fulfilling.
- If you’re infected or contagious, people won’t want to touch you without gloves, and won’t enter a room with you without a mask. Necessary, but I’m sure isolating.
- If someone decides you’re an interesting case, or you have something about your body that is different or rare or special, you may be made to feel like an object as a doctor teaches using you as an example.
- Even if you’re not an interesting case, people may talk about your care with other team members like you’re not even there in the room, and many times, they will talk in medical code.
I’m not condoning this behavior or this system, but I’m saying often, it’s how it works. Many of the causes are medical, part of diagnosis or treatment, but others are political, legal, structural, academic, technologic and institutional in nature. We have a nursing shortage; we must teach future physicians; the law requires this; unions require that; paperwork must be done accordingly; technology is from the 1980s; there are limited resources available for health care. And on and on and on. If I could design the hospital system over again I would, and maybe I will when I’m older, but in 2006, this unfortunately may be your hospital experience.Just more reason to stay healthy, eat well, exercise, and wash your hands, right?