I’ve got to get back into “this” blog. When I so naively started it, I said “this blog” was for sharing my experience with Multiple Myeloma (MM). This blog wasn’t to be about opinions or feelings, but rather just medical news.
Well, that’s still what I want this to be, but pardon me if I throw in an opinion here and there. It goes with the territory sometimes.
My last check-up with my oncologist was great. My numbers remain at the simmering point. They fluctuate. Although my doctor ordered the M-spike test, the lab didn’t do it. However, the other markers were enough to report that I’m running under the radar so far. I need to update the pages with those numbers…..
My Intrathecal Pump is working fine. I’ve had it refilled twice. I believe I now have six months between refills. I had the dosage increased with the refill, but I’m still taking such a minimal amount. I did have a strange experience the day after. At first I thought I’d made a mistake in upping the dosage because the second day I could barely lift my legs to walk. I’d sat several hours on a cushion at the kitchen table, but that shouldn’t have caused my inability to even walk. I stuck it out and within a few days I got nearly back to normal. That was over a month ago and now I am back to normal. I have no idea what it was. I do find that my legs are sometimes still stiff and rigid. They might be increasing in their rigidity, I’m not sure. I wish things would just plateau…but it seems they’re a moving target. The key, I find, is to learn how to go along with the inconsistency. It does’t pay to fight it. I’m better off if I let up a bit, allow for the fluctuations, and learn when to contact a doctor or when to let it go. My primary doctor asked me on a scale of 1 to 10, how has having the Baclofen Pump changed/improved my life. My response was a ’10′. Definitely. Before I was so drugged out on the 80mg of oral Baclofen and my legs were extremely rigid. I was very sleepy and could not adjust. With the pump, the liquid medicine is Lioresal. I can’t remember now what my dosage is, but it’s something like 110mcg….not even 1mg. (If I understand my measurements…1mg = 1000mcg.) Isn’t that amazing?
My biggest problem with coping with cancer is the after affects, and in my case it’s the spinal cord damage and what goes along with it. I’ve explained all that in previous entries.
I’ve always whistled to a different tune. So when I was diagnosed with a “rare cancer” such as MM, it wasn’t that surprising that I’d have to get something rare. But I didn’t stop there. Somehow I’ve ended up with a spinal cord that’s atrophied at the T8, where I’d had a lesion (tumor). I’ve not met or heard of another MM patient having this same experience. I’ve even asked my doctor(s) – nada.
It gets to me sometimes that I haven’t met another person with MM who has had this same experience. I’m expecting too much, I know.
Although I haven’t conquered my bowel function to an acceptable degree, I’m doing OK. I’m just not predictable, comfortable, or regular. Some of it is because I don’t have a routine down as far as sleep or eating. I’m sure it would help if I was more routine. (Make note to myself to work on that.)
In some ways I feel like my feet hurt a little more or that I’m even less steady in my getting around. At home I will move around without a cane sometimes, but only for short distances and where I can touch the wall for balance. I use a cane or walker.
But with all that, at the dentist appointment yesterday, my hygenist (sp) she said I both looked better and got around better. Hey! I’ll take that.
I made it a point to “smile” yesterday. When I walked in the dentist office and the receptionist said ‘hi’ and remembered me, I was approachable. Instead of just responding I was “fine” and sitting down, I interacted with her (Denise). I had to ask her to remind me of her name and proceded to talk to her, ask her questions about her life. She’s got a son with health issues. I felt more like the “old me” than I have in a long, long time and it felt good.
It’s been so long ago since that day when I sat indian-style in my hospital bed with the doctor telling me he thought I might have myeloma. I didn’t even know what myeloma was, much less that it was a cancer. That was way back in October 2005.