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V-BiRd
No it's not a virtual avian with an attitude but rather a typically obtuse medical acronym. It stands for a myeloma drug treatment regimen involving Velcade, Biaxin, Revlimid, and dexamethasone. There are 2 items of importance here, firstly it has a near 100% response rate and secondly I become a raging lunatic on 40 mg of dexamethasone! The net effect will drastically increase the entropy of the world, reduce the congeniality of my marriage and kick some myeloma ass.
All this because last week's PET scan confirmed that although I'm stable there are active chewing myeloma lesions in T11, my left hip and my right pelvis. The hole in my head although large is of no particular consequence because there is little inside worth troubling about, it supports little hair and only an occasional usually little hat.
The T10 repair job done last summer was so successful a T11 kyphoplasty is probable. I have an appointment with the folks in Cleveland regarding the rest of the holes.
I am looking forward to weekly infusions on Mondays followed by 2 sleepless nights a worthless day and a massive quantity of unfinished projects to deal with come Thursday.
Don't interact with me early in the week without thick armor and a boat load of time. I will have plenty to say of minimal relation to anything but of urgent relevance to me.
This all starts on Monday so you have been warned and advised that this is your last week to extract any knowledge I might have in timely and coherent manor.
Oh yea and the Viagra regimen didn't make things worse, but it didn't help in the second cycle. At $18 a dose from Walgreens I decided to stop... and I was not about to click on any of those links that show up daily in my spam folder for $2 version thereof.
Still laughing at those plasma cells!
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Ken
My best friend "Strange Attractor" is mostly comfortable and content in palliative care. As I have been told "Just because you know I'm going to smash your face with this baseball bat it doesn't mean it won't hurt." Even though I know he is soon to leave his body it already hurts like nothing I have ever felt. "Ken, I'll be on the dock soon with a few beers and I promise I'll finish yours for you if need be. I am looking forward to having many long, thoughtful and humorous conversations with you, especially about myeloma. Sometimes I'm a little hard to get through to so don't give up on me! Even though I won't always respond know that I love you."
To add to all the emotion I had a 15-20% improvement in my myeloma markers last month. One of my most humorous and enjoyable months on chemo in the past 4+ years.
Life can be quite a ride at times.
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Spike
An intermedulary rod is a bit more technical sounding, but spike is clearly more endearing. I'm referring to the piece of titanium in my left humerus which is keeping the elbow and shoulder connected. Most such connections are solid. Mine just happens to be a swivel joint with a lot of slop. The techy term is malunion. Being a south paw fixing this would be a dream come true.
The plan developed with a couple orthopedic oncologist' at the Cleveland Clinic is to pull the spike out, fill the hole with cement, jam in a new spike, screw it all together and then paint some bone growth goop on the broken spot. All this to be followed by several months of chemo-free healing.
That brings me to the techy chart on the right and how to blast away a bunch of MM cells. The stable seesaw has been going on for over a year now (My MM has been hovering around 15 times normal values, a 75% reduction, ever since that rapid response over the first 4 cycles on Revlimid and Dex). On Monday after about a half an hour my team decided on weekly Velcade infusions. Just before getting up to leave I inquired as to why on earth someone should "tell your doctor if you have blood cell problems such as multiple myeloma, or leukemia" before taking Viagra? I have never seen an MM warning on any medication - ever. He said because the manufacturer has not obtained FDA approval for myeloma use. There are a few published clinical observations claiming efficacy of Sildenafil (Viagra) in myeloma patients. He turns to Lu and asks, "Should he try it?" An overexcited Lu beams, "You bet, four times a day!" He turns to me, "She is trying to get all the golden eggs in one go... by killing the goose." The patient's quality of life should be fine though.
Just call me Spike.
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Smiling
It was 4 years ago last week that a hematologist told me "You definitely have multiple myeloma." I wouldn't wish that phrase on anyone, but I am happier, surrounded by more friends and know life would not be as fulfilling if he had not uttered it. Of course the countless hours spent dealing with all things myeloma is not always met with enjoyment, enthusiasm and passion.
