Got CRAB?

So to dove tail on Cassie's last post I will provide you some other valuable data from our appointment with Dr. J.

I asked Dr. J and our wonderful P.A. what is going to lead me into the "Oh sh** we better start doing something about this disease" category? I wasn't that blunt, but all be honest with my MM readers and say that's where my head has been of late; Cassie's too.

Dr. J first said that the standard protocol is to observe the C.R.A.B. test. My fellow MM blogger Don describes this better than I will ever in one of his blog posts if you want the details. In dummy terms that I can understand is that the CRAB test fails if your bones or kidney start to take a beating; or you show signs of anemia.

Being the numbers guy that I am, the whole CRAB test is helpful, but what about the M-spike, IgG and Light Chains that get so much attention? So I pushed Dr. J to tell me at what IgG levels do we start to say: "It's time to drop a nuke on these guys." In MM For Dummies language the nuke is a simple translation for some rounds of drug therapy to reduce the disease, followed by chemo drugs and the final step of a stem cell transplant; in other words, reduce the suckers, take out the good guys, kill all the suckers and good guys, replant the good guys, hopefully the good guys reproduce and the suckers stay at bay.

Dr. J's answer was 5,000.  Currently my IgG is at 3,000 and showing a steady climb. I plan on pulling all my data points (3 or 4) and charting them for our readers, but I think at diagnosis I was around 1800-2000, but I am not sure.  Assuming a linear progression this time next year I'll be at 5,000. The tricky part is that Myeloma runs its course differently in everyone, so the time and more data will more accurately paint a picture that we can react to. 

In the meantime, we are considering a trip to Little Rock, Arkansas for a week's stay in one of the Center's of Excellence for Myeloma research and treatment resides. Several signs have pointed to Arkansas, so now I just need to call my insurance and confirm that I won't have to sell my first born to pay for an additional opinion.