Consult with Dr Brad

Posted on December 22nd, 2009 by Cam.
Categories: Let's talk.

I was a bit hesitant to find out my results today from a blood test I had last Friday.  The reason being I have felt more pains in my body lately, though I have been weaning myself off painkillers also.

I was ecstatic when Dr Brad showed me the omniscient computer screen, revealing that my para-protein counts were 0.5 counts higher than last month – up to 10.  This is still brilliant, and a damn-sight better than the 3000 experienced in earlier tests.

Not only this, but I have been accepted into a hospital-based trial that will keep me on this drug for another amount of time once my 11 cycles run out (which is actually pretty soon).  This news is fantastic, as I am doing very well on this drug, and the longer I can be on it, the longer I get to breath my allotment of oxygen on this earth.  I was absolutely so thankful for this news, and see it as a real gift – unexpected and right in time for Christmas.

The upside of being pretty bad with maths is that I miscalculated what my 11 cycle Velcade limit equated to.  I was under the impression that this worked out to be close to a year (thinking each cycle was a month originally) and if we stretched it out I would get about 18 months.  But, alas, 11 cycles gives only 33 weeks, of which I am about to use up my 10th, and we could possibly squeeze a year out of it with half doses.

The downside of being pretty bad with maths (or just blissfully ignorant) is that I just lost a significant block of time in my thinking of what life is left.  Still, in the light of the tragic news of my friend Steve who has recently been diagnosed, I have nothing to complain about at all.  Healing needs to happen for him before it happens for me.

At the end of my day, however, I have felt so thankful to God for everything I have.  My family and my incredible friends.  Everything I have I count a gift, apart from the dumb-ass plasma cells that can’t get their act together, but they at least have a little more time to sort themselves out.

I have the best doctor a guy could ask for in Dr Brad, and equally amazing nursing staff who have become life-long friends.  Although in this industry it is pretty easy to make life-long friends, these people would be the amazing long-life friends also, it is just that we need to squeeze that long life into a small chunk it seems.  Quality sometimes outweighs quantity.

I accidently took a double dose of chemo today.  That’s what happens when they leave me in charge of my own drugs.  So now I feel a little wrecked.  Must sleep.

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