Ok, it has been a while since the latest update, not because we did not have any reports, but, we did not have any reports until today.
It is some of the best news so far, but make sure you read the whole update.
As Jack says on 24; "Previously on" Jenny's Update, we had just finished the 4 rounds of Revlimid and were getting ready to embark on the next phase of Velcade and Doxil. That was more potent than the Revlimid by a long shot. By the 3rd round I had started really feeling fatigued and a major hive like rash on my torso. By the end of January, I was feeling tired and ready to get off this stuff for a while.
That's when we had to go to Florida Hospital Walt Disney Cancer Institute (the one 5 minutes from our house). We had a sit down with Dr. John Edwards. He told us that we need to do a battery of tests to see where the treatment has taken us since last May but as far as he was concerned, it is time to do the Autologous Stem Cell Transplant.
This is where my own stem cells are brought to my blood, and filtered out, and frozen in order to put them back in. This is the safest of all of the stem cell and bone marrow transplants.
So, today, we met with him for over an hour and he went over all of the tests. Bottom line: Everything is normal as can be. The drugs worked. He said that the pathologist looked at the bone marrow biopsy slide and said that if she did not know that it came from a Multiple Myeloma patient, she would say it was a normal sample. But if she looked really really close, she could see a couple of cells that were atypical.
In the words of the doctor, "You are as close to Zero as you can be without being a Zero".
So....you probably have the same question as I did. "Why do I need to do the transplant?"
Well suffice it to say; it is the best time to "clear out ALL of the cancer cells and to infuse my own Stem Cells back into me" while I have the disease down to almost Zero. So, here is my next 2 months calendar:
February 26th & 27th: Go into the Florida Hospital for an overnight stay to have a port put in my chest. Receive Cytoxin. (This will make my hair fall out).
February 28 - March 8th: At home, Ron has to inject Neupogen 1 time a day for 8 days (this makes my bone marrow create massive amounts of stem cells so that they leak into my blood stream. They say that my bones will ache.
March 9th - March 13th: This is the week I go to the doctors office and they will run my blood through a machine that is programmed to remove the stem cells and the blood is then returned to me. Sort of a blood dialysis machine. This could take 1 to 4 days if everything goes well.
March 14th - March 22nd : Holiday...a week off.
March 23rd - April 10th: I enter the hospital, and for the first 2 days I receive Melphelan, the Multiple Myeloma cell killing drug. Then on day 3, I start the re-infusion of my stem cells.
The process takes almost 3 weeks in the hospital because my immune system is essentially nonexistant. They say I will feel like I have Strep Throat since the drug tears up my throat and makes me feel like I have a the flu.
Believe it or not, I can have visitors. It is an isolation area so don't come if you have the sniffles.
Also, no flowers or plants are allowed due to bacteria.
Then after I get home, I have to go 3 times a week for 2 weeks to make sure everything is okie dokie.
Thanks for all of the prayers and cards and encouraging words.
Jenny
