Dear Family & Friends:
(1) The Test results
It's been a while since I last made contact; I went to the doctor's last week and got the results of all the tests that had been done a fortnight before. The doctor was very "up" as he related the findings, but frankly we were disappointed. We had prayed and hoped to hear that not even a tiny bit of multiple myeloma could now be detected. I was prepared to hear that I was one of those five per cent who are completely healed by the stem cell transplant process.
Well, that's not what we heard. The doctor said, "You never get rid of multiple myeloma." But we did learn that mine had been really whalloped by the transplant and that of the cells in the marrow, only .07% were abnormal. That's .0007! Itty-bitty! And that is very good! But....still there is some. I still have multiple myeloma, and it's likely to grow over time.
The rate of that growth is likely to be very slow as that seems to be characteristic of my particular disease, so I am going to begin a regimen revlamid (one pill a day/3 wks, then off a week) to keep the level knocked really low.
I will give monthly quanities of blood and urine samples to check on status. And we will continue that until the numbers change, up or down, and then we will do something different. When that will be, and what we will do is not known. We do know that the numbers could go down further. We also know that there are other medications available and that new ones are being developed all the time.
At one time, I was told that the stem cell process results in an average of a 5-8 year extension of life. I was also told that life expectancy following diagnosis was only five years, but that was over nine years ago! So, I am 'way ahead of the curve and going strong! Alleluia!
Repeating the trnasplant is not an option: (1) Medicare pays for only one in a lifetime. (two of the shots I was given for stem cell stimulus cost $80K each!!!) (2) My body could not take the "stress" of another transplant. (I wondered about that since I really never was aware of real stress during the first transplant. Oh well. It's not an option now, anyway)
So, there you have all the news fit to print. I took a while to process it and am still at it. This is deep stuff so I have decided to deal with this in three parts: (1) the test results. (2) the implications (3) the plans for the future.
I am on day #75 and charging toward day #100 and "liberation!" I have "cabin fever" like you can't believe, and am ready to get back to living. But with this latest news, I am thinking, and praying that my living will be more focused on mission and ministry in Jesus' name.
Thanks for your continued prayers. Please pray that the revlamid doesn't result in some sort of side-effect that makes me any more goofy that I already tend to be. In Jesus name, I am
Your brother in Christ,
Dick
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