The Results of Cycle 3

We were back at MD Anderson to find out how effective the third cycle of chemo was ... and YIPEE! Mom is still moving in the right direction.  She even showed off a bit by sitting in a regular chair and walking un-assisted across the exam room (twice).  The Bence Jones is down to 410 from 734 (the goal is zero and it has been as high as 2138).  Her Free Kappa Light Chain has gone from 1470 in January to 592 in February to 113 in March to 60.40 in April.  The normal range is 3.30 to 19.30.  So there is still room for improvement but the trend is moving in the right direction for sure! Her hemoglobin is 10.3 (normal 12-16) and platelets are 112 (normal 140-440).  Her calcium is 8.9 (normal is 8.4-10.2), blood urea is 20 (normal 8-20) and her creatinine is 1.2 (normal is .8-1.5).  Yes!  Her creatinine continues to improve which indicates that her kidneys continue to improve.  

We did learn today that Mom's EF is somewhere in the 30s.  EF means Ejection Fraction.  It is the unit of measuring the percentage of blood that is being pumped from the heart during each heart beat.  This is most likely the result of the rheumatic fever Mom had when she was 6 years old.  She is being referred to a cardiologist in order to establish a baseline prior to having the stem cell transplant.  The doctors do not seem all that alarmed about it but they do want her to see a specialist.

Tomorrow we head to the dentist so that Mom can get her teeth cleaned and get her crown fixed ... then she can start Zometa (www.us.zometa.com) which will help with strengthening her bones.  

And on Wednesday she will start her fourth round of velcade/dexamethasone.  All the side effects that Mom is currently having ... blurred vision, trouble thinking clearly, hoarseness, fatigue are caused by the dexamethasone.  So why continue you might ask??  Read the first paragraph again ... this stuff is working!  Plus all these side effects will go away once Mom no longer needs treatment.  During the last cycle she had some mild tingling in her fingers and toes ... this is due to the velcade and we really, really hope and pray that this does not grow into a bigger problem.  All in all -- it was a super day!  We got all the results we wanted -- yahoo!