Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The Latest in Myeloma news

We see the doctor once a month now, so blogging has been less frequent.
Tony continues to be on Revlimed and Dex.
His gout occassionally irritates him, worse when off Dex.  I've been very strict on his diet, when I can control his food choices!  So lately, it's getting better.
His back pain is back, but he says it's a different pain. Spasms. Need to ask the doctors next time.  Not sure what's going on with that. In the meantime, here's a great video.

MMRF = Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

"Recently, MMRF Founder and CEO Kathy Giusti was interviewed live on Bloomberg TV by Pimm Fox on theTaking Stock show. The segment talked about the history of the MMRF, how it is collaborating with partners around the world to find cures and the potential for big data to transform the way multiple myeloma is treated."

It's only 3 1/2 minutes long.  Watch the television show here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/championing-the-fight-against-cancer-aZXcYZyzRamYGesTNw5Myw.html




Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Harvesting is scheduled!

Seven days ago we received an email from the transplant coordinator asking which cycle and day we were on with Tony's medication.  At the time we were on Cycle 2, Day 14.  (each cycle is 28 days)  That's how they keep track of each individuals schedule.  Pretty good system actually.
The transplant coordinator wanted to schedule Tony in for harvesting between cycle 2-3 or 3-4.
I reminded him of Tony's swollen lymph node in his abdomen and we needed confirmation that it was shrinking before transplant.  His blood work is excellent, but to qualify for a transplant, you have to be cancer free.
This was his reply:

We’re going to try and collect cells and store them, for later use. Tony will have to be restaged to ensure how well he’s responded before we actually do the transplant. Make sure his proteins continue to drop and masses continue to shrink. We just want to be careful about how much revlimid we give before we try and collect. Revlimid is a little rough on the bone marrow and can make collection a little more difficult. So this is what makes the timing of everything interesting.

So, we've been waiting and waiting for a date and today I finally emailed to say, "did you forget us?"
His reply was that Tony is scheduled for August 26 to begin with the high dosage of chemo to prep him for harvesting his stem cells which will be two weeks after that.

We see the specialist at Princess Margaret Hospital before that so we should be receiving more info at that time.
In the meantime, we see the doctor at Humber River Hospital for treatment and follow up, once a month, which is next week.

Overall, with his new meds, he's doing great.

Next update after Humber River Hospital.
Keep the best wishes and prayers coming.  We love it.