The wonders of Revlimid continue. It has been 17 cycles, 70 weeks, of response. Stable is grand.
After one cycle of Revlimid my dear "strange attractor" friend shared some lab results with me this morning. I quote:
The concentration of the paraprotein in the far gamma region, previously identified as an IgG Kappa has decreased...
Compared to the previous study, urinary total protein has markedly decreased from... I'm smiling today. :-)
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Strange Attractor
Most of my friends don't find me to be all that strange. They wouldn't be my friends if they did now would they. Has anyone ever told you, "Like attracts like, You reap what you sow or Be careful what you wish for! or the ominous You are what you eat!" Given a 7 per 100,000 chance of contracting myeloma and a 1 in 6000 chance of meeting someone with myeloma why did my dearest of friends have to join this dreaded club? My head feel like this strange attractor (created by sandyckato) when I ponder the significance.
So why do I ponder, toss, turn and toil? That is the nature of still needing a bit of work to do before total enlightenment. In the mean time I am honored to finally be able to justify all this obsessive compulsive myeloma info gathering I've done over the last 4 years. Of course he is not particularly interested in it, but that just means I don't have long boring conversations with him. I secretly record every number, ask leading questions and obsess about their significance. (Insanely persisting in the same behavior over and over again expecting a different result every time.) It is hard to believe that it has been 4 years. I'm in a different shape compared to 4 years ago, but then that is in large part because I'm inherently lazy. My left forearm is still not attached to my left shoulder so that means I don't do shit and I have become round. A new shape.
I smile tons and life is grand. Happy Holidays!
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Elbows off the Table!
Breaking your arm at the hospital is much less of a hassle than doing so getting into a kayak at 6:30AM a hour+ ambulance ride away. Lu and I were killing a bit of time eating salads while our dear friend upstairs chatted with her Doc. It was an awesome make-your-own salad bar creation.
It wasn't awesome enough for me to not lean on my elbow though. One of the not-quite-dead-yet offended green peppers, egged on by the spring mix, lashed out and snapped my humerus in the exact same spot it broke last year. Of course there wasn't but a thin egg shell of bone there. The wonderful titanium spike held its ground and fought off the assault. I promptly crushed and swallowed the out of line greens while Lu went and paved my way back onto the docs schedule.
This all happened about an hour after learning from the doc that stable doesn't mean dormant and scheduling a bone marrow MRI. Fourteen cycles of stable had instilled a bit of complacency. My guard was so far down that a bowl of veggies kicked my ass. It turns out I might be mutating into a nonsecretory myelomechanisian (that's a new word - meaning a mechanical engineer with myeloma who does not secrete protein for convenient monitoring of his tumor burden).
I'm on a strictly meat, bean, grain and dairy diet now due to a phobia of violent vegetables. Oh the joys of myeloma are beyond the imagination of mere mortals.
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Waltzing Through Summer
I dance with a unique sense of rhythm. It brings a big smile to my face when I recall our ballroom dancing instructor telling Lu, "He leads and you follow. It is your job to make him look good even if he can't keep time." I can assure you that despite the somewhat sexist undertone I look much better because Lu is really good at her job. We have been waltzing through this dark fungus loving wet cool summer with significant panache.
There was a fortuitous clerical error that caused last month's blood work to be missing the MM indicators. This month's blood work was postponed for an extra couple weeks because I didn't want to screw up my waltz. Skipping a few beats is one of my fortes.
About a month ago a colleague chiseled a couple holes in one of my vertebrae, inflated it back up to size with a balloon and then filled it with this stuff that resembled nail polish. Then I went out for lunch and haven't looked back since. Our mattress apparently was not the cause of my back pain - the pain was gone the next morning never to return.
