Rationalization doesn’t always work

 Cycling  3 Responses »
Mar 292009
 

In fact, I’ve found it seldom works.

Have you ever had one of those days where you didn’t do something, you could have done, and now regret not doing? Well today was one of those days.

The club bike ride this morning was Laguna Canyon. It’s about a 70 mile ride (which is pretty close to my self imposed limit). I hate the rollies on the way to Laguna, and then the ride through the canyon can get pretty fast at times. So I pretty much decided, even before I left home, I was only going to go as far as the fountain in Laguna Beach, and then turn around (about a 60 mile ride).

But this morning was pretty heavily overcast (the sun is still struggling to make an appearance at 1 PM), and there was a relatively strong head wind, which helped keep the group a little more subdued than usual. I was actually able to stay with the group all the way through the rollies, and was feeling pretty good, which is very untypical.

I was even considering doing the entire ride, but on the way down, I had committed to one of my buddies to turn around at the fountain, and when he turned around about 50 yards before the fountain, I just followed. I was hoping we would go to the fountain, and then we could discuss it some more, but………

Oh well! I’m sure the ride through the canyon would have been really fast, and I would have regretted deciding to do the entire ride, but at this moment, no amount of rationalization seems to be helping.

I feel as those I missed something, and I just hate when that happens.

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 Posted by Marc at 1:36 pm  Tagged with:

Another anniversary, come and gone

 Life, My MCL  4 Responses »
Mar 272009
 

I just realized my 7th anniversary of being diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma, has come and gone with barely a notice. And with the exception of the very recent passing of Dan Seals, of England Dan and John Ford Cooley fame, I might not even have thought of it at all.

Dan Seals was only 61 years old (a mere 4-1/2 months older than me), and he died of Mantle Cell Lymphoma, after receiving a [reportedly] experimental stem cell transplant, at the NIH in Bethesda, MD. He was diagnosed in August 2007.

It’s just serves as a stark reminder of how cruel life can be sometimes, and how fortunate I have been these past 7 years.

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 Posted by Marc at 11:21 am  Tagged with: ,

Keep on keepin’ on

 Edie, Life, My MCL  1 Response »
Mar 252009
 

That’s what Edie said when I asked her what she had decided to do about Chloe.

Chloe just does not seem to be getting better [at least not very fast], although except for the fact  she sleeps 22+ hours a day, and still won’t eat on her own, she doesn’t appear to be sick. So Edie has to force feed her every day, make sure she gets enough fluid, and give her all sorts of different medication.

I don’t know how she does it. I know I wouldn’t have the patience.

Anyways, at least Edie doesn’t have to worry about me. My latest blood counts are essentially status quo. My lymphocyte count is back under a 100 thou/cumm (99.9) again, hemoglobin is maintaining at 12.4 g/dl (low average for a woman) and my LDH is normal at 141 IU/L.

The only thing of some concern is my platelets were under 200 at 196. That’s still well within the normal range (130-400), and I have had at 6 readings below that number over the past two years, but when you plot a graph of the 6 month moving average, you can see a [very] slow, but steady decline.

The main reason for concern over the platelets is, declining platelets are usually the first indication of bone marrow failure.

I just hope by the time my platelets get too low, I’ll be too old to worry about it.

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 Posted by Marc at 4:19 pm  Tagged with:

It’s raining outside

 Cycling, Life  No Responses »
Mar 222009
 

And I’m not really that disappointed.

I would have preferred riding, but I still haven’t regained my previous form [not that I was ever in such great form] from before my hand surgery, and I don’t think I’d have been up to todays scheduled ride, Palos Verdes, which has a lot of climbing, and is usually pretty fast, especially on the way home.

So instead I’m content to just sit at home, surf the net, watch TV, and rest up for a short hard ride tomorrow, and racing Tuesday night.

The one thing good about only having to go into work two days a week is, you don’t have to fit all your exercising into Saturday and Sunday. There’s lots of other time.

Oh, and it also gave me the opportunity to find and add a new local weather widget to my sidebar, so I, or anyone for that matter, can more easily keep track of current weather conditions.

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 Posted by Marc at 8:21 am  Tagged with:

I need to get a life

 Life  3 Responses »
Mar 182009
 

Here it is, the most beautiful day of the year (the sun is shining, and it’s 74°F outside), and I’m relegated to sitting in front of my computer, patiently waiting for some one to email me or even call. I couldn’t even get in a good bike ride this morning.

I tried mind ya, but my back was hurting, so when I got a flat about 10 miles out, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to turn around and go home. I ended up getting in about 20 miles, but they were hardly quality miles.

So after taking a shower, and checking my email, I promptly sat down in front of the TV, watching the talking heads discuss everything from Bernie Madoff, to how to make a 30 minute meal.

That’s when it dawned on me, Continue reading »

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 Posted by Marc at 5:50 pm

How’s this for coincidence

 Life  No Responses »
Mar 162009
 

Bernie Madoff’s favorite charity – The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF).

It seems Bernie had a soft spot for the LRF, since his son Andrew, a now previous member of the board of the LRF, was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma in March 2003.

[That's interesting, because I can remember hearing about an anonymous contribution of $10,000,000 made to the LRF in late 2003 or 2004. All we knew then was it was from someone living in New York City, and while there is still no confirmation yet, it sure does make one wonder just a little.]

The other thing of particular note, of the many charitable institutions that invested with Bernie Madoff, the LRF, either fortuitously or by design, was not one of them.

Information courtesy of Vanity Fair.

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 Posted by Marc at 9:08 pm  Tagged with: ,
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