New Year New Doctor

Well it has been quite a while since my last post.  Been real busy with work the last six months, busier than I wanted to be.

I met with my doctor at Rush University at the end of December and he let me know that he was leaving Rush and moving to the east coast.  So, I needed to find a new Myeloma specialist in the Chicago area and I decided to go to Northwestern.  I met with the new doctor on Monday and she was wonderful. I go to most of my appointments with a list of questions, this doctor was so amazing she must have answered half of my questions before I even asked any.  The new doctor has some different ideas, which are all good.

So, coming up in April I will spend the day at Northwestern to have several tests done.

MRI of the skull, spine...MRIs are much more sensitive than a skeletal survey.  The MRI can find any hiding myeloma in the bone marrow before the bone is decayed enough to be seen on an X-ray.  The new doctor will use the MRI to to monitor the disease instead of skeletal surveys.  This is very good.  

Echo Cardiogram, the reason for this test is to check the heart for any amyloidosis. Amyloidosis is where proteins could be deposited on the heart or any other organs.  This would make the heart walls thicker.  The doctor wants to monitor this and have a base line.

Bone Density Test

A couple other interesting facts from the visit.

- Acyclovir is a antibiotic used to treat shingles.  I was on this antibiotic for a year after my stem cell transplant.  The new doctor wants me to stay on Acyclovir forever.  She feels the risk of getting shingles is too high and the permanent nerve damage that shingles can cause would have detrimental effects on my quality of life.

- Revlimid - My doctor at Rush thought I would be on Revlimid for 3 years, the new doctor feels it will be 4-5 years.  There is a slight risk of secondary malignancies with Revlimid, though the benefit of Revlimid outweigh the risk.  The new doctor stated she does not start Revlimid until 6 months after a SCT to reduce the risk of secondary malignancies, most doctors start Revlimid maintenance 3 months after a SCT.  She was happy to see I started Revlimid maintenance 5 months after my SCT.

- Blood Tests / Lab Work - I used to have my blood tests done every 6 weeks rotating between the local hospital and Rush.  Now my blood tests will be every 4-6 weeks at Northwestern.  This is being done to eliminate any variations between labs.

It was a good visit at Northwestern and I feel extremely comfortable with leaving my care in the new doctors hands.