School starts tomorrow so visiting the oncologist will just add an extra beat to what promises to be a highly syncopated mambo. (BTW I truly suck at quick Latin dances).
The Myeloma Beacon published a short Patient Perspective about me that references this blog so an update was in order. If this is first time you have visited my blog welcome.
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I'll Take "Better"
Well as I predicted... Summer has officially arrived and so did the lab results from my 10th Revlimid cycle. "Better" without supplements despite a strong correlation with supplements in the prior 5 cycles. So would you spend the $4 bucks a day on those 2 dozen pills? If a few numbers and a single point of measurement were all that was needed to define success or failure life would be a lot simpler. Heck we wouldn't even need clinical trials at all. I do have to admit that I expected the trend to continue, but "Better" is better than worse even if not living up to my biases. 30% better is 50% better than 2 months ago - that almost looks like a trend.
The fireflies are out in force here in western NY. Before the farmer mows the hay field by the house driving into it is like magic. Right at eye level there is a sea of swimming lights in all directions. A bit of light no matter how small can bring a smile to my face.
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Cycling Continues
 I'm referring to my ad hoc clinical trial of one in which I cycle the use of curcumin. A bit of background info is probably needed so bear with me.Back on September 9th of last year I started on 28 day Revlimid+Dex regimen (25 mg days 1-21 + 20 mg days 1, 8 & 15). After a 75% reduction in my protein expression in the first 3 cycles dex was stopped. A further 10% serum protein reduction was achieved in the next 2 cycles as well as improvements in antibody levels and lambda/kappa ratio. The 6th cycle saw a 10% increase. A supplement regimen was started at the beginning of the 7th cycle which consisted of C3 complex curcuminiods (8 gr), organic flax seed oil (1 gr) and EPA/DHA (860/580 mg). A 3% decrease in protein expression was seen. Was the response just a normal fluctuation in expression or correlated with the supplementation? The synergistic effects of curcumin with bortezomib and thalidomide have been observed by Aggarwhal's group at MD Anderson both in vitro and in a xenograft model in nude mice. (http://tinyurl.com/c2hlfx) So to address the question a cycling of supplementation vs. no supplementation was started. Relative to the previous cycle the trend is:
Cycle 7 (supplementation) 11% decrease Cycle 8 (no supplementation) 45% increase Cycle 9 (supplementation) 24% decrease Cycle 10 (no supplementation) ??? I'll let you know what happens this summer (June 22nd)... Enjoy the rest of spring and cycle if you can! I'll be waiting for a heat wave reading a good book by the fire at our camp.
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Oregon Coast
Well it's been another month. My M-spike (monoclonal protein expression) a little over doubled from 125 to 289 mg/24 hrs this cycle. I didn't take any supplements... This level of expression is still quite low and could be just part of normal fluctuations. I expect the curcumin, flax & epa/dha oils, vitamins D & K2 and Revlimid to kick butt again this cycle.
 We are vacationing on the Oregon coast this week. It is awesome as always. This afternoon we drove up to the top of Mt. Hebo. It was incredibly windy, cold and desolate. Not a soul to be found. So of course we took an inviting logging road instead of the boring paved road down. About a half hour later somewhere on the side of the mountain in the middle of the Siuslaw National Forest on a far less inviting narrow steep deeply rutted part we get a flat tire. Finding, extracting and installing the spare added nicely to the adventure. Then this pickup appears - on a Tuesday, coming towards us, up the mountain. This guy who acted like Mary Poppins announces he is here to feed the birds. Huh? We are on the side of a mountain on a logging road, what gives. "Oh watch, this place will be crawling with birds in a couple minutes." Sure enough he was right. So much for the high winds and chill hunkering all the birds down as it had all day. It brings a smile to my soul recalling how this all just happened.
The Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis
May 6th, 2009, Mt. Hebo, Oregon
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Munching Continues
 The predators called in last month to munch away at those pesky little MM cells are smiling along with me from ear to ear. I learned a few hours ago that my Laughing Plasma Cell's protein expression is a quarter of last months and about 6% of its peak 7 months ago.
