April 11, 2011 - The Vacation Is Over -- Time to Get Back to Work

June 4, 2009 was the start of a new life for me as I received a stem cell transplant. For the next 22 months I was afforded the opportunity to live my life, although not free and clear of cancer, but without major worry about my condition. It truly was a vacation from the disease as I did not have to do anything but show up for my blood tests. I was able to put my feet up and, in a way, relax at the beach. It was 22 months that went so fast, I felt normal. As with all vacations, mine has come to an end. It was confirmed last week that I am no longer in “remission.”

I look at this not with dread, but with a renewed sense of determination. This is not something that was unexpected. As like all other Multiple Myeloma sufferers, I knew it would again rear its ugly head. It just happened a little sooner that I would have liked. However, that 22 months gave me an opportunity to get pretty healthy and ready to begin the fight anew. If you compare where I am today versus where I was when this started or even where I was before the transplant, there is no comparison. This stupid disease has no idea what I have planned.

In the past, I did the things I should do such as taking supplements, vitamins, adding some exercise to my daily regimen and eating my vegetables. That all will continue and I plan on taking it up a notch. I will become even more diligent in my workouts and take a closer look at what I am eating. My guess is that it can’t hurt. In addition, we will put together a full-frontal attack on the disease using the best drugs available.

Dr. Mikhael laid out three different options:

1) Another stem cell transplant. I have said all along that I would happily do another one of these if I could get an extra two years like I have had. The only problem is that typically the second one does not last as long as the first one. I might only get a year out of the second one. As it stands, I am going to keep this one in my hip pocket just in case we get to the point that nothing else works.

2) A combination of Velcade (which was the main chemotherapy that I had when all of the is first started), cyclophosphamide (or cytoxan) and dexamethasone. Velcade seemed to work well for me, but as soon as I got off of it, the cancer had a field day, almost going back to there it was when it was discovered in just five weeks. Because of that, I will likely pass on this possibility for now.

3) Join in a clinical trial. This trial was put together by Dr. Mikhael and has now gone nation wide. It will include Revlimid and dexamethasone. Revlimid is one of the more popular drugs that is used to fight MM. Dexamethasone is a steroid that is also used as a direct chemotherapeutic agent. At this point, I would have to say that this is the leader in the clubhouse. After doing a little research, this offers the most promise at this time. The article below offers some good news surrounding the use of this combination including some participants actually seeing an improvement in kidney function

http://www.myelomabeacon.com/news/2010/03/11/dose-adjusted-revlimid-dexamethasone-combination-is-safe-and-effective-in-multiple-myeloma-patients-with-reduced-kidney-function-study-suggests/

After we receive the results from next week’s tests, we should have a better idea which process makes the most sense.

Needless to say, this was tough news to swallow. The body can be deceiving. The fact that I feel good right now is such a fooler. If I didn’t know better, I would say that the blood work was botched and I am perfectly fine. But just know that I will be going at this with 110% effort as Pete Rose used to say. I am not going to let this disease beat me. I will NEVER give up.

My vacation is over and I’m ready to go back to work.