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26 Jul |
The Last Lecture Diagnosis
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You’re diagnosed with a terminal illness, and given 3 to 6 months to live. How do you respond?
I’d like to think I’ve responded in a positive manner, and I’ve tried to inspire others into realizing exactly what they have, and how to get the most out of life, but I’m really not much of a writer, and I’m not even sure how good a job I’ve done achieving that goal. Fortunately there are those who seem to have been born with the ability to motivate and inspire.
Randy Pausch, who died of pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008, was such an individual, and before he died, he delivered this inspirational Last Lecture, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams“, which to date has been seen by over 6 million people around the world. It’s a little long (1 hour 16 minutes), but in my opinion well worth watching.
…we don’t beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well
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25 Jul |
Polychromasia Diagnosis
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Well I just received a more enlightened (at least a more understandable) explanation of Polychromasia.
Simply put, it is an indication of the bone marrow trying to increase the amount of red blood cells (RBC’s) to correct anemia. And in case you didn’t know, I am anemic.
So when a patient is being treated for anemia, if there is no polychromasia then that means, either the wrong treatment was used, or the bone marrow isn’t functioning.
In my case, it may actually be a good thing, with all the increased exercise I’ve been doing lately forcing my bone marrow to work harder. On the other hand though, it could be an indication the spleen is not functioning properly, which is a bad thing, since we all know my spleen in enlarged as well.
Oh well, remember, it’s always something. I’ll just have to wait for next months results, to see if there is any change.
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24 Jul |
It’s always something My MCL
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I received the results of my latest blood work today, and what seemingly has become a trend lately, something never seen before has shown up.
This time it’s Polychromasia, and the indication was I have a ‘few’.
Now if you read the explanation of Polychromasia, I hope you’re not as confused as I am, especially about the following statements.
A slight degree of polychromasia is normal.
So is a slight degree the same as ‘few’?
Increases in polychromasia suggest an increased bone marrow response. [and] No polychromasia correlates with non-responsive, anemic patients………
I don’t know, but both those statements sound like polychromasia is a good thing.
I’m just not so sure that is an accurate interpretation. Hopefully my expert source in this area will respond to my concerns shortly, with a more enlightened explanation.
Anywaze, other than that, with the exception of a 20% jump in my lymphocyte count, and the fact I got dropped from the group this morning, sooner than I was hoping, my RBC, hemoglobin and platelets either showed a very slight uptrend, or at a minimum they remained stable.
