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Fun Fridays

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Matt has coined Fridays as "Fun Fridays" only replace the word "fun" with an inappropriate, adult-only word.  It may have something to do with the fact that he is taking a very large handful of pills, one of which causes him to turn green (literally), while also undergoing chemotherapy on those days.  Needless to say, it is the furthest thing from a fun day for Matt! However, he seems to be responding much better on these days than he had in the beginning.  They typically just end in a sleepless night now.

Matt went in for his first treatment of Cycle 3 yesterday and also met with his oncologist, which he will do at the beginning of every cycle.  Matt's dad came down and was able to go with him to the appointment which was great because he is full of helpful questions.  Matt's levels were great as usual.  His creatinine was down to a 1.72 which is amazing! Remember, normal, healthy levels are between 0 and 1.  We are continuing to see improvement in these levels which means that his kidneys are still continuing to improve.  This is incredibly hopeful because it means that the damage was (fingers crossed) only temporary and will hopefully not be a long term health concern.   The doctor reviewed Matt's m-protein levels which are the most indicative of the cancer cells.  I don't know the specific numbers but she was very happy with the results and it appears that they are decreasing at an average pace.  They will continue to look at these levels at the beginning of each cycle.  They also added a bone strengthener once a month that will help strengthen his bones and repair some of the lesions caused from the cancer.

Celebrating our 6th anniversary with two smiling children.
The biggest piece of the puzzle right now is waiting to meet with the Multiple Myeloma specialist at University of Chicago.  We have an appointment on October 15th and we will then go over their recommendations for care as well as a timeline for the first transplant.  There are still a lot of question marks as far as when he will undergo the transplant, where that will be, and what his levels need to be in order to begin.  That will hopefully be determined once we meet with the specialist and transplant team.  Matt's current oncologist is waiting for that appointment to increase his dosages and add another medication to his treatment regimen.  Until then Matt will continue his current routines of chemotherapy on days 1,4,8 and 11 and filling in the others with a variety of medications at home.

Now that it's been almost 2 months since diagnosis and Matt has undergone 2 full cycles, we have a pretty good idea of side effects and what days seem to be the toughest.  This is especially helpful in making plans and just knowing what to expect.  The beginning of each cycle Matt feels pretty good and then starts to slow down a little with each dose of chemotherapy and other cancer drugs.  By the last dose he's feeling pretty crummy, but his week off really helps him recover and feel almost back to normal.  The anemia continues to be a struggle as Matt can't exercise to the extent that he has become accustom to and of course, the hardest being no soccer!  So for now, we are continuing to celebrate the normalcy of each day.  There have even been some days where we (almost) forgot about the journey we are on!

As always, we are eternally grateful for the help and support from all our friends and family.  We continue to be surrounded by amazing friends and family. Keep the good vibes coming!

All our love,
Matt & Mandy

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