Up Slightly
Thursday, October 17, and Wednesday, November 13, 2013:   Pomalyst Study Cycles 73 and 74:

M-Spike was 1.1 g/dL this morning, up 10% from last mmonth's 1.0. IgG was 1210 mg/dL, up 9% from last month's 1130. Though both are up, and up is not good, both are well within the range of measurements that we have catalogued over the last five years. Neither is cause for concern, yet. Dr L seemed to consider it a non-event, as shall I.

Lambda light chains are still barely above the reference range, barely, but Kappa light chains are up a bit but still normal. I have no idea what that means, if anything.

Lifestyle:

I asked Dr L if I would be wrong in saying that I believe that my lifestyle could be helping me to hold off the next mutation of the myeloma, the mutation that will enable it to defeat the current Pomalyst treatment. Specifically, my family and I focus on nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress management as ways to nurture and strengthen our immune systems, and I believe that a top-notch immune system can catch more of those mutations before they get going. Every mutation caught can mean another day on Pomalyst and, maybe, another day on the planet.< /br> < /br> Dr L agreed, rather emphatically I thought. I asked "why don't doctors tell their patients that?" She said "I do!" even more emphatically.< /br> < /br> I don't hear it in support group meetings though, and some of the food that we enjoy at those meetings could be considered a counter-example of proper nutrition.< /br> < /br> I blogged about "Avoiding Myeloma Progression" a few months ago.

Most-Recent Test Results:

Test		Jun 27		Jul 25		Aug 22		Sep 19		Remarks
M-spike g/dL		1.0		1.1		0.9		1.0		\ Tumor marker
IgG mg/dL		1300		1290		1110		1130		/ Tumor marker
Lambda mg/dL		2.61		3.10		2.93		2.92		L free light chains
Kappa mg/dL		1.95		1.67		2.00		1.07		K free light chains
Ratio 0.26-1.65		0.75		0.54		0.68		0.37		Kappa / Lambda
Calcium mg/dL		9.5		9.7		10.1		10.1		OK
Creatinine mg/dL		1.2		1.3		1.1		1.5		Kidney, OK
HGB g/dL		15.1		14.5		15.6		15.7		Hemoglobin, fine
RBC M/uL		4.38		4.23		4.44		4.41		Red cells, OK
WBC K/uL		5.1		4.9		4.2		4.3		White cells, OK
ANC K/uL		2.4		2.6		2.0		1.8		Neutrophils, OK

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.