November 7, 2013

It's been a while since I have last posted and an update is in order. Last April, I began to have some stomach problems in that I would feel full after eating a small amount of food and eventually end up having to induce vomiting. This resulted in significant weight loss (about 30 pounds). After an endoscopy in June of 2013, I was diagnosed with a parasophogeal hernia where my stomach had slid up into my chest cavity. At this time, I stopped taking dexamethasone. Surgery was performed on July 16 and it took about 2 1/2 months to recover where I could eat normally and do everyday things. Dropping off the dex, however, caused my IGG, K Light chains, and M-spike to rise significantly. However in mid September, I went back on dex and these myeloma parameters began to decline. Here are the results: August 2, 2013: IGG = 2205; September 16,2013: IGG = 2188; October 30, 2013 = 1916; this is a 13% decline in 3 months. August 2, 2013: KLC = 3.68; September 16,2013: KLC = 4.35; October 30, 2013 = 3.52; this is a 19% decline since mid September. M-spike stayed constant at 1.5; however, gamma globulin (of which the M-spike is a part) decreased about 19% between August 2 and October 30; this would seem to suggest that the M-spike is starting to decline. I am back on dex at 10 mg/day every 4 days (i.e., dex day with no sleep and then 3 nights of sleep). I will see the O/H on December 17 and we will review the above parameters again to assess if the declines continue or start to rise. Until then, I will continue to take the dex every 4 days.