Body glide - why the sunscreen? 1 drop of knowledge

So my family and I were laughing about why a person would buy body glide with sunscreen. The glide is supposed to stop chafing but why would you need it in places where the sun do shine? Hmm, well, I think it has to do with the transitions. For example, we recently received our wetsuits and I glide all the far flung areas of the wet suit, like my calves and wrists and neck. Then after swimming when I bike, I take off the wetsuit (not like my helmet when I transition from biking to running) and those areas are exposed, but still all glided up. So the body glide stays and so does the sunscreen. Now you know.

Bone Marrow Typing and Registry

Here is some information if you want to help LLS patients and maybe save a life...

BONE MARROW TYPING & REGISTRY

Every year, thousands of adults and children need bone marrow transplants — a procedure which may be their only chance for survival. Although some patients with leukemia or other cancers have a genetically matched family member who can donate, about 70 percent do not. These patients' lives depend on finding an unrelated individual with a compatible tissue type, often within their own ethnic group, who is willing to donate marrow for them.

As of January 2006 the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) has facilitated over 20,000 unrelated bone marrow transplants and the national Registry has over 6 million volunteer donors. There is a critical need for more volunteer donors. Many patients, especially people of color, cannot find a compatible donor among those on the Registry. Patients and donors must have matching tissue types, and these matches are most often found between people of the same racial and ethnic background. A large, ethnically diverse group of prospective donors will give more patients a chance for survival.

Bone marrow typing is now a simple and painless. It only requires a swab of the cells in your cheek to get the information they need.

Donor sadness - reality

I just found out one of my generous donors has cancer. I believe it was in his kidney, which was removed, but has now spread to the other kidney. As you may know, as cancer spreads it can spread quickly. Although this is cancer, it is not one of the cancers LLS addresses. Regardless, he donated, he supported me, and as much as I can I support him. I would have supported him regardless as much as I can. Sometimes there really isn't much anyone can do in these situations or this life except hope for the best and be available when people need you.

I don't know many details or what his prognosis is, but I wish him the very best. I wish all my donors and all my family and friends and everyone the best, but him especially now. This is why we should all remember there are things that may not be affecting us right now but might, and work to make the world a better place while we have the strength and the resources to do so.

What are Leukemia, Hodgkin, and other related cancers?

Leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes 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. The diseases result from an acquired genetic injury to the DNA of a single cell, which becomes abnormal (malignant) and multiplies continuously. The accumulation of malignant cells interferes with the body's production of healthy blood cells.

The previous information is from the Society and there is more info at:
http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=12486

What is Lymphoma?

Lymphoma is a general term for a group of cancers that originate in the lymphatic system. The lymphomas are divided into two major categories: Hodgkin lymphoma and all other lymphomas, called non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The prefix "lymph-" indicates their origin in the malignant change of a lymphocyte and the suffix "-oma" is derived from the Greek suffix denoting "tumor." About 53 percent of the blood cancers that occur each year are lymphoma. Hodgkin lymphoma was named for Thomas Hodgkin, an English physician who described several cases of the disease in 1832. Hodgkin lymphoma will represent about 11.1 percent of all lymphomas diagnosed in 2008.

About 74,340 Americans will be diagnosed with lymphoma in 2008. This figure includes approximately 8,220 new cases of Hodgkin lymphoma (4,400 males and 3,820 females), and 66,120 new cases of NHL (35,450 males and 30,670 females).
Lymphoma results when a lymphocyte (a type of white blood cell) undergoes a malignant change and begins to multiply, eventually crowding out healthy cells and creating tumors that enlarge the lymph nodes or other parts of the immune system.
Lymphoma generally starts in lymph nodes or collections of lymphatic tissue in organs like the stomach or intestines. It may involve the marrow and the blood in some cases. Lymphoma may spread from one site to other parts of the body. Lymphocytic leukemias originate and are most prominent in the marrow and spill over into the blood. They occasionally spread to involve the lymph nodes.

Lymphoma Causes and Risk Factors
The annual incidence of NHL has nearly doubled over the last 55 years. The reasons for this increase are not certain and there are probably multiple causes. The increase began before the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) within the population. Since the mid-1980s, the incidence of NHL in individuals infected with HIV has contributed modestly to the increase in lymphoma incidence. For those infected with HIV, the incidence of NHL is about 50 to 100 times the incidence rate expected in uninfected individuals.

Known risk factors explain only a small proportion of lymphoma cases. In specific geographic regions, infection with the Epstein-Barr virus is strongly associated with African Burkitt lymphoma in Africa. Epstein-Barr virus infection may play a role in the increased risk of NHL in persons with immune suppression as a result of organ transplantation and its therapy. The bacterium Helicobacter pylori causes stomach ulcers and is associated with the development of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma.

