Monday at DHMC

(Fessing up - photos from last Thursday)

(Grandpa getting warm)

It is 3pm, Monday afternoon. I'm sitting in my 'chemo' chair along with another 20 or so patients. It's always a busy place, the medical team is great; very busy but very responsive. Today, things have gone well. My LDH numbers which have been astronomically high (over 1900 at one point), have come down substantially to 638. This in response to my return to chemo last Thursday. My fever's are gone, haven't had a high temperature since Thursday. I'm still having some night sweats, but they even seem to be subsiding. So all things considered, things look good.

(Work while you drip)

One thing that's new to me is that I'm getting a couple of units of blood. With the new round of chemo, I am receiving Cyclophoshosphamide (Cytoxin), which can cause red, white and platelet counts to drop substantially. The Myeloma cells also crowd out production of those cells. Between the two, my red counts were low as well as my platelets. White counts were OK thanks to a drug called Neulasta (sp?). The Dr.'s will correct me if that's not it, but I'm pretty sure it's right. I am receiving 2 units as well as platelets if they have enough on hand. It makes for a long day. Not too freaked out by getting a blood transfusion, more freaked out that it's a donation from Rhode Island ;).

(Citrina - pronounced Katrina - much sweeter than the hurricane)

But again, today has been a good day. We had a good talk with Dr. Bengston and Dr. Reddy. Talked about schedules, chemo changes and about our overall plan of attack for the cancer. We have great confidence in our medical team; we are also involving Dr. Richardson of Dana Farber in Boston, who focuses on Multiple Myeloma.

So that is what is happening now. We'll keep you posted.

Blaine