I still have a cold. It seems to get better, then get worse. Today is one of those days where it’s worse. I think it was better while I was taking dex! Today is my first day off, and my lungs feel terrible. That’s all I feel like writing at the moment. More later.
Category: Life
Life
Today I started my 6th cycle of Revlimid and dexamethasone. I’m on standard dose dex now, which is 40 mg a day on days 1-4. I take the Revlimid for 21 days. The last 2 months, my blood tests have shown my MM to be stable and at a quite low level. In May, IgA = 488 mg/dL, with two M-spikes: 0.1 and 0.2. In April, it was just a few mg/dL higher (493) and the M-spikes were the same.
I want to make one thing clear for people who are searching for the Beth Morgan who is a porn star. I’m not that Beth Morgan. I’m the one who has myeloma. Frankly, I’d rather have myeloma than be a porn star. So, if you landed here because you were searching for that Beth Morgan, move along — or better yet, learn something about myeloma and make a contribution to the International Myeloma Foundation.
I hardly slept last night, but I made up for it today. I slept well from 7 am until 1 pm. Every bone and muscle aches, it seems, and I have a sore throat and sinus congestion. Believe it or not, I made through all of 2005 (except the beginning of January) without catching a cold.
I’m just going to take it easy until I feel better. I’m sad that I can’t swim today, but I think that wouldn’t be good for me. Maybe I’m wrong. If there are rules about colds and swimming, I don’t know them.
I had a migraine day today. It started last night and was still there when I woke up this morning. I took every kind of pain reliever I have and some ativan, too. I feel better than I did this morning, but not normal yet. I think I’m just going to go to bed & assume it will be gone tomorrow. I’m sure it will be. I’ve never had one of these last much more than 24 hours. I didn’t even swim today. :(
My forecast for today is hot and partly swimmy. I have to be careful about being in the sun too much. I use sunscreen, but forget to keep reapplying it. Then I get burned.
Yesterday was fun. Jacob came over and we spent a couple of hours outside playing. It’s fun to toss him into the pool. He likes it, anyway. We went to see Elyssa at her dance recital, which was also fun. There was a beach theme. The music was mostly Beach Boys. After it was over, we all went to dinner.
Friday, I was kind of bored, but then Dar called and we went to dinner. She loves Kenny Chesney. I’ve never liked country music. Tickets went on sale for a concert in Raleigh in August on Saturday morning. She got up at 4 am and went to wait in line. Within 5 minutes they were sold out. Within a few more minutes, they were on eBay, going for 2-3 times face value. In North Carolina, that’s a class 2 misdemeanor. It’s called ticket scapling, whether it’s done online or in a parking lot or street corner. I actually think it should be more than a misdemeanor.
We’ve been having great weather here. It’s not quite warm enough to swim, but I do it anyway. Once the initial shock of the cold wears off, it’s fun. What’s more fun is when the kids are here. We have a floating basketball thingy to play with, for one thing.
My dog has shown no interest in being in the water. I think it has to be disgusting, smelly and muddy for him to want to jump in. I’m not sure I want to encourage him to be in the pool.
We’re doing a lot of work on the yard. It’s no longer looking so much like a construction site. I planted stuff, and am hoping it doesn’t all die. I’m trying to pay more attention to taking care of the things that live in my yard.
I’ve been very, very crabby lately. I think it’s because I just came off of 4 months of high dose dex. I’m not sure. I’ll have to report this to my doctor when I see him next week. I don’t want to take more dex, so that’s not a solution to the problem. I also think that I may be having a hard time dealing with a cancer for which there’s no cure. For me, it’s been 3+ years of constant treatment and I haven’t been able to stop without seeing my IgA take off. It makes me consider, more and more, doing a stem cell transplant. I’ll see Dr. Durie in August at the IMF patient & family seminar, so I can ask him what he thinks. He has told me before that my MM isn’t aggressive enough to warrant a SCT. I wonder about my QOL though. SCT could possibly give me years of remission (or not — who knows?). I still have a few more month on this Rev/dex EAP, so I will stay on that until the drug is no longer free.
I apologize to friends & family to whom I’ve been short or have been ignoring in an effort to avoid having to interact with people. I need this time to myself and it’s better that I not offend people for now. I hope you’ll understand!