Life's Journey with Multiple Myeloma

2011 was definitely a rollercoaster year for us in terms of emotions.  We had some significant events – some good and some bad -that changed our lives but 2011 was a good year in terms of Alpesh’s health and that is always a tremendous achievement considering three Christmas’s ago, we really didn’t know if he’d make it this far!  

December results show that the ratio between kappa/lambda still remains within the normal range and the concern we had over elevated glucose levels is diminished since Alpesh’s last bloodwork was done under fasting conditions and everything came back normal.  

The Christmas break has been wonderful – an opportunity to spend time with the boys and with our family and friends.    We are looking forward to whatever 2012 will have in store for us, be it challenging or uplifting, we will rise to the occasion to ensure our journey continues down a positive path. 

We’d like to end this year by wishing you all the best for 2012 – may your year be filled with fulfilled dreams,  happiness and health.

Enjoy your celebrations this evening!!

For those in the US, we hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Break!  We certainly did!  It was so nice to have a few days off to spend with family and friends.  We also got the added bonus of glorious weather here which was the icing on the cake. 

Due to the Thanksgiving break, Alpesh blood work results were delayed.  We received them yesterday and we were reminded again how blessed and thankful we are that 3 years on, Alpesh is still continuing to do so well.  The kappa lightchains are high but so are the lambda lightchains so the ratio continues to go down.  The latest reading is 1.38 mg/l which is comfortably within the normal range.

We all feel great after the short R&R and the excellent results so we are definitely looking forward to the Holiday Season which will be upon us before we know it …

I have had numerous people ask me about Alpesh’s latest bloodwork results to see if the Kappa lightchains went up or down so I wanted to make sure I got the results on the blog as soon as possible.  

The suspense is all over … they went down, very slightly, but definitely down.  On the flipside, the lambda lightchains went up!   So, it sounds like we didn’t gain much … however, I am pleased to say we actually did!  Since the lambda lightchains went up, the kappa/lambda ratio is now back to normal.  Dr Lonial always maintained that if the ratio stays within the range, we shouldn’t be too concerned.

So, for this month of October, the bloodwork looks good.  We’ll see what November has in store for us …

Our celebration last month from the great bloodwork results appears to be short-lived unfortunately.  Alpesh’s kappa lightchains are back up again to 28 mg/l!  That’s a big jump and we are completely baffled as to why this is so much higher than the month before.  The ratio between kappa/lambda is now 1.8 which is higher than it should be (1.5 is the high end of normal).

What to do?  No-one knows.  Dr. Z has said that we’ll carry on with current protocol and see what the results are like next month (this is like déjà vu!).  So here we are again … playing the waiting game that we know so well.  Unfortunately, we have little choice but to do so. 

On the flipside, even though we are unsure as to why there is so much fluctuation with this particular marker, everything else appears to be going well.  Alpesh feels perfectly fine and all is as normal as it could be (normal is used in the loose sense here of course!)

No updates in June & July because I was in England and, quite frankly, I really wanted to get away from it all and not think about the “normal” stresses of life!   Alpesh and the boys joined me in England in July and we had a wonderful time catching up with family and friends.  The boys had a blast spending time with their cousins.  We also  managed to sneak in a couple of trips (Paris & Scotland) so the boys got to see more than just London this time around and, of course, we got to add some more great adventures to our memory banks :)

Before he left for England, Alpesh’s kappa lightchains were at 22 mg/l, which is just slightly above normal.  We had our monthly appointment with Dr Z a couple of weeks ago and the blood results that came back last week were even better!   The kappa lightchains are down to 17 mg/l and the kappa/lambda ratio is back to normal again!  It’s been over 9 months since we’ve been back to that level so we are extremely thrilled with these results.    We are still not sure why this marker has been fluctuating so much but hopefully it will remain stagnant or go down even further.   Alpesh continues to take 15mg Revlimid (21 days on/7 days off) which seems to be doing its job and keeping the monster at bay.

Everyone in England agreed that Alpesh looked better than ever – fitter and younger (I’m still trying to work out his secret!).  Thankfully this disease hasn’t taken the kind of toll it could have …

On Friday May 20th, during Alpesh’s monthly Dr Z appointment, we convinced Dr Z to do an impromptu bone marrow biopsy to ease our concerns over the fluctuating kappa lightchains in the blood.  Those things look painful so I am not sure I would have been up to an unexpected drilling through my bone, but Alpesh was ready and willing to bear the pain to alleviate our uncertainties.