Human T-cell lymphocytotropic virus (HTLV) is associated with a type of T-cell lymphoma in certain geographic regions in Southern Japan, the Caribbean, South America and Africa. About a dozen inherited syndromes can predispose individuals to later development of lymphoma. These inherited disorders are rare, but the concept of predisposition genes is under study to determine if they play a role in the sporadic occurrence of NHL in otherwise healthy individuals.
There is an apparent increase in NHL incidence in farming communities. Studies point to specific ingredients -- such as organochlorine, organophosphate and phenoxyacid compounds -- in herbicides and pesticides as being associated with lymphoma. However, the number of NHL cases caused by such exposures has not been defined.

Most cases of Hodgkin lymphoma occur in people who do not have any identifiable risk factors and most people with presumptive risk factors do not get the disease. The causes of Hodgkin lymphoma are uncertain. To illustrate: Many studies of environmental, especially occupational, linkages have been conducted with unclear results. Epstein-Barr virus has been associated with nearly half of cases. However, this virus has not been conclusively established as a cause of Hodgkin lymphoma. People infected with HTLV and HIV also have an increased probability of developing Hodgkin lymphoma. There are occasional cases of familial clustering, as with many cancers. There is an increased incidence of Hodgkin lymphoma in siblings of patients with the disease.

Lymphoma Incidence
In the United States, NHL is the fifth most common cancer among males and females. The age-adjusted incidence of NHL rose by nearly 79 percent from 1975-2005.
Age-specific incidence rates of NHL are 2.9/100,000 at ages 20-24 for males and 1.9/100,000 for females. By ages 60-64, they are 53.9/100,000 for males and 39.2/100,000 for females.
The incidence of Hodgkin lymphoma among people under 20 years of age was 0.9 per 100,000 people in 2005.

For information on the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma and NHL, read online or order the publication, Lymphoma: A Guide for Patients and Caregivers. For more detailed information see the booklets, Hodgkin Lymphoma and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma .

The previous information is from the Society and there is more info at:
http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=7030

What is Leukemia?

Leukemia is a malignant disease (cancer) of the bone marrow and blood. It is characterized by the uncontrolled accumulation of blood cells. Leukemia is divided into four categories: myelogenous or lymphocytic, each of which can be acute or chronic. The terms myelogenous or lymphocytic denote the cell type involved. The are four major types of leukemia.

1. Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)
2. Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL)
3. Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
4. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

The terms lymphocytic or lymphoblastic indicate that the cancerous change takes place in a type of marrow cell that forms lymphocytes. The terms myelogenous or myeloid indicate that the cell change takes place in a type of marrow cell that normally goes on to form red cells, some types of white cells, and platelets.

Acute lymphocytic leukemia and acute myelogenous leukemia are each composed of blast cells, known as lymphoblasts or myeloblasts. Acute leukemias progress rapidly without treatment.

Chronic leukemias have few or no blast cells. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia and chronic myelogenous leukemia usually progress slowly compared to acute leukemias.

The previous information is from the Society and there is more info at:

http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=7026

Basic information, financial info, etc.

I'll add more information about this in a bit, but the process for Team In Training is as follows:

• All donations are 100% tax deductible and I can provide you with a receipt and all other information. The emailed thank you response from the online donation or a mailed thank you if you send a check is your official receipt. Official 501(c)(3) number is 13-5644916. I can assist you with this if necessary. Donations can be anonymous if you would like, but then I can't properly thank you. That last phrase might be redundant given the anonymous part. The Department of Redundancy Department made me add that last line.
• Donations can be made online or via check. If you would like to send a check, please contact me and I will provide information on the whose and the wheres.
• 75% of all donations support research. 25% supports administrative overhead and my involvement, including my coaches, bike clinics, nutrition clinics (What! I can't drink every day now?!?!), travel, etc.
• I am personally donating 25% of the total I need to raise so you can be comfortable your entire donation is being used for research. If I end up with more than the minimum of $4,900, good.
• If you work for a large company you might have a matching program. Let me know if you are interested and I can notify you if your company is involved in the match.
• I am fully committed to participating in the triathlon unless I am injured. Our training is designed to ensure we continually improve our endurance over the 4 months of training at a controlled and healthy pace to minimize injuries. They also say this will improve my golf game so watch out!
• I will try to update this blog and my TeamInTraining homepage at least weekly, hopefully more. I will include information on my progress, my thoughts on endurance events, and articles about triathlons I find interesting.
• Still reading this list? I got nothing else. Email me or post a comment to this blog with questions and I'll respond.

Thanks for reading this.