If you're bored here are some detials. We did a little curcumin experiment. During cycle 6 (February) I did not take any curcumin but continued other minor supplements. My protein expression was up slightly but considered stable. This past month, cycle 7, I resumed taking 8 grams of C3 Complex curcumin in the morning approximately 12 hours after taking Revlimid. My myeloma (monoclonal or M-Spike) protein expression went down over 75%. I love this note on my labs: "Serum Protein Expression: very small M-Spike visible on gel but too small to quantitate." I'll take too small to quantitate any day! Although the ratio of my light chain expression (Kappa/Lambda) is ten times lower than 'normal' it is the first time it has had a value in years. It usually just says < 0.01 and the Kappa expression is listed as < 0.5 mg/L. It is now in the normal range, 7 mg/L.
As for my sense of welling being, believe it or not it is more closely related to my hemoglobin and hematocrit than anything else. They are just a tad low now. Of course being told that my elbow isn't attached to my shoulder is a bit bothersome. I find it rather unbelievable, but it does hurt like hell if I rotate my forearm just right. Life is Good!
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Munching MM
 The good ol' Rev is still chasing down and munching on those pesky little MM cells. There aren't many of them left, but they sure are illusive little beasts. Their protein expression is still hovering around 10% of their peak value. A sort of stalemate. A battle of wills. I'm going to call in our newly adapted predator - Hope. She has plumped up a bit and is clearly ready for battle. Marley grumbles, groans and otherwise expresses her general dissatisfaction with being out maneuvered by a spry street smart younger sister. Besides she still eats like a little piglet and begs like she hasn't been fed in days (despite the full bowl of organic wholesome chow 10 feet away). Maybe that tablespoon of milk I share in the morning when whitening my coffee has sealed my fate as the sharer of all food present. Marlee has been content to eat the same food year after year and never do the leg weeving, cabinet stretching meow of desperation and hunger. There is no possible humanitarian recourse besides obliging.On a more practical note Revlimid has dried me out. I don't wear solid colored shirts anymore. The snow drifts are fine if you like to ski. No quantity of gooey messy pillow ruining slim seems to have any effect. If I grease down and leave the house I have to be careful.
Bryl-creem, a little dab'll do ya,
Use more, only if you dare,
But watch out,
The gals will all pursue ya,--
They'll love to put their fingers through your hair.
Bryl-creem, a little dab'll do ya,
Bryl-creem, you'll look so debonair.
Bryl-creem, the gals will all pursue ya,
They'll love to RUN their fingers through your hair. 
Whole body slathering of love does improve my sense of wellbeing though. For that I am oh so grateful. The fish and flaxseed oil might be preventing total mummification. A fate I'd prefer to put off for a while longer.
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Hope
 We adopted a stray that took up residence under our porch a while ago. She is a beautiful extremely thin caramel calico in perfect health (according to the vet). She had a chip that complicated matters as the vet had to contact the registered owners while we waited oh so patiently with Hope still on the porch. (We didn't want to expose Marley to a possibly sick cat and didn't want to incur a vet bill for someone else's). I'm actually not a cat lover - just a lover of my cats. Cats tend to scare me a bit until I get to know them. Being a rural farm land kid most cats I encountered were not interested in being my friend and would let me know it, rather unexpectedly, in that lightning fast cat kind of way.
 Hope now smells like she just got home from the salon, but is still clearing some of the under the porch dust from her sinuses. A nice juxtaposition. No AIDs, Leukemia, fleas or parasites, just under weight and ever so slightly frost bitten.
Our family has a "Bob" cat theme with a Dylan, Marley and now Hope. Bob Hope lived to 100 so some of that fortitude must have been passed on to our Hope (or at least that is hopefully true).