We got the results last week and we couldn’t be happier.  They showed a presence of 5% plasma cells (which is completely normal) with no monoclonal cells.   What a relief!!

Then, just to add some icing to the cake, we got the bloodwork results back and the kappa lightchains went back down to 21 mg/l!  That’s 10 mg/l less than the last bloodwork which was done 2 weeks earlier.  That is only slightly above the highest range and it brings his kappa/lambda ratio back in line.

It’s difficult to understand why there is so much fluctuation in the kappa lightchains but with the great bone marrow biopsy results and the equally good bloodwork results, we can only assume things are ticking along nicely …

Another overdue update – I am really slacking now!!   

The main reason for lack of update has been that we have communicated this information to most of you through phone calls or e-mails and also, quite frankly, there has been no real conclusions with regards to Alpesh’s bloodwork – we continue to dangle in limbo land. 

The Kappa lightchains continue to fluctuate and in fact about three weeks ago, they were their highest since Alpesh went into remission.  Another blood test was taken a week after and the numbers went down slightly but are still higher than any other previous bloodwork.   

Alpesh has another blood test set for this Friday May 20th.  Also scheduled on that day is a thyroid ultrasound to compare results from the last ultrasound which we had six months ago.  We are hoping and praying that everything will be okay.

June will be his annual test month – i.e. we will schedule all his tests such as the bone marrow biopsy, the pet scan and all the other fun stuff he has to endure so they can do a comparison to June 2010 results.   Again, we’re hoping and praying that all results will show an improvment in the bones, no new hot spots and therefore little to no myeloma!

Of course you’d never know all this was going on because it’s business as usual here in the Patel Household.  Alpesh is travelling quite a bit for work and the children are winding down at school ready for the summer break.  Just some exams to get ready for in the first week of June and then we will be FREE …

Apologies for lack of February update – good excuse though – both Alpesh and I were enjoying ourselves in beautiful India!  My gorgeous niece decided to get married in style … a destination wedding in picturesque Kerala no less.   As expected the wedding was out of this world and incredibly memorable.  We feel very blessed to have been able to spend pretty much the whole of February on “vacation”.  We got to enjoy each other’s company in a fantastic location as well as spend time with my family, the memories of which I will treasure forever.   Of course we couldn’t have done any of this if we didn’t have the support of Alpesh’s family here in Orlando who looked after the boys in our absence.  Thank you to them for allowing us to enjoy ourselves with complete peace of mind. 

Just before we left for our trip, Alpesh’s bloodwork showed an increase in the Kappa Lightchains.  Drs Alsina and Lonial suggested a pet scan and a bone marrow biopsy just as a precautionary measure.  However, Dr Z suggested another blood test before going down that path.  The subsequent blood test indicated a decrease in the Kappa Lightchain levels.  It was a relief to get that report just before the India trip so that we could really enjoy ourselves without worrying too much.

Now that we are back, we obviously need to tackle this to ensure that we move forward appropriately.  Yesterday, Alpesh had his regular Dr Z appointment which included the monthly blood donation to the lab <sigh>.  The results  from this blood test will come back next week.   The mystery continues … will the lightchains be up or will they be down or will they stay the same?   We have no clue but once we find out, we will determine next steps. 

Obviously, the ideal scenario is that the levels go down or remain the same.  This will allow us to delay the pet scan and other tests to June.  June will mark the anniversary of the last set of tests – this will give us an exact year over year comparison. 

Apart from this, things are going really well.  Alpesh looks and feels great.  We have been told that we both look very relaxed after our trip and we certainly feel that way.  Now we just have to hope that the blood test results will be in our favor and we won’t have to do any tests until mid-year.  Keep your fingers crossed for us …

It’s a short and sweet post this month. 

Happy New Year to those we haven’t spoken to!

We just had a Dr Z appointment last week and he confirmed that the 24 hour urine test was completely normal with no trace of M protein. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

Alpesh is still taking the 15 mg of Revlimid which seems to be working well. No other real changes which we are always happy to report.

We hope your 2011 has also got off to a great start …

We hope you all had a great holiday season!  Now that all the festivities are drawing to a close, we wanted to share a quick update before we bring in the New Year. 

Latest blood work remains unchanged.  The Kappa lightchains continue to be higher than normal but since the ratio of the lamda/kappa is within the boundary, we have accepted that this may be the new “normal”.   

