Wow it has been a real long time since my last post. Things have been going well, just on cruise control until the last three months. As 2016 started, my Lambda Light chains have started to slowly rise. Each blood test after March showed a slight rise. On June 1st I met with my Myeloma specialist, Dr SS. Dr SS is not overly concerned in the rise in Lambda Light chains, though she wants me to add a drug called dexamethasone, (Dex). She feels the addition of Dex will beat down the light chains back to a normal range. Dex is a steroid and can cause mood swings, weight gain and a spike in blood sugar. Last time I was on Dex I could literally go for 24-48 hours with little to no sleep, then I would crash on day 3 or 4. Hoping for better results this time since I will only be on 12mg instead of 40mg.
So what does asymptomatic mean? It means there are no other symptoms other than the rise in the Lambda Light Chains. The MRIs from March all came back negative and all other blood numbers are in check. This is just a bump in the road in life with Myeloma, first one in five years.
So, what the heck is a lambda light chain? Below is a picture of an immunoglobulin.
An immunoglobulin is made up of a set of heavy and light chains. In my case the light chains break away or do no attach to the heavy chain. When this occurs the light chains are released into the blood stream. The kidneys then must filter out the light chains. Having too many light chains in the blood eventually will impact the kidneys.
That's all for now, I hope everyone is doing well.
Tim
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