We went through to the chemo clinic for Jimmy to have in monthly Zobone infusion (calcium to strengthen his bones) on Monday so that should he have a fall hopefully his bones have been strengthened enough that he won't experience a break.
I am very glad that the sun is out and the last few days have been warmer as Jimmy went for another walk around the block this morning. He has been through a very down patch and with what took a lot of encouragement from my side he has been much better over the last 5 days or so. He has been more talkative and made the odd cup of tea, just more in touch with me and what's going on around the house and it has been awesome. It is so easy to just sit in the chair and do work and watch TV and not comment on much.
We got the results of the bone marrow biopsy and at long last the medical report from Prof Novistzky, which is needed by Komatsu. It is not as good as we thought it would be. His tumour burden has increased by a few percentages. From the results I can see, compared to the original readings in April, that it came down in July and has now increased to slightly more than it was when he was first diagnosed. This is proof again that he has definitely hit a plateau, as is reported as failing to achieve VGPR which is 'very good partial remission'. Prof has once again sent a motivation off to the medical aid as in his opinion Jimmy should have a stem cell transplant now and then some vigorous chemo post stem cell transplant and he is sure that his body will react better to the chemo post stem cell transplant. The report basically says that he feels that we have a good chance that if the stem cell transplant is a success and he reacts well to the intensification of this treatment post stem cell transplant he will be able to resume some or all of his activities, depending on his rate of recovery, in about 6 months.
Now that I have become more familiar with all this cancer terminology I am quite astounded at just how bad Jimmy originally presented in April at the time of diagnosis. "Mr Smith presented with quite extensive features of multiple myeloma with advanced clinical manifestations including lytic lesions (these are the cancer tumours which were found in his skull, arms, legs, and ribs), anaemia, renal failure (he was admitted to hospital as kidney failure is life threatening) and hypercalcaemia (this is also life threatening due to unusually high doses of calcium found in the blood as a result of the cancer cells in the bone marrow)".
In just a little over a week we will be 7 months into this journey. On reading the report yesterday my first reaction was that we have come no where in 7 months but when I go back and read his original diagnoses I realise how blessed we are. It also reminds me how far Jimmy has actually come; from using a wheel chair to using a walking frame to going for a walk around the block.
Yesterday was very emotional for Jimmy and myself (although he doesn't like to show it) and I refuse to show it in front of him. I felt that this cancer was winning the battle but this morning I feel blessed for how far he has come. I feel positive that the decisions that will be made by Prof and the panel at the medical aid will be the right one and I look forward to moving onwards and upwards when we get an answer in about a week.
And I almost forgot.....Well done Loren on passing your drivers licence first time. It was quite weird waving goodbye to Loren and Emma this morning in the driveway as they left for school together with Loren at the wheel. <3
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