All Others Will Be Toad
Author: Jothi
Labs 12/1/23
My blood is back from the vampires. I haven’t had any run for two months now, so that was a change for me. I wasn’t having any test fears (Scanxiety) that a person can sometimes get, but I have been wondering how my numbers are looking.
I was especially wondering if my m band was a one month wonder or if I was going to sustain things, even though I cut out one of the maintenance chemos. I’ve been feeling pretty good, so my guess was that it’s still zero, and it is.
My reds (red blood cells) are still challenged. I was expecting them to get a boost since I dropped the cytoxan, but that wasn’t the case. I wouldn’t want things to get too easy, it’s best to be short on oxygen for a challenge 😜. Although my mcv is at the top, which means my red blood cells are large, so there can be fewer of them.
They also ran a blood test to check out my heart, which I was happy about since it’s possible carfilzomib can damage the heart. I had been wondering if anyone was monitoring things because I hadn’t seen any evidence of it so far. Thankfully, it tested normal.
Anyhow, here are the numbers:
KAPPA LIGHT CHAIN FREE
Normal range: 3.30 – 19.40 mg
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2023 | 3.06mg/L | 3.3 – 19.4 mg/L |
| Oct 7, 2023 | 5.2mg/L | 3.3 – 19.4 mg/L |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 5.32mg/L | 3.3 – 19.4 mg/L |
LAMBDA LIGHT CHAIN FREE, SERPL
Normal range: 5.71 – 26.30 mg/L
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2023 | 2.01mg/L | 5.71 – 26.3 mg/L |
| Oct 7, 2023 | 3.03mg/L | 5.71 – 26.3 mg/L |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 2.66mg/L | 5.71 – 26.3 mg/L |
KAPP/LAMB FR
Normal range: 0.26 – 1.65
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2023 | 1.52 | 0.26 – 1.65 |
| Oct 7, 2023 | 1.72 | 0.26 – 1.65 |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 2 | 0.26 – 1.65 |
WBC
Normal range: 3.7 – 11.1 K/uL
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2023 | 4.4K/uL | 3.7 – 11.1 K/uL |
| Oct 5, 2023 | 4.9K/uL | 3.7 – 11.1 K/uL |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 4.8K/uL | 3.7 – 11.1 K/uL |
RBC’S
Normal range: 4.10 – 5.70 M/uL
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2023 | 2.9M/uL | 4.1 – 5.7 M/uL |
| Oct 5, 2023 | 3.15M/uL | 4.1 – 5.7 M/uL |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 3.19M/uL | 4.1 – 5.7 M/uL |
HGB
Normal range: 13.0 – 17.0 g/dL
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2023 | 10.5g/dL | 13 – 17 g/dL |
| Oct 5, 2023 | 11.3g/dL | 13 – 17 g/dL |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 11.3g/dL | 13 – 17 g/dL |
HCT
Normal range: 39.0 – 51.0 %
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2023 | 29% | 39 – 51 % |
| Oct 5, 2023 | 31.2% | 39 – 51 % |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 31.9% | 39 – 51 % |
MCV
Normal range: 80 – 100 fL
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2023 | 100fL | 80 – 100 fL |
| Oct 5, 2023 | 99fL | 80 – 100 fL |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 100fL | 80 – 100 fL |
PLT
Normal range: 140 – 400 K/uL
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2023 | 109K/uL | 140 – 400 K/uL |
| Oct 5, 2023 | 116K/uL | 140 – 400 K/uL |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 150K/uL | 140 – 400 K/uL |
PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS INTERPRETATION, SERUM – No Homogeneous Band Or Spike Seen.
B type natriuretic protein Normal value: <=100 pg/mL
Value 43
>= 100 pg/ml may be associated with congestive heart failure. Other causes should be excluded. < 100 pg/ml clinically significant congestive heart failure unlikely. Clinical correlation required.
Just Over It Mindset
I was reading another myeloma blog today. The author, who has had myeloma for over ten years, was expressing his feelings of just being over it at this point.
I’ve been aware of the “just over it” concept for a while. I’ve seen in other people who had cancer, and I’ve seen it in older people who had lived long enough, having had their fill of life’s experiences.
An interesting thought popped into my head. I wondered what would be better, having a cancer like myeloma that can last years, or have a different cancer that just wraps up your lifespan rather quickly. It’s hard to be over it, when you don’t get the time to be over it.
