Holding Pattern

Three weeks ago Gil went back on the dexamethazone without the Velcade.  His myeloma numbers had been increasing during the previous two weeks when he had been off everything. Now, with the dex, his numbers are steady and even decreasing a little.

So,   we're in a holding pattern.  He'll stay with the dex, continue meds to help with the peripheral neuropathy, and hope it fades away.  He's getting the hang of using the meds for break through pain earlier so he's not trying to battle a raging fire.  (actually not a bad metaphor as the pain often feels like burning)  It's hard to say if it's getting any better yet.

BUT he has a new toy or rather toys which are a major distraction!!  On his 70th birthday last week he received a large flat screen LCD TV with HD and a Blue Ray player.  Our friend, Terry Millar guided me (actually he did everything) to use the family/friend $ contributions to get Gil the best home entertainment system possible.  

It was a complete surprise; we had it set up by Circuit City while we had Gil out for a birthday dinner.  The look on his face was priceless as he said "Holy shit!" about 25 times in the first 10 minutes!  He and his brother Bob stayed up half the night setting up the surround sound and watching a bank heist movie.  

His card said "some boys don't get older, their toys just get more expensive!"  

I'm glad his toys give him so much joy!

It's a "package deal"

It's been a rough couple of weeks.  The peripheral neuropathy has varied, with no discernible pattern so far, from uncomfortable to downright miserable.  He's tried everything but the kitchen sink and once we think something can be relied upon to bring relief, the next time it doesn't.

On Tuesday, when we saw his doctor, she gave him some different pain and nerve restoring meds and said that it might be a couple of months or more before we'll know if this neuropathy will fade or not.  She convinced us to restart the weekly dexamethazone  and to wait a bit longer before deciding whether or not to eventually continue with the Velcade trial.

That was before the final numbers came in.  Gil's M spike rose to .88 (from .72) during this last 3 weeks.  We're waiting for a call back from his doc, but the implication was that we may need to decide sooner rather than wait much longer re. continuing with some chemo, the Velcade or something different. 

We have both been incredibly lucky this lifetime.  With all of Gil's medical issues, he's regularly pulled off miracles (his right arm as a case in point!)  But the superstitious part of me wonders when the payback happens.   I need to remember the bumper sticker we made back after his brain tumor.

"Shit Happens, Miracles Happen, (it's a package deal)"

It's part of how cancer magic works.  Having a terminal illness, where you expect "shitty" things to happen, opens your eyes to all the unexpected miracles that are going on.  

Somehow, I think I'd started to expect that Gil would always have great luck, good responses, great numbers. 

 Wake up time! so I'm tuning in to miracles right now.