2nd Cycle begins, with some good news...

We met with Dr. Hrom, Bob's oncologist, before starting treatment one of the 2nd round of chemo. I was armed with the journal that I was keeping, which also included a list of questions and concerns. I hoped he wouldn't feel like we were bombarding him!

We had nothing to worry about, because he made us feel like Bob was his only patient that day; even though the waiting room implied otherwise. Bob's first question was: "What type of exercise can I do?" He was told he could walk, or if we had gym in our town with a pool (at which point, we laughed), swimming was the best exercise. Then, there was the "Pièce de résistance", the good doctor told him that on warm days, when he feels like it, if he rides in a cart - he can PLAY GOLF. (But only 9 holes, not the usual 36.) If his back begins to hurt, or he's tired, he must quit.

He also allayed my fears about the "deletion of Chromosome 13".  Apparently, there are two tests to determine this, and the test run on Bob was the FISH Test (Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization), which is different from the cytogenetics test and results.  Since he's the expert, and this was really way above my head,  I went with his "don't worry about this". The next suggestion was - don't believe everything you read on the Internet!

We were extremely happy to hear that he felt Bob is responding to treatment! When we first met with Dr. Hrom, Bob's M Spike (Monoclonal Protein) was 5.3, and it is now down to 3.44. This is the test that must be at 1.5 or 1.6 before he can be considered for a Stem Cell Transplant.  The doctor suggested that he might be ready by February. What a great Valentine's Day gift that would be!

Because the Dexamethasone had caused his Blood Sugar to soar, the dosage was reduced to 20 mg on the day of Chemo, rather than on both the day of and day after.

His Platelets had more than doubled, and were now 132,000 - up from 53,000!  Of course, he'd had one unit of platelets just the day before, and the combination of infused platelets and chemo seemed to be doing their job.

Round Two: Day One .....news had been good and the day went well!

Again, many thanks for all the prayers and support! Thank you, Lord, for every good day!