A Spring Update

 2025.03.20

Aren’t these tulips beautiful? I took this picture in May of 2007 in Turkey. Just wanted to share it. 

According to my calendar, yesterday was my 15th Stem Cell Birthday. Fifteen years ago I had an autologous stem cell transplant at The Winship Cancer Institute at Emory. and six subsequent treatment regimens, and LOTS of prayers by many faithful Christ followers have brought me to this day. 

Here is an update on where my Multiple Myeloma treatment stands. Right now, I am receiving no treatment for cancer. I am under “careful observation.” Here is how that has happened:

• On March 1, 2022, I began a clinical trial at Emory. The drug was one of the new bi-specific immunologic drugs. Bi-specific, means it does two things: One, it identifies an antigen on the myeloma cells, and, two, it activates the immune system to go after cells with that antigen. 
• After the first four weeks, my numbers were “normal.”
• After eight weeks, my numbers were so low they couldn’t find them. That has continued. The hope is that things they measure will get back to normal and stay there. 
• In September 2024, I was informed that the sponsor was canceling the trial effective in December. 

So what now? Careful observation. This and similar drugs may have long lasting results for some patients. After lots of testing to see what was going on with me in November of last year, and finding no evidence of cancer, my doctor recommended that I move to having bloodwork every three months. I made a visit to Emory Tuesday, and am awaiting the results. 

So please keep praying. Historically, Multiple Myeloma is very good at hiding… for a while. But it always show back up. However, with these new drugs, no one really knows how long things are going to hold.

Praise the LORD with me, and keep praying. For the first time in fifteen and a half years I am not taking anything for the cancer. Glory to God. 

Grateful

 

Today, October 21, 2023, is a significant day for me. Fourteen years ago today I was in my oncologists' office for one final, definitive test, when the doctor told me that he was certain that I had Multiple Myeloma, and he had already scheduled me to start chemotherapy five days later. He was right and I did.

Multiple Myeloma is (for now) an incurable cancer in the plasma cells of the bone marrow. Effective treatments beat down the cancer so that it doesn’t take over and do its deadly deed.  

Many of you know I began a clinical trial in March of 2022 at Emory. The results started out as phenomenal, and continue to be so. I am grateful for this new treatment (my sixth). I am grateful for fourteen years and counting. I am grateful for my God who has blessed me beyond measure and for no other reason than His grace and your prayers.

I know I am blessed. I cannot explain it. But I am grateful.

Giddy-Up! (A Horse #6* Update)

 

Update: After one month of the new clinical trial drug, I got a GREAT report on Tuesday (3/29).

 

Glory to God!  

 

Now pray that: 1) God gets all the glory, 2) This treatment "horse" has lots of stamina, and I can ride it for a long time, 3) The side effects remain minimal. 

 

Your prayers are the main ingredients in my treatment.

*A friend’s doctor commented that Multiple Myeloma treatments were like Pony Express ponies, “you ride one until it is exhausted, and then you get another horse.”

Saddle Up - Horse #6*

 

*A friend’s doctor commented that Multiple Myeloma treatments were like Pony Express ponies, “you ride one until it is exhausted, and then you get another horse.”

 

As many of you know, I entered a clinical trial back in August (fifth horse) and it worked great for two months, but then the horse began to walk backwards, and the numbers went back up. By the first of February, the number that we pay most attention to was higher than it has ever been, so we began looking for what was next. My doctor at Emory recommended another trial, and after praying about it, I signed the consent form. That began the process of tests and pictures (PET scan, Echocardiogram, blood tests, covid tests, and the ever-popular bone marrow biopsy and aspiration. So all that is done, and it is time to saddle up.

 

I go to Emory tomorrow and check in the hospital for about a week. Yes, I will be in the hospital. It is a new immunological treatment, and it can have some very serious side effects, so I have to be in the hospital for the first dose or two. Assuming things go well on Monday, I will get my first small dose of this medication on Tuesday. Assuming no major reactions, I’ll get more later in the week.

 

So, your prayers are coveted and needed. My request is as usual: First, that God is glorified in everything. Second, that the treatment works. Third, that the side effects are minimized.

 

Thank you. So many have prayed for me for so long. I am blessed and grateful.

 

 

P.S. If you would like to know more specifics about what I am taking and how it is supposed to work, contact me. I will try to post updates here, but most will happen through Facebook or April’s emails.  

Looking For Horse Number Six

 

 

“Multiple Myeloma treatments are like Pony Express horses. You ride one for as long as it lasts, and when it is exhausted, you get another horse,” said a friend’s doctor. I have quoted him before, and I am quoting him again, much sooner than I had hoped. The clinical trial I began in August started with two months with the number we watch dropping a lot. The next three months, that number climbed at an accelerating pace, to the point it is now higher than ever before. So, I am asking what the next “horse” will be. Pray with me about that. Pray that God continues to lead us and glorify Himself, and that we find a treatment that will be effective, long-lasting, and I will tolerate well. Thank you! Your prayers, as always, are the main ingredient in my treatment. Thank you! I feel fine. Enjoying the start of my retirement

 

By the way, the Horse Drawn Wagon scene accompanying this post I photographed in 2003 near Oradea, Romania.