karl&myeloma

Today is KDd-3 minus 1. Minus 1 because I had two weeks off from therapy instead of the usual one and I start my third cycle tomorrow.

It’s hard to know what to write about first so let’s start with my new numbers that I just got today.

My IgG has dropped from a high of 3395 2 months ago (2259 1 month ago) to an in-normal range of 1086 (normal is 694-1618)! WOW!

My M-spike has dropped from a high of 2.3 2 months ago (1.6 1 month ago) to a 50% drop of 0.8 (normal is none detected)! DOUBLE WOW!!

Praise the Lord!

This regimen of Kyprolis (carfilzomib) and Doxil (doxorubicin liposomal) plus low dose dexamethasone really kicks myeloma butt! These reductions are much more dramatic than the reductions I obtained under CyBorD last year. Note that my dose of Doxil is 1/3 the normal dose each time I receive it, but I get 3 doses over 3 weeks instead of one full dose once a month.

Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve also been able to go on a 3-mile hike that had a fair amount of repeated up and down; yes, I was winded but did complete the hike. On another day I went on a walk that ended up at 3.5 miles. Many thanks to my wife Kathleen and our friends Fern and Anne who made sure I was OK throughout.

Next week, I have an appointment with Dr. Krishna Komanduri of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami to talk about Autologous Stem Cell Transplant (ASCT). I’ll fill you in after the meeting. Krishna is most recently from the MD Anderson facility in Houston and he heads up the Transplant team at Sylvester.

Lastly, Warren has recommended that I consider a port because the nurses (who have also suggested it) have had some difficulties finding a proper vein to stick and suggested I could get some more information from the infusion nurses tomorrow afternoon when I start my 3rd cycle of KDd.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for my healing.

Amen.