Monday, June 6, 2011

Stable Again

June 2, 2011

I'm still on the pomalidomide drug study at Mayo Clinic, and the cancer markers seem stable after the 42nd 28-day cycle. IgG is down a little, M-spike up a little, and Lambda light chains are down. Par for the course. I take just 2 mg of that miracle molecule every night, along with some aspirin and an anti-viral to ward off shingles. I've enjoyed well over three years of a high-quality lifestyle, including 25 marathons, since starting pomalidomide.

Other test results are not quite as comforting though. For some reason calcium is a little high, and two different kidney markers are at the top edge of the reference range. I probably haven't been drinking enough water. Those tests are done every month, and we'll see how they look next month. Dr. RH didn't even mention them, so he probably wasn't concerned.

TSH is a thyroid marker which goes high when thyroid output goes low, and TSH was a little high, for the first time in years. It does bounce around some, and I'll get another reading in three months. I take a couple of supplements for thyroid, but haven't changed that.

Some Current Test Results:

Test    Mar 09    Apr 07    May 05    Jun 02     Remarks
M-spike g/dL 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 Best tumor measure?
IgG mg/dL 1050 1080 1130 1110 Best tumor measure?
L FLC mg/dL 2.50 2.08 3.07 2.52 L Free light chains
Calcium mg/dL 9.6 9.9 9.4 10.4 High
Creatinine mg/dL 1.0 1.2 1.1 1.2 Kidney, OK
HGB g/dL 15.2 15.5 14.7 15.2 Hemoglobin, good
RBC M/uL 4.40 4.27 4.11 4.13 Red cells, low
WBC K/uL 5.3 4.9 4.6 4.9 White cells, OK
ANC K/uL 1.61 1.90 1.90 2.40 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.


Pot roast with lots of onions, olives, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and interesting cheese.

2 comments:

  1. Continued good news Don! Stability is success with MM. Your commitment to this trial benefits everyone with the disease. Your extraordinary activity proves that quality of life can be attained while treating the cancer. Thank you.

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  2. Great blog! Just wanted to say you made CureTalk's top 10 MM blog list!
    http://trialx.com/curetalk/2011/06/top-10-blogs-written-by-multiple-myeloma-heroes-that-you-should-read/

    Cheers and good luck!
    - Kim

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