As a precautionary measure only, Alpesh did do an additional 24hr urine test to confirm that there is no M-protein present.  Thankfully Dr Z called just before the Christmas break indicating that preliminary results showed everything was normal.  That news definitely set the tone for our Christmas mood … it has been celebrations every day since then    Any excuse right?

So, as you can see we are ending the year on a great note, therefore we wanted to take this opportunity to extend our warmest wishes to you and your family for a happy, healthy & prosperous 2011.   We hope you enjoy your celebrations this evening to bring in the New Year, we are definitely planning to …

Sima decided that it was time I wrote something about myself instead of being written about … so here goes … 

Firstly as a quick recap, my November results haven’t changed much over the previous months except that my Kappa free light chains continue to rise again this month (3^rd month running now). It was over the “normal-high” threshold.  However, the more important ratio (Kappa/Lambda) was within range and an absolute value.  I had increased my Revlimid dosage to 15mg from 10mg in an attempt to bring this number down but it hasn’t seemed to work as yet.  The good news is that Dr Z hasn’t been overly concerned.  Not sure if you all remember, but this also happened earlier this year and I had asked Dr Lonial about it then.  He told me not to worry as long as the ratio was an absolute number.  So, for now we’re just on a “kappa-watch” for future blood reports. 

Now you’re probably all wondering why I entitled this “Do you believe in fate?” –  well here’s a little story that I want to share with you all … 

 On November 16th, Sima and I went to a local seminar hosted by the Leukemia and Lymphoma society (LLS).   The venue was in a really nice restaurant but more importantly the guest speaker was Dr Alsina from Moffitt Hospital (in Tampa).   Moffitt Hospital has a large transplant unit and has a history of successful stem cell transplants.  We have heard about Dr Alsina through our Myeloma research and know that she is an outstanding oncologist who specializes in Myeloma.    

Anyway, at the conclusion of the seminar, which was informative, everybody started to form a Disney line to meet with Dr Alsina.  You’d think after years in Florida, we’d be experts at Disney lines but instead it scared us away!  We decided that we’d try and meet up with her another time.  I was also flying to Boston the day after so I needed to get home to pack and get ready etc.

On Friday, November 19^th, my meeting in Boston finished early.  My flight wasn’t until 7pm that night and here I was done at 2:30pm!  I tried to get on an earlier flight but nothing was available.   Anyway, since I had time on my hands, I offered to take a colleague (Tina) from Brazil on a detour shopping trip to Walmart as she wanted to buy her son some video games for Christmas. Tina’s flight was about the same time as mine so it made sense for me to give her a ride to the airport.   I dropped Tina at the terminal and made arrangements to meet her at the gates after I returned the rental car.   When I got to the gate for my flight, I realized that Tina and I would not be able to connect since our gates were at opposite ends.  So, here I was at Boston Airport, 3 hours early for my flight.  I was scouting around looking for an electrical outlet for my laptop and also scanning for places to eat before my flight, when a familiar face caught my eye.  It was a woman (now, now … it was purely by chance) and she looked just like Dr Alsina!  I am sure you all know where this is headed now but I am going to continue so you can live through the moment with me …

Well, of course it didn’t make sense, I was in Boston, what was Dr Alsina doing here?   I looked at the departure monitors to see if there was a flight to Tampa at a nearby gate but there wasn’t.   The woman was waiting to speak to customer service so I grabbed a seat nearby hoping to get a glimpse of the name on her boarding pass (I know this sounds all shady and “stalkerish” but my motive was completely  innocent).   As I was waiting, I called Sima to check-in with her and the boys (and get her approval for stalking another woman!)  Anyway, while I was talking to Sima, the woman started to move, so now, picture this, I was in pursuit, bag in tow, really stalking this woman and trying desperately to see her boarding pass   My saving grace is that I was on the phone with my wife while I was doing this!!  Long story short, I stopped her in mid-stride and it WAS her …   Now really … what is the probability of that??   She was also early from her meeting and she was catching a flight to Ft Lauderdale to meet up with her daughter.   

