MDS: Coughs & Sneezes in Crowded Places

On Sunday, we traveled by train from London to Brighton and back. Few people were on board going to Brighton, but the return trip train was crowded.

A couple who traveled for about a third of the trip sat near us, the male coughing intermittently.

Last night, we went to the theatre. (Saw John Lithgow performing "Stories by Heart", his own one-man show. Excellent.) The young lady sitting next to me was sniffling and coughing. She was obviously nursing a cold.

I sat squirming in these semi-crowd situations. I'm supposed to "avoid sick people," according to the basic recommendations for handling MDS.

How do you do that on a crowded train or in a sold-out theater?

The situations induced slight paranoia. Better not breathe, I told myself. Better not touch anything, like the armrest you share with that young lady. At intermission, I asked Penny to switch seats with me. I doused my hands with Purell. Even considered sticking some up my nose. (Would that disinfect the air I breathed?)

Doesn't this young lady know that this cold she's sharing with us theatre-goers could kill me?

Well, no actually. How could she know that? Bet she hasn't even heard of MDS. Besides, just because she has a cold, doesn't mean she must lock herself away until it goes away.

And, besides that, you (I) can't avoid everyone in the world who has a cold.

And, besides that, could it really kill me? Or would it just be more severe for me than a cold used to be?

Is this nuts? Will I drive myself nuts?

And, now, I'm about to get on a plane for an 8-hour flight. God forbid anyone coughs or sneezes in that environment!

MDS Legs in London

Onward we trudge, traipsing through London as if on the Last March to Victory, testing not only my stamina, but Penny's, as well.

Museums, street markets, shopping, string quartet concerts, walks across the Thames, negotiating five flights of hotel stairs—it was in all in a day's pleasure yesterday.

I looked at my lower legs last night. The right one appears as if it's suffering from a sporadically placed but significant acne. The right one shows some acne-like red bumps, but the shin (where the skin biopsy was done), more than anything, looks like a plum is growing there.

Are there more red blots now? Is that purple blob growing larger? If so, is that all related to walking miles per day?

Probably not. It's more than likely my imagination, combined with a traveler's fatigue.

But, at this rate, I'm never going to win the "most beautiful legs in New Jersey" contest, never mind the "most beautiful New Jersey legs currently visiting London" contest.

What's a poor, middle-aged MDS boy to do?

Keep on truckin'.

This is a great city. So, Vidaza be damned, we'll do just that.

MDS: Stamina Holds Up in London

Well, the stamina question was answered yesterday. You remember the stamina question, yes? How long would it take MDSMitch to reach utter exhaustion after flying all night?

The answer: 2.5 days.

The bottom finally dropped out yesterday (Friday), 2.5 days after landing.

Still, I think that's pretty good. And, even though I didn't even want to get out of bed yesterday, not only did I do that, but managed to stay on my feet through a morning at the Cabinet War Rooms, a stroll in the Westminster Abbey/Houses of Parliament area, and a piano concert at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

All that after Penny kept me up til all hours at Royal Festival Hall for a London Philharmonic concert the night before.

Then—collapse and fair uselessness until it was time for a classic half-pint-and-meat-pie at the local pub.

Delicious, that was.

So, really, I'm holding my own as we play tourist here in London. it's yet another life victory over the mundane.

Cheerio, old chaps.

MDS Mitch Goes to London

I've survived an overnight flight. My first since MDS arrived. To London.

Chalk it up to another "victory over the mundane," this time to flying all night.

Rational or not, I was concerned. You arrive early in the morning, sleep-deprived, your body pretzeled into a series of aches and cramps, your digestive system totally tossed out of whack.

And, remember—you've been angsting all day about flying. Did you remember:

• passport;
• camera;
• voltage adaptor;
• voltage converter;
• to re-charge the re-chargeable batteries;
• to pack this;
• to unpack that;
• medications;
• especially medications?

Anyway, I can't sleep sitting up. Not even armed with a neck pillow and prescription sleeping pill.

On this trip I even tried my long thought-out pillow experiment: wear the neck pillow backwards to keep my head from lolling forward.

