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19 Aug |
Not sure how to feelat 5:02 pm Cycling, Diagnosis, Edie, My MCL
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Just got my latest blood work today, and I don’t know whether to be happy or concerned.
My lymphocytes dropped from 120 thou/cumm to 93 thou/cumm, which is good, but my hemoglobin dropped to 11.6 g/dl, my platelets dropped to 185 thou/mcl and my LDH was up to 160 IU/L, which are all bad trends. (No mention of polychromasia.)
Now while my hemoglobin and platelets have been down at those levels before, this is the highest my LDH has been since it was at 153 IU/L back in January.
[BIG SIGH] I just hate this! The prospect of starting treatment any time soon weighs so heavily on my mind now, especially since Edie has decided she wants to try and go for the transplant again, I can’t seem to think rationally any more.
I’m hoping racing at Eldorado tonight will clear my mind.
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17 Aug |
What could possibly be next?at 11:34 am General Health
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As if having mantle cell lymphoma, and everything that goes along with it, wasn’t bad enough, and as if coming to the realization the body doesn’t always respond the way the mind expects, still isn’t enough, what you soon discover as you age, is the body has a seemingly endless array of ailments it’s waiting to inflict upon you.
About a year ago, I noticed some strange lumps in the palm of my hand. Since I do a lot of bike riding, and they weren’t at all painful or bothersome, I assumed they were just callouses as a result of the pressure I exert on the handlebars when I ride.
But then about 6 months ago I realized I couldn’t extend the pinky finger on my left hand completely, I had a small lump (like an enlarged lymphnode) on the side of the finger, and the finger was looking slightly distorted and swollen.
Then about two weeks ago, I realized I couldn’t fully extend the ring finger on my left hand as well.
At this point, I was getting a little concerned, so I went to the world wide web for answers, but couldn’t find anything related to my condition. Then on last Friday’s bike ride, I noticed a cycling buddy’s pinky finger, coincidentally also on his left hand, was bent 90°, and he was unable to straighten it out.
So I asked him about it, and that led me to Dupuytren’s Contraction.
Great! Just what I need, another basically incurable disease.
There is treatment, but the current prescribed treatment involves cutting open the hand and doing something to relieve the contraction. But guess what? That surgery is very painful, and there is no guarantee the Dupuytren’s Contraction won’t return, even if the surgery is successful. [Sure sounds a lot like non hodgkins lymphoma.]
But alas, there is hope! A new procedure, consisting of a local injection of injectable collogenase into the hand, has proven to be very effective, and is much less debilitating, so even if the Dupuytren’s contraction returns you can receive another treatment.
So next Wednesday, I have an appointment with my oncologist, and hopefully I can get her to give me a referral to a hand specialist.
Fortunately this condition is not painful in the least, and it hasn’t effected my ability to ride my bike, so it’s unlikely I will seek treatment just yet, but I do want to leave all my options open.
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13 Aug |
Pressure’s off for another year!at 8:56 pm Day to Day Life, Edie, Off Topic
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We made it through our AS9100 audit at work, much easier than I had expected.
This has always been the most stressful time of the year for me, so it shouldn’t take much imagination to understand how relieved I am the audit is over, and I can finally get back to my normal routine.
Anywaze, Edie came across some pictures of us when we lived in Ohio, which was over 30 years ago. I got a big kick out of looking at them, and they helped to relieve some of the tension of the past week, so I thought I’d share a few of them with the rest of the world.
It’s hard to imagine we were ever that young.
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9 Aug |
Autumn is approachingat 6:23 am Day to Day Life
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I can tell, not because it’s August, but because it’s 6 AM, and it’s barely light outside.
I can remember not too long ago, easily getting up at 5:30 AM, because it was already bright outside, and the sun was shining. Lately though, I’m barely able to drag myself out of bed at 6 AM, and I don’t like it. And oh the humidity…….
Plus things aren’t getting any better. After autumn, comes winter, and I really hate the winter. [BIG SIGH]
If only we could find a way to slow down the passage of time.