We both had two and half hours to kill so she was nice enough to come and have a drink with me.   I tried hard not to make this into a private consultation but I couldn’t help myself once in a while.  Time flew by quickly and before we both knew it, our flights were boarding.  It was an interesting conversation – we covered so many subjects such as: health care, current treatment, how oncology doctors deal with attachment to patients, etc.   It was so amazing to have two hours of dedicated time from this well-known and respected Myeloma specialist.  In particular we talked about the probability of meeting like this, all of the events that had to align so that we would meet (both our meetings finishing unexpectedly early, my detour to Walmart, my not being able to connect with my work colleague Tina at the gate in Boston).  It was really freaky and obviously meant to be.   Fate definitely had a hand in this meeting. 

Dr Alsina and I exchanged contact information so I hope to be able to reach out to her periodically if I have questions and she seemed extremely open to that.  When I got back to Orlando, I sent her a large box of supplies (leftovers from my trifusion).  She was heading to Africa for missionary work so I know she will put them to good use …

So … let me ask you again … do you believe in fate???

October 6^th 2010 went by and I don’t think Alpesh or I even acknowledged THE day when two years ago, we learned of his diagnosis – shame on us!   We didn’t even stop to think that two years ago we weren’t even sure he’d make it this far … it’s scary how we all fall back into the rat race of life. 

In our defense I suppose the mere fact that Alpesh looks so well, gives us a false sense of security.   Don’t get me wrong, I see constant daily reminders of what’s going on – like the numerous medication he has to take, such as the chemo pills (Revlimid) every day for 21 days,  the strange concoction he drinks every night (hot water with turmeric, honey, pepper and cinnamon – yum!), the darkening of the skin etc., but really other than that, if someone was peeking into our every day life, they’d see a normal, happy, hectic and fully functional family.   No-one would know that he is battling a life threatening disease …

I got a jolt back to reality this week when I read about a patient who is dying from Stage 3 Multiple Myeloma.  She has just one item on her bucket list … to spend time with Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic Center).  Of course Dwight is obliging and it’s really wonderful to read how much pleasure she gets from this small act of kindness.   Unfortunately however, the article was too close to home and it brought back the true extent of our personal plight.  It also reminded me how quickly we have started to take things for granted again.  It’s never a bad thing to be reminded to appreciate every day as if it’s a gift so although reading the article put me in a sombre mood all day, it also gave me a reality check.  

Anyway, enough of that … here’s the important stuff you’ve all been waiting for … results!  Good news is that we met with Dr Z last Friday and all looks well.  The kappa lightchains are still a little high (22.9 mg/l) but since Alpesh has only had one round of the increased dosage of  Revlimid, Dr Z thinks it may take a few more months/blood tests to bring that back in line again.  Since there’s no sign of M protein or anything else abnormal in the blood, it looks like he is in good shape.   Two years on and we are definitely on the right track!

Alpesh met with Dr Ansara, his endocrinologist and latest bloodwork indicates that vitamin D counts are low (he had stopped taking the supplements due to the unexplained darkening of the skin but it looks like he has to start again). We also noticed that when he was on 75mg of synthroid, he was losing weight but when he dropped down to 50mg, he was feeling lethargic. Of course, just to make life really simple, they don’t make dosages in between these ranges, so the regime now is Mon-Thur: 50mg and then Fri, Sat and Sun: 75mg.

We had the monthly check up with Dr Z last week. Bloodwork there indicates that the kappa lightchains are down to 22mg/l – still a little high but not as high as the August results. We haven’t really discussed next steps with Dr Z but are thinking that maybe we increase Revlimid dosage from 10mg to 15mg? This might bring the kappa lightchains back down to normal range. The great news is that there is absolutely no M protein in the blood.

We’ll wait to see what Dr Z thinks on the Revlimid front but otherwise so far so good …

Firstly we wanted to thank you all for all your supportive and encouraging messages after the fabulous PET scan results we got in July – we were inundated with feedback. Thank you so much!

So, here we are in hot, hot, hot August. We had a wonderful time in beautiful Costa Rica with our friends. Perfect weather, excellent company, great activities and the locals were extremely welcoming so you couldn’t but help have a good time. We have also thoroughly enjoyed spending so much time with the boys over the last few months – some special memories were definitely created in summer 2010! School started this week so unfortunately the party is now over. Thankfully, the boys seem to have bounced right back into the swing of it all – exciting stuff being a 7th and 5th grader I have been told!

We had our monthly Dr Z appointment on Friday, August 6th and got the results last week. Unfortunately the great news we had shared in the last post is a little dampened now with the news that Alpesh’s blood work shows an increase in the kappa lightchains again. They are showing 25 mg/L currently. I know we have had some fluctuation in this area so hopefully the next results will paint a different picture but of course there’s nothing we can do in the interim so we’ll just play that waiting game again.

