Back to the hospital today for some tests for re-staging. The day started off with some of the worst rush hour traffic we have experienced. One of the commuter trains was delayed an hour, so many people decided to drive creating overwhelming traffic delays. It took us over two hours to get into the city. I was thankful to have Jane as my copilot, without her I think I would have lost my mind in the traffic.
Today I had a full skeletal scan, which consisted of about 20 Xrays. Every bone in my body was xrayed except my hands and feet. The Xrays are used to look for bone lesions, which is common with advanced stages of Myeloma. I have had two previous skeletal scans that have come out clean.
Next was blood draws, about six vials of blood. The blood tests consisted of Light Chains, Beta-2 Microglobulin, Quantitative Immunoglobulins, Immunofixation Electrophoresis and a couple others. At diagnosis my Lambda Light Chains were extremely high, before the stem cell transplant the light chains were normal.
Finally was the bone marrow biopsy. I had two previous bone marrow biopsies done at my local hospital, but today's I decided to have at Rush University. Today's bone marrow extraction was extremely painful, I believe I let out a verbal scream or yelp. What was different from the past bone marrow biopsies? Today's technician stated the bone marrow had to be extracted quickly where the other ones were not done that way, wow what a difference. Just to recap, my first bone marrow biopsy showed 80-90% plasma cells, the second (before the stem cell transplant) showed less than 5% plasma cells. A normal person will have less than 5% plasma cells.
Now we wait to get the results next week, if all is good I will be released to go back to work full time. If all is not good a second stem cell transplant would be discussed.
The last couple weeks I have been feeling really good. I have been walking 2 miles a day. Yesterday I even washed my car with the help of Jane, but this didn't go off without a hitch. I cut my finger while drying the car or I guess I should say drying the engine. Jane felt terrible about this, though it was not her fault.
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