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26 Oct |
Something still seems to be missing Off Topic, Politics, Vacations
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You’d think with Edie finally at home, my cold just about done with, and riding my bike for the first time in a week yesterday, I’d be feeling a lot better now, but I’m not.
Maybe the last week, without much to occupy my mind, I had way too much time on my hands to dwell on the future.
Part of the problems is, despite continued stable blood counts, and feeling mostly fine now, getting sick last week made me start to wonder, even more so, how much longer I can maintain this facade.
Then there’s the economy. Even though my savings hasn’t been effected nearly as much as many others in the US, and the rest of the world, I still can’t help but worry. Remember we all live on the same planet, and what effects one of us, has at least an indirect (if not direct) effect on everyone else.
And of course there are the elections. What direction will the electorate take us this time? Are we to continue a policy of dividing the country between red states and blue states, and the I’ve got mine, so who cares about anyone else philosophy?
Or will we move away from the divisive policies of the past 8 years, and chart a new course?
After this election is over, and no matter who is elected president, I just hope we at last take a good hard look at what we want this country to represent, and decide what is best for everyone in the US (and the world), not just what is in our own self interest.
Ok, that made me feel a lot better now, plus I just checked out Russ Roca’s website, and I got the “cover” in his latest post. Yep, that’s me on the bike. I also lifted this photo from Russ’s blog.
I never knew I was so photogenic. 
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2 Feb |
To lie or not to lie, that is the question? Cycling, Day to Day Life, General Health, My MCL
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Well today was the Celebration of Life for the friend and riding buddy who passed away a week ago Friday.
Among the many family members, friends and bike club members attending, there were also a few old friends I hadn’t seen in quite a number of years. It was good to see everyone was still doing fine.
Now even though, when I started this blog over two years ago, I stopped trying to keep my lymphoma a secret, that didn’t mean I was going to out, and announce to the world I have lymphoma. I was still going to be discreet, only confirming when specifically asked, or if begged to tell what was wrong, which coincidentally two friends had done.
But today, when I met one of those old friends, I hadn’t seen in quite a while, he commented he heard I was dealing with my own problems. It surprised me he knew, but I really didn’t think much about it, simply commenting I was still feeling fine, which does happen to be true.
But a few moments later, after the old friend went on to talk to others, the president of the bike club, who was standing next to me at the time, and over heard the conversation, asked me about it.
Needless to say, I was caught completely off guard, not knowing how to respond. Should I lie to him, or tell the truth?
Well I guess old habits are hard to break, and my old instincts kicked in. So I lied! I told him I was fine, and even commented, “I look fine, right?” He responded affirmatively, and the topic was dropped.
But now, as I ponder the exchange, I’m wondering if I did the right thing by lying?
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23 Jan |
No matter what anybody says General Health, Health Care, My MCL
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I still believe Kaiser Permanente has the best doctors, and offers the best health care coverage of any health care organization.
How many other emergency room doctors, do you think, would bother to call a patient at home in the evening, after receiving notification of an elevated white blood cell count, to make sure that person was feeling ok?
Well at Kaiser they do, and this wasn’t the first time.
This was at least the third time, I’ve received a call from an ER doctor checking up on me. It seems every time I have my blood checked late in the day (which occurred yesterday), after all the doctors in the office are long gone, I get a call checking up on me.
While that may seem like a little thing to some, and I wouldn’t have thought any less of Kaiser or the ER doctor, had the doctor not called, it is comforting to know someone actually cares about their job and their patients. You don’t find that too often any more in todays hectic, “it’s all about me” world.
Anywaze, I was happy to find out my lymphocyte count had dropped below 100 thou/cumm to 99 thou/cumm, after jumping to 106 thou/cumm last month. I still don’t consider that very significant, since at these levels variations in results can be extreme.
The good news is I’m still feeling fine. I do have a few issues, but nothing I am too concerned about just yet, and probably no more then most other people.
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14 Jan |
Time marches on Edie, My MCL
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OK, as some of you may have noted, I’ve reverted back to the old theme. I guess I wasn’t really happy with the new theme either, so…………….
In the interim, while I work on a new and improved design, I thought I’d give everyone an update on what has transpired, over the course of the past month, with Edie and me.
I’m pretty much still the same, although my lymphocyte count did take a big jump, from 86 thou/cum in November to 106 thou/cum in December. I have been as high as 95 thou/cumm in previous months, so that’s not as big a jump as it might appear at first glance.
The good news is my hemoglobin and platelets were stable, even improved some, from November, so my bone marrow still appears to be functioning, at least partially well, leading me to believe the test may have been a fluke. It is known that when the numbers get that high, the variations also increase. I’ll know more next week, when I have my next blood test.
As for Edie, she is currently getting ready for an autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant (PBSCT).
Today she goes for a tread mill test and tomorrow an echo cardiagram to make sure her heart is up to it. If everything looks good, she’ll receive her first cytoxan infusion on Friday, to kill off what ever myeloma may be left after the Velcade treatments. Then the following week she’ll be receiving growth stimulating drugs, stimulating the production of stem cells.
If all goes well, she’ll have are stem cells collected at the end of the month, and the transplant sometime either the end of this month, or the beginning of February.
After that’s it’s simply a waiting game, hopefully learning how successful the transplant was about 30 days afterwards.
I’ll keep everyone posted as time goes on.