If it’s not one thing, it’s another

 Life, Off Topic  1 Response »
Dec 192007
 

Just when we get a reprieve from two weeks of temperatures in the 30′s, now the rain starts.

So here I sit, surfing the net and rambling on my blog. No bike ride for me today. :(

I just don’t know how people back east and the midwest, cope with even worse weather, and I was born and raised in Pittsburgh.

I did manage to get a lift though, after reading some Gilda Radner quotes.

Check them out, especially the last interview with Jane Curtin. Who knows, it might even improve your day as well.

Gilda was one of the best!

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 Posted by Marc at 7:14 am  Tagged with: ,

One by one

 Diagnosis, General Health, Life  3 Responses »
Dec 172007
 

We’re slowly being pick off.

At least that’s how Edie felt after hearing one more friend has likely been diagnosed with lymphoma. (The diagnosis was made based on a CT scan only, but the doctor was pretty confident in his diagnosis. More tests are being run.)

Still, when I started to take an inventory of everyone around me who has been diagnosed with some serious illness, I couldn’t help but think to myself, there just maybe something to that statement.

Since my diagnosis with Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) in 2002, my wife has been diagnosed wit Multiple Myeloma (MM), another friend with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma (NHL), two bike riding buddies, one with NHL as well, and the other with bone cancer, two wine drinking friends, husband and wife, with prostrate and breast cancer respectively, a third with cirrhosis of the liver and another is currently receiving treatment for breast cancer.

Counting me, that’s 9 people, and very likely 10 who have been diagnosed with some sort of cancer.

This is just too bizarre for words, and seems more than coincidental. I just wish I had the answer.

I always knew I was way ahead of my time. This just wasn’t what I had expected.

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 Posted by Marc at 7:12 pm  Tagged with: ,

This is getting real old, real fast!

 Cycling, Life  1 Response »
Dec 142007
 

This is, I believe, the 5th (maybe even the 6th) day in a row, when temperatures have dropped below 40oF (4.4oC).

I know for sure Monday it was 38.3oF, and today the thermometer is already at 39.1oF, and sunrise is still a way off.

40oF is usually my limit when deciding to go for a bike ride, so the turmoil I’m experiencing right now, deciding whether to break that rule, is almost too much to bare. I need to ride, but the cold makes it almost intolerable, and definitely not enjoyable. (I hate going out late, because then I have to ride by myself. Of course few people ride in this cold, so I may end up riding myself, even if I do go out early.)

Such a dilemma!

And so far this week, I’ve only ridden about 50 miles (normally I would have done about 100 miles), which only adds to the turmoil.

Now this time of year I typically don’t ride as much, nor as hard, as I do during the warmer months, since I’m only trying to maintain my level of fitness, but at my age, it’s so easy to lose that fitness level, and it takes so much longer to regain it, the decision to ride seems like an easy one to make.

But the cold, DAMN! It’s just so FREAKIN’ COLD!

It’s not supposed to be like this in southern California. :(

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 Posted by Marc at 6:23 am  Tagged with:

My concerns reaffirmed today

 Edie, My MCL, Treatments  No Responses »
Dec 122007
 

When I was first diagnosed with MCL, I pretty much read just about everything I could get my hands on, I attended various conferences, and I talked to anyone who would listen.

One of the most important lessons I learned, and which I’ve mentioned numerous times before was

No one cares more about you than you.

But in addition to that, I learned to fear the drug Doxorubicin, AKA Adriamycin, Doxil, Hydroxydoxorubicin, or more affectionately the Red Devil.

Besides being a deadly chemical, as is the case with most chemotherapy drugs, it is one of the few chemotherapy drugs known to cause permanent heart damage.

I even heard Dr. Sandra Horning, a noted Stanford lymphoma specialist, state at the first lymphoma conference I attended in LA, there was no evidence Doxorubicin provided any added benefit to chemotherapy protocols.

This was music to my ears, since Doxorubicin is very common in most lymphoma treatment protocols.

And even though Dr. Horning has since changed her tune [which my skepticism of the US health care system makes me believe she was pressured to do so], and I have seen one favorable study using Doxorubicin, I remain skeptical, and refuse to even consider its use for me, should the need for treatment present itself.

