Six month post transplant!

Yesterday we went to Denver for Doug's six month visit with Dr. Jeff Matous, his transplant doc. The official report on the bone marrow biopsy is "Persistent Plasma Cell Myeloma" -- that is because the marrow still has some plasma cells, but it is down to 4% now (was 7% at the three month mark). The good news is that there is NO evidence of any myeloma in the blood! Dr. Matous said that he doesn't know why the marrow still shows plasma cells but that "they are not doing anything", so that is good. So technically Doug is not in complete remission but is "very close". We think this is pretty good news.
Doug doesn't have to go back to the transplant center until the one year mark which will be next April. Meanwhile he will have blood work done every two months, and continue getting the Zometa bone-strengthener drug.

The blood counts did show a rise in Doug's creatinine, up to 1.7 which is too high. Not good news for the kidneys. Dr. Matous feels that this could be due to the heart meds which Doug is taking. We see the cardiologist next month and hope he will lower the dosage. The Zometa can also be hard on the kidneys. Meanwhile Doug is supposed to drink at least two quarts of fluids a day to help protect the kidneys. He is like a desert rat and doesn't like to drink water so I have to remind him often.

We both know that this disease comes back at some point -- some people get a long remission; ten years is the longest that we've heard of. If/when it does, most people go back on some form of chemo. We look forward to a long chemo-free time. We are very glad and thankful for Doug's health now. The heart-stopping horror of the transplant has faded and once again life is good.
Doug is feeling good and now has the go-ahead to mow the grass and do regular yard work -- yippee!

We had a good time visiting the Great Sand Dunes National Park a few days ago. I took pictures but for some unknown reason can't get them uploaded to the computer. The area has a kind of stark beauty and tons of natural history; we thought it was very worthwhile to see. Our truck camper worked well on the trip; putting a positive spin on it -- it was very cozy.

Love to all.

Repeat bone marrow biopsy

Yesterday we went to Rocky Mountain Cancer Center clinic in Denver for Doug's repeat bone marrow biopsy. The last one was three months ago and although good, wasn't quite the result Dr. Matous wanted. So hopefully this one will be better. They also drew six vials of blood for tests.
As usual, Doug had the "conscious sedation" -- fentanyl and versed via IV. This was his fourth time. The nurse practitioner did a good job. I could tell he experienced some pain (I watch for the curling of toes) but due to the medication, he remembers none of it. Today he is only a bit sore and taking Tylenol. Didn't hurt enough to prevent him from helping me dig up and separate some daylillies.
We go back next Thursday to get the results from Dr. Matous.

Meanwhile, we will be taking our maiden trip with the truck camper. We leave Sunday after church for the Great Sand Dunes national monument about three hours south of Buena Vista. We have never been there before. We will stay at a nearby state park campground.

Our grandsons came to see us over Labor Day; their mother Julie brought them out, also the boy's half sister Arianna who is 4. Ryan will turn 17 next week; Sean is 15 and Brendan is 13. They are good kids. Doug and I slept in the truck camper which is parked behind the house, leaving our small house for Julie and the kids. That arrangement worked pretty well. We had a great time -- we went hiking (Doug stayed home), and played board games at home. Luckily the boys still enjoy playing board games. We played 'Apples to Apples' and 'Big Boggle' and had lots of laughs.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!