Sunday, June 22, 2014

No drug change yet - No CRAB symptoms yet

We saw the Denver myeloma specialist last Thursday. We had thought he would change Doug to a different drug because of the steady rise in light chains. But he said "not yet". He said that despite the light chains rising, Doug has no CRAB symptoms as of now.
C = calcium (high blood calcium)
R = renal failure. Although Doug has kidney disease, his kidneys are still able to do the job of filtering.
A = anemia
B = bone. This would mean new bone lesions, not the existing ones.

The specialist ordered a PET/CT scan to check for any new bone lesions. This is scheduled for July 1.
The specialist (we like and trust his judgement) said the standard is to not change treatment until myeloma symptoms are present.
So although Doug's blood work is not normal, it is not considered all that bad (yet).

Our Myeloma Journey road is fairly smooth right now. We know there are some twists and turns up ahead but we don't know when.

We see the specialist again in two months.

Doug thinks he fractured a rib last Friday (after we got home from the Dr. visit). It hurts a lot when he coughs or laughs but he says it is otherwise tolerable pain. This could be a bone already weakened by an old lesion; we will see.
His leg swelling is a bit worse. We did get some compression stockings but so far he refuses to wear them. Sigh.

It is good to hear that Doug is semi-normal for now. We know the MM will progress but we are not in a hurry for him to start a drug that probably has more side effects than the Revlimid.

Doug has actually been doing a lot for me lately. I twisted my right ankle May 23rd and tore a ligament. I have a cast from below the knee to my toes. It is a 'walking cast' but makes for slow difficult hobbling around. I got two pretty bad blisters on my good foot, which are slow to heal. Last week I finally got fitted with the proper heel lift for my left shoe; that helps my back. My sweet husband/chauffeur is the best help of all.

Love to all.

"For fast-acting relief try slowing down." Lily Tomlin

1 comment:

okiewon said...

Glad to hear Doug is doing better..... Linda says Hi!

Tim O'Connor