Piercing to the Marrow

Last week, the cancer doc sampled my bone marrow and I got results back a few days ago. The bone marrow is where the cancer resides with myeloma. The cancer is done to 12% (12% of the plasma cells in my bone marrow are cancerous). Last year at this time, the cancer was 19%, and it was 65% when I was diagnosed 2 years ago. Here is a picture of the bone marrow sample after it was extracted. For a quick update on the overall condition, see 2 blogs down, Oct. 2, 2009.

TW3 for D.A.M.E.

That was the week that was for:

Daniel and Whitney are running in the Chicago Marathon (yes, Marathon) today.
Andrew is sick with the flu. He was too tough of a guy to get his flu shot, but we did have a real nice time chatting on the phone about Tennessee's tromp over Georgia in the football game this weekend, and other things. Fortunately, Julia and Alyssa seem to be okay.
Matthew started a job this week working as a computer consultant on a contract basis with Alamo Consultants in Plano, Texas.
Emily has moved out of the house and into her own apartment in Arlington with her good friend, Jessica. We all pitched in and helped her to move Friday afternoon and yesterday. Nice place and nice situation for her.

I got a bone marrow sample this week and Carol has had to put up with me and put in a lot of hours at her job, including inspecting food booths at some big shindigs in Burleson on Saturday. Fortunately, she gets to go to a big conference for Environmental Health professionals in Austin for several days this week.

Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!

What the Doc Says

Wednesday, October 9, 2009: I got results back on my blood work yesterday and went to see the cancer doc this morning. The cancer is still at its lowest level since diagnosis 2 years ago, but has leveled off and we haven't had any decreases over the last 3 months. I asked the doctor what I had to do to get the cancer lower. He explained what I would have to do, and I said, "Stable is good."

So for now the plan is to continue the current oral medication, steadily keep chipping away at the cancer, and maybe get a break from the chemotherapy in 6 months to a year. The doctor is very pleased that I am staying active (working and swimming), that I am watching my weight, and that I am not losing muscle mass, and he is very pleased with my overall progress.

While I was there, he also took a bone marrow sample, and I have been "out" all afternoon and early evening. It is the first bone marrow biopsy for me in a year. I should get the results back on that next week.

Thanks for the prayers and concern. In the next day or two, I will try to post a couple of graphs that really tell the tale pretty well on the cancer, and will also share the bone marrow biopsy results when I get them. I will also try to get some cute pics up of grandkids or kids.