M-spike: not detectable!

Multiple Myeloma
#1

I hope this gives people encouragement to “Fight Hard!” and also gives them some hope.

I’ve had 2 autologous PBSC transplants, 2/05 and 11/06, and an allogeneic PBSC transplant 3/16/07. My latest bone marrow biopsy showed 0.06% cancer cells on 6/8, but on 7/20, the M-spike test showed the myeloma protein was not detectable!

That was welcome news, because I’m currently fighting a second activation of CMV (cytomegalovirus) which is knocking my blood counts down, and the doctor said if they kept going down he would do another bone marrow biopsy looking for myeloma. That gave me some anxiety, as you can imagine.

Of course, I’m still not out of the woods. I am still vulnerable to either the cancer or GVHD, or both. But this news was very welcome.

I hope you have some good news coming soon, too. There is a lot of hope out there.

Gary

#2

That’s really good news Gary. Good luck, I really mean it.

I have been very lucky for several years after my transplant. I almost made it 6 whole years without any measurable illness. Now it seems to be coming back with a vengeance. I am going back to Dana Farber this week. My IGG is so high that it is making my blood very thick and my heart is labouring to push it around my body, and my kidneys are really taking a beating. They are talking about doing a pheresis to remove the plasma and replace it with an albumin/saline solution to give my heart a break. Its similiar to when you donate your own stemcells. I feel like the Tin Man. Stiff and rusty. I keep expecting my joints to squeek.
The Thal/Dex combo hasn’t started helping yet but then I have only been on it for a couple of weeks. The neuropathy hasn’t gotten any worse which I am very thankful for, although I am having difficulty holding things with my right hand and if I touch something cold its quite painful.

All of these things are familiar from the first time and learning how to deal with it is comming back to me rapidly. I am still considering another autologous transplant. I am not considering an allogeneic transplant at this time.

Once again great news on the M-Spike.