Living with MCL

I haven’t been very philosophical in a great awhile, but a recent conversation with one of my wine drinking buddies has compelled me to do so now.

We were discussing a recent 60 Minutes segment about people choosing to walk away from their mortgages, and allowing their homes to fall into foreclosure, because the value of their homes had fallen well below the amount they currently owed, despite the fact, in many cases, they could still afford the monthly mortgage payment.

The conversation got a little heated, when I said I could understand the reasoning behind the decision. It’s purely a financial one. Why continue to pay [and pay] for something that’s no longer worth what you paid for it, or even what you owe? Why keep throwing good money after bad, especially when it’s cheaper to just stop paying? There has to be a time when it’s best to just cut your losses and run [so to speak].

But my buddy felt, if you could afford it, you were morally obligated to continue making the payments. If you entered into a contract, you were obligated to fulfill that obligation regardless of the financial implications. He likened it to borrowing money from a friend to purchase a car, but later found out the car was defective. Would you then refuse to pay your friend back, he asked?

First off, I don’t see there being any moral considerations when making financial decisions, and how can you compare a house worth several hundred thousand dollars with a car worth a few thousand dollars?

And how can you compare a friend to a bank, especially a bank that understands the risks involved in lending money for a home loan? Why else would they retain title to the home, until the borrower paid it off?

I was then reminded of the controversy surrounding the decision by John Edwards to continue seeking the Democratic Presidential nomination, in 2008, after his wife was diagnosed with cancer. There was a lot of name calling, and people condemning Edward’s decision to continue the campaign, and not giving up everything to stand by his wife’s side while she fought her disease, all the while professing to know the moral thing to do, and how they would have reacted in the same situation.

Well, it’s the same for both cases.

In this case, my friend is retired, living on a nice pension (with health insurance), in a very comfortable home worth over a million dollars, with very little if any mortgage. How can he possibly think he knows what he would do if his house was worth half what he owed.

My point is he can’t. Nobody can know. And we definitely shouldn’t be passing judgment. Until you’ve walked in the shoes of someone faced with a tough decision or in a no win situation, there is no way anyone can ever know how they will react.

Not only is it naive to think otherwise, it’s down right arrogant.

Well, I think I’ve managed to recover somewhat this morning, but that’s exactly how I felt at the end of yesterdays bike ride.

While it was only a 55 mile bike ride, there was 2775 feet of climbing (which is a lot more than normal), but the real problem was me being the weakest rider in the group, forcing me to step it up a notch so as not to embarrass myself too badly.

The ride didn’t start out that way, but after the first climb, about half of the original 20 or so riders who started the ride, many of whom I consider to be of comparable ability to myself, decided to cut the ride short, leaving me alone with the much stronger riders. I guess I could have cut the ride short as well, but then what fun would that have been.

As it was, aided by a few short cuts, and the fact the group didn’t push the pace as hard as they could have, I think I made a decent showing, not finding myself too far behind at any point. But that extra effort did take its toll.

I spent the last 15 miles of the ride on the verge of bonking (despite having an energy bar at the top of the last hill), essentially running on fumes, hanging on for dear life at the back of the pack, so as not to lose the draft, and leave myself alone to fight the usual head winds encountered on the way home, making the ride even more difficult.

I just hope all that effort wasn’t for naught! After all isn’t it true what the say,

what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger

I had an appointment with my oncologist on Tuesday, and the one thing of note, besides the fact my numbers were essentially unchanged, was she made mention of the benefits discovered in cancer progression by increasing Vitamin D levels.

She researched other patients of hers, and discovered they were essentially all Vitamin D deficient, and recommended taking a Vitamin D supplement (1000 IU per day).

Considering the constant reinforcement [hype] by the dermatology lobby, and sun screen manufacturers, of the hazards of extended exposure to sunlight, the major source of Vitamin D, and me being the uber cynicist I am, I find that fact very believable.

She also knows I’m not much into taking supplements, plus I do get a lot of unprotected sun exposure when I ride my bike, but she put it out there for me to at least investigate.

So I did some research on the subject, and came across this very interesting article on the benefits of Vitamin D, performed at the Mayo Clinic, in newly diagnosed Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) patients.

Of course it was only one study, a relatively small sample, and it wasn’t even performed on Mantle Cell Lymphoma patients, so how much benefit it will be to me or others is still open to question. Heck, I’m not even sure I’m Vitamin D deficient (that will be checked next month), but none the less, the data is compelling, and IMO worth further consideration, if not for me, then at least others.

So even if you don’t like taking supplements [like myself], at least have your Vitamin D levels checked, and consider spending more time outside exposed to the sun, without using any sun block. If nothing else, at least it will get you out of the house, and doing something a little more beneficial than simply sitting around the house reading some blog.

Who knows, they may even discover it’s just one more benefit to exercising outside, beyond the obvious.

At last, a day that went off without a hitch.

Arrived at the airport at 6 AM in plenty of time for our 7:35 AM flight, which even managed to leave on time. The best part was Delta had sent our bags ahead last evening, and they were waiting for us at baggage claim at LAX when we arrived.

No waiting or fighting everyone to grab our bags. Delta finally got it right this time.

It feels so good to be home! Especially since we were out of green tea.