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Fantastic Voyage
Yes that would be us... you're on this voyage also or you wouldn't be reading this. Hows about a ship even smaller than the one Raquel Welch got shrunk into but plenty exciting all the same, probably revolutionary and certainly awe inspiring. I stumbled across a ScienceDaily (2009-01-16) article: Fantastic Voyage: Medical 'Mini-submarine' Invented To Blast Diseased Cells In The Body Scientists developed a medical "mini-submarine" to blast diseased cells in the body. The blueprints for the submarine and a map of its proposed maiden voyage were developed earlier this year. Now the scientists will build and test-run the actual "machine" in human bodies. The lead scientist, Dr. Peer, has some goals that resonate.
We are particularly interested in 1. Identifying key genes responsible for pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells self-renewal properties. 2. Studying the role of cell cycle regulators in proliferation, migration, and cytokine production in lymphocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells during inflammatory bowel diseases and rheumatoid arthritis . 3. Developing and studying novel approaches to target cancer stem cells. 4. Harnessing siRNAs and miRNAs as novel tools for drug discovery and for therapeutic applications.
Let hope his voyage is fantastic, incredible and highly relevant to what ails me.
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Freezing Fog
 According to the Weather Underground this morning we are experiencing: Freezing Fog with Active Advisories: Winter Storm Warning, Flood Warning, Special Weather Statement (US Severe Weather), Active Notice: Record Report, Public Information Statement Just what is freezing fog? This looks like snow to me, but I guess if it is thick enough then you can call it freezing fog. Why not flaking fog? How about falling frozen fog with significant accumulation of fallen frozen fog particulate? Now not a mere 15 minutes later we have freezing sunshine.
I learned on Monday from the lead author of the early December presentation at ASH on GRN163L that yes indeed the Telomerase activity in the bulk tumor fraction of my bone marrow decreased by 78%. Yet another reason which I forgot to mention earlier to party tonight.“If you're going to be able to look back on something and laugh about it, you might as well laugh about it now.” Marie Osmond
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Its Party Time
 Marlee is no longer captivated by the scene changes in the Nutcracker Suite. I on the other hand am still in awe of my response to Rev/Dex. I am now in the 90% response range. Every single CBC, CMP, LDH, CRP... is in the normal range except a slight anemia, antibody suppression and an elevated lambda free light chain and related lambda/kappa ratio. (My M-spike is negligible) The orthopedic surgeon said he didn't need to see me again. "Go do some strength training on that arm." The oncologist said: "No More Dex!!" It is definitely Party Time Tonight!
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Meet the Man's
 That would be Ginger and Brad Man (the "e" is silent in Bread). We made the front page photo scroll on Buffalo.com which is were I got the attached image
I guess that is not as dorky as the Man's making out in the elevator. Today is another dex day so either I ramble with no point or just stop and move on to some other urgent project which I will abandon shortly after finding an even more urgent project. Oh ya I have a final exam that needs some work.
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Gingerbread
  Sorry, but I don't have any dorky pictures of Lu and I as the happy couple, The Man's. That would be Ginger and Bread. What a wonderful event though. So wonderful in fact we are now the proud owners of a new house. It so reminded us of our summer place that we could not pass it up. A couple of students (I assume culinary artists!) started on it about a month ago. She filled the inside with goodies likes cakes, croissants, candles and an old fashioned cook stove. He constructed a cabin worthy of the harshest Buffalo winter storm. BTW if you click on the pictures they link to significantly larger versions there of.
It is bitter cold today. In the teens (-10 C) actually. There is a beautiful blanket of light fluffy snow. A perfect day to stay inside by the wood stove and work on my final exam.
BTW Geron presented interim results of the GRN163L trial at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Francisco today. I'd like to conjecture that they talked about me as I received the dosing level of 4.8 mg/kg. It is pure conjecture though. There may have been several other patients at that level.
