Author: Beth

I was diagnosed with MM in January of 2003. I underwent various treatments, including thalidomide/dex, revlimid/dex, dex alone, a clinical trial of CNTO 328, and Velcade, Doxil and dex until late August, 2007, when I had an autologous stem cell transplant after high dose melphalan. I experienced what's known as a very good partial response (VGPR). Since then, my myeloma has been stable.

What is this?

0

I’m curious if anyone’s ever seen anything like this.  I know it’s not related to myeloma.  It’s more likely related to an injury I had when I was a teenager.  I just can’t remember anything happening to this finger recently.

What happens is, it’s a little bit sore at the knuckle.  There’s a bump there, on top, which you can’t really see from this view.

These are the distal and middle phalanxes of the left hand’s middle finger.  There should be space between the two bones.  Yes, I asked my doctor about this, and have completely forgotten what she said, except that there’s nothing to be done about it.

Anyway, it’s sort of fun just to see kind of what we look like on the inside.  Except for when blood is involved, I say.

Finger X-Ray

Categories Tags

1989 Honda Accord SEi dashboard brake light goes on

I had to have my car inspected for the registration renewal last week.  As is my usual practice, I put it off until the last minute.  I hoped to get to the DMV before 5:00pm on Friday.  I got everything done that I needed to do, and the car is good to go.

But, when I got into the car after leaving the inspection station, I noticed that the brake light was illuminated.  I didn’t leave myself any time to bother with it.  At first, I thought maybe the emergency brake just wasn’t fully disengaged.  It was, though.  I’m impatient, and I was in a huge hurry, so I drove to the DMV to get the registration taken care of.  I figured I’d deal with the brake light later on.

I checked the manual, and here’s what it said:   CAUTION: The arrow on the reservoir cap must be pointin (meant to be “pointing”) forward after the cap is installed. Make sure the brake warning switch wiring doesn’t get caught between the cap and top edge of the brake fluid reservoir.

 

1989 Honda Accord brake light on ArrowAtFront
1. Brake light on after inspection. 2. RTFM.
ArrowNotFront BrakeLightOFF
3. Point arrow in right direction,
making sure wires aren’t pinched.		 4. Brake light not on.
Categories Tags

Six years ago

0

Six years ago on this date, I had a stem cell transplant at Duke Medical Center.

You can read what I wrote that day by clicking on the picture of my stem cells.  I didn’t document it very well.  I remember feeling just terrible when the stem cells were being injected into my line.  I felt so bad that they gave me something that pretty much knocked me out.  It felt like someone punched me in the chest.  I felt sick, too.  I can’t even remember if I took this picture, or if someone else did.  Ativan. :)

Stem Cells

Categories , , ,

My new project

0

My friends gave me their not-so-new 1989 Honda Accord SEi a few months back.  It appeared to be in great condition for its age, and even compared to a car 10 years newer.  I decided to invest time, effort and money into getting it into tip top condition.

I started with the engine.  I think I’m pretty much done with that now, with a few exceptions.  The air conditioning simply doesn’t run cold after the conversion from R12.  I think there’s a leak.

I had the steering rack replaced, and I’m sure the mechanic messed it up.  The steering’s really “loose” now, and there’s a vibration when a turn is attempted at just about anything more than a dead stop. A friend looked at it for me, and says that a bushing is missing.  He said he can replace that fairly easily.

Once those things are fixed, I believe the car, with proper maintenance, will be good for a few more hundred thousand miles.

1989 Honda Accord

What’s new

  • Radiator
  • Exhaust
  • Distributor
  • Starter
  • Fuel injectors (all 4)
  • Tires (4)
  • Steering rack
  • Brakes

We started to work on the exterior.  It’s in very good condition.  There are no major dings, and no paint peeling or oxidation. The exception is the side view mirrors, which Matt repainted.  He showed me how to do everything, so I can work on the other plastic parts when I have time.

The interior is in good condition, aside from the leather upholstery, which is quite worn and has several tears.  I’ve found a local person who can either patch or replace the upholstery.  I’m considering just having the tears patched.  I tried a DIY kit, but they were just too large to cover.  As a temporary measure, I applied Liquid Stitch to the tears to keep them from further ripping.  That stuff gets brittle and eventually gives way, so it’s not a permanent solution.

I’ll post my progress.

Categories , , Tags

June 2013 Lab Values

0
Beth Blood Test from June 2013
Blood Test Results from June 2013

 

This is the latest report I have.  I had blood drawn at the beginning of June. You can click on the small image of the report to see it full size.

It indicates that I’m still stable.  From quarter to quarter, there are small changes, but nothing significant.  Sometimes the values go up and sometimes down.  There’s nothing exciting to report this time.

I’m still taking 8 grams of curcumin each day, along with cinnamon, coconut oil, flax oil and krill oil.

I see the oncologist every three months, and have Zometa every three months, too. My bone density is normal.

There’s really not much to talk about, where the myeloma is concerned.  It continues to lurk, without doing anything (that I’m aware of).  It behaves like SMM.

I’ve not had any maintenance therapy since the SCT, which took place at the end of August in 2007.

I wish everyone could have such boring reports!

Here’s the PDF version > PDF Version

Categories , Tags , , ,