I am happy to be where I am today

I am very glad to have good test results again. There is no way to know until the testing is completed. They will test me again in 6 months (at 2 years post transplant) and then go to yearly testing. I really don’t expect any problems while I’m still doing the maintenance Rituxan therapy. I will do it again beginning in May continuing into the 1st week of June. This will be the third cycle. The 4th and last cycle will be 6 months after that start.

There are no guarantees with this thing or with my transplant. The bone marrow and PET-CT look clean. There is no way to know if down at the molecular level if there still might be some disease. Dr. Negrea says there are some newer monoclonal antibodies available and being tested. I also read that the antibodies with radioisotopes attached (Bexxar and Zevelin) are being used quite successfully. I try to stay educated about my future treatment options through blogs and teleconferences. I hope to never need any of them.

I continue to meet monthly with my therapy group for Leukemia, Lymphoma & Multiple Myeloma patients when my schedule will allow. It is always good to talk to them and to support new members. Sadly we’ve lost a few friends recently.

I am blessed to have a beautiful wife and son (2 ½ years now). It is difficult to believe that he only has 2 more weeks left of 2 year old pre-school at WIPP. I am blessed to have a great job and fabulous medical insurance (even if the paperwork headaches take a while to resolve).

I have some fatigue. We think it is due to my thyroid underperforming a bit. My endocrinologist has upped my thyroid hormone. Hopefully I’ll also shed a few of the lbs I put on in the last few months. I have been steady at 220-225 lbs for 2 ½ years, but climbed to near 240 over a period of 12 weeks. I also need to work harder on getting to bed earlier, but it is hard when Bennett goes down between 7-8 PM. I feel like I need to get a few things accomplished once he’s down. This past weekend, on our trip to Nashville and Atlanta, Karin and I got to sleep in past 7 am on 3 days. Man that was nice. Almost makes you feel guilty.

Check back here soon. Hope to have details of the head shaving plans for “Bald for Best 3” as we prepare for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life the Friday after next.

That’s all for now,

Mark