No go.

And, every sneeze of cough on the plane or in-bound subway made me wince. Germs! Beware the germs! They've everywhere!

And, you know, these international germs are particularly virulent. And, I hear, the British germs especially don't like MDS people from New Jersey. After all, Jersey was the cradle of the revolution. I'm sure they still resent us for that.

But, arrive we did, all in one piece. All-in-all it looks like this "chronically ill adult" survived the initial stages of the vacation.

Need, want, demand more? These travels are chronicled at: Penny and Mitch's Travels, and at GraysAtPlay – Traveling Boomers' Adventures.

MDS: Today's Blood Counts & Other Good Stuff

Today, lots of good news na things I want to hear, starting with this week's blood counts:

• Hemoglobin: 12.6
• Platelets: 101,000

Dr. O was particularly pleased with the hemoglobin counts.

She also said we'd add an extra week between shots and, even better as far a I'm concerned, said it was alright with her to try doing five-shot sequences rather than seven.

Excellent.

Being shot-up from Monday-Friday only should provide a huge psychological lift. It should also give me 2-4 more functional day per month.

Let's just hope it works.

And . . . this just in:

The skin biopsy apparently show nothing new. Dr. D says if the bumps need to be treated, it's have to be done systemically, and that's Dr. O's call.

Now—enough with the medical stuff. Penny and I are off to London for a week. Pip-Pip, and all that.

This young lady named Emily Barfoot called me one day out of the blue. Well, no, actually she e-mailed. Said she was a Penn State student who writes for a Web site called MDSBeacon.com. Asked if she could interview me for a feature article.

I'd never heard of MDSBeacon (much like I'd never heard of MDS before I was told I had it), but it's a good site and anything that helps inform folks about this silly disease is a good thing.

And, since I've been a Penn State football fan for years—largely because they have a coach who was an English major, has endowed the university's library, and is still coaching at 80-plus years of age—I said, "Sure."

Besides, Penn State's Ag School makes and sells the world's best ice cream. Ben and Jerry learned ice cream making there. The stuff comes straight from the cow.

So, I was interviewed. And, you can read the results here: Mitch's Article.

It's kind of odd for me to read about me. I'm used to being on the other end of the process. But, Emily has done an excellent job. And, best of all, from reading about myself, I'd say I'm doing pretty well.

Good for me.

MDS: Medical Battle Fatigue

Yesterday required two trips to the dentist. Seems a crown that pre-dates MDS had never been permanently posted-and-pasted into my mouth because a root canal had to be done somewhere in the interim.

So, Dr. D posted-and-pasted the thing. I went home, took one bite of a ham and cheese sandwich, and the crown chipped. Sharp edges were scraping my tongue. Back to Dr. D I went.

Meanwhile, the stitches in my biopsied lower leg are itching like mad.

A kind of medical battle fatigue is setting. How many more body parts are going to betray me and begin to fail? I mean, my

• teeth are falling out
• legs are breaking out
• bones are copping out
• bowels are holding out
• skin is itching out-rageously.

It's enough to make a person freak out.

When I trace this entire adventure back, it's astonishing and a bit depressing to think how many medical disciplines have entered the fray.

• Internists (3)
• Orthopedist
• Oncologist
• Orthopedic Oncologist
• Radiation Techs of all Kinds
• Surgeon
• Anaesthesiologist
• Infectious Disease Specialist
• MDS Specialist
• Dermatologist
• Nurses in Many Numbers
• Nurse's Aids in Many Numbers
• Medical Assistants in Many More Numbers

and now the Dentist?

Oy boy. Good thing I'm here to keep these people occupied and gainfully employed.

You can see where this might wear a person down. Especially on a day when two dental visits were required. It's almost enough to make me forget that my feet always hurt, and have been hurting for 30-plus years.

On the other hand, my

• hair isn't falling out
• brain isn't checking out
• bodily fluids aren't leaking out
• ambulatory ability isn't flunking out
• sense of humor isn't passing out
• will to move on isn't giving out.

As my kids used to say, it's all good.