Down, down... Baby!

The results are in and my M-protein was cut in half and down to 0.2. This news brought some relief. Although I carry the spirit of domination in almost every and anything I do, having Multiple Myeloma can present doubts and fear at any given turn. Although I rarely succumb to those fears, I cannot help to think that the reptile part of our brain can do a dandy job in interfering with our hopeful hearts, prayerful mind and souls and even sound data/research.

The reason why I am so ecstatic about these results is because I have not had more than a 0.1 drop since halfway through my low dose chemotherapy. For those following along since I started my induction chemotherapy back in October 2009, after my 4th cycle of RVDD my descend to a Complete Response (CR) was halted by very slow decline that even with two more cycles of the four drug combination and a hit of Malphalan (i.e. BMT #1) could not crack my M-spike much. Here's a beautiful graph following my Cycle #5 Results.

Following 7 cycles (wow that was a lot) of RVDD, my M protein went from 3.1 to 0.6 (Good Partial Response) and most of the other MM indicators were in normal levels except for the plasma cell percentage in the bone marrow biopsy and the light chain ratio. Here are the results following each BMT:

• Post BMT #1: M-protein down a tenth of a point to 0.5, bone marrow biopsy normal!
  
• Post BMT #2: M-protein down to 0.2, bone marrow biopsy results TBD

Honestly, I really didn't know what to expect for my Day 60 post transplant #2 results. I remained hopeful that I would be at zero, with the reality that my disease (all Myelomas are not created equal) is more of a slow progressing, which could explain the slow decline of the disease.

Lastly, our boy Nick out in L.A. continues to remind and reassure us that often times a CR is not realized until 100 days after transplant or even until consolidation (post transplant chemo) has begun. We also know of one particular patient that has followed the same protocol as me and did hit CR until a four so months after his second transplant. So with more low dose chemo guns poised to dominate, I am confident that after a couple of rounds the M-spike days will be numbered.



Quick update on the domiNATION! We have had a couple more people sign up, so if you want to join forces with any of the Lead Dominators, post a comment on the Cancer Kicker Facebook Fan Page. Currently we have individuals, families and even Corporations that are coming together to raise up the domiNATION. Here are some of the locations:

• Chicago
• Midland (MI)
• Belding (MI)
• West Coast (Cali)
• South Carolina
• Columbus