Weird Rash; More Side Effects

Last week, the day after the CyBorD treatment, Doug noticed a strange rash at the site of the Velcade injection. Having a rash from the Velcade is not unusual; what was strange was the appearance of the rash. There was a circular spot about three inches in circumference, and several "fingers" coming off the red area below it. Another narrow finger was coming up, toward Doug's chest, about eight inches or so. He didn't notice this until 9:00 in the evening, and he had  no fever, the area was not raised or warm. So we didn't call the hospital, although I did check it during the night. In the morning it was much less red, and continued to fade during the day. I had taken a photo of it, and sent it in to the Denver specialist's office. The nurse emailed that it sure looked weird, and she sent it on to the doc. His opinion was that possibly the Velcade had gotten into the lymph system.
We also showed the photo to the chemo nurses in Salida today - they all agreed that it was "weird". No harm done.

Doug's blood counts were good today; within limits to proceed with the treatment. It went fast today - we were at the infusion center only a little over an hour. The weekly blood draw doesn't tell if the treatment is effective; it is done to see if his body is tolerating the chemo, judging by the blood counts.

Once a month the blood is sent off to a special lab. This test is called the "MM panel" and the results show if the bad myeloma cells (light chains) are going up or down. The lambda light chains have been going up every month for the last ten months. Last month's test showed a slight reduction! This is very encouraging and we hope for a steady decline in those light chains.

Meanwhile Doug has been experiencing more side effects. The chemo is hitting his GI tract now; he has diarrhea and sometimes constipation. The Zofran is still preventing nausea. This is not unusual for this type of chemo. More pills to prevent and cope with side effects! He won't sleep well for a couple of nights after the Dex, even with a sleeping pill. But his attitude is good.

My sister was here for a week's visit. We went to a women's retreat for three days. We had a great time and Doug enjoyed peace and quiet from our girl talk. While Carol was here we all got together with our son and daughter in law for quality family time together.

Love to all.

"God uses everything to call us out of apathy."    Ann Voskamp