Beth Morgan Multiple Myeloma Treatment Blog
My life as a myeloma patient for almost two decades
GENLAB Immunology: Final 06/01/2009 15:03
IMMUNOGLOBULIN PROFILE Reference IMMUNOGLOBULIN G *410 mg/dL [588-1573] TEST REPEATED TO CONFIRM NOTE: African-American reference ranges differ slightly from those listed. Please call the Immunology Lab at 684-6939 for race specific ranges. IMMUNOGLOBULIN A *432 mg/dL [46-287] TEST REPEATED TO CONFIRM IMMUNOGLOBULIN M *26 mg/dL [57-237] IMMUNOGLOBULIN E 30 IU/mL [4-269]
Lab Report: Final 06/01/2009 14:36
SERUM PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS Reference SPE INTERP COMPARED TO 2/10/09, NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN PREVIOUSLY CHARACTERIZED (2) IGA-LAMBDA COMPONENTS FROM 0.21 TO 0.25 AND 0.14 TO 0.19 G/DL. "I have personally performed the interpretation". Dr. S. Pizzo, MD,PhD SPE TOTAL PROTEIN 6.8 g/dL [6.0-8.0] SPE ALBUMIN % 65.6 % SPE ALBUMIN 4.46 g/dL [3.97-5.34] SPE ALPHA 1 % 2.9 % SPE ALPHA 1 0.20 g/dL [0.11-0.32] SPE ALPHA 2 % 10.5 % SPE ALPHA 2 0.71 g/dL [0.40-0.88] SPE BETA % 11.3 % SPE BETA 0.77 g/dL [0.60-1.02] SPE GAMMA % 9.7 % SPE GAMMA 0.66 g/dL [0.53-1.37] SPE M-SPIKE 1 % 3.7 % SPE M-SPIKE 1 0.25 g/dL SPE M-SPIKE 2 % 2.8 % SPE M-SPIKE 2 0.19 g/dL
A blog reader sent this to me, and I wanted to pass it on.
Hi Beth,
I follow your blog and thought you might be interested to know about a new initiative launched by a coalition of patient advocacy organizations during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Led by the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF), MDS Foundation and the Tackle Myeloma Foundation (TMF), they unveiled a patient “Statement of Principles” to address the inequalities in reimbursement of cancer therapies.
Currently, Medicare and private insurance companies require higher deductibles and co-payments for oral drugs than for IV therapies and inpatient procedures. However, private insurance is regulated at the state level and Oregon, Indiana and Iowa have laws requiring equal coverage with similar legislation pending in several additional states and federal legislation introduced in Congress.
If you’re interested in learning more or signing the petition, you can check out the IMF or MDSF websites.
Best,
Allison
If you go to the IMF’s web site, you can read more about the Cancer Patient Statement of Principles. This was taken from their web site.
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About the eight lethal cancers
*Source: Cancer Facts & Figures 2009, American Cancer Society, Atlanta. 2009 Click here to support the Cancer Patient Statement of Principles. |
I was told about about a research project that’s underway. I have no affiliation with the group, so please do your due diligence. If you participate, let us know how it went.
We are currently looking for people that have suffered “oral mucositis” (mouth inflammation or sores) as a result of cancer treatment to participate in 45 min telephone interviews.
The purpose of this research is to understand what does or does not work as treatment for this condition.
The interviews can be scheduled this week and next and participants receive $100.
Please respond with interest to contacts below. If this is not you, please refer or post for others that may have interest.
Kind Regards
Jan Mallery-Groom RN
Clinical Project Manager
+510-922-9710
recruitingresourcesllc.com
According to a recent article published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute Advance Access published online on May 12, 2009, it looks as though exposure to formaldehyde could raise one’s risk of lymphohematopoietic malignancies (blood and lymph cancers).
For an extremely statistical look, read the abstract -> http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/djp096
I had some exposure to formaldehyde during my twenties. Nobody can say for sure if that was the risk factor for me though. I worked around plastics. A certain type of plastic, called high density polyethylene, gives off fumes that contain formaldehyde when it’s heated to a high temperature. We stood around at a factory with melting HDPE around us all the time.
All,
My uncle Darryl Ramsey was recently diagnosed with Stage 3 Multiple Myeloma and was told that he has aprox 1 year to live. However, my uncle feels that Chemo and Radation are a waste of time because he now knows he has been sick with Multiple Myeloma for over 10 years and thinks he is still here today because of the fact that he was the type of person to refuse going to doctors and he for years started jucing and eating better every day. Like most people the first thing my uncle did was a Google search and he found nothing but grimm information. I started www.myelomaforums.com because I wanted him and others like him to have access to information from other people so that him and others like him know about all the best treatments and have access to all the answers. However, the hardest part of getting a sucessful forum started is getting people and content. I am here to ask everyone to please sign up with www.myelomaforums.com as well because the more your stories are out there the more people we can help.
Thanks,
Andy
P.S. Beth your’re a sweetheart and thanks for the kind email and willingness to help.
Multiparameter Flow Cytometric Remission Is the Most Relevant Prognostic Factor for Multiple Myeloma Patients Who Undergo Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation
Blood. 2008 Nov 15;112(10):4017-4023, B Paiva, M-B Vidriales, J Cerveró, G Mateo, JJ Pérez, MA Montalbán, A Sureda, L Montejano , NC Gutiérrez, A García de Coca, N de las Heras, MV Mateos, MC López-Berges, R García-Boyero, J Galende, J Hernández, L Palomera, D Carrera, R Martínez, J de la Rubia, A Martín, J Bladé, JJ Lahuerta, A Orfao, JF San Miguel, on behalf of the GEM/PETHEMA cooperative study groups
Minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment is standard in many hematologic malignancies but is considered investigational in multiple myeloma (MM). We report a prospective analysis of the prognostic importance of MRD detection by multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) in 295 newly diagnosed MM patients uniformly treated in the GEM2000 protocol VBMCP/VBAD induction plus autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT).
MRD status by MFC was determined at day 100 after ASCT. Progression-free survival (PFS; median 71 vs 37 months, P < .001) and overall survival (OS; median not reached vs 89 months, P = .002) were longer in patients who were MRD negative versus MRD positive at day 100 after ASCT. Similar prognostic differentiation was seen in 147 patients who achieved immunofixation-negative complete response after ASCT. Moreover, MRD? immunofixation-negative (IFx?) patients and MRD? IFx+ patients had significantly longer PFS than MRD? IFx+ patients. Multivariate analysis identified MRD status by MF Cat day 100 after ASCT as the most important independent prognostic factor for PFS (HR = 3.64, P = .002) and OS (HR = 2.02, P = .02). Our findings demonstrate the clinical importance of MRD evaluation by MFC, and illustrate the need for further refinement of MM response criteria.
Dallas attorney, Fred Baron, lost his battle with multiple myeloma on Thursday. He was 61 years old. Mr. Baron made the news when he tried to get the Biogen drug Tsyabri to treat the myeloma that was taking his life. There aren’t any reports about whether or not Mr. Baron actually was treated with the drug.
I had never heard of Mr. Baron before a few weeks ago even though he was a supporter of and fundraiser for John Edwards. Edwards was a democratic candidate for president this year and vice president in 2004. He was a North Carolina senator whose affair with a woman who produced videos for his campaign probably ruined his future in politics. According to the Dallas News, Mr. Baron was the friend who got Mr. Edwards’s mistress out of Dodge when it was feared knowledge of the affair would go public.
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of John Edwards, has breast cancer with bone metastasis. It was discovered during his presidential campaign after she fractured a rib while moving some furniture, according to the News and Observer.