9 replies to this topic

[hannibellemo]

Thanks to all who shared my pain while waiting for my appointment today. Blood work was all great, very stable, no palpable spleen and Dr. L just called with my PCR results. I can't remember if he said .08 or .05, since they are basically the same it doesn't really matter (international scale, BTW). I'll get the specifics when he sends my reports. PCRU is not my goal; but if it should ever happen it will be icing on the cake!

He doesn't need to see me again for a year, at which time I will have a BMB/A. He wants my local onc to see me every 3 months for labs and do another PCR in six months. Thanks for the heads up, Trey - I feel so free!

I happened to mention that one of my colleagues was just diagnosed with CML and that I was surprised at the proximity since this is relatively rare and Mason City is small. Dr. L said he has several CML patients from Mason City. I wonder how this would look on a map? If approximately 5,000 new people are dxed every year, that means 100 per state without allowing for population density and any other variable that might be applicable. Any of you maths types have a clue what that would look like? Perhaps this has already been done?

Also, had my ENT final post sinus surgery appt and everything looks great. I swear I could almost see my brain - must be through one of those holes in my head that Steve keeps talking about. Did find out I probably have supraorbital neuralgia on the left side - I have a theory that the peri-orbital edema that I experience (much more on the left side than on the right) puts pressure on the nerve causing the pain. Steve questions whether edema can exert that much pressure. Anyone else have this?

I also attended a class on Stress Management while waiting for my appt. I payed particular attention to the information about not worrying about those things over which I have no control!

I'm having a celebratory glass of my favorite Sav. Blanc. (it's a class exercise). Speaking of which, did 15 minutes on the Wii Fit Plus today. Thanks, all of you who suggested I upgrade.

Wishing everyone an early spring!

Pat

[Tedsey]

Hurrah!  Hurrah!  I had a feeling all would come out well!

[CallMeLucky]

Excellent news, glad to hear it...

[GerryL]

Great news Pat.  Let us know how your fatigue goes now you've got the Wii Fit Plus. I'm looking forward to autumn so I can do a bit more walking at lunch time.

[hannibellemo]

Just reread my post and evidently I can be a blithering idiot after I get "the" phone call, too. Sorry about that! Thanks for your kind thoughts, though!

Patt

[PhilB]

Congratulations Cleo! (and there was me thinking 'Pat' was short for Patricia)

Great news on the PCR numbers.  I now look forward to you posting your Wii Fit obstacle course numbers!

Phil

[PhilB]

On the clustering, it's amazing the way that people's inbuilt idea of what 'random' should look like differs from the reality.  Clustering is a great case in point.  If you have a tiled bathroom floor with 100 tiles and you throw 200 ball bearings in you definitely shouldn't expect to get 2 balls in each square.  You'll have lots of squares with none and others with 3, 4, 5, 10, etc.  It's in the very nature of a random distribution that you get relatively large clusters, but in the nature of human beings to think that there must be a causal explanation for them.  I still love the fact that manufacturers of MP3 players with a 'random' play function have to build in sophisticated algorithms to make the sequence closer to what people think random should look like by removing all the apparent 'patterns' that occur if it's truly random.  Another great case is in fraud detection.  If you believe data may have been falsified you can look at the number patterns and you almost always get many fewer repeated digits in numbers someone has made up than in 'real' numbers.

So whilst the answer to the question 'what are the odds of there being x many CMLers in Mason City' is indeed very low (unless there is some unknown aspect of Jello production that causes Leukaemia), the real question should be  'what are the odds of finding a cluster this dense somewhere in America' and this is almost certainly very high indeed.

Phil

(The author of this post accepts no legal responsibility for any injuries or damage to bathroom fixtures or fittings caused by slipping on ball bearings that you failed to tidy away properly)

[hannibellemo]

I never thought about the pudding people, Phil, very interesting. Control freak that I am I like to think all CMLers exist in their proper states.

As for my Wii fit obstacle numbers, it may be a cold day before I share those, although I did quite well with the Kung Fu. Evidently, virtual Kung Fu is a skill I didn't realise I possessed. Akin to virtual dancing as perhaps Vicki will attest to for me from her post on reaching PCRU. Show off that she is!

Queenie

[janekaye]

Great news, Pat!  I'm so glad for you and that you're feeling good as well!

-janekaye

[VickiW]

Hi Queenie!

Ok, here we go, one two three, one two three, spin, jig, one, two three, ************* practicing for when we dance together!!!!

Vicki