Change is in the air!

 Life, My MCL  1 Response »
Dec 092006
 

For those long time and faithful readers of my blog, you may have noticed I have renamed this blog.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized the original name, livingwithmcl.com, was just not appropriate, so a new name seemed long overdue. I think Living with MCL, is a much better description of what this blog is about.

You might have also noticed that I added a new link, just to the left of the email me link above, entitled My Journal.

It seems that I have been hesitant to post many things to this blog (for fear that I will bore people and turn them off), that go on in my daily life, that I feel are important, at least from the perspective of keeping track of how normal, everyday occurrences affect or are affected by my MCL.

So I need to have another outlet, in order to express all my thoughts, anxieties, experiences, inspirations and what every else comes to mind during a typical day.

And while this is intended principally to satisfy my own selfish needs, I have no objection to anyone reading it, if they are so compelled.

Just be warned, don’t expect any brilliant revelations, or otherwise thrilling information to surface. Hopefully I’ll save that for this blog, as well as my blog at The Medical Blog Network.

It’s been said that,

In times of change, learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.

Eric Hoffer said that, and while I don’t think I need to go into any great detail explaining what he meant (it is fairly self explanatory), I would like to add one thing.

As we grow and society continues to evolve around us, we have to learn to adapt to our changing environment. If we don’t, we are forced to live in the past, never experiencing all that life has to offer.

In simpler terms, change is a good thing!

Thank you Eric for reminding me of that!

 Posted by at 2:30 pm

Greetings! And how are you today?

 Diagnosis, My MCL  1 Response »
Dec 062006
 

Whether it’s when you arrive at work in the morning, or meet someone on the street, the first thing you do is exchange greetings. Typically, after you’ve said “hello”, “good morning”, or some other standard address, most people will also add “how are you doing?”. You may not even know the person, but still that’s the usual greeting.

When that happens to me, I typically respond fine or wonderful, or something else along those lines. That isn’t always the case, but I don’t believe people actually expect an in depth or negative response, when they greet you in that manner, so with a few exceptions, I put on that happy face, and pretend there is nothing wrong.

But that is what is so great about having your own blog. You don’t always have to put on a happy face. You can write about your actual thoughts, without worrying about boring someone to death with your problems. If people are interested they can read on, or they can choose to ignore you, which incidentally most people do.

So if you’re not interested, this is your cue to stop reading! Otherwise…. Continue reading »

 Posted by at 1:50 pm

Treatment time nears

 Diagnosis, Edie, Treatments  2 Responses »
Dec 052006
 

Just not for me yet, but rather for Edie.

I knew I shouldn’t have gone with Edie to her oncologists appointment last week. (I’m not as superstitious as I once was, but …..) The results of her latest tests, showed a relatively rapid progression of her multiple myeloma.

I just wasn’t ready for her oncologist’s suggestion she start treatment so soon. She offered two options, Vincristin, Adriamycin and Dexamethasone (VAD) or Thalidomide and Dexamethasone, neither of which sound very appealing, although the latter, seems the least offensive (for lack of a better word).

Adriamycin is very hard on the heart, and for that reason is lifetime dose limited, and Vincristin, I just discovered, can cause irreversible neuropathy, so it looks like we (at least me) are leaning to the Thalidomide + Dexamethasome protocol, not that it doesn’t have it’s problems, but…..

There just aren’t any good options when it comes to deciding on a treatment plan for treating cancer. It’s like trying to vote for our political leaders, that is, picking the lesser of two evils.

It wasn’t supposed to work out this way. I was the one diagnosed with lymphoma, almost 5 years ago, and Edie was supposed to be the one taking care of me, when it was time for me to start treatment. I just don’t understand how this can be? My psyche is not well equipped to handle this turn of events.

So now we’re forced with making a decision, sooner than later. I think there is still some time, so we’ve decided it’s best to obtain a second opinion from Dr. Brian Durie at Cedars Sinai hospital in LA, before making a final decision. We are also having cytogenetic testing performed to evaluate for some prognostic factors, which should help in deciding on a treatment decision.

Stay tuned!

 Posted by at 7:48 pm

Reason #3 not to exercise

 Life  1 Response »
Dec 032006
 

When I awoke this morning, the temperature was a surprisingly balmy 59oF. It was surprising because the temperature had been in the high 30′s to low 40′s the last couple of days. This unexpected twist sure put a crimp in my plans to use the cold (the #2 excuse not to ride) as the reason I wasn’t going to ride my bike this morning. Plus it wasn’t raining (the #1 excuse) either, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.

But, as I sat here at my computer, checking a few blogs I had commented on and reading the latest news, I heard a rustling outside the house that was unusual for this early in the morning. It was the wind, and it was blowing at a relatively strong clip, 10 mph according to the weather channel.

Now that may not sound like a lot, but it is unusual for southern California. The winds are usually relatively calm early in the morning, and don’t pick up until later in the day, which is the principal reason I always try to ride my bike early in the morning. Plus with the occasional strong gust, when you’re looking for an excuse not to ride, the wind becomes the #3 reason.

Of course that doesn’t mean I’m not going to exercise, after all, I do have to maintain my girlish figure. I just needed a change from the normal routine, so instead, I plan on going to the gym and working out with the weights, and even do a jog on one of those high tech treadmills.

And I better get going now, because it looks like the winds are dying down. :)

 Posted by at 7:08 am
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