I suppose it matters greatly on the person, their age, and how much they want to keep living. Not that you always have any measure of control over things. I’ve seen too many stories, such as an example, of a parent of young children, who develop cancer and are no longer with us, who probably would have rather kept living.
Time toxicity is something very real. I think the first time I heard of the concept was from reading an article by an oncologist. Basically, time toxicity in cancer is taking a chemotherapy that they can estimate, will add X amount of time to your lifespan. You gain X amount of time, but you will spend 3/4 of that time driving to the therapy, waiting for the therapy, getting the therapy, being sick from the therapy, getting tests for the therapy, etc etc…
So the end result is gaining a small amount of good lifespan.
Which leads back to the “just over it” mindset. If you are getting to that point, I think it’s important to review what your reasons for doing what you are doing are, and what you have to be grateful for in your life. Then it becomes easier to see what your effort is worth. And if it’s not worth it to you anymore, I think it’s ok just to be over it and move on from your body. It’s a personal and family choice.
I’m personally, not “over it”. Although, on chemo days, when I feel like crap, I do find myself asking the question, “is this worth it”. The answer is always “yes”, but I can see the perspective of “just being over it”.
Anyhow, that’s my random thought for today. Blood test tomorrow, maintenance chemo the following day. I only have blood tests every 2 months now, which is great. I’ll share the results when I have them.
Mighty Mung Beans
Mung beans oh mung beans. I love mung beans so much, that’s the title of the song I made up for them that I sing when I cook them (mainly to make my children roll their eyes).
This legume is a powerhouse that is a staple in Asia, and it definitely doesn’t get its recognition here in the West. To put it into perspective, I almost feel like it’s the corn or wheat of Asia, except it’s so much better for you.
You can make soups, deserts, noodles, snacks, and of course, bean sprouts, which is probably how most westerners eat them, maybe without knowing what they are.
Human cultivation of mung beans started about 4500 years ago in India. It is easy to cook, easily digestible and nutrient dense. All those traits are super important for all people and extremely important for people who are going through cancer.
In both Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, mung beans are very cleansing and rejuvenating for the body and its organs. Who wouldn’t want that? They have been a constant companion on my health and cancer journey. I eat 1/2 of a cup of them every day.
This nutritional chart is for 3.5 ounces. 3.5 ounces is about half a cup. Talk about a nutritional powerhouse wrapped up in this tiny little legume. Protein, vitamins and minerals. It’s pretty ridiculous how good these are for you.
Just to remind you, 50 grams of protein is the recommended daily amount for an adult, and you can get more than half of that from less than half a cup.
My brother recently went to Thailand and sent me this picture because I’m such a mung bean fan. It is a desert made from mung beans. They look pretty awesome and quite different from a small green bean. Their use is only limited to a person’s imagination.
Here is my simple mung soup recipe (I do have a deluxe version as well).
- Soak overnight 1/2 a cup of mung beans
- Rinse well when ready to cook.
- Add the mung beans to a pot with 2 cups of water.
- Add a pinch of Asafoetida
- Add a pinch of ground black pepper
- Add 1/2 a teaspoon of each of cumin powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder (turmeric is anti-cancer, especially myeloma).
- Chop and add half of a small onion
- Grate and add one knuckle of ginger (two inches)
- Stir in a teaspoon of coconut oil
- Bring to a boil. Mung beans will be cooked when the beans start cracking open and are soft.
- Add salt to taste
It’s pretty easy to make. I encourage you to try to incorporate these little wonders into your diet, and maybe they will do something wonderful for you.
Life Is Too Short
Gratitude
With a morning like this one today, you can’t help being happy to be alive. Mother Nature is amazing.
Zero
I had some big news with this set of labs. I was actually on a video visit with my myeloma specialist when the rest of my labs finally showed up. My wife and I quickly scrolled through them to see if there was anything that we wanted to ask the doctor about.
When we saw the myeloma marker M-band test, we both raised an eyebrow.
“No Homogeneous Band Or Spike Seen”
“Does that mean what I think it means?” I asked the doctor.
“Yes, your M-band reached zero and that’s a very good sign. With that result, it is probable that an MRD test would show zero myeloma cells in a million now.”