I know that most of us consider life as one big rollercoaster ride – the ups and downs of everyday life – and here’s a perfect example of how you can be up in the clouds one moment and looking down the next …. We were definitely on a high when we got the PET scan results in July but who knows what the next twist/turn/drop or loop is for us? Whatever rollercoaster we’ve been assigned, we’re going to face it with big smiles, our eyes open and our hands waving up in the air – that’s the only way to be ready to savor or face every moment.

We will obviously continue to pray that next month’s blood results show a different, more positive result and I am feeling confident that we’ll be up in the clouds again soon.

[By Sima]

With that title, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that this post is packed with good news!

So here’s a quick snapsnot of what happened after Alpesh’s tests in June. The MRI came back indicating that there was some kind of growth in the coccyx area. If you remember, that was the location of one of the plasmacytomas so there was a possibility that the tumor had starting re-growing. On the flipside, the MRI also showed that the fatty marrow was returning to his bones – so the healing process has started! This is probably a combination of the Zometa infusions over the last year, the vitamin D supplement and of course the minor tweaks we have made to his diet and lifestyle. All working beautifully …

Back to the growth …. of course it was a worry … and the only way to move forward was to have a PET Scan to see if the area “lit up” which would indicate cell activity. This test is always filled with anxiety as you fear that even if the area that is in question does not light up, what if some other area lights up? We are familiar with this predicament because that’s how we found out about Alpesh’s thyroid last year.

Thankfully, we are continually blessed and Dr Z confirmed that the PET scan results were negative! Whoo Hoo! … nothing lit up at all. So, what is the growth? (a tail perhaps to go with those horns on his head?? ) No seriously, it’s more than likely bone growth which is fantastic news for us as it definitively confirms that the healing process is in full flow and that what we are doing is working.

So good news all round. We are off to Costa Rica soon with some friends who are flying in from the UK to join us – we plan to make the whole trip a big celebration as with this news, we can really relax and enjoy ourselves!

Thanks for all your good wishes and support throughout our journey … we really appreciate it!

[By Sima]

Well June whizzed by just as quickly as May and I suddenly remembered yesterday that I had not put a June update on the blog! Of course, nothing like leaving it to the last day of the month.

June’s been a fun month – we managed to go away for about 8 days with boys, have had opportunities to get together with friends & family and are truly enjoying the lessened pressures that come with the boys being out of school. Although, as with most of us, the days seem to get filled up with other things and we still don’t have a moment to spare! How does that happen? One of those strange mysteries of life I suppose …

Alpesh had a pet scan yesterday which was the last of the many tests he has had over the last few weeks. This was supposed to take place about 2 weeks ago but we had some insurance hiccups hence the delay. We have a Dr Z appointment this Friday which will help us to conclude on whether there are next steps/changes to current regime or whether everything remains status quo.

At the last endocrinologist appointment, Dr Ansara lowered Alpesh’s thyroid medication dosage to 50mg (from 75 mg). We had expressed some concern since Alpesh had started to lose some weight over the month prior so she agreed that the dosage may be too high.

That’s it for now! No other updates as we are still waiting for results before we can share anything substantial. He’s still looking and feeling great. We really cannot ask for any more at this stage …

[By Sima]

Here in Florida, May is typically a crazy month for most us. Exams, end of school parties, end of sports seasons, award ceremonies, graduations, the list goes on and on. For Alpesh and I, we had some additional activities which made May disappear on us in a blink of an eye!

At the beginning of the month, we attended a wedding in New Jersey (Alpesh’s niece) where we managed to meet many of Alpesh’s extended family. It was great to catch up with everyone and I know it is always a reassurance for friends and family-members when they finally get to see him, especially when he is looking and feeling so well. Following this, Alpesh and I both had company conferences in Las Vegas (back to back) so we tag teamed on the kids but managed to overlap by 2 days where we snuck in some alone time together.

As May comes to a close, we are approaching Alpesh’s bi-annual check-up period. What this means is that we have now scheduled a whole array of appointments to ensure all is going well. The first of these is scheduled for Friday, May 28th with a thyroid ultrasound, followed by an afternoon on the noisy MRI machine. Since the whole MRI experience will be a 4-hour appointment in total (lumbar, T-spine, L-spine and sacrum), we have been advised to split the appointment into two. Therefore, Alpesh will start next week with his second dose on the MRI machine. Finally, in order to conclude the results of these examinations, we will meet with Dr Z on Friday June 4th to get the verdict on whether all is as it should be. I bet you all wish that you had a similar fun-packed two weeks lined up as well, don’t you??

