A New Personal Best

Personal bests are goals that we most often want to achieve whether in sports, academics or other areas of interest. I fondly recall making attempts at such when I was a runner. And, I vividly recall my personal best 5K at the 2015 Beat the Heat 5K race in Winston-Salem. That year I broke the 25 min barrier for a 5K race for which I had trained. Now I'm sporting a new personal best in blood work and didn't even have to get off my ass to achieve it.

On August 3rd, 2020, during my 6 month checkup with Hematologist Extraordinaire Dr. Ellis, my WBC hit 29.5K, shattering my previous record of  19.4K back in August 2019! My absolute lymphs also reached a new high of 23.5K. My previous record for lymphs was 14.5K in February 2019. I am on a roll!

The bad, no wait, the good news is, my hemoglobin, platelets and neutrophils are still within normal limits. It seems that my deranged lymphocytes are not winners yet when it comes to crowing out the good stuff so they can go suck it! Fucking 3rd string lymphocytes. I hope they aren't attending on a scholarship. New numbers are posted on the panel to the right, as always. 

Next visit is in February 2021, post-Covid pandemic, I hope. Until then, stay safe, healthy and tuned in.

PS: I had my right eye cataract removed in June, 2020 so I became 20/20 in 2020. I guess I like plays on numbers and words.

Vision Follow-Up

On Wednesday, March 11, I  had the cataract in my left eye removed and replaced by a shiny, new, plastic intraocular lens. And by gosh, it's amazing the difference it makes! I had a distance, monofocal lens implanted which means my distance vision in the left eye is now great... and clear. I'll need to get some cheap reading glasses to help with the near vision.

The color rendering between the right and left eyes is now extremely different with the left being more natural and the right having a yellowish-brownish tint to it. Plus, the visual acuity in the right eye really sucks now compared to the left. In another 6 - 18 months I'll probably need to get the right eye fixed. Hopefully I'll still be around to report on that.

Lab Results for February 3, 2020

My six month visit to the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Comprehensive Cancer Center occurred on February 3, 2020. It was, generally and succinctly speaking, uneventful, other than meeting a new PA for the first time. Her name is Laura Welsh and she is a product of the Wake Forest PA school right here in Winston-Salem. Buy local, right?

Laura is affable and seems quite competent despite her youth - she just graduated 6 months ago from PA school. She is my new PA since my former one has moved on to being a stay-at-home mom. I look forward to many more encounters with Laura. Dr. Ellis was making rounds with her in-patients during my visit so I did not see her.

OK, let's do the numbers (in my best Kai Ryssdal voice, commentator from Marketplace, an economic/financial radio show on my local NPR station). WBC count is down from 19.4K to 16.4K, a drop of 3K that must be the result of Brexit or the impeachment hearings, clearly some political link. RBC count down slightly from 4.95K to 4.91K, a harbinger of slower growth but not necessarily a looming recession. Platelets, clotters in layman's terms, were up from 146K to 164K, a sure sign that bleeding out is not in my immediate future. Lymphs, a subset of WBCs, were down by 900, an insignificant drop maybe caused by investor nervousness over the inverted yield curve. The big story is the drop in neutrophils, from 4.3K to 2.3K and the lowest ever posted for my front line of defense against pathogens. Despite this lackluster performance by by neuts, they did serve me well by keeping me healthy while my wife had the B type flu in late January. Interestingly, my lymphs now make up 82% of my total blood plasma, a new high. Lymph investors should consider selling now because there's not much more room for growth in this sector of the blood economy.

Thinking back to when I was first diagnosed with this malady, in June of 2015, the initial assessment was that I would live for about 7 years. It's sobering to a degree to think that under that prognosis I would now only have 2 years left to live. Isn't it odd how time expands and dilates based on life situations? In June 2015, seven years seemed like a long time to get things done. But now in February 2020, two years isn't time enough to finish this damn blog. Here's a profound question: Should this blog's end be co-terminal with mine or should I end it definitively at some prior time? What if I get hit by a bus one day next week? What if I have a stroke or heart attack and croak before either I end this blog intentionally or my LGLL/CLL kills me? I think I will put those thoughts on the shelf for now although my high blood pressure may be a cause for concern. I'm trying to get that under control now with hydrochlorthiazide or HCTZ, a diuretic that doesn't seem to be making me pee more or have much effect on my HBP. Another brick in the wall!

On a more sublime topic, after my last visit I briefly waxed philosophical about what role I could play, if any, in bringing attention to this malady. LGLL is a very rate form of leukemia so doesn't get a lot of press in medical circles, outside of UVA, where the discoverer works - Dr. Loughran, AKA, the Wizard. Without suffering any noticeable negative effects of the disease, could I be a worthy ambassador? Maybe my good health would allow me the physical energy and resources unavailable to someone more progressed in the disease and undergoing treatment. They would certainly need to preserve as much of their energy in fighting off the effects of chemo therapy and the disease itself. Something to consider and maybe move closer to the front of my thought processes. Stay tuned on that front.

