Blogging again.
June 26, 2019.
After a lovely, easy, three-year ride on a two-drug myeloma
regimen, my right shoulder was hurting and a PET scan showed a lesion (a
collection of myeloma cells showing bright red) in my right scapula.
M-spike and IgG hadn't changed, but Lambda Light Chains had more than doubled.
The myeloma was back. It never gives up.
My Mayo doctor ordered radiation treatment of that lesion, and added
dexamethasone to the two-drug therapy. Now, a month later, the ten
radiation treatments are complete and I'm taking the dex. Last week's
blood test showed Lambda light chains back down to normal again, a very
good sign.
Another PET scan and doctor's appointment in a couple of months will tell us whether that scapula
really is better. I think it is, because my shoulder doesn't hurt any more. It itches a little, because the radiation lightly toasted the skin over the scapula, but I don't mind and it will heal.
A lesson learned: A lesion formed but neither M-Spike nor IgG went up, which means that at least some of my myeloma is "nonsecretory" (doesn't secrete monoclonal proteins). Therefore we'll have to pay more attention to Lambda Light Chains. Maybe I'll need more PET scans too? I wonder if there's a limit on those these days. Checking Lambda Light Chains is just a simple blood draw for a lab test, though it's nowhere near as comprehensive as a PET.
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Apparently I have been negligent in allowing people (fake doctors) to sell their unproven and unapproved herbal cures for every terrible disease in the comments here. Those comments have been removed and I will try to be more diligent. If the advertised treatments were actually of value, they would not need to be sold in the comments of a myeloma blog.
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