Search This Blog

Friday, December 15, 2017

Is Anybody Still Listening?

I was somewhat relieved to discover that my blog account has not been mothballed due to my long absence.  It's been seven months since my last update.  My how time flies!  So, here I am, still alive and kicking.  I've had a lot of encouragement over the past few months to update my blog, but somehow I have kept procrastinating.  I have finally overcome whatever mental or writer's block has kept me away.  There's been a lot of water under the bridge or over the dam since then, but I promise not to bore you with too many details.

On the Multiple Myeloma front, I am pleased and grateful to report that I am still in remission.  It has been almost 6 1/2 years since my initial diagnosis.  At that time, expected life expectancies were about 5-7 years.  By that reckoning, my time should be about up by now.  But I was fortunate to find myself at the vanguard of the new novel therapies which have transformed the MM landscape and extended survival times.  While I have no illusions that this can go on indefinitely, I feel pretty good about my prospects right now.

I seem to be healthy in most other respects.  My blood counts and chemistry numbers are mostly in the normal range, except for my white blood cell and neutrophil counts.  These are normally suppressed due to my Revlimid maintenance therapy, which is why I have to have them checked monthly to make sure they don't drop too low.

Oh yes, and my bilirubin generally runs high, also due to the Revlimid.  Bilirubin is a liver-related number, with a normal range below 1.2.  Mine usually runs about 1.7, but all my other liver-related numbers have been in the normal range.   A couple of months ago, my bilirubin jumped up to 2.5. Oops.  Since it relates to liver function, I thought that maybe I had been imbibing too many Blue Moons (my favorite beer), so I decided to cut back on my intake.  The next month, the number dropped back to 1.7, and then this past Monday, it fell further to 1.5, well within my normal range.  I don't know if my drinking had anything to do with the elevated number, but I think I will continue to monitor my Blue Moon consumption going forward.

On other health matters, I still have issues with skin cancer.  I continue to pay the price for my youthful indiscretions of willfully basking, baking and broiling my lily white Irish skin in the sun. I recently had three more squamous cell carcinomas diagnosed.  The one on my cheek was surgically removed two weeks ago, and the other two on my chest and back were removed by freezing with liquid nitrogen.  Unfortunately, I just found out that the dermatologist didn't get all of the one on my cheek, so