Five Years on Pomalyst (Pomalidomide)
Thursday, March 7, 2013:

"Pomalyst" is a little easier to say and write than "pomalidomide," so I prefer it. Today was the end of the 65th 28-day cycle of the trial, and my myeloma is still stable. IgG and M-spike are up somewhat, but within the range of recent results and I believe this is a normal fluctuation. Further, and very important, a five-year-anniversary PET scan shows no lesions, not in the bones or anywhere else. In my book, as long as kidney function, blood counts, and calcium are normal, the PET scan is the best measure of the immediate level of actual injury from my myeloma.

IgG is actually up from 1140 to 1290 mg/dL, and M-spike from 1.0 to 1.1. However, lambda light chains have declined slightly from 3.09 to 2.84 mg/dL, and if that means anything at all, it's movement in the good direction. I pronounce the myeloma stable after five years. Hoist a pint for Don and Pomalyst.

Other Results:

Creatinine was back within the normal range today at 1.2 mg/dL, giving credence to my non-medical theory that the reading of 1.5 last month was not real, but due to muscle breakdown from a very unusual amount of physical work preceding the test (run 18 miles, shovel snow for 3 hours). Dr LH seemed a little skeptical at first, but seemed to agree that the theory is a possibility.

Most-Recent Test Results:

Test		Dec 13		Jan 10		Feb 07		Mar 07		Remarks
M-spike g/dL		1.1		1.1		1.0		1.1		\ Tumor marker up
IgG mg/dL		1250		1140		1140		1290		/ Tumor marker up
Lambda mg/dL		3.25		2.56		3.09		2.84		L free light chains
Calcium mg/dL		9.3		9.6		9.6		9.4		OK
Creatinine mg/dL		1.3		1.2		1.5		1.2		Kidney, OK
HGB g/dL		15.1		15.3		14.9		14.4		Hemoglobin, OK
RBC M/uL		4.31		4.41		4.10		4.26		Red cells, low
WBC K/uL		4.4		4.1		4.2		4.7		White cells, OK
ANC K/uL		2.10		1.50		1.60		2.50		Neutrophils, dandy

Related Links:

My Myeloma		A discussion of my myeloma, not very technical.
My Treatment History		Not technical.
My Test Charts		Graphic displays of several key test results over time.
My Test Result Table		Somewhat technical. Best with a wide browser window.
My Supplement Regimen		With links to where I buy them.