Getting Ready to Head Home

This week I had my first bump in the road in the form of food poisoning. Monday started like any other here and ended with me awake most of the night wishing we hadn’t picked up takeout Chinese food from a chain restaurant for dinner (or at least I shouldn’t have ordered a California roll!). Fortunately after a morning trip to the hospital for fluids and anti-nausea meds I felt much better.

On Tuesday I also had my second meeting with my doctor who was pleased with my progress so far (the myeloma proteins in the blood are all moving in the right direction — ie going down) and he confirmed I can spend the next 3 months continuing treatment in LA. We can also reduce the amount of steroids I’m taking in half. The plan is for me to return to Little Rock right after the new year and then start the more traditional chemo in preparation for 1 or 2 stem cell transplants. Ideally my current treatments will have knocked the disease down by then to the point that there is little disease left, which will make the transplants more likely to be successful for the long term. In the meantime expect few (or zero) posts but be prepared for more updates after the new year!