Still Stable

Doctor Visit December 14, 2011
End of the 49th Cycle on the Pomalidomide Study
The news is pretty good, I'd say, though a little confused. IgG dropped to 999, from 1280 mg/dL last month, a whopping 22%, but M-spike remained the same at 1.1 g/dL. As I understand the relationship between IgG and M-spike, this is an impossibility and represents an error (or a tolerance) in at least one of the two tests. I prefer to believe IgG.

On the other hand, if it matters, Lambda light chains popped up from 2.12 to 3.15 mg/dL, a pretty big jump, and now slightly above the top of the reference range. Kappa light chains went up a similar amount though, so the Kappa/Lambda ratio declined only slightly. I suspect a testing anomaly there, and anyway I'm not sure of the significance of light chains in my case.

The only real concern is calcium, which is 10.3 mg/dL, slightly above the top of the reference range, 10.1. The reason for the slightly high calcium is unclear, and worth investigation, because it could indicate a hot spot in a bone somewhere. Or it could indicate poor hydration, which is also believable. Calcium was high last time too, and Dr LH and I had agreed then that if calcium was high again this time she would schedule a skeletal survey for the next trip. It has been scheduled. Meantime, I have no bone pain anywhere and hope that nothing breaks.

As I write this, we are sitting in Mayo Clinic waiting for the new prescription of pomalidomide, for the 50th cycle of the study. When we have it in hand, we're off cross country to a marathon in Delaware. This may not get posted until we arrive there and have a little time.

Note: In fact, it didn't get posted until we finished the marathon, got back home, and caught up on some other things. Now 61 marathons in 42 states since diagnosis.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Some Current Test Results:

Test		Sep 22		Oct 19		Nov 17		Dec 14		Remarks
M-spike g/dL		1.0		1.1		1.1		1.1		\ Tumor marker
IgG mg/dL		1020		1310		1280		999		/ Tumor marker
Lambda mg/dL		2.49		2.75		2.12		3.15		L Free light chains
Calcium mg/dL		10.0		10.0		10.3		10.3		High
Creatinine mg/dL		0.9		1.1		1.1		1.1		Kidney, OK
HGB g/dL		14.9		14.6		15.0		15.1		Hemoglobin, OK
RBC M/uL		4.09		4.07		4.18		4.17		Red cells, low
WBC K/uL		6.2		4.8		5.3		4.8		White cells, normal
ANC K/uL		2.60		2.30		1.70		1.90		Neutrophils, normal

Related Links:

My Myeloma		A discussion of my myeloma, not very technical.
My Treatment History		Not technical.
My Test Charts		Graphic displays of several key test results over time.
My Test Result Table		Somewhat technical. Best with a wide browser window.
My Supplement Regimen		With links to where I buy them.

Christmas season lunch. All organic: