Tag Archives: spep test

Well, not good on the labs.

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Well, I figured another increase. Up to 239.9mg/L from 176. So another almost 70 point increase. Lamba went down to 10.2mg/L so of course, that means the ratio went up. Up to 23.4 mg/L.

The bigger news is now there is finally a monoclonal protein showing:( it’s at .3  I haven’t had a M protein in over 4 years so that is a bit unsettling.  Well, as I’ve said, the blood tells the story. Not much I can do about it except plan on the timing of Chemotherapy. I’m guessing when I see him at the end of August he will still say, wait.  I’m predicting by November/December will be a good time to start.  If you figure about a 70 point increase each 8 weeks, that puts it at 4months apprx.

This will be my 4th relapse( well technically my 3rd, since I counting when I became refractory to Revlimid and started Pomalyst.) so I guess I know the drill.

 

Labs okay, went up :(

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It’s okay. But here’s a picture of the results.

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So if you have Myeloma, two tests are important to track your cancer.  These are the light chains and the SPEP.

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So in August, 2 months ago I was at 13.6 . and lambda at 12.0 ratio 1.13.

I was very happy with those numbers.

In October the jump was almost 3 points. to 16.2 and 14.2 but the ratio was 1.14 so almost no change which is quite important. The ratio is actually more important the individual numbers. Sorta  of…

Well, it’s ALL STILL WITHIN THE NORMAL RANGE,  that;s themes positive thing but a 3 point leap in 2 months and then what in another 2 months?

It’s possible the myeloma cells are on the move so to speak.

Gratefully my Serum Electrophoresis is normal.

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naturally, I’ve been obsessing some and it takes me a few days to rationalize it all.  It is all normal still and all good.

Just to put it in perspective, even when I go out of the normal range, treatment doesn’t really start right away. It’s more like when you hit @ 100 or so. or the ratio becomes squewed.  I’m Okay! I feel good. So onward.

I’ll be writing another blog later on just normal stuff.

Celebrate!!

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Good news. All my labs have come back in the normal range. No abnormal protein on the SPEP test. Hurray… kappa light chains at 10.9   Lambda at 9.3   ratio at 1.17

So kappa went up slightly, lambda went down slightly and the ratio went up slightly.  All still within normal parameters. So next month will be interesting, as it will be 2 months off Velcade.  I’m thrilled to have good results and feel very fortunate. I’ll take whatever I can. Sometime this fall I’ll need Zometa but not right now.

Other good news, the Questran has really been a miracle worker. No GI issues at all.  Normal everything plus there’s no urgent , better get to the restroom.  Honestly, I’m not sure why I waited so long to try this. Since we’re in Tahoe this week and the bathrooms are a walk away, I’m feeling confident I’ll be okay.  So happy with this development.

The other good news is our credit for completing 6 years of the HAMP program has been credited to our account. So we maybe going ahead with the Harp program refi but I haven’t heard back from anyone  yet.  with the interest rate due to go up again( as per the Hamp program) in October, we need this to go thru so our payments can be lower.

I emailed both loan officers and do hope to hear something about it today.

Dinner : I think I’m ordering a pizza . It’s still going to be 103 today so too hot to use the oven. Last night my daughter made a nice tomato ,fresh mozzarella salad with grilled salmon. Quite yummy. Plus I didn’t have to cook.

On another note, I went to the Koffee klatch yesterday. Nice to see everyone. But the library news is 6 hours taken from the Applegate branch. Wow, I certainly wouldn’t have a job anymore. I’m guessing only the manager will be doing those 4 hour shifts. It’s really only a matter time before they close Applegate. Actually, I was pretty shocked since with the other 2 branches closing I thought Applegate would get more hours.  Plus the hours are only going to keep circulation down since it’ll be 10-2. No after school, no working people. That will, of course, eventually support that circulation is so low, we need to close this branch.It’s a shame really to see this happen but it doesn’t surprise me with the current administration. Oh well, I have backed away and feel good about supporting Nevada County libraries. I love libraries and am always grateful  for their existence.

Friday stuff, doctor update!

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It’s been kinda a weird week. Last weekend I noticed having pain after i urinated.. Hummmm, so Monday off I go to my GP. Sure enough I have a bladder infection. Hummm, how. Well, it’s not pleasant but if you have a lot of diarehea, well, I guess you can put 2 and 2 together. So, today’s my last antibiotic. I don’t think , that I can remember , ever having a bladder infection. Well, live and learn.
So, since I had a low grade fever I didn’t work Tuesday, which means I lose 4 hours. Oh, well, it’s also a hard day as the other branch’s extra person was gone on vacation. It’s always something.

So, we looked at some more cars for my daughter on Wednesday. We eliminated the Impresa subaru. I’d love for her to find an outback, but they are way too expensive and used ones are really hard to find without a million miles on them.
So, I think we’ve narrowed it down to a Honda CRV. It’s a nice small size suv. And it has AWD. We looked at a 2007. I’d like to see if we can find one just a little newer. But , they are hard to find too.

So, doctor visit update. My kappa light chains are the same @ 780, lamda @16 , ratio @ 48. Still high but all other indicators are normal . Well my mprotein went up a bit to .5
He thinks one, I had the infection, two, we reduced my dex dosage and that will certainly have an effect.
I’m okay with it all. He says he does think the revlimid is still working so, I just started the next cycle. Also, I am IgG kappa myeloma. I actually never knew that. Or maybe he never told me. I don’t remember? Any Maybe so.

Anyway, like I said I’m ok with it right now, we’re monitoring every month and any sudden changes would be known pretty quick.
I’m off to the library in a bit. I missed it this week and am anxious to hear what’s new.
It’s cloudy but warm here @ 65-70 no rain.
I may drive my daughters VW to check whether I want to keep it as my car. I so love my van but I also love vws so… I buy it from her and then she’d use that money as part of her down payment.it has had some problems in the past but it has low miles and she just bought tires and did the timing belt which was. $700″bill.
Unless they gave us a great trade in ( unlikely) I’d maybe want to keep it or sell it privately.
Well, that’s it. The JKWP is at 653 continuous days of walking.

Wednesday stuff

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Well, it was my doctor appointment. It went well, nothing new. Didn’t get my SPEP test results back so maybe tomorrow. It’s the main reason to go. Blood work otherwise was good. I’ll get my revlimid delivered tomorrow . The only main problem, is my gastro intestinal issues. He said try some Metamucil . Anyone do that for diarrhea ? 

We stopped at our local feed store and bought 5 more chicks. Since I’ve been selling eggs, we need more chicks . Plus a few have been coyoted.;(  So, I love sharing our eggs. Our chickens have almost our whole fenced yard and are very happy. If you can don’t ever buy and eat commercial eggs. It’s pretty horrible what the industry does. Go to your local farmers market or find someone like me who sells. I sell a dozen for $3.00. The farmers market is @7.50. So , do your part and don’t support commercial egg farmers. 

We have 7 days till the big day.!! Wow. A year of walking every single day!

November 2. :(

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Well, the nurse called late yesterday. M-protein still at .5

Im disappointed but at least it’s not going up. But is revlimid doing anything? Is it keeping me stable at this number. 

I don’t really know. I guess we all want to see results when we take chemo drugs, but it doesnt always happen. That’s 3 months on revlimid. So I guess well just go forward and see how the next 2 cycles are. 

Depressed but I’ll get over it.