March Madness to Sadness

Well, my alma mater made it past the first round but succumbed to Texas in the second round. I still care about the tournament, but... not that much. On to training!

Once again, a reasonable training week. I had five workouts with a mix of aerobic and strength training, with one of the aerobic sessions being a 30 mile bike ride on Sunday. The weather was a little cool and I did get caught in a short interval of rain during my return climb home. I'm still waiting to see the route selection for the June ride, so I'm still hedging my bets and not setting a time goal,... for now.

Unfortunately, my weight loss is moving in the wrong direction and now at 194. So much for last week being a fluctuation. The training is increasing my appetite and I have been a little less than selective for my meal choices. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but if this trend continues, the "D" word may be in my future.

Looking back at my few posts, I realized that I had not touched on any meaningful information on cancer research or the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I thought I would start by looking up a few facts on my adversary from years back, Hodgkin's disease. So far, I have not found a published compilation of 2005 statistics. However, the Lukemia and Lymphoma Society does have some interesting information.

Leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma are cancers that originate in the bone marrow or lymphatic tissues. They are considered to be related cancers because they involve the uncontrolled growth of cells with similar functions and origins.

Hodgkin lymphoma is a specialized form of lymphoma and will represent about 11.5 percent of all lymphomas diagnosed in 2005. Hodgkin lymphoma has characteristics that distinguish it from all other cancers of the lymphatic system, including the presence of an abnormal cell called the Reed-Sternberg cell (a large, malignant cell found in Hodgkin lymphoma tissues); incidence rates higher in adolescents and young adults than adults in their middle years; and long-term survival rates of more than 85 percent.

The statistics indicated that 7350 new cases of Hodgkins disease (now referred to as Hodgkins Lymphoma) would be diagnosed in 2005. There are no known causes for Hodgkins but this lymphoma is now considered to be one of the most curable forms of cancer. The site also indicates there are almost 128,000 people living with Hodgkins in the United States, and despite advances in the past 20 years, approximately 1400 deaths from Hodgkins were expected in 2005.

So, over 25 years later, I still remember the conversation of my diagnosis. One phrase my Oncologist used was "if you have to deal with a cancer, this is the one you want". The phrase did not provide much comfort to a 17 year old in shock, but it means a lot today.