Category: UNC

One of those weeks

1

I’m having one of those weeks in which I feel exhausted at the cellular level.  It wears me out to speak, even.

I have new labs to post, but it’ll have to wait until I have a bit more energy.

I think this has been building for a while now.  I decided that I’m going to go back to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Cancer Center(UNC), to an MM specialist, for management of my case.  I want to be sure things are handled properly from now on.  I had switched to a local heme/onc practice for convenience, but was alarmed at the apparent lack of experience expressed in casual comments the doctor made. As you know, myeloma is not something you want to mess around with.  I believe every effort should be made by the patient to get the best care possible for the best possible outcome.

I’ll post the results soon!

In the meantime, here’s a picture of a kitten.

Would you like to adopt a kitten?
Would you like to adopt a kitten?
Categories , ,

The Myeloma Twins

0

During the time I was in treatment, I coordinated my doctor visits and chemo with another myeloma patient who lives about 25 miles from here.  We traveled to Chapel Hill appointments together and, when we were told the only treatment left to us was a stem cell transplant, we had ours together through The Duke Adult Blood and Marrow Transplant (ABMT) Program in Durham, NC.  We even had apartments next door to one another!

One of our doctors started calling us the “myeloma twins.”

I’m really glad to have just gotten the news that Joyce is moving to Pinehurst, which borders on Southern Pines (where I live)!  She’ll only be a few miles away, so we’ll get to see each other more often.

Yay!

Categories , , , Tags

Latest electrophoresis, proteins and free light chains

6

Here are my latest results.

Specific Proteins

Test Name    Result       AB    Normal Range   Units
IGG          466          L     600-1700       MG/DL
IGM          31           L     35-290         MG/DL
IGA          408          H     40-400         MG/DL

Electrophoresis

The SPE pattern demonstrates two bands of restricted mobility in the gamma region.

Immunofix, Serum

Monoclonal component typed as IgA Lambda. Concentration of monoclonal protein determined by serum protein electrophoresis is 0.4 g/dL.
Monoclonal component typed as IgA Lambda. Concentration of monoclonal protein determined by serum protein electrophoresis is 0.3 g/dL.
*Suggestive of a monoclonal component typed as IgG Kappa. Concentration of monoclonal protein is too low to accurately quantify.

* This is new! Previously, I’ve only ever had just two m-spikes. That’s not enough?  I vaguely remember seeing this on one other report, so maybe it’s something that comes and goes.  In any case, it’s not enough to measure, so I’m not alarmed.

Serum Free Light Chain Assay

Test Name                  Result     AB  Normal Range    Units
Kappa Free, Serum          0.1380     L   0.33-1.94       mg/dL
Lambda Free, Serum         1.24           0.57-2.63       mg/dL
K/L FLC Ratio              0.1113     L   0.26-1.65       mg/dL

Still, no myeloma treatment for over two years.

Categories , , Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Piles of stuff to do

10
UNC Hospitals Chapel Hill
UNC Hospitals Chapel Hill

This has been a busy week.  On Thursday, I took a friend to UNC in Chapel Hill for surgery and spent most of the day there. UNC is an impressive facility.  I used to spend a lot of time at UNC when that was my home base for treatment.  It’s not a terrible place to have to spend several hours.  On Friday, I was able to go back to pick her up to take her home.

This week I’ve been feeding some feral cats for someone who’s on vacation.  There are three small colonies in Southern Pines that rely on this person for daily food and water. Some have been trapped, spayed or neutered and released.  Tomorrow is my last day for doing that, I think.

I have a friend’s yard to mow this weekend.  I should be doing it now, before it gets too hot.  I have to do my own, too!

On top of that, I’m watching someone’s dog while their family takes a short trip before school starts. He’s an old timer, so he’s no extra bother.  He gets along well with my dog and the cats. He’s jumped into the pool before, so he does have to be supervised when he’s out in the yard.

On Tuesday, we went to the National Night Out Against Crime event at Memorial Park in Southern Pines.  Jacob had a lot of fun watching the canine unit demonstration.  I have some pictures of that I can post later.

Categories , , ,