It’s been a long, long time since I have posted anything to my medical blog. So… why now? A few weeks ago a former colleague from the University of Michigan called on the phone and wondered how I was doing. Had not spoken to him since leaving UofM more than two decades ago… but he learned of my cancer diagnosis from somebody who knew somebody who knew me (6 Degrees of Separation?).
He poked around on the internet and found this blog, noted that there had been no blog entries since 2010, and assumed the worst.
Well, I’m writing to advise any readers that “the worst” has not happened. In fact, one of the reasons there have been no new postings to my blog is that nothing has happened. I am still on a “chemo light” regimen of Revlimid, which I take daily for three weeks out of every four. I still experience mild side effects from the drug but they are easily tolerated. I still get periodic medical check-ups and screenings to check for re-emergence of the disease. And, most important, my official diagnosis remains “near complete remission.”
In summary – life is good. Multiple Myeloma has no cure (at least not yet) but it has been subdued for over nine years. I attribute this success to the then-ground-breaking drugs and the clinical trial in which I was fortunate to participate.