July 30

Update time. We met with the new oncologist last Tuesday and I’m hoping that he will work out. Bedside manner isn’t a strength of his at first glance.

He says that they might recommend the 3 drug induction chemo rather than the 4 drug regimen. The good news about this is that I won’t have to get a port in my chest if they do the 3 drug, since the port is for the fourth drug, and I’m not excited about the prospect of more body hardware.

The downside is that the oncologist at Seattle Cancer Care recommended the more aggressive approach, and told us it was likely to extend my lifespan. But it also means more side effects. I will go with whatever the new oncologist says, either way.

Another thing is that there is a chance I have Amyloidosis and not Multiple Myeloma. A biopsy has been sent to some specialty center to find out. Amyloidosis is very rare and the chemotherapy is different for that than for Myeloma. We hope to know the answer next week.

I will be on some form of chemotherapy probably for the rest of my life. First step is 4-6 rounds of a month or so for increasing strength chemo. When they have my blood test results where they want them, then it’s high dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant. After that, I’ll be on maintenance chemo.

My rib still hurts and I don’t know if this will get better or be a feature of the rest of my life. The doctors don’t know either. We’ll see.

I get fatigued easier but I hope that as my nose heals from Moh’s surgery and I can start walking again I’ll get strong and that will help. We’ve joined a local MM support group and I’m watching videos. I’m trying to keep thinking about how life will improve after the upcoming 6-9 months of treatment, rather than dwelling on the icky times coming up soon.

Meeting with new oncologist next Friday the 5th, hopefully to hear my treatment schedule. He says we’ll begin in August.