SPEP Test Result of 12/13/07

When I visit the Baptist Memorial Cancer Center each month to consult with my oncologist, I always ask for my three blood tests (CBC, CMP, SPEP). One of the nurses asked if I had gotten a copy of the graph which depicts the m-spike in graphic form (it is just a tiny bump now). I told her the first and foremost number I am interested in is just the m-spike number which this month has declined from .32 gm/dl last month to .21 gm/dl.

Now, a 100 mg decline may not seem like much on the heels of 1 gm declines five months ago, but the important thing for me to keep in mind is that it is still a significant reduction of about 30% (.1 gm/dl). If I get a 30% reduction next month (.7 gm/dl), and the next (.024 gm/dl), and the next maybe zero, I am hoping this will end at zero and a complete remission (CR). I know that is a lot to hope for because only a small percentage of those on Revlimid/dexamethasone therapy get a CR. But still, I am hoping I can be one of those.

Hope is pretty much what keeps me going down this path of dealing with nasty side effects and continuing to stay active through work and play which helps keep my mind off some of the realities. If you want to get a little better picture of recent developments in Multiple Myeloma, visit the NBC news web site and listen to Dr. Brian Durie, one of the foremost Multiple Myeloma experts report to the nation and Brian Wilson on this subject.

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&fg=rss&vid=c0b76b20-48ff-4340-a01d-fd74b97dbe11&from=34

Or, if you would rather read a brief summary, basically Myeloma is still not curable and it is on the rise. However, new cancer drugs enable many to live with Multiple Myeloma as a chronic disease. Dr. Durie says Myeloma is showing up in younger people. It used to show up in people sixty and older and in some fifty year olds. It is beginning to show up in thirty and forty year olds. Some research indicates Myeloma may be caused by environmental pollution. There was a high incidence of Multiple Myeloma in people who were exposed to the fall out from the collapse of the World Trade Center.