Wednesday, May 27- quilting and doctor appt.

Quilting Margie took me to quilting – her first time. She was quite a gal at Jennifer’s big stitch quilt. I’m working on the quilt with vintage Dresden Plates. I’m not very fast, but I think my stitches are still ok. I noticed I was pooped out after about 45 minutes though. Must be all the excitement of busy ladies working and chatting and sharing good thoughts!
Even though this is a week with out chemo, I had a doctor’s appointment. Nurse Debbie has committed to going to all doctor meetings with me. She takes notes and asks for clarification when my eyes glaze over. This is a huge gift she is giving me. Jess met us there. So here’s what Doc Garley says:
MRI = kidneys are good, cortex of my bones (outside covering) is solid.
I do have holes or pits (from the cancerous plasma cells) inside my bones. The holes caused my back pain. The holes cause changes in the anatomy or structure of my skeleton. I have no large chunks of bones out and no “impending” cracks. My body is not the same as it used to be! I do have small groups of myeloma cells which are called tumors, but these are very small.
The plan continues to be to treat the myeloma with chemo, avoid radiation, then build up the bones. I asked about chromosome #13 and Doc Garley showed me pictures of my chromosomes. Yes, #13 is abnormal which indicates Multiple Myeloma, also irregular are nos 4 and 15. She says this means my Myeloma is harder to treat. We also talked about my IGA - the bad protein (plasma). She calls it a “spike” in the scan – on 5/11 it was 2306. Our goal is to get it below 378 with no abnormal cells.
I know that learners have to hear something about 7 times in order to take it in and consider it learned. Today was a good day for hearing things again. Today’s doctor visit was more of a “state of the body” meeting. I took in a lot more. When I got home, I read through the information from the internet and the pieces came together more. I felt like I could take a little more ownership of what is going on inside my body.

More effects of chemo therapy are setting in: acne – not just for teenagers! Neuropathy – numbness in my feet and hands. For me, my feet feel cold all the time. Wednesday night I found a ring of bumps on my back. An ice pack on my back helped me sleep.