All sarcasm aside, we need to do this, and we are pretty confident that the results will be satisfactory. The blood reports have continued to be normal so we expect to hear that everything is status quo. He has been experiencing a little back pain recently but we attribute that to fatigue (it has been go, go, go after all). Although, because of our past experiences, there is a little voice in the back of our heads that does say something like “is it those darn plasmacytomas again?” The MRIs will tell us all, so instead of wasting our energy on “what ifs”, we will wait to find out and not worry about it until then.

After our Dr Z appointment last month, we lowered Alpesh’s Revlimid dosage to 10mg (from 25mg). We all felt that 10mg would still do the job of keeping the Myeloma away but would give his body a chance to recover a little. Although externally he looks great, as mentioned in my earlier post, we don’t really know what kind of toll the medication is taking on his body internally so a little downtime might help in the long-run.

That’s the update for now – we will let you know as soon as we get the results etc. In the meantime, we are starting to definitely wind down for the summer break and are very much looking forward to it …

[by Sima]

Bloodwork remains fairly normal, in fact the free kappa serum has gone back down to 17.4 mg/L. However, the free lambda serum has gone up to 21 mg/L … who knows what’s going on inside that body of his! The good news is that the M protein still appears to be at bay and both Drs Z and Lonial are happy with his status.

Alpesh continues to take the Revlimid every three weeks. Sometimes he extends the break in between to 10 days rather than the regular 7 days. We have considered asking Dr Z if we can lower the dose as we are now seeing some side effects and since everything is going well, we are always wondering if giving the body a little break might be the wise thing to do?

Alpesh’s hands, feet and face have gone a little darker than the rest of his body. Yes, I know we live in Florida and you are all thinking – “that’s called a tan!” but the darkening skin has extended to the soles of his feet. So, unless he’s been secretly sunbathing with his feet stuck up in the air, I think this is a definite side effect! Not a major deal since everything else is functioning well –he’s working, playing, eating and enjoying life as normal so we really can’t complain. In fact, the neuropathy that he experienced earlier on in his treatment is pretty much non-existent now.

However, with all that said, you do often wonder how the drugs are really affecting his body since the side effects are just a sliver of visibility into what’s going on inside. It’s a scary thought actually …

[by Sima]

Yes, yes I know this post is long overdue especially since I promised to let you know the results of the serum free kappa lightchains as soon as we got them!

Anyway better late than never … we got the latest blood results a few weeks ago and the serum free kappa lightchains are still above the range but are lower than the previous blood test. The result this time was 22.2 mg/L. As we expected, Dr Z said to wait for the next set of blood results to see which direction those results go in.

Since we are not really into the waiting game … we reached out to Dr Lonial in Atlanta to get his opinion. His response was positive: “Would not worry about that number. Ratio is normal and absolute number just barely above normal”. So there it is … we’ve been told my the Myeloma Expert not to worry and so we’re taking his advice for now. Alpesh started his Revlimid again this week so will continue this for another 21 days per the usual maintenance program.

Otherwise all is well. The boys have Spring Break coming up so we are taking a trip to North Carolina to see our friends Anita and Piyush and then going on to do some skiing in West Virginia. The boys want to try their hand at snowboarding – we think the Winter Olympics really got to them. No, no I don’t think we have another Shaun White in our midst … we’ll just be happy if they come back with all limbs in tact!

[by Sima]

So, nothing major – things are same old, same old – we actually like same old, same old – so no complaints at all …

Only piece of news that I felt I should share is that in the last blood report, one of Alpesh’s myeloma markers (the free light chains) was a little high (max is 19, his was 24). Dr Z said that it was probably nothing to worry about and that we should just wait for the next blood report to see if it goes back down. This has actually happened before i.e. one month it was slightly elevated, and the next month it went back down to normal so we are not terribly worried but would obviously like confirmation. The M protein is still untraceable so that is good news.

Our next appointment with Dr Z is Wednesday, February 17th so Alpesh will have his blood work taken then and we will get our confirmation by hopefully end of the week … we’ll be sure to let you know.

[by Sima]