DPD Tales

After our trip to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota this summer, it took a few weeks to get everything coordinated to start the new agreed upon regimen of chemotherapy drugs - darzalex + polidimide + dexamethasone (DPD), but the first infusion got underway on 9/10, coincidentally the 11th anniversary of my multiple myeloma diagnosis. I had a severe reaction to the drugs during the first infusion, but we stopped, got me stabilized, persevered, and got the infusion completed without further incident in two days' time.

The second infusion the following week went well, but on Friday afternoon of that week, I had to leave our elders' retreat in Granbury, TX, to go to the local ER with an atrial fibrillation incident of the heart. They got me stabilized and released me that evening and we came home the following day.

I slept the weekend, and then Carol took me to our ER here in Bedford on Monday with shakes, fever and a variety of other symptoms. Turns out the chemo drugs had lowered my immune system and I had a serious infection. I spent the next full week in the hospital, mostly sleeping and getting treated, then another 10 days of mostly sleeping at home before returning to work part-time on Oct. 10. During this time, the chemotherapy was suspended. Oh yeah, that first night in the hospital included an ultra-late night surgery to remove a life-threatening blockage in the UT.

That said, we resumed round 3 of the DPD treatments on Wednesday of last week, 10/17. It went okay, but following the infusion, I developed severe pain in the lower legs which has left me virtually unable to walk, and I only get around with great difficulty.

Suffice it to say that these are powerful, powerful chemotherapy drugs. This is serious chemo, and I am not waltzing through it unscathed. Thus far, I do get to work a few hours each day, thanks to catching rides with friends, coworkers, and family. Some work can also be done at home. 
At this point, there has been no drop in the cancer due to the new chemo, but it is too soon to make a judgment at this time. 

God gives the grace each day to persevere and do what needs to be done. As always, your love, prayers, encouragements, and other expressions of concern are always appreciated.

Our Litttle Trip to Mayo

One of the many amazing things about the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota is its art. Famous artists and philanthropists from around the world have made donations to its collection spread throughout the many buildings in the complex. My favorite object of art is the Saint John's Bible, a 2' x 3' gold leaf Bible, written with hand calligraphy, illuminations and illustrations, took from 1998 to 2011 to make, and is the first of its style to be done since the 15th century. Each day, a staff member will go by, unlock the protective display case and turn one page of the Bible so that all of its 1,100 pages will eventually be displayed. Whenever I am at the clinic, I like to go by this display 1) to see the artwork, and 2) just out of curiosity to see what passage is on display that day. On Monday, it was open to the closing chapters of 1 Peter and the opening chapter of 2 Peter. There are some very encouraging verses in those chapters, but the first verse my eyes fell on was 1 Peter 5:7, "casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you." I was not particularly anxious that morning, but it was encouraging nonetheless to be reminded of Christ's care for me.

On the medical side of things, Mayo measures myeloma indicators not done by my oncologist in Texas and determined a ten fold increase in these parameters since this same time last year. The Mayo doctor said this was serious. They also performed a CT scan and found new lesions in the bone caused by the cancer (fortunately not in structurally sensitive areas), also indicating the cancer is active. Both of which lead to the conclusion, however, that it is time to change chemotherapy drugs. While we were sitting there, she called my Texas oncologist, they conferred and agreed upon a new combination of drugs for treatment.

I will go to meet with my local cancer doc on Monday to work out details. If this is how we proceed, it has potential to be a much heavier and time-intensive form of treatment than I have been on to date.

As always, thank you for your concerns, prayers and expressions of encouragement.   - Daryl

Medical Tales of August

On Monday, Carol and I went for my regularly scheduled visit with the oncologist. Regarding the chemo drugs, the cancer essentially plateaued this month, with no significant increase or decrease. I am of the opinion that this type of chemotherapy has ceased being effective at fighting the cancer, and is actually doing my body harm with A-fib, shortness of breath, and other maladies of ilk. The evening prior, I had to go to ER with a serious A-fib episode, and the Wednesday following I received a transfusion, the third transfusion in as many months.

The doctor, however, is not ready to abandon this form of treatment. In all fairness, he needs to select a drug or drug combination that will effectively fight the cancer, while minimizing side effects such as those mentioned, or worse. Next weekend, Carol and I will go back to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN (aka "the Pool of Siloam") for the benefit of their insights on what treatment regime to use from here on.

Basically, everything is on hold until we hear what the Mayo Clinic has to say, and then get back with my local doctor. God continues to give us strength to do each day what He calls us to do, and we trust and rest in Him. Thanks as always for your love, encouragement, prayers and support.

