One-Year Eval: Day Three

Finally -- my three days of appointments are over with. I have given my blood, sweat and tears (literally). I didn't enjoy this visit as much, since none of my regular doctors were around this week. And to be honest, I no longer like my doing my evaluations anymore -- I try very hard to keep my mind off the experiences I had there, and every time I do go, I'm sucked back into dealing with being poked with needles, enduring the endless waiting and deciphering cryptic test results. So I am very, very glad that it is over.

We are waiting for the results from the bone marrow biopsy, which I will get on Friday afternoon. Since a negative result is a definite marker of the disease, it is difficult to jump to conclusions without these lab results. The good news is that my lambda, kappa and free light chain ratios are still normal. This, along with good results on Friday would mean that I have finally achieved a complete response to the treatment.

However, I am not taking out the champagne just yet. As if on cue, my kidneys throw a wrench into my bounty of excellent lab results. There was no improvement on the protein leakage from my kidneys (still around 8.7g/day). There are also signs that my liver and kidneys are starting to take a beating from ingesting all of this medication over a long period of time. Usable protein in my body actually decreased significantly, back to levels prior to my second stem-cell transplant. There is no explanation on why this is happening, although this could explain my increase in fatigue. Funny enough, kidney function (creatinine) is still normal.

Although my kidneys are already taking a beating, I am going to resume taking my protein drinks to compensate for the loss.

But like I said, it's too early to diagnose without the biopsy results. I will do my best to report on them (and my doctor's opinions) before the Labor Day Weekend.