Sping is almost here

Good Morning...

Well, my Vitamin D counts came back good. So the supplements worked. My liver test came back OK as well. So what ever was causing a minimal spike went away.

I guess it was a my body telling me NO more Tylenol PM... I don't need it anyway.

Been very busy at work and with the boys so very little time to post. I still am very tired most of the time and my right hip just sucks..

I have been going to the gym 3 days a week and walking but the pain is still constant. I know its my commute to work that is doing it but I am stuck. There is nothing I can do about it at all.

My hope is walking at the gym will help down the road and stop the pain. If not, well back to my hip doctor. We will see.

Next CBC is June. If all goes well, I hope only once a year. These blood test are getting harder and harder to do. My veins must have receded because it is very difficult and painful to get any blood samples these days. I thought maybe I have been dehydrated but I drink fair amount of water.

I think over time this will get better. Cross your fingers for a great result in June.

By the way March is my 3rd anniversary. It was March when I was diagnosed HCL. It is a day I will never forget. I am very fortunate however, to something I can deal with and move on knowing I wont die from it. I know many others who don't have that type of luxury.

Talk you again soon.

Vitamin D Levels

Found this article when reading another message board (thanks Rob)...

As I discussed in another post, my doctor found I had low Vitamin D levels. Freaked me out a bit but found out in the winter, in Oregon, fairly common.

However, I thought this was an interesting article showing how important Vitamin D levels are for Leukemia patients.

Insufficient Vitamin D Levels in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients Linked to Cancer Progression and Death

ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2010) — Researchers at Mayo Clinic have found a significant difference in cancer progression and death in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who had sufficient vitamin D levels in their blood compared to those who didn't.

In the Mayo Clinic study, published online in the journal Blood, the researchers found that patients with insufficient levels of vitamin D when their leukemia was diagnosed progressed much faster and were about twice as likely to die as were patients with adequate levels of vitamin D.

They also found solid trends: increasing vitamin D levels across patients matched longer survival times and decreasing levels matched shortening intervals between diagnosis and cancer progression. The association also remained after controlling for other prognostic factors associated with leukemia progression.

The finding is significant in a number of ways. For the first time, it potentially offers patients with this typically slower growing form of leukemia a way to slow progression, says the study's lead author, Tait Shanafelt, M.D., a hematologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

"This finding may be particularly relevant for this kind of leukemia because although we often identify it at an early stage, the standard approach is to wait until symptoms develop before treating patients with chemotherapy," Dr. Shanafelt says. "This watch and wait approach is difficult for patients because they feel there is nothing they can do to help themselves."

"It appears vitamin D levels may be a modifiable risk factor for leukemia progression. It is simple for patients to have their vitamin D levels checked by their physicians with a blood test," he says. "And if they are deficient, vitamin D supplements are widely available and have minimal side effects."

While the researchers have not yet determined if vitamin D replacement in patients with initially low levels will reverse the more rapid progression associated with insufficiency, they are planning a study to explore that hypothesis.

This research adds to the growing body of evidence that vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for development and/or progression of a number of cancers, the researchers say. Studies have suggested that low blood vitamin D levels may be associated with increased incidence of colorectal, breast and other solid cancers. Other studies have suggested that low vitamin D levels at diagnosis may be associated with poorer outcomes in colorectal, breast, melanoma and lung cancers, as well as lymphoma.

Replacing vitamin D in some patients has proven to be beneficial, the researchers say. For example, they cite a placebo-controlled clinical trial that found women who increased their vitamin D intake reduced their risk of cancer development.

Vitamin D insufficiency, in general, is widespread, Dr. Shanafelt says. "Between one-fourth and one-half of patients seen in routine clinical practice have vitamin D levels below the optimal range, and it is estimated that up to 1 billion people worldwide have vitamin D insufficiency," he says.

Vitamin D is obtained from skin exposure to sunlight, from certain foods (fatty fish and eggs) and from supplements.

