Sorry I'm Late...

...but I had hoped to have the new Plan nailed down by now. I don't, but we're getting close.

Well, it's been an "eventful" six weeks. First, the conclusion of our cross country trip!
We spent a couple of days in Atlanta and started flying back on Thursday the 14th of May. We had to fly south of a huge system of rain and thunderstorms that stretched from Michigan to Arkansas, but we easily made Amarillo the first night. The flight from there to Grand Junction, Colorado via Albuquerque the next day was pretty spectacular passing over the eastern part of Monument Valley, the Four Corners area, Mesa Verde, and the Green River. We had a delightful time with our former Lewiston friends Sheila and Jim, driving through the Colorado National Monument (huge sandstone and granite cliffs like those in the Grand Canyon) and attending the Headless Mike Festival in Fruita, CO (which commemorates a chicken that lived for 17 months after its head was chopped off...I'm not kidding!)
We were back in Sandpoint after exactly 2 weeks. We had traveled a total of 5876 miles, visited seven cities, and logged 38.9 hours (= avg speed of 151mph), fuel $1174. The Comanche had performed flawlessly. My co-pilot and I did a darn good job too. There was some complex navigating, and plenty of real instrument conditions.

I had a week to catch up before my next, and last, stint working in Great Falls. On that Monday I had my blood drawn for IgA and a blood count. I was pretty shocked on Wednesday to learn that the IgA had almost doubled in the last month! I took a local pilot/oncologist/friend for a joy ride in the Comanche and we discussed my situation. Since my bone marrow in March was nearly normal (very few Myeloma cells, detectable only with special stains) he felt the majority of my cancer now was in the mass, the plasmacytoma, in my right thigh - which I finally admitted to myself was definitely getting larger. He recommended getting that radiated (they're very sensitive to radiation) while pursuing other chemo options.
I was able to arrange for the radiation therapy in Great Falls, getting my dose every day after work for eight days. However a new problem emerged: sciatica in the left leg primarily with lying down in bed at night, interfering with my sleep, getting a little worse every night. On the positive side the work in Great Falls went very well, and I was able to get in four nice long rides on my road bike, including a Saturday ride up the Missouri River Canyon, which was spectacularly beautiful! I also finally visited the Charles Russell Museum, Great Falls being where he spent his whole career as an artist.

We were busy the weekend of my return to Sandpoint. On Saturday the 6th of June we flew the Comanche down to Lewiston to host our old gourmet club ("Valley Gluttons and Drunkards") for an African dinner. The next morning we flew over to Seattle for Ethan's Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) graduation - he received a degree in Sustainable Business. The Commencement speaker was Economics Nobel Laureate Joe Steiglitz. I had an opportunity to speak with him about single payer Health Care reform. (I was introduced to him by his daughter as "the doctor/pilot who gave me a ride in his airplane a few years ago"!)

In the midst of all this activity Mary Catherine's 91 year old father William Streiff passed away in Seattle. The funeral was scheduled for a week later in Boise, so we took MC's sister Bernie, who had been caring for Bill at the time of his death, with us back to Sandpoint.

On Tuesday the 9th of June, I saw my local oncologist. We agreed that my left leg pain was not typical sciatica. An MRI that afternoon revealed not only a mass in my left back at L5-S1 pushing on the nerves to the left leg, but also masses in the right pelvis! These are presumably more plasmacytomas (Myeloma cells growing outside the bone marrow). The very next day I saw the Radiation Oncologist in Coeur d'Alene and was started on a ten day course of radiation to the pelvis and back. I have four more days left.

The chemo Revlimid that I was on for two months had made the nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy) in my legs worse. I had to give up on running in April, but I can still bike ride, albeit with less strength and speed. With a few 50+ mile rides under my belt I took part in a local charity bike ride on Saturday the 13th. The full ride was 155 miles(!), but they offered a "half" course at 82 miles. A cycling friend from Lewiston, Mike Warnock, joined me for the "short" route. The weather was perfect - sunny but not hot, and almost no wind. There were rest stops with good energy foods and fluids at 31 and 61 miles. We rode along at a pleasant pace usually side by side (minimal traffic) chatting away and enjoying the spectacular scenery (Lake Pend d'Oreille, the Clark Fork River the Monarch and Cabinet mountains, and the Bull River Valley) finishing in just under 6 hours. A very pleasant and memorable ride.
While we were cycling, Mary Catherine and Bernie were wending their way through the heart of Idaho to Boise. The next day I took off in the Comanche, stopped in Lewiston to pick up Bram (who was in between River guiding trips), and we flew together to Boise. As in early February at MC's Mom's funeral, all eleven siblings were gathered plus many spouses, nieces and nephews, and some of their offspring. So it was another great Streiff get together with good food, multigenerational live music, tears, laughs and hugs! On Tuesday I flew back, stopping to let Bram off in Lewiston. (As you can see I'm getting in as much flying as possible!)

Yesterday the Radiation oncologist suggested that I take a dose of decadron (steroid) each day during the remainder of my treatment. Although she expects the mass pressing on the nerves to begin to shrink soon, she felt decadron might decrease any associated swelling more immediately. I took the first one last night. I had no pain and slept well for the first time in a month. What bliss!

Of course the radiation is only palliative. It doesn't treat the primary disease, the myeloma in the bone marrow. We still need to come up with an effective chemo regimen. My local oncologist's nurse was reportedly unable for a week to reach Dr Berenson, a renowned Myeloma expert in LA. By coincidence he's the doctor of a friend of mine in San Diego, Tony Goffredo, who has early stage Myeloma. I contacted Tony's wife Meg, and within a few hours I had an e-mail from Dr Berenson, with contact info, etc. He wants to review my records and see me in person. Due to limited airline seat availability I can't get to LA until the 1st of July. Realistically another 10 days won't make a significant difference. Then we should have a Plan!

My apologies for such a long blog, but, as I said at the the beginning, it's been eventful!

Phil