In the immortal words of Etta James - At Last....
From today's post in the Facebook Myeloma UK Support group:
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"It looks as if the long and frustrating watch'n'wait is over. Today's blood numbers (five weeks after the last set) show PPs up from 10 to 18 and the FLC ratio up from 17 to 31. Not quite the doubling that my haematologist was looking for, but close enough. I was also able to offer her two possible symptoms - bone pain in the back rib cage on the right (where I had a previous lesion) and a left hip issue affecting proper movement - very similar to the problems caused by an "extra-medullary mass" i.e plasmacytoma five years ago.
I now have an MRI pelvic scan booked in two days time, and a CT skeletal survey in the middle of next week. Once the results are in we expect to start second line Dara, Velcade and good old Dex. She now seems confident that she can present that to the funding people (meaning that my years of Len&Dex "consolidation" don't count as a separate line of treatment). That's good news.
After five years of remission I suppose it's inevitable that a stupid part of the mind thinks "it'll never happen to me" and "maybe I'll be the first myeloma patient who never has a relapse" even though the rational part knows that's not the way the world works. But now there's the hard reality that I'm just like everyone else and the future will be filled with more repetitions of relapse/remission. Nothing there that I haven't known for years but today it's a bit more real. I expect those reading this and further along the road will know just what I mean; those who have never been diagnosed with a remission/relapse cancer will never really see the same view of their future.
Enough of the philosophy. I'm just glad the nine months or so of feeling helpless while watching the PPs drift slowly upwards then accelerate are over. We're going to do something, and my aim is to blast all those mutant plasma cells into oblivion just as quick as we can.
Have a good day, what's left of it. Keep positive!
Finally, my haematologist plans to start me on a new course of bisphosphonates (Zometa). I queried this, as my understanding is that once you've had 24 treatments or two years of it, that's it for life. But she says "new line, new Zometa". Have others had that?"
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After that, tea, coffe&walnut cake, and a walk in Galleywood Country Park on a most beautiful spring afternoon:
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