2008: A time to reflect

 Edie, Life  2 Responses »
Dec 312008
 

popacorkAnd what a year it was. So many things happened in 2008, it’s hard to know where to begin.

First and foremost was the free fall in stocks, the near collapse of the worlds financial markets, the rise and fall of oil and gasoline prices, and of course there was the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. My faith in the American public was finally restored.

Everything else pales in comparison, even the fact Edie and I made it through 2008 not much worse for wear than we started the year, but there was at least one thing of note.

Edie did have an autologous transplant in October, but so far she seems to be recovering fine. She still suffers from persistent neuropathy, resulting from the Velcade she was taking for her Multiple Myeloma, but this month she was approved for Social Security Disability so that has helped. Edie no longer has to endure the unendurable anymore by trying to work.

But it seems there is always a downside to everything. Now Continue reading »

A word from Mr. Christmas Cheer

 Life  4 Responses »
Dec 262008
 

I actually wrote this post earlier in the week, but not wanting to spoil everyone’s Christmas/Chanukah totally, I decided to hold it until today. [Plus it's freaking cold outside, so I had some time on my hands.]

I know I’m probably not the only one, but I don’t like this time of year. I’m not sure why I dislike this time of year so much. Heck, I don’t even know when I started disliking it so, because at one time I actually remember enjoying it, plus Edie loves this time of year.

It might have started when I was diagnosed with MCL, or maybe it started when one of my close riding buddies, who helped start our bike club [which has now gone its separate way], died of pancreatic cancer a couple of years before my diagnosis with MCL. Continue reading »

Nothing to complain about

 My MCL  3 Responses »
Dec 222008
 

I just received the results from today’s blood work, and I’m happy to report my blood glucose is within the normal [average] range at 94 mg/dL. And that was a non fasting result. It seems I forgot I was supposed to fast for the test.

I’d like to report the reduction was because I was able to lose the 10 pounds I committed myself to last month, but while I did have some initial success, trying to lose weight this time of year, is proving to be more daunting than I expected. Fortunately I was successful in eliminating 90% of the sweets from my diet, which I think was the contributing factor to the normal blood glucose reading.

My lymphocyte count did jump to above 100 thou/cumm again, but that’s still basically the same, even slightly lower, than it was last December, despite fluctuating greatly over the past 12 months. [At those levels, there is a lot of error that can occur when interpreting the results, so that kind of fluctuation is not surprising.]

Plus my hemoglobin Continue reading »

I hate the rain!

 Diagnosis  No Responses »
Dec 222008
 

rainOf course I also hate the cold, wind, fog, etc. but today it happens to be raining, so I’m hating the rain.

You wouldn’t know that if you were looking at the Live Mega Doppler 7000 HD, courtesy of the local ABC news channel. In fact, you wouldn’t think it was raining hardly at all. At least you wouldn’t think it was raining as hard as it is, but trust me when I say, it is raining outside, and raining rather heavily, for Southern California that is.

So here I sit with Continue reading »

If it’s this bad now

 Cycling, Life  3 Responses »
Dec 192008
 

Current TempI actually thought I was feeling good enough to go for a ride this morning, but after checking the thermometer outside the house, those thoughts quickly disappeared.

It was 37°F outside the house, and 39°F at the airport. (We live in our own little micro climate close by a large park, where the temperature is always a few degrees colder than the surrounding area.)

40°F is my cut off point, below which I won’t go out on the bike. That’s just way too cold, especially when you consider I’m generating a 20 mph wind when I ride, making it feel a lot colder. And this isn’t even the Continue reading »

This has been the worst winter

 General Health, Life, My MCL  1 Response »
Dec 172008
 

And winter doesn’t even start for another 4 days.

Two months ago, I came down with a cold, which kept me off the bike for over a week. It even kept me from visiting Edie when she was in the hospital recovering from her transplant. And now it seems I’ve contracted yet another cold.

That’s two colds within a two month period. I can’t remember having experienced two colds in such a short period, or even more than one cold in an entire year that has caused me to feel as bad as these latest two. Plus this time, even Edie is sick, so now I’m beginning to wonder.

Is this due to our Continue reading »

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