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.