Doing Well
Still doing pretty well. I ' m currently taking Darzalex monthly, Pomalyst 2 mg daily (28 days of 28), and dexamethasone (Dex) 8 mg weekly. Monthly blood tests don ' t normally show any cause for concern, and I feel pretty good. Except lately calcium has been a bit high, and the doctors and I are paying some attention to that. Maybe a PET scan is due, or even a bone marrow biopsy, since my myeloma seems to have become "nonsecretory " (it may not secrete detectable immunoglobulin fragments). Ugh.I like a beer in the evening, but I skip that on Dex days and on the two days afterward. On infusion day I don ' t exercise a...
Source: Myeloma Hope - October 31, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: daratumumab Darzalex DEX dexamethasone pomalidomide Pomalyst Source Type: blogs
Not Dead Yet
Not even close, doing pretty well actually, though I should post more often. I was diagnosed with myeloma in July, 2003, and according to my math that ' s well over 16 years ago. My family and I go to two different support groups, and I get celebrated as one of the long-timers. I like that, so very preferable to being dead, I think.
I ' ve been on Pomalyst (Pom) since March of 2008, with the exception of one year when the Pom trial ended. Trials of three different experimental regimens failed me then, but Darzalex became approved and the combo of Darzalex, Pom, and dexamethasone (dex) brought my numbers way back down. Even...
Source: Myeloma Hope - December 18, 2019 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Darzalex dexamethasone light chains PET Pomalyst radiation treatment scapula Source Type: blogs
Myeloma Beatdown
Blogging again.
June 26, 2019.
After a lovely, easy, three-year ride on a two-drug myeloma
regimen, my right shoulder was hurting and a PET scan showed a lesion (a
collection of myeloma cells showing bright red) in my right scapula.
M-spike and IgG hadn ' t changed, but Lambda Light Chains had more than doubled.
The myeloma was back. It never gives up.
My Mayo doctor ordered radiation treatment of that lesion, and added
dexamethasone to the two-drug therapy. Now, a month later, the ten
radiation treatments are complete and I ' m taking the dex. Last week ' s
blood test showed Lambda light chains back down to normal again, ...
Source: Myeloma Hope - July 31, 2019 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: dexamethasone Lambda Light Chains myeloma non-secretory nonsecretory PET scan Radiation scapula Source Type: blogs
More Coming
2019 July 31
I ' ll be posting again here soon.
Don (Source: Myeloma Hope)
Source: Myeloma Hope - July 31, 2019 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: blogs
Good News Again
Stable:
Since April of 2016 my treatment regimen has been Pomalyst (pomalidomide) and Darzalex (daratumumab), with dexamethasone in the early months. That combination brought my IgG and M-Spike down to the lowest levels seen since diagnosis 14 years ago. M-Spike has not been above 0.5 g/dL since August 2016, and it was 0.5 again last Tuesday. IgG was 536 mg/dL, about where it has been for more than a year. This is wonderful.
The Darzalex protocol (with Pomalyst) calls for infusions once per week for 8 doses, then every other week for 8 more, and finally once per month " until disease progression. " ...
Source: Myeloma Hope - September 18, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: acid reflux daratumumab Darzalex GERD PET scan pomalidomide Pomalyst thyroid Source Type: blogs
PET Scan Looks Good
Before I started the current regimen, a PET scan last April 9 displayed five different lytic lesions, three of them in the spine. Last Wednesday ' s PET scan showed that all five lesions are significantly decreased, and most are gone. One isn ' t even mentioned.This is excellent news. We knew that my M-Spike and IgG were down to about 40% of their April values, but that doesn ' t guarantee freedom from bone damage. With these PET results, we can be pretty sure that no damage is occurring. As we looked at the PET images together, Dr WG showed me a small chunk missing from a vertebra - looked like ab...
Source: Myeloma Hope - November 13, 2016 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: daratumumab Darzalex DEX dexamethasone lesion PET scan pomalidomide Pomalyst vertebra Source Type: blogs
How to Cure a Cold
They say there ' s no cure. And " they " may be right, but there are a lot of things that we can do.
Heard from doctors fairly recently (but note: I am not a doctor):Gargle with warm salt water to sooth and treat the throat.Use a neti pot (nasal irrigation) to clear sinuses.Take Claritin (loratadine) and Claritin-D (loratadine with pseudoephedrine) to reduce symptoms.
Other common-sense and folk treatments:Keep extra warm, particularly the chest. Especially avoid getting chilled.Get lots of sleep - morning and afternoon naps if possible. In my opinion this is the best thing we can do.Chicken soup with lots o...
Source: Myeloma Hope - November 3, 2016 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: blogs
All Good News
Friday, August 19, 2016:
Wednesday I brought a Mayo Clinic blood draw " kit " to the local clinic, where they drew the blood and shipped it overnight back to Mayo. Last evening the results showed up on Mayo ' s patient portal, and I ' m happy!
Since early April my treatment regimen has been 2 mg of Pomalyst every day, with infusions of Darzalex every week and then every other week, currently with 12 mg of dexamethasone (DEX) on the weeks between Darzalex infusions. During that time my IgG and M-Spike dropped about 20% per month until a month ago, then leveled off.
Wednesday ' s results confirmed that IgG and M-Sp...
Source: Myeloma Hope - August 20, 2016 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: acid reflux angina colonoscopy daratumumab Darzalex DEX dexamethasone IgG M-Spike myeloma Pomalyst Source Type: blogs
Bright Sun and Clouds
June 22, 2016Bright Sun:After the 10th Darzalex infusion, with daily 2 mg Pomalyst and weekly dexamethasone (DEX), IgG is down once again, from 644 to 515 mg/dL, another drop of 20%. M-spike is down too, by a similar ratio, from 0.6 to 0.5 g/dL. Both myeloma markers are now at a level never seen in my 13 years
since diagnosis, and apparently continuing down. It probably means that the actual count of myeloma cells in my bones is declining by roughly the same ratio, a very hopeful thought.Clouds:
HEMOGLOBIN: For the first time in years my hemoglobin is down a little, at 13.2 g/dL, where it is normally over 14...
Source: Myeloma Hope - June 26, 2016 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: angina daratumumab Darzalex heartburn pomalidomide Pomalyst Source Type: blogs