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Ups and Downs
Slowly but surely my MM protein expression is dying off. That's a good thing! Three cycles and three quarters gone. (another 30% reduction) I like that. The bionic arm is slowly learning to act human. The semester is quickly coming to an end and my Christmas cheer is all the more enhanced by the good news. We are minimalist when it comes to Christmas consumption, but I do love the new smells, music and festive lights. I get to dress up as a gingerbread man and act like a cheerful dork Friday. That aught to help my spirit. I guess a picture is in order.
 My dear friend Sue who has graced me with her love and compassion, who has inspired me with her courage and perseverance passed away early yesterday morning at Hospice Buffalo. May your journey be filled with passion and love and guided by the grace of God. Here she is with that infectious smile in the Gilda's library. Peace be with you.
Protein expression going down perks me up as does Sue's smile, her memory and the fondness of all that support she brought the Wednesday evening Gilda's Wellness Group.
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Vitamin K2
 I couldn't help but be inspired by Margaret's post "Purring against myeloma" to snuggle up with Marlee and ponder the health of my bones. I have had significant lytic lesion progression in the past year. One of which resulted in a broken humerus. All this despite Velcade, GRN163L, Zometa and Aredia. Vitamin K2 has recently attacted the attention of nutritionist with regard to bone and heart health, although clear randomized clinical trials have not yet been done. Vitamin K2 is not common in western diets and is therefore difficult to access its affect on bone health via population based studies. There is a correletion in Japanese studies between bone health and those that consume Vitamin K2 rich natto (a fermented soy product). "The reported outcomes of clinical trials, primarily from Japan, that have assessed the effect of MK-4 treatment on fracture risk and bone loss at the spine are
positive overall." With my "first do no harm" motto and the knowledge that vitamin k2 toxicity is almost nonexistent adding K2 (along with the already present and monitored vitamin D) is a no brainer.
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Yet Another Response
Well after a 50% reduction in the first cycle of Rev/dex I am happy to report another significant response in the second cycle. My myeloma marker of choice (lambda free light chain expression) dropped another 30%. Now if the GRN163L had any effect on the myeloma stem cells then I may be looking at a nice long term remission. :-)I guess you'll have to be patient on that front. I started making sound with a mandolin a while ago. The tuning and fingering is the same as a violin which I used to be able to make music with. It is definately not like a violin and I don't make music - yet. I am having a great time though. It stretches my neurons.
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28 Day Partial Remission
I saw the oncologist yesterday and had a skeletal survey (bunch of x-rays) and an Aredia infusion (osteoporosis type bone strengthening drug) in the evening. My myeloma activity markers (protein expression) dropped by 50% in the first 28 days on Revlimid and Dex. My blood counts are still hovering around 'normal' and consequently my fatigue is pretty mellow. Now I'm working on getting the arm back in shape - it is quite gaunt and painful if I do just the right flex. The pain disappears instantly though, but I instinctively use my arm less which helps with the general left arm malnourished look. I'll find out what happened in the second 28 day cycle of Revlimid and Dex early next week.
At the beginning of October Geoff's Light the Night team raised $550 for the Western NY Leukemia and Lymphoma (and Myeloma) Society. They are a great in the trenches type of organization. They were the first people to call me after my diagnosis and connected me up with a few other survivors. The total team raised almost 5 grand in my name. Wow!
Two weeks ago Thursday I gave a 5 minute closing emotional hook at the annual Gilda's Club WNY fund raising breakfast. That one hour bash raised over 200 grand. I'd like to think my 5 minute story hooked and reeled in a little bit of extra cash for the best club I've ever been a member of.
Saturday night Lu and I along with 28 of our friends went to an IMF fund raising event "Evening for a Cure" and raised a bit over 2 grand for my oncologist's research efforts. There were another 190 folks there so I'm hoping the proceeds will be enough to keep one more staff member going for another year. I feel so blessed to have an oncologist who is doing cutting edge world renown myeloma research.
