Partial Remission

February was a month of recovery from the prior month's radiation and chemo. Appetite and taste have steadily improved. Regaining strength and endurance has been frustratingly slow. Bowels are still "touchy" but manageable. My bone marrow is still quite depressed necessitating transfusion of red blood cells twice in February, and preventing resumption of chemo. Not surprisingly the bone marrow examination on the 10th revealed diminished populations of all blood cell lines. No myeloma cells were seen, but neither were any normal plasma cells. The only evidence of the myeloma was a high number of lambda staining cells. The IgA on March 1st was slightly up (from 283 to 366)suggesting the Myeloma is in the earliest stage of mounting its comeback. I'm optimistic that my platelet count will be high enough next Monday so that I can resume the chemo, and "nip this in the bud".
As planned we did a road trip out to the Oregon coast the 12th - 18th. We took our time, visiting friends in Spokane (McFarland's) and Portland (Kohut's) on the way out, and Harriet and Joe in Salem on the way back. We had unusual, Spring-like, sunny, warm weather at Cannon Beach where we spent two nights in a "Cape Cod style" hotel. I savored every bite of fresh seafood. Walking along the beach listening to the pounding surf was just heaven.
Joe, in a residential airpark attached to the airport in Independence,Oregon - is living the dream of every pilot. If the weather is nice he can hop in his airplane and fly to the coast or around Oregon's wine country. If it's raining he works on his RV-8 kitplane. Though the weather was nice during our visit Joe and I spent a full day doing the tedious, meticulous, rewarding work of riveting the flap assemblies for his plane. I also met some of the kit builders in his airpark: amazing, talented, bright individuals for whom building complex aircraft is practically second nature.

At the end of the month Bram was home for a quick visit prior to his March 5-22 Grand Canyon trip. Though it meant we were driving for a good portion of his visit, we went over to Seattle, stayed two nights with Sarah and Ethan and attended one full day of the 4 day "Wintergrass" Bluegrass Festival in Bellevue. It was more than worth the trouble and expense - we listened to great live bluegrass, frequently from groups we had not previously heard of. This was the second time we had seen Sarah this month. Prior to our Oregon coast trip she had come home for a weekend via the Amtrak from Seattle to Sandpoint. It takes longer than driving, but she enjoys being able to relax or get work done. All three of our children are wonderful about keeping in touch and visiting regularly. Natty, living just 15 miles away makes a point of coming for dinner nearly every Thursday.

Because of the delay starting my chemo, the Cabo trip will now immediately follow 12 days of chemo. Not ideal timing - I would prefer a week to recover - but still doable, and I'm very much looking forward to sun and warmth and good times with our friends Steve and Claudia.

A complete remission is defined as "no detectable disease". Though my bone marrow was technically "clean", the lambda staining cells and rising IgA are indicative of residual disease. Furthermore, we know that even though the radiation has dramatically reduced the plasma cell masses in the abdomen,pelvis and right leg, there is never 100% kill.So my situation would be considered a "partial remission". The radiation oncologist is planning a follow-up PET scan mid April. Apparently, the full effect of a course of radiation is not seen until 3 months after the last dose.

The days are getting noticeably longer. When the sun is out you can now feel the warmth. Knowing what my situation was in October and November, and what I went through in January, I can say I'm literally ecstatic to currently have the upper hand on the myeloma. No one can say how long this remission may last, but I'm extremely grateful for every single day, week, and month.

Phil