!!!!!!!!! (Inside of me)
For Non myelomers, basically what it means is, the cancer is no longer detectable from a blood test. It doesn’t mean I’m cancer free, there is just isn’t enough of it anymore to register. We are going to do another bone marrow MRD test in January, which is a lot more sensitive.
Honestly, I had given up on hitting zero for now, since I didn’t achieve it with the bone marrow transplant.
Then he went on talking about this, that and the other thing. The visit ended and a few minutes later, it really started to sink in. A wave of emotions hit me like a truck. I don’t even know what emotions I had, but it was overwhelming. Happiness? Joy? Relief? Exhaustion? I broke down crying.
An oncologist once told me that only 50% of myeloma patients are able to achieve a zero reading on their M-band, and even less in people who have my myeloma genetics. I’m not tooting my own horn, I’m just trying to convey what it means to me. It’s been one of my goals since the beginning.
I’ve been trying to achieve this result for over 4 years. The number 4 doesn’t sound very large, but it’s been nonstop for me. It’s over 1500 days of trying. Over 36,000 hours of trying to get zero.
Literally drinking thousands of carrots and beets. Hundreds of needle jabs. Days sweating in the sauna. Fevers, throwing up. Truck loads of vegetables. Bags and bags of IVs. Fatigue, like I’m walking up Everest without oxygen. Pounds of turmeric. How am I painting my picture?
I suppose I won’t actually know what ended up flipping the switch for me. Was it just the constant ponding from the chemo that did it? Did adding in the bacteria help? I won’t say I was just lucky, because I don’t believe in randomness when it comes to health. There is a reason, I just won’t ever know the reason.
I know full well that it’s possible it could only be for one month and I could have a reading next month, but I will take my small victory. It’s only a stepping stone for me, with still lots of work to go. I can’t let off the gas. I need to have repeat readings and prolong results of zero.
My other news is, that the Doc and I agreed that I would stop taking the cytoxan and just stay on the carfilzomib. I really can’t stand the cytoxan and I feel intuitively I should stop. It can be a bit scary to stop something that maybe helped stomp the myeloma. But, making decisions based of fear, is something that I try not to do. So, I’m going with my gut (also literally, since it’s shredding my digestive system).
Anyhow, here are some other labs results. My provider changed their system, which made it more difficult to transfer results over. I just picked the main ones I thought people would want to see.
I’m off to go eat some vegetables…..
WBC
Normal range: 3.7 – 11.1 K/uL
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 2023 | 4.9K/uL | 3.7 – 11.1 K/uL |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 4.8K/uL | 3.7 – 11.1 K/uL |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 3.8K/uL | 3.7 – 11.1 K/uL |
| Jul 30, 2023 | 4.1K/uL | 3.7 – 11.1 K/uL |
| Jun 9, 2023 | 6.6K/uL | 3.7 – 11.1 K/uL |
RBC’S
Normal range: 4.10 – 5.70 M/uL
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 2023 | 3.15M/uL | 4.1 – 5.7 M/uL |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 3.19M/uL | 4.1 – 5.7 M/uL |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 3.25M/uL | 4.1 – 5.7 M/uL |
| Jul 30, 2023 | 3.57M/uL | 4.1 – 5.7 M/uL |
| Jun 9, 2023 | 3.65M/uL | 4.1 – 5.7 M/uL |
HCTNormal range: 39.0 – 51.0 %
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 2023 | 31.2% | 39 – 51 % |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 31.9% | 39 – 51 % |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 30.9% | 39 – 51 % |
| Jul 30, 2023 | 32.7% | 39 – 51 % |
| Jun 9, 2023 | 35.2% | 39 – 51 % |
RDW, RBC
Normal range: 12.0 – 16.5 %
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 2023 | 12.9% | 12 – 16.5 % |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 14.2% | 12 – 16.5 % |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 13.8% | 12 – 16.5 % |
| Jul 30, 2023 | 13.5% | 12 – 16.5 % |
| Jun 9, 2023 | 13.3% | 12 – 16.5 % |
PLT
Normal range: 140 – 400 K/uL
