Day 115: What a long, strange year it's been

Weight: 151
IgG: 1470 [9171 at diagnosis in January 2006]
M-spike: .9 [7.3 at diagnosis]
B2 Microglobulins: 2.53 [6.7 at diagnosis]


You know it's been too long since your last post when it takes five minutes to figure out what "Day" it is. I think it's been 115 days since Richard's August 17 transplant.

Richard is doing pretty well, overall. Here he is after stringing the Christmas tree lights. The popeye biceps are unintentional. Seriously.

Other indications that he's feeling and looking better:

-- He has hair. And, yes, sometimes it's little things like hair that make us feel normal.
-- His weight is pretty decent. He now weighs about 151. Not bad. It's up from a low of 138 in the hospital.
-- He's getting fiestier (fiesta-ier?). This is good and bad news. The good news is it means he's feeling better; the bad news is I'm not getting my way as often. But fiesty is good.
-- His blood counts continue to look good, i.e. his red and white counts are just a smidgen below normal.

Some recent news, however, was a bit discouraging. We had hoped the stem cell transplant would have produced a complete remission (no myeloma cells). However, we learned last week that Richard is in partial remission. His IgG level is on the upper end of normal but myeloma cells remain, evidenced by monoclonal protein levels (myeloma cells produce monoclonal protein). Richard's "M-spike" (measurement of the monoclonal protein) is now .5; full remission would be .0. His Lambda light chain level (don't they sound innocent?) is high (430), but lower than at diagnosis (2030).

So now we have several options: have a second stem cell transplant in early January; take a wait and see approach by monitoring his IgG and M-spike levels over the next month or two to see if the levels drop more or start to rise; start a new round of chemo with different drugs (since the ones he used before were either moderately unsuccessful or produced an allergic reaction); or some combination of the three. After a phone consultation with Dr. Durie of the IMF, we've opted to have tests over the next month or two to monitor any change.

So while we wait and see, life keeps us twirling round and round: we anxiously anticipate the birth of our first grandson in April; Richard participates in a writing class through Sutter Cancer Center; and I mourn the loss of my mother.

I think we're definitely ready to give 2007 a try.