Friday 14 June 2013

99...100

Don't let the walls cave in on you. You get what you give. That much is true
Where's Your Head At - Basement Jaxx

Day 99 : ... Haemoglobin 11.1 ... Neutrophils 3.1 ... Platelets 110 ... Kappa FLCs 70 ... Plasma in bone marrow 2% ...

My fortieth birthday begins with a quick trip to the hospital for my "day 100 review".
"How are you?" asks the doc.
"You tell me" says I.

For those of you not fluent in myeloma measures, the numbers above translate as follows: My light chains are more than 95% reduced from when I began treatment, and have been stable for 2 months. And the amount of plasma in my bone marrow is <5% (it was >30% when I was diagnosed - i.e. a third of my bone marrow was cancer). These two factors between them, mean my response qualifies as complete remission.

CR. CR. CR. Hurrah!

It's been a long time coming.

And the other counts are all OK. My immune system is back to full strength and although I'm still anaemic, there's time for that to recover yet too.

A good birthday present, then.

I also nipped into the chemo unit for my monthly zometa (bisphosphonates) to strengthen my bones. I've had a few months off, due to my transplant. I'm glad to be back on. I'm also glad to be in the chemo unit as merely an occasional visitor, rather than a regular.

From here on I will be having monthly zometa treatments, and monthly light chain tests. And we'll wait and see what happens. Hopefully, nothing.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brilliant news, a great birthday present

Tom Corby said...

That's fantastic news Alex congratulations.
And happy birthday!

Julia Svilenov said...

Totally awesome Alex really really happy to hear all the postivities xxxx

Alex Bicknell said...


Alex2023 with a message for Alex2013 - who obviously won’t be able to read it due to, er, the laws of time. Just to let you know that 10 years on, you’re still here, going strong. Some bumps on the way, certainly, but non of them actually fatal. Alex2023 thinks alex2013 would have been reassured to know that

Probably no-one will ever read a comment buried in a long ago posting. But if you do, I guess this is a little voyeuristic Easter Egg for you!

19 June, 2023