I am profoundly touched and honored by the generosity and compassion of my friends and mostly by acknowledging your and their love and support of me. It bring tears to my eyes every time I think about it.
I hope all is well with everyone. I'm certainly excited today (a Dex day which started at 3 AM). I'm playing really crappy mandolin now and getting more genuine every day.
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Light the Night Walk
 This Friday is the "Light the Night Walk" in Delaware Park. My boy's team, lead by Jessica Del Mauro, will walk two miles to honor those effected by Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma. Jessie was just recently diagnosed with Lymphoma herself. She has graciously pledged all money raised by her team in my honor. I am humbled and grateful of all the team members efforts. Such outpourings of support are a wonderful thing to see and feel!
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Light The Night Walk is an annual event to raise funds for cures. It’s the nation’s night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of patients and their families. Funds raised through Light The Night Walk support the work of hundreds of the world’s best and brightest researchers in their search for better therapies and cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
Jessica's team has a matching donor which will double their efforts. Western New York is among the highest per capita charitable donation levels in the country. It is a wonderful place to be, especially this time of year.
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Humorous Message Boards
I get such a kick out of folks on the Geron Yahoo Message Board speculating about their stock’s prospects from a humor oriented blog. If you go to the message board and search for LPC there is more humor to be found there than in this drool. I got the biggest kick out of speculations like: “LPC has left the trial and is on the verge of death… LPC is DYING and you can see it on his blog…” In all fairness it is certainly true that I will die some day. I wonder how many of these folks I’ll outlive though. I also don’t think there is any question that my disease progressed while I was on the trial. Bone marrow MRIs done pre & post trial indicated a change in “involvement of the central bone marrow with multiple myeloma” from “30-40%” to “more than 50%” respectively. From the response markers (M-spike, Serum FLC expression, 24 hr Urine FLC/PEP & skeletal survey) monitored on the trial I had stable disease (less than 25% variation) until the last cycle. I was playing tennis 3 days a week until I busted my arm, which in hind sight was not so shocking. I have known about the condition of my humerus for almost 3 years. It still hurt and clearly caught me off guard.
I have to admit that Securities Fraud never crossed my mind until posts like “Anybody who references LPC is a Pump and Dump Scammer” got me thinking about pumping and dumping. If an idiot like me could pump and dump a stock then there is clearly either a lot of other idiots out there or a bunch of stock holders that don’t do very sound research on their investments. No I have never got a call from a lawyer telling me to shut up, thank you very much. I'll bet the Geron lawyers are not idiots. Still Smiling, LPC
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I'm Back
 The door is closed on the humerus radiation.The next day I moved on to Carson Mineral Hot Springs Spa for several days of glorious pampering with lots of mineral baths and body raps and a few tailored massages to help with the tension of being "one armed."  It was 107 F (42 C) so we went to a snow fed swimming hole, Dog Creek Falls. I can't imagine going near that water if it wasn't so darn hot out.
 On the way to the Oregon coast we stopped at Multnomah Falls.
The Oregon Coast was glorious as always. We spent 5 days right on the Pacific in a huge house with Lu's immediate family (Ma and all her sisters and their families). It was a wonderful family reunion. We got to escape to walk the tide pools,  watch the whales, and do a bit of  bird watching. Right in the middle of it all Lu and I renewed our vows in a heartfelt ceremony at Unity by the Sea in Glendeden Beach. We flew back just in time for the fall semester to start and a mad rush to submit a NSF proposal. For the geeks in the crowd we do fluid flow investigations using holographic imaging techniques - need I say more? On the MM front my blood bounced back from an 8.1 hemoglobin to an 11.8 while I was vacationing! Yea ha. My humerus has healed remarkably well according to the x-rays (and the surgeon I met with this afternoon).
I started Rev/dex today. Maybe all this hemoglobin, dex and good news is why I have so much more energy than usual!? I'm anxiously hoping the GRN will really begin showing it's colors now. A nice long lasting (40 year) remission :-)
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