Chemo yesterday, despite it being Christmas Eve, and the start of 2nd line Cycle 11, which is going to be a bit different. Now waiting to go out for Christmas lunch in a nearby pub where we've been for the last several years, so a good opportunity to update the blog.
No more Velcade / Bortezomib, so down to just monthly Dara now, which means having to go to Chemo once every four weeks instead of once a week. Dex (steroid) goes down to just 4mg on Dara day and the day after. Omeprazole now just on Dara days (if I understood the chemo nurse correctly, will need to check that with my consultant - will leave a message on the secretary phone line, if one of the half-dozen phone numbers will actually work. Not betting on it...) But I keep going on the anti-viral Acyclovir twice daily as before and Zometa continues until I've used up another two years. Quite a way to go on that.
So now it's just monthly blood tests instead of weekly, so I spent a happy half-hour yesterday cancelling blood test appointments I no longer need. And so it goes, dropping the Dara frequency down to every two-months and then every three as long as the paraprotein numbers stay good. The downside is that I won't get a check on those as often, which does make me slightly tense and nervous. I like to stay up to date as far as possible...
Anyway, a Merry What's Left Of Christmas, and a Happy Shiny New Year. And every day I remember that if not for all the recent advances with immunotherapies and fancy bi- and tri-specific antibodies, not to mention targeted therapies and the progress with CAR-T gene treatments, I would probably be dead by now, or certainly in a much worse state. So my plan for 2026 is to celebrate still being here every day through to 2027 and preferably much longer. There's another General Election to look forward to...
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