It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster since our last post. Matt's blood results came back several weeks ago that indicated his level of response from Cycle 5 to Cycle 6 and they weren't very hopeful. His M Spike, which is a measure of the protein produced by the myeloma cells, hadn't budged and his IGG levels, a biproduct of the myeloma, had actually gone up. So we were left with a lot of questions, concerns and overall doubt that this new chemotherapy regimen was working. The doctors weren't extremely concerned but did want to keep a little closer eye on everything. Under the recommendation of Dr. J at U of C, they upped Matt's dosage of the new type of chemo drug, Kyprolis. We crossed our fingers that everything would go better for Cycle 6 and his levels would once again start to move in the right direction.
In the meantime, Matt went in to U of C last Thursday for his full battery of testing to get ready for transplant, which they expected to be delayed another cycle or two because of his most recent numbers. He underwent an EKG, bone marrow biopsy, and a whole other handful of tests to prove his body was healthy enough to undergo transplant. We had a meeting with Dr. J and the transplant coordinator scheduled on Monday, December 21st. What we were hoping for in this meeting were the results of all the testing as well as a more structured, updated plan. Like I said, before entering in into this meeting we knew Matt's transplant was going to be delayed at least another month or two so he could complete a few more rounds of treatment in order to bring his levels down even further. Ideally, his M Spike level would be at a 0 but as of Monday, it was a 1.1. I will spare you all the details of what this level actually means but let's just say 0 means no cancer.
So here is really the biggest update. In our meeting on Monday, Dr. J shared the results of Matt's bone marrow biopsy and what they found was........nothing. No cancer in his bone marrow. Zero. Nada. As Dr. J stated "no bone marrow involvement." While this is extremely exciting and a bit surreal, we still have to be watchful because as of last Monday, Matt was still showing an M Spike level of 1.1 Dr. J explained that could be due to one of two possible reasons. 1) It's a residual effect and while Matt's bones no longer contain the cancer cells, it may take a while for the M proteins to leave his peripheral blood stream or 2) there are still some active patches in Matt's bones and they just happen to take the biopsy from a clear patch. Either way, we are celebrating the fact that where there was once cancer, there isn't any more! So Matt's transplant is officially scheduled for Feburary 8th. Dr. J wanted to have him complete one more round of chemotherapy just to be safe and bring those M Spike levels down, no matter what the reason. So they will begin harvesting stem cells in mid-January and start to make preparations for his February transplant.
Another great update came today and that was from the U of C letting Matt know his M Spike levels, as of last Thursdays tests, were down to a 0.5. One more reason to celebrate! One step closer to 0!
And that, my friends, is a reason to be thankful this holiday season! We hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Year. As always, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued love and support.
All our love,
Matt & Mandy
In the meantime, Matt went in to U of C last Thursday for his full battery of testing to get ready for transplant, which they expected to be delayed another cycle or two because of his most recent numbers. He underwent an EKG, bone marrow biopsy, and a whole other handful of tests to prove his body was healthy enough to undergo transplant. We had a meeting with Dr. J and the transplant coordinator scheduled on Monday, December 21st. What we were hoping for in this meeting were the results of all the testing as well as a more structured, updated plan. Like I said, before entering in into this meeting we knew Matt's transplant was going to be delayed at least another month or two so he could complete a few more rounds of treatment in order to bring his levels down even further. Ideally, his M Spike level would be at a 0 but as of Monday, it was a 1.1. I will spare you all the details of what this level actually means but let's just say 0 means no cancer. So here is really the biggest update. In our meeting on Monday, Dr. J shared the results of Matt's bone marrow biopsy and what they found was........nothing. No cancer in his bone marrow. Zero. Nada. As Dr. J stated "no bone marrow involvement." While this is extremely exciting and a bit surreal, we still have to be watchful because as of last Monday, Matt was still showing an M Spike level of 1.1 Dr. J explained that could be due to one of two possible reasons. 1) It's a residual effect and while Matt's bones no longer contain the cancer cells, it may take a while for the M proteins to leave his peripheral blood stream or 2) there are still some active patches in Matt's bones and they just happen to take the biopsy from a clear patch. Either way, we are celebrating the fact that where there was once cancer, there isn't any more! So Matt's transplant is officially scheduled for Feburary 8th. Dr. J wanted to have him complete one more round of chemotherapy just to be safe and bring those M Spike levels down, no matter what the reason. So they will begin harvesting stem cells in mid-January and start to make preparations for his February transplant.
Another great update came today and that was from the U of C letting Matt know his M Spike levels, as of last Thursdays tests, were down to a 0.5. One more reason to celebrate! One step closer to 0!
And that, my friends, is a reason to be thankful this holiday season! We hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Year. As always, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued love and support.
All our love,
Matt & Mandy
Comments
Post a Comment