Author: Beth

Hi Beth,

Very nice blog and website. Very informative. I’ll be visiting often to keep up-to-date.

I was diagnosed in October with IgG Kappa – stage 1. Currently taking 200 mg of Thal, and 400 Mg of Dex. Still trying to adjust to the side effects: sleepiness, fatigue, bone pain, confusion, etc. Does any of that sound familiar?

Dennis

My IgA is up a bit. It was exactly the same for 2 months, but it went up into the 1300s, which is the highest it’s been since my diagnosis. I’ve had a cold and I did use Zicam for a few days. I’ve heard a rumor that a natural immune response to something like a cold can cause the numbers to rise. My IgG went up a few, but my IgM went down a few. I have also heard that using a product that stimulates the immune system (like Zicam) can have this effect. I haven’t asked my doctor about it yet, so I don’t know it it’s true or not. I’ll let you know what I find out. You can see my latest labs by clicking on “my labs.” Everything else looks normal, except the ALT. Lately, it’s been mildly elevated.

I sold one of my guitars on ebay last night, and I really underestimated the shipping cost. The main reason this happened was because I was going to package it myself. Instead, I went to the UPS Store. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to do that again. The first time I was there, I just wanted to see if I could buy a box. They had one, but I was told it would cost me $47.00! Yikes! The clerk said that they could pack it for me for less. I believed that, and went back later with my guitar. After the deed was done, I ended up spending $77.65 to ship that thing, when I had only allowed $49.00. Ugh. The breakdown is: $24.95 for the box, $37.70 for the shipping and $15.00 for the guy to put it in the box. Yes, that’s right. $15.00. What it all means is that I got about $30.00 less for the guitar than I was supposed to. All because it was hard to find a box. :(

If you have HBO, I hope you didn’t miss the last Real Sports. One of the segments draws attention to the killing of greyhounds that aren’t fast enough to win craploads of money for their owners. Thousands are killed every year. If you’re reading this, I’m hoping you’ll follow some of the links I’ve provided and decide to boycott greyhound racing. Let’s get this disgusting industry shut down.

http://www.greyhounds.org/
http://www.adopt-a-greyhound.org/
http://www.greyhounds.org/gpl/contents/adoptlinks.html

Dog Fears

Despite the lack of a widespread fan base, and in the face of constant protests by animal rights groups, greyhound racing is a healthy industry in the U.S., with millions of dollars wagered each year at tracks in 15 states. Breeders in search of champion-caliber dogs produce thousands of greyhounds each year, a small percentage of which are deemed worthy of high-stakes races. When a dog is no longer profitable, there are few options for its future. Some find a home through adoption, but those who go unclaimed are destroyed. With the supply of dogs being bred far outweighing the demand, an alarming numbers of dogs are put down each year. Correspondent Bernard Goldberg, in collaboration with Sports Illustrated, takes a probing look at the world of greyhound racing.

Correspondent: Bernard Goldberg.
Source: http://www.hbo.com/realsports/

I took my 40 mg of dex last night, and then let myself stay up until 4:30 am before I took xanax to help me sleep.

Why don’t I take it midnight? I don’t know, except that dex can make you do weird things. I got involved in cleaning my stove, includeing the burners and the little pans underneath that trap all the gunk from cooking. My brother, a chef, is staying here for a bit, and he is one messy cook. Normally, I keep the pans all shiny! When they get bad, I buy new ones. :)

I also started to post some things for sale on ebay that I no longer want or need. If you’re in the market for a guitar, let me know! I have a few I want to sell. My fingers have such a weird feeling in them from taking the Thalomid, that it just feels very uncomfortable to press down on the strings. I can’t picture myself just playing slide guitar.

So, anyway, I didn’t sleep enough. I even took another xanax when I woke up too early, but it just didn’t do the trick. I’m not the napping kind of person, so I’m probably just up for the day.

I had my monthly appointment and labs about 2 weeks ago, and am still stable. I would love to see a complete remission, but being stable is good enough (considering the alternatives). My IgA is at 1183 mg/dL, and that’s exactly what it was last month.

I had my 4 week appointment with Dr. O. at UNC Chapel Hill. My labs were pretty good, excluding the cancer. My IgA, which I feared would rise, seems to have levelled off, thank goodness! It was the same as last month: 1183 mg/dL. You can see the full report here. It’s at its highest level since I began treatment, but at least it didn’t go up again. I can live with that.

Dr. O. gave me the go ahead to take turmeric (curcumin). I bought 900 mg capsules that also contain pepper, believe it or not! The pepper helps the body utilize the curcumin. Oops. I need to take my capsule!

My blog has been getting spammed every day. The junk messages don’t appear on the site, but they come to me via email, since I have the blog configured to wait for my approval before posting comments. Thanks to those spamming losers, I have shut off comments to all but registered users. I hope you’ll register and continue to post your comments and thoughts. If you have any trouble, please let me know.

I still stand by my opinion that spam would be of little vaule to the pond scum that send it if people refused to do business with them. Therefore, I think it’s the people who BUY their junk that we should be punishing (in addition to spammers). This is my idea for a nationwide public awareness campaign slogan and bumper sticker:

“Buy from a spammer, and go to the slammer!”