March 29, 2024
It’s been twelve days since I updated my blog. I’ve been so up and down since then. It was a great 5 days, followed by a really rough four and pretty good the last three. I wrote a whole bunch of paragraphs last week that just didn’t gel right, so I just didn’t put up anything at all.
I started my second month-long cycle of treatments yesterday, and it was the easiest treatment of all. As usual, first they did labs (they retested just about everything they could with blood yesterday to see how I’m progressing), then I met with my oncologist’s main nurse and went over all the side effects that I’ve been experiencing. We also talked about my test results. Last was only forty minutes of treatment. They didn’t even give me the pre-treatment side effect management pills (Tylenol, Benadryl, etc),. One day (when I figure it out), I’ll write about what all four of the chemo drugs do.
The most exciting thing, and the best news I’ve had about my cancer since I got diagnosed, is that my Kappa free light chain levels have dropped dramatically. This was the first blood test indicator that I have multiple myeloma and the (perhaps) most important indicator of whether the treatments are working. Normal is Zero. In February, by number was 227. Yesterday, my number was 25. That is so exciting.
The nurse also told me that the bad four days were probably due to the side effects the bone strengthening medicine. My arms and legs hurt and cramped like I had started some crazy hard exercise routine, my hands and feet have been swollen, I’ve had migraine headaches for days, neck ache for days, and trembling hands. All of this so my bones can heal and get strong again. What I say is, it better work. One day I’ll have a test that shows how that’s working.
Enough of the raw stuff. If you do the math, I had twice the good days than the bad. So here’s the great things that happened in the past two weeks. Like I’ve written before, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays are my best days. Thursday is treatment day, but I get to spend the whole day with Bill, and it’s become a really relaxing, fulfilling day.
Last Tuesday through Thursday my sisters were here, and they did many hours of yard work for me, in addition to having great conversations through the days and nights. I “puttered” while they worked themselves to exhaustion. My yard is in so much better shape now, and I’m so grateful to both of them. Then on Tuesday Brent and Tara (my oldest son and his wife) came to visit. I was near the end of my miserable days when they came, so I was able to have a good time with them. Tom and Abbey with their four girls (my only grandchildren who live close) came to visit both weeks. It was a family-filled time, which is the best thing in the world.