The other health issue I have going on in my life currently is my vision going to shit. I have been told for the last 10+ years that I have cataracts growing in my eyes. Should I blame this on the LGLL? Not likely a cause and effect. Over the last year, I have begun to notice significant, symptomatic changes in my vision that have pushed me to the point of scheduling a cataract surgery evaluation with the Duke Eye Center gurus here in WS. I'll get that eval done on February 28 and based on the results, schedule the procedure. Looks like new lenses are in my immediate future. That would be helpful, otherwise this blog may end prematurely because I can't see the effing screen!

New Lab Results for August 5, 2019

We never seem to be completely happy with the weather, and so it goes with lab results it seems. Too much rain and we hope it will be sunny soon. Too much sun and the grass dies (unless you live in the desert) so we hope for rain (futilely if you live in the desert). This time, and after a full year of retirement under my belt I'm going to accept what it is and not bitch about it. I'll let the counts on the side bar speak for itself and not bore you with a lab results narrative other than to say, I'm holding pretty steady. Once I publish this post I'll attempt to update the graphs and post them again.

Today Dr. Ellis looked stunning in a powder blue, patterned suit and her hair coiffed in this kind of wild but purposeful way. I asked if she was teaching today and she was not. I'm sure she dressed to the nines today just for me!

I have not heard from the LGLL people at UVA in quite some time. I don't think I will make an attempt on my end to re-connect with them since they aren't putting forth any effort on their end. Maybe my case is just too boring. There's just no communication with that organization like there was in the beginning when Holly Davis was the LGLL Coordinator. She was above awesome and wherever she is now I hope she's doing great!

Next appointment is scheduled for February 3, 2020. Stay tuned.

New Labs With Record Breaking Results

As if in response to my last rant post, in which I railed against the randomness of my good health as opposed to so many others who are suffering mightily form LGLL, my deranged lymphocytes have marched aggressively forward in an attempt to overwhelm my WBC. My February 4 labs take me into uncharted territory with a total white blood cell count of 18.4 million and lymphocyte count of 14.5 million, both the highest that I have ever posted. The fraction of lymphocytes in my WBC also matches the highest so far at 79%. But, as if in defiance of my lymphocytes' bad behavior, my platelets, hemoglobin and neutrophils are still in their normal ranges so I'm not in danger of bleeding out from a paper cut, keeling over from anemia or having a common cold turn into a raging infection anytime soon. Hang in there guys and I will die with this malady but not because of it.

This visit to the Comprehensive Cancer Center was also one in which I gave up 9 vials of blood, 2 for Dr. Ellis and 7 for the LGLL Registry at UVA. I hope Dr. Loughran appreciates my sacrifice.

(See the updated side panel for my lymphocyte count history.)

New Labs X 2 and a Rant

I did not post my labs from my visit back on February 5, 2018 because they were boring. The labs from August 6, 2018 were beyond boring; there were regressive! What the fuck?

In June of 2015, after my initial diagnosis by Dr. Gene Pashold, it was suggested that seven years might be my life expectancy. Today I'm three plus years into that time period but so far my LGLL has remained indolent and even somewhat regressive. I.e., my white cell and lymphocyte counts are actually down since my previous visits. Not to flog a dead horse, but please see the sidebar and graphs to see of what I speak. I remain asymptomatic and pretty healthy.

So where does this leave me? Should I rail against the fates for denying me some medical drama in my life? What's more dramatic than having a life shortening/threatening, rare blood disease? I want my drama!! As it did after the initial diagnosis, it makes me introspective. My life, for the most part, has been pretty devoid of drama as related to health issues. Life with some real drama is what makes a life interesting, right? Who the hell wants to read a blog about someone with a rare blood disease that seems as healthy as someone without it? It's an outrage!

There are so many LGLL patients out there who are sicker than shit; younger than me and older than me. Why have the fates dealt me a rare blood disorder then taken away the entire basis for my blog? I.e. the suffering, the pain, the indignity. Someone much more worthy should be writing this blog. Someone who is anemic. Someone who has hemophilia. Someone who suffers silently awaiting the doom of their lifetime to swallow their existence and render them an historical, medical statistic. How many of these sicker LGLL patients would trade places with me in a heartbeat? All of them, I'm sure. If I believed in blessings they would admonish me to count mine and shut the fuck up.

My next appointment is in February 2019 with the illustrious Dr. Ellis at WFBH Comprehensive Cancer Center. My last six months checkup was actually with the PA, Ms. Barber. Talk about adding insult to non-injury! My LGLL is so pathetic I've even been relegated to a lowly PA. Sigh. I'm healthy and I'm grateful for it so I'll continue to write posts about being a 'survivor'.

New Labs

These labs were done at the request of my wellness doc, Wiggy Saunders with Robinhood Integrative Health. Pretty much a repeat of the last labs - yawn - things are holding steady.. The side bar to the right has been updated with the latest numbers. Next labs are in February with Dr. Ellis at WFBH CCC. Stay tuned!