In this study, the research team, including physicians at the University of Iowa, enrolled 390 CLL patients into a prospective, observational study. They tested the blood of these newly diagnosed patients for plasma concentration of 25-hydroxyl-vitamin D and found that 30 percent of these CLL patients were considered to have insufficient vitamin D levels, which is classified as a level less than 25 nanograms per milliliter.

After a median follow-up of three years, CLL patients deficient in vitamin D were 66 percent more likely to progress and require chemotherapy; deficient patients also had a two-fold increased risk of death.

To confirm these findings, they then studied a different group of 153 untreated CLL patients who had been followed for an average of 10 years. The researchers found that about 40 percent of these 153 CLL patients were vitamin D deficient at the time of their diagnosis. Patients with vitamin D deficiency were again significantly more likely to have had their leukemia progress and to have died, Dr. Shanafelt says.

"This tells us that vitamin D insufficiency may be the first potentially modifiable risk factor associated with prognosis in newly diagnosed CLL," he says.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (http://www.nih.gov/), Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research, the Henry J. Predolin Foundation, Vysis, Inc., and the Mayo Hematologic Malignancies Fund. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Super Bowl Sunday!!

Looking forward to a great Super Bowl. To bad its the end of the Football season. Might be a long off season.

Cam is going to Northwestern to interview for the HPME Program. When it rains it pours!! Very very proud of him.

Hip is doing horrible. Not sure why but on a scale of 1 to 10 I am at about a 6 1/2. I was on Vicodin at about a 5. Need to do more walking and less sitting.

Lost over 15 pounds so far. I am hoping that will help.

Anyway, have a great weekend its going to be a very exciting February.

Blood Test Results

Got my blood test results from my Doctor visit last week. Most everything was normal, so good news. However, I have a slight low Vitamin D level. Not a clue what that means, since low vitamin D is very common is States with very little sun.

The more concerning issue is the statement from my doctor that one liver test showed concern... No other data to support that statement. I may need to give him a call.

He wants me to take Vitamin D 3, 2,000 units a day and re-test in two months. He will also re-test my liver function.

Not bad news but not good news either. STORY OF MY LIFE OVER THE PAST 3 1/2 YEARS!!!

Does not really matter, my right hip is still driving me crazy. Had an absolutely horrible day yesterday. As a result, I was grumpy and went to bed early. Not very social either. Doesn't score me any points with the family.

Got up about 6:30 this morning with a raging hip...So here we go again today.

Its all good. Cam is in at USC and Aaron is doing great his first year in High School. I couldn't ask for better kids. I am blessed.

Have a great Sunday....

Thank God Its Almost Friday

So glad its Friday tomorrow. Very long week.

Went to the Doctor yesterday and finally got my right hip looked at.

The X-rays came back with what I accepted..Mild Dysplaysia and no arthritis, which is great. Yet it still does not explain the pain!

I am going to trying riding a bike or swimming for a month and see how it goes. If it does not get any better I am going to head up to Seattle.

Anyway, see ya later.

Haning out in SunRiver

Aaron and I are hanging out in Sunriver today. He wanted to Snow board. We are here with our troop.

Very nice and sunny day. I am hanging out in the Bar again like last year. But I got a great view of Aaron as he comes down the run.

Hip is sore as hell.....but oh well.

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a great New Years!! Here is hoping 2011 is another healthy year!

How about them DUCKS!!

Should be a great game on Monday!!

As far as my counts. Still looking good. I go back in June 11. Looks like I will have a nice long remission.

My right hip is still giving a lot of trouble. Part of the reason I have not been posting. I don't want to sound like a whiner.

Someday, PAIN FREE!!! Can't wait. Then again, I guess everyone has a few aches and pains :0

Last year with Cam then off to college.....No tellin where yet.

No matter what I am very very proud of him. Both of my boys for that matter. I could not of asked for better children.

So, cross your fingers for the DUCKS.......................and ZERO pain in 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk to you soon.