The Medical News....

As you know from my last few posts, I had a rough go of it for about a month or so.... Briefly.....when I was first diagnosed with news of the relapse, I was started back on 25 mg of the chemo, Revlamid and along with that, I had to start back on coumadin (the chemo causes blood clots) and also started on dexamethesone, which is a steroid type med that also has anti-cancer properties. The usual routine is to be on the chemo for 3 weeks on and 1 week off, but I still continue to take the others on my off week. After being on this regime for 1 week, I developed that massive Urinary Tract Infection so the doctor took me off the chemo while I fought the UTI. I was put on an antibiotic which I took for a week, went back the next week and lo and behold, I still have the UTI! He then switched the antibiotic and continued to keep me off the chemo until I could get rid of the UTI. On top of the oral antibiotic he also had me go back into the infusion room and gave me a bag of IV antibiotics to get the show on the road. So now, this is really the 2nd week of being off chemo after only having been on it for 1 week. At the next weekly visit (and man oh man, I had been feeling really shitty) my blood tests came back horrid. EVERYTHING was way way low....the reds, the whites, the hemoglobin and hematicrit, so that was when I received the shots for the low white blood cells (neutrapenia) and was sent to the hospital to receive the blood transfusion for the low red blood cells which was, among other things, making me severely anemic, so I went and did that. By this time, he did have me restart the chemo, but it had been several weeks since I had taken that first week of chemo before being pulled off of the routine schedule. At this time, because my blood work was just so terrible, he lowered my dose of the chemo to 15 mg, rather than the 25. He said that because I have all new blood cells because of the transplant, that the 25 mg, which I tolerated well for 14 months prior to the transplant, it was just too much for my new little baby blood cells. So the routine remains the same now, except for being on a lower dose of chemo now. At my last 2 doctor visits my blood work has come back amazingly well. White cells, red cells, and everything in between have all been coming back great. A wee bit low in some areas, but nothing of concern, or anything that needed additional attention. And the BEST part is....I'm feeling good FINALLY! YAY!
I want to back track a little bit for a minute.....when I was first told the news of my relapse, it was based on the results of a 24 hour urine test. The sensitive urine tests are one of the markers used to see if the Multiple Myeloma has returned, and then if it has, they then begin to use a very sensitive and complicated blood test from then on, which tells you exactly how much it has returned. When I was first told it had returned, it appears as if we caught it quite early as the doctor explained to be in full blown relapse mode, I would technically have to be 25% over the end range, and I was only 5% over the end range. The "normal range" for MM cells in the body is 700-1600. So that is part one of the Good News.....catching the relapse early. The reason I am explaining all of this to you is because, up until this point, I had only been on the 25 mg chemo for about 2 weeks (between being taken off and on for UTI and crappy bloodwork) and then on the 15 mg of chemo for 2 weeks, when the next blood draw was done for the "sensitive and complicated" MM part of blood testing. So I go back to the doctor this past Thursday (yep.....you can find me there every Thursday at 1:15 pm!!) and the doctor then tells me......that even NOT being on the correct chemo schedule because of the above complications AND having the dose on the chemo lowered, my MM cells came back IN THE NORMAL RANGE! So, according to the blood testing the chemo I am now on has kicked some MM butt. The plan is to stay on this regime for at least 9 months to a year, to (fingers crossed) keep my MM under control this way. SO that my friends is GOOD NEWS #2!! Like I said a few minutes ago, the best part is I am feeling good. WHEW......another glaring reminder, to be oh so VERY grateful and thankful when your body feels good. So that's basically where I am medically at the moment. All of these results are happening because the transplant replaced every single blood cell with new ones, and my body will react differently than it ever has in the past. I can't compare how I did on the 14 months of chemo before the transplant to what I am doing now, because it is a whole new ball game, differet set of rules and directions, I guess, so this is a new road I am on right now. I have no "comparisons" to judge by, or really know anything about this new me right now. Just because I may have reacted one way in the past, does not guarantee that is how my body will react now. So, I am again, asking for you to accompany me down (or up?) this NEW road I am now on. I know we can do this together.