So it was with great trepidation when I heard Edie’s protocol also included Doxorubicin or Doxil (the liposomal version). I expressed my concerns to her, but in the end it was her decision. She has since received 5 (30 mg/m2) doses to date.

But now, after this phase II study, conducted in France on 482 patients, I believe I have been vindicated in my belief, as has Dr. Horning, that Doxorubicin is not a necessary addition to any chemotherapy protocol.

This study clearly shows Velcade + Dexamethasone results in twice the complete remission (CR) and very good partial remission (VGPR) rates of the same protocol + Doxorubicin prior to transplant, and a better than 30% improvement after a transplant.

Hopefully now, Edie will also stop taking this particular drug. Who knows, it might even improve the neuropathy!

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 Posted by Marc at 5:17 pm

Another rainy Friday

 Edie, Treatments  4 Responses »
Dec 072007
 

Well here it is, the second rainy Friday in a row, and that means no bike ride.

I did plan on going to the gym shortly, but after receiving an email from a friend this AM, I realized it’s been just about a month since I last posted anything on Edie, so today seems like the perfect opportunity to do just that.

So far, all of Edie’s numbers, i.e. blood counts, kidney tests, protein analysis, etc. have been stable, thanks to Millennium Pharmaceuticals wonder drug Velcade.

Of course nothing comes without a price, and the resulting side effect of peripheral neuropathy, has caused her some degree of discomfort. So she skipped the last cycle of Velcade and Doxil, to see if the neuropathy would improve.

I didn’t really expect the neuropathy to improve much, which it didn’t, but I was guardedly hopeful (remember I am a contrarian/pessimist). Instead her creatinine level increased slightly, which neither of us wanted to see.

So this afternoon, she is resuming the Velcade, but at a lower dose, to attempt to keep the myeloma in check, without increasing the neuropathy.

In the interim, she revisited the transplant doctor to discuss the possibility of an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT), to help extend the duration and depth of the remission.

The doctor was encouraging, she would be a candidate for an ASCT, but did express some reservations about her kidney function. The problem being the reduced kidney function could cause some complications which would not easily be addressed at the City of Hope in Duarte, CA. Instead she would be referred to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, if that was necessary.

So that’s about it. For the most part, the news is good, and we’re still planning on going to New Zealand the end of March. Just hoping the ASCT won’t interfere with those plans, or we may have to move the trip up a month or two.

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 Posted by Marc at 5:29 am  Tagged with:

I’ve been tagged

 Off Topic  2 Responses »
Dec 012007
 

Normally I would just ignore such internet dribble, but since it was Becky who tagged me, I thought I would play along.

I started off by posting the rules on what to do after being tagged, and then began posting 8 things about myself, also according to the rules. I even managed to come up with 4 things I thought of note, but that was pretty much it.

Then I started thinking, why am I doing this? I seldom, if ever, even open attachments sent to me via email by friends on the internet, nor do I read the numerous jokes I am sent. This sort of thing just isn’t me.

So I stopped, and went over to a friends house to watch the USC vs UCLA game.

But as I was watching the game, I decided rather than just dismissing this tagging thing completely, I would compromise and provide a few small bits of information about myself, some of which may even be of value to everyone.

  1. I am a contrarian/pessimist. When things are going good, I expect them to soon go bad, and when they’re bad, I expect them to get even worse. I’m never disappointed that way.
  2. I’m also a quick learner. It only took me 33 years, working for 9 different companies, to figure out for the past 18 years, I have been working for the best company, and working with the best group of people (with a few exceptions) one could ever imagine. It’s no wonder I’ve been there so long, and willing to commute 160 miles a day for the honor. (Fortunately I only have to do it 2 days a week now.)
  3. I brush and floss my teeth twice a day, every day. I’ve done so pretty much ever since my diagnosis. I can even remember returning home once after driving about 2 miles down the road to work, when I realized I had forgotten to brush my teeth that morning.Your mouth is the harbinger of all sorts of germs and bacteria, and if you don’t take care of your teeth and gums, you’re just asking for all sorts of health problems. I also consider that another factor in my 5+ years of not requiring treatment, along with high intensity exercise, and not cutting my hair.

Ok, I guess that’s enough for now. I just hope I’ve done enough to appease the internet tagging gods. After all, I do need to save some things for later posts.

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 Posted by Marc at 9:16 pm  Tagged with:
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