Green tea working too good?

 My MCL  2 Responses »
Oct 312011
 

It’s seems ironic that shortly after blogging about how green tea has shown some efficacy with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) my lymphocyte count would drop about 30%.

After hovering around 70 to 90 thou/mcL for the past 2 years, my absolute lymphocyte count dropped to 46 thou/mcL today. Normally I would be delighted with those results, if it weren’t for the fact my platelets also dropped to 128 thou/mcL (ref range 130-400) after ranging between 150 to 170 thou/mcL over the same time frame.

I did experience a similar drop in platelet count last year, to 112 thou/mcL, after returning from the Aureole Wine Weekend in Vegas. It did rebound the following month, and since Edie and I attended a wine tasting of Howell Mountain [mostly] Cabernet Sauvignon’s yesterday (which BTW were above average good), I’m going to assume that was the reason for the drop, and it will rebound next month.

Not sure why the lymphocytes dropped. I have increased my green tea intake to between 7 and 8 cups a day from 5 to 6 cups, so maybe that had something to do with it, but I think the most likely scenario is the lab just screwed up, and it was a bad test. I’d like to think maybe after 9+ years, my body has finally figured out what ails me, and has found the right defense, although I doubt that to be the case.

Time will tell!

Angiogenisis [and green tea]

 General Health, My MCL  6 Responses »
Oct 242011
 

I know this topic may not sound that enticing, but bear with me. You might find it of some value.

A couple of weeks ago, while sitting at the coffee shop, one of the old[er] timers, who we used to ride with, stopped by. We hadn’t seen him in awhile, and were surprised to learn he was recovering from bypass surgery. He had a heart attack.

WOW! A heart attack. That’s not something I think about a lot, or at all for that matter. Why should I? I have Mantle Cell Lymphoma, and I’ve planned my life around that. Not having a heart attack.

I was more interested to find out he didn’t realize it at the time. It was only after he went to the doctor, because he wasn’t feeling so good, and had a blood test, did he learn he had a heart attack. I’ve heard that before, but it never dawned on me it actually happens.

The explanation he was given for the mildness of the heart attack was while he had [I think it was] 2 blocked arteries, because he was in such good physical condition the body compensated for that by producing additional blood vessels around the blocked arteries to allow for blood flow to and from the heart. A process known as angiogenisis.

I’ve known about angiogenisis. It’s the process by which cancers (hard tumor cancers) metastasize, and stopping it is a major consideration in the treatment of cancer. What I didn’t know is it’s also the body’s natural response to healing, including blocked arteries, and while I couldn’t find any studies disputing the correlation between physical condition and angiogenisis, it’s doubtful, at least in my opinion, that was the case.

Coincidentally, there has been some discussion on one of my message boards relating to angiogenisis, where I learned it’s the result of the body releasing a cytokine known as Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF). I also learned, based on a Phase I study performed at the Mayo Clinic, it is believed the use of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the major component of green tea, can inhibit the VEGF cytokine, and result in the reduction of the number of leukemia cells in patients with CLL. Something I have direct knowledge of.

Since starting to drink large quantities of green tea (6 to 8 cups a day), I have seen a marked decrease of 25% in my absolute lymphocyte count, with all other counts remaining stable, except for a drop in my platelet count (although still above normal), another direct result of the green tea.

So at least for me, my embrace of green tea has been vindicating, but it may not be for everyone. Nothing is without consequence. You always have to take some bad with the good. If you’re worried about a heart attack, green tea might not be for you, but if you have CLL [or MCL] you might want to consider it.

It’s true I don’t have CLL, and while I have been cautioned by at least one expert, not to correlate my MCL with CLL, I do it anyways, since I have the leukemic phase of MCL, and my gut tells me otherwise. Remember, medicine is not an exact science.

Better late than never

 General Health, My MCL, Treatments  1 Response »
Oct 102011
 

Well, I managed to survive my colonography. I’m just not sure it’s a preferred alternative to a standard colonoscopy.

I still had to go through the cleansing process, and to my surprise they still had to stick this instrument (for lack of the correct term) up my butt, in order to fill my colon with air, before starting the scan. (For some reason, I didn’t think I was going to have to endure all that.)

The hardest part was trying to relax enough to keep from pushing the “instrument” back out, which seemed like it could easily be done.

Plus, the scan had to be performed while on my stomach and back. This required me to turn over half way through the procedure, which was made more problematic by that “instrument” sticking out my backside.

I can only imagine how comical this must have all been to those in attendance.

All I will add is, if you don’t have a good reason for a colonography, e.g. an enlarged spleen, go with a colonoscopy. I think it takes less time, and you should be able to request sedation if you’re so inclined.

Now all that remains is finding out the results. I’m not in any hurry, since I’m not sure how I’ll respond or what I’ll decide to do should the results be unfavorable, so I’ll just wait for my appointment the beginning of November.

I doubt that I’d be willing to go through a colonography anytime soon, so I am hoping for the best.

Stay tuned!

