December 4, 2010

Today is dex day again; so I am still up and its 1:30 in the morning. Dex was common when I was UGA back in the 60s. Students would take a pill and stay up all night studying. Generally the day I take dex (usually at about 8:00 am), I feel quite good and productive. The difficulty with dex is that my brain keeps working when I lay down and try to go to sleep.

This past Tuesday, I went to see my O/H. My numbers were as follows: WBC = 3.6; but my neutrophils were good so I am not overly susceptible to infection. Igg is 1558, but this is only 4 over normal. M-spike was 1.2, which is an increase over last months 1.1; however for the two proceeding months it was 1.2. Glucose, calcium, and total protein were normal. Kappa LC were 2.34 and went up slightly from last month but are down from the three previous months. Overall the Myeloma markers went up some but not that much from earlier in the late summer and early fall. I have now been off Velcade for 5 months now. Because there was no marked deterioration in my cancer numbers, I in consultation with my O/H decided to wait another month (actually 6 weeks) before making the decision to go back on chemo. During the spring and early summer, I took Velcade once per week and the cancer numbers stabilized with Igg being in the high normal range, M-spike at 1.1 and the Kappa LC being about 2.6-2.8. These numbers are not that far different than my most recent numbers. I guess I'm inclined to believe that if I go back on Velcade I will not achieve much improvement; nevertheless with these values I can live a more or less normal life. The neuropathy has lessened over the past 5 months; but it is still there.

My wife and I decided to take a cruise starting December 11, 2010, so I will be out of pocket for a while and not blogging.