Wednesday, February 13, 2013

My New Best Friend ...

BORTEZOMIB!   This new best friend is actually an old friend that I haven't needed in my life for the last 16 months.  Well, I need it now.  I will be having low dose subcutaneous injections of Velcade (the more familiar and friendly name for this drug) every other week.  My husband asked my oncologist how many cycles there would be and he said, "Until the lambda light chain is back in the normal range."   Hopefully, Velcade will work for me like it did in the past.  If not, there is always Revlimid.

My last blood work showed that the lambda light chain numbers had climbed again, the ratio between kappa and lambda is dropping and the  Beta-2-Microglobulin, Serum has continued to rise. These markers are going in the wrong direction and it is upsetting.

Being back in treatment has been a difficult transition for me.  My whole mindset and emotional state are trying to adjust to this new reality of multiple myeloma back on the attack.  I was never completely comfortable while I was in remission, knowing that it was temporary.  However, I had hoped that "temporary" would last a long time and I was able to keep a relatively positive attitude.  Now, I am beset with fear and uncertainty about the chances of dominating this disease again.The one positive note in all of this is my oncologist said the amount of myeloma activity is still small, so I am hopeful that Velcade will be able to overpower it and beat it back into submission.   

When one is battling multiple myeloma or any aggressive disease, a fierce attitude is probably a good thing to have. To that end, I think I should be calling Velcade by its more ferocious sounding name: Bortezimib.

Though she be but little, she is fierce!
William Shakespeare 
 

My Lab Work

Component       Standard Range  11/29/12   1/3/13   1/31/13
Kappa Lght Chn, Free       3.3-8.0 mg/L  9.15   7.83   8.25
Lambda Lght Chn, Free      5.7-26.3 mg/L  42.64   51.37   62.64
Kappa/Lambda,Free      0.26-1.65 ratio  0.21   0.15   0.13
Component Standard Range 4/15/10 7/5/12  10/26/12   1/31/13
Beta-2-Microglobulin, Serum  < OR=2.51  2.25         2.60 2.81   3.03