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 2023 | 116K/uL | 140 – 400 K/uL |
| Sep 8, 2023 | 150K/uL | 140 – 400 K/uL |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 127K/uL | 140 – 400 K/uL |
| Jul 30, 2023 | 129K/uL | 140 – 400 K/uL |
| Jun 9, 2023 | 109K/uL | 140 – 400 K/uL |
KAPPA LIGHT CHAIN FREE Normal range: 3.30 – 19.40 mg/L
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 2023 | 5.2mg/L | 3.3 – 19.4 mg/L |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 5.32mg/L | 3.3 – 19.4 mg/L |
| Jun 9, 2023 | 6.78mg/L | 3.3 – 19.4 mg/L |
| Mar 2, 2023 | 3.91mg/L | 3.3 – 19.4 mg/L |
| Feb 3, 2023 | 2.14mg/L | 3.3 – 19.4 mg/L |
LAMBDA LIGHT CHAIN FREE, SERPL
Normal range: 5.71 – 26.30 mg/L
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 2023 | 3.03mg/L | 5.71 – 26.3 mg/L |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 2.66mg/L | 5.71 – 26.3 mg/L |
| Jun 9, 2023 | 3.86mg/L | 5.71 – 26.3 mg/L |
| Mar 2, 2023 | 3.45mg/L | 5.71 – 26.3 mg/L |
| Feb 3, 2023 | 2.92mg/L | 5.71 – 26.3 mg/L |
KAPP/LAMB FR
Normal range: 0.26 – 1.65
| Date | Value | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 2023 | 1.72 | 0.26 – 1.65 |
| Aug 25, 2023 | 2 | 0.26 – 1.65 |
| Jun 9, 2023 | 1.76 | 0.26 – 1.65 |
| Mar 2, 2023 | 1.13 | 0.26 – 1.65 |
| Feb 3, 2023 | 0.73 | 0.26 – 1.65 |
PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS INTERPRETATION, SERUM
No Homogeneous Band Or Spike Seen!!!!!!!!
The Thing Is… About Sauerkraut
I was eating some sauerkraut with my dinner last week. It’s part of my bacteria quest that I wrote about a little while ago. I was sitting there thinking to myself,
“Boy, this is great. I’m eating this food to help out my good bacteria population and maybe help heal my gut and who knows what else!”
Then an image popped into my head, of my grandmother canning up her soup in mason jars from years ago. I remember it taking heat to cause those lids to pop down and seal.
Hmmm….. heat kills bacteria 🤔. This store bought organic sauerkraut is from a sealed jar. Is there any other ways of sealing a jar other than from heat?
Probably not?
A quick internet search about sauerkraut and the sealing process. Son of a gun! Most store sold sauerkraut is pasteurized and thus killing off all the bacteria! Grrrrr….. I’ve been eating all this pickled cabbage without getting the benefit of the bacteria! The things you don’t know about until you do a little digging (or thinking).
Everyone is constantly scared about bacteria!
Fortunately, making sauerkraut is not very hard to do. I received a little birthday money as a gift and bought some sauerkraut making mason jar lids (stainless steel, I hate plastic, I avoid it as much as possible). I started channeling my inner Ukrainian.
You just have to chop up the cabbage. Add a tablespoon of salt per 2 pounds of cabbage. Massage it in a bowl until it’s soft, and the juices are released. Put it all in a jar, with all the cabbage under the fluid (our kit has a spring to hold it down), and in a month, you have fresh sauerkraut full of good BACTERIA!
The only problem is I have to wait a month for it to be ready. But I suppose, if that’s one of my complaints, I’m doing alright.
Birthday Ponderings
I had a birthday recently, which of course got me thinking about birthdays. I couldn’t help chuckling to myself about how birthdays have different meanings depending on the age.
Age 0-2 – I have no idea what’s going on, but look at all these people.
Age 3-9 – Presents! Cake!
Age 10 – Double digits, fist pump.
Age 11-12 – Presents! Cake!
Age 13 – I’m a teenager, chest puffed up.
Age 14 -19 – I’m really cool, but secretly Presents! Cake!
Age 20 – Twenty!
Age 21-39 – Lets party!
Age 40 – Forty?! Crisis time?
Age 41-55 – My body doesn’t work as well as my mind thinks it should, and what’s that wrinkle?
Age 56-65 – I’m starting to look old.
Age 66-75 – I’m passed the speed limit!
Age 76-79 – I’m starting to feel old.
Age 80-89 – How did I get so wise?
Age 90-99 – I have no idea what’s going on, but look at all these people.
Age 100 – Score! I reached level 100!
Any age- If you have cancer, I made it another year!
She Would Go the Extra Mile
Carrots Over Cancer 