Preparing for my colonography

 General Health, Health Care, My MCL  2 Responses »
Oct 022011
 

No, that isn’t a mistake in the title. Because of my enlarged spleen (which can get in the way of the scope), and the potential problems as a result of that, my doctor has obliged my request for a colonography in lieu of the standard colonoscopy.

The only advantage to a colonography being, I won’t have to endure the torture of having someone stick a 10 foot probe up my butt.  I still have to go through the standard cleansing process (the second most difficult part of this entire ordeal), plus if anything is discovered during the colonography, I may still have to go through the torture of a standard colonoscopy anyways.

The other problem with the colonography is I will be exposed to radiation from the CT scanning machine, which is how a colonography is performed, and all the problems associated with that. At least I’ve not been exposed to much artificial radiation in the past 8 years, having had only one CT scan, and I think one X-ray, during that time frame.

So as I sit here writing this post, not going for a bike ride, and pondering [dreading] the start of the cleansing process (which begins at 10 AM), I’m wondering if it’s even worth it. Do I really want to know if I’m any sicker than I already am?

Cancer Treatment! Worse than the disease?

 General Health, My MCL, Treatments  1 Response »
Aug 152011
 

While advances in the treatment of cancer are continuously being made, I have always had an overriding belief that “the cure is worse than the disease”. I have just never been able to adequately articulate why I believe that to be so, that is until now.

I only wish I had seen this great analogy, on how cancer treatments work, when I was first diagnosed with MCL, and friends and acquaintances would ask why I wasn’t starting treatment right away.

While this person was responding to a promising new technology, CART (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell) therapy, it’s still represents an accurate assessment of the current state of all cancer treatment.

I live in the wilderness with many species of wild and domestic animals like Coyotes, Fisher Cats, Fox, Bobcats, Dogs, Cats and yes Bears. Many of these animals help keep a balance of nature and rarely bother humans but sometimes bears can become dangerous, culminating in the rare attack on humans. Let’s say a particularly dangerous Bear population begins to breed like wildfire and the threat to me becomes a crisis for which my Atlatl and 12 gage shot gun are no longer able to handle. Along comes a laid off car salesman offering to sell me a brace of T-Rex dinosaurs that he guaranties will eat up the nasty Bear clan. Wow! this is just what I need…… but I don’t notice on the contract that I sign and in fine print of course, that although the T-Rexes have proven voracious they are pretty dumb due to small cranial capacity. The guy who trained the T-Rexes to eat my nasty Bears could not get the beasts to recognize just the bad Bears of the nasty Bear clan from the good bears. Training quit at the level where the T-Rexes could recognize and target all four legged fur bearing animals.

The nasty Bear horde threat, being so urgent, I hastily put my money down and let the T-Rexes loose. They clean out the nasty Bears in short order along with the good bears the fox, coyote, bobcat, fisher, domestic cats, dogs and my drunk hirsute neighbor who had been crawling up the path to his cabin one night. Now, losing my garrulous hirsute neighbor was no big loss, I hasten to admit, but soon the environment was overrun by rats and mice who carried the fleas from which I have now contracted bubonic plague. The T-Rexes, having eaten all the animals they could recognize were looking curiously in my direction.

……………….

He goes on to explain the challenges in treating cancer which I add here just for some additional insight

The challenge for developing CLL cytotoxic agents, specific to our cancer cells, is that an idiotype (unique to the cancer cell) marker on the surface of the B-cancer cells does not exist or has not been found or cannot yet be exploited for bio-engineering of T-cells or mAbs (monoclonal antibodies like Rituximab/Ofatumumab). The inefficiency of Rituxan/Ofatumumab may prove to be a blessing for those patients who get a good response and who do not react badly, like me, in that some of the good guy B cells are left after therapy and may confer some immune functionality although too many of the bad guys are also left who evolve to resist repeated therapy.

He ends with a statement I find very appropriate

……Live in the moment, and practice gratitude for all that we have. Increasing options abound.

Leading the life of Riley

 Life, My MCL  2 Responses »
Jul 112011
 

Yeah, that’s the ticket!

Barely accomplished anything today, which isn’t much different from most other days, but at least I had lots of time to do nothing. I couldn’t even rely on the Tour d’France to occupy any of my time today, as it was a much deserved rest day for the riders. (If you haven’t been watching the Tour this year, I suggest you start. It has been exceptionally exciting.)

So what the heck, I decided I can spare 15 minutes to update everyone on what little has been going on since my last post.

I did manage to get Edie’s car serviced today, and I was delighted to learn that after 16,000+ miles, the brakes were still pretty much like new. (They typically don’t last that long.) So I guess you could say the day wasn’t a total loss. Plus I got the Lexus smogged on Saturday, which is still going strong after 18 years.

I also received the results of my latest blood work the other day, and they weren’t very encouraging. My hemoglobin dropped to 10.6, and my platelets to 150. That’s the lowest either of them have ever been.

Oh well, it looks like I’ve managed to kill enough time to make it to dinner. Edie’s picking out a good bottle of wine right now. We deserve it.:)

 Posted by at 6:20 pm
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