Two Salient Facts

Carol and I went to see my cancer doc this past week. Two salient facts emerged from the latest round of chemo that ended this past Friday night: 1) The chemo round was very hard, and 2) The chemo was not effective.

1) The chemo round was very hard.  The words do not come anywhere close to conveying the reality of the situation, but no reason to go into details here. No matter how bad it gets, I have only to look around and it is not long to find others in worse situations than me.

2) The chemo was not effective. Instead of decreasing, the cancer-indicating parameter actually increased by about 30% this time. The doctor considers this to be a "bump" but not yet a trend. We will go one more round with the current med, but may need to look to another drug soon. I already had an appointment scheduled for Mayo in late August, so we will go and gain the benefits of their insights.

As always, your love, prayers, encouragement and concern are much appreciated.

The Cancer Doc, June 2018

Carol and I made our regular trek to see the cancer doc a couple of days ago.

The good news is that the latest round of chemo knocked the cancer down by about 30% over the month's time. Blood chemistry also showed improvement, most likely because the cancer being reduced in the bone marrow is allowing the marrow to make better blood.

The bad news is that the latest round of chemo knocked me down by a lot more than 30%. The past three weeks have been extremely difficult, and I am not bouncing back as quickly as usual.

The plan is for me to continue with another round of the full strength chemotherapy, but I will delay its start by 4 to 8 days to give me more time to recover, but not much time for the cancer to do the same.

By the way, the cancer doc still says I am good looking/looking good. Thanks for all your prayers, encouragement and friendship. I thank my God for giving me strength to do whatever He has for me to do each day and to face every trial He places in my pathway.

What's Happening

The surgery I had two weeks ago today to remove the large kidney stone (more like a kidney boulder) went well and did me an incredible amount of good. I could tell I was better almost immediately after surgery. I spent a few days in the hospital, then came home to continue recovery. I am now working almost full days. Carol can give a list of "good health" things that I can do now that I could not do a short while ago, and "being sick" things that I no longer do that I was doing a short while ago. I am blessed to have her as a wife. While in my mind, I know she is right, all I can look at is how far from 100% I am. I guess I am now feeling good enough to feel somewhat bad.

I went to see my regular cancer doctor this afternoon. He puts a lot of stock in how people look and says I am looking really good. Carol agrees. What looking good means to a cancer doc, however, means that I'm probably healthy enough to resume chemotherapy for the myeloma, which has been on the rise during the break to fight the bladder and kidney problems. That cancer is the highest it has been in a couple of years. I will order the medicine tomorrow and get started back in a few days. The goal is to beat the cancer down and get the bone marrow to making better blood, which should fix a variety of problems related to energy, fatigue, breathing, etc.

Thanks to all for your love, prayers, encouragement and concern!

Daryl and His Recidivism

Here's just a quick update on some of my recent medical adventures, as well as some adventures planned for the next few weeks, based on meetings with doctors on Monday of this week through today.

Surgeries:  I will have two surgeries between now and May 1. The first one is a pre-surgery surgery tomorrow afternoon, 4/20. Its purpose is to install a drain to pull off infectious material to enable the doctor to see clearly on the 5/1 surgery, and to prescribe an antibiotic to take prior to surgery. Tomorrow's surgery should last about 90 minutes. They will keep me overnight and then most likely release me on Friday as part of their "catch, tag and release" program.

The 5/1 surgery is to remove a very large stone from one of my kidneys. They will go in by small incision, attempt to remove the stone by grinding and vacuum, and keep me in the hospital that night. The next day, they will perform a CT scan to make sure they got all the fragments. If they got it all, they will let me go home. If not, there will be a repeat surgery on 5/3. So, I will be in the hospital 2-3 days, then recover at home through 5/7.

We have a name for people like you, Daryl. It's called recidivism. Can you say recidivism, Daryl? Do you know what that means?

Chemotherapy for multiple myeloma: This last round was tough, but it did decrease the cancer by about 20% (overall decrease of about 40% since early February). I will need to discontinue chemotherapy until surgeries and recovery are complete.

Shortness of breath: The reason for my extreme shortness of breath of late is poor quality blood, likely caused by the bone marrow not making good blood due to the cancer, side effects of the chemotherapy drug, and lack of activity brought on by poor quality blood (#vicious cycle).

As always, our hope and trust is in the Lord, along with our gratitude for His sustaining power and provision thus far, and thanks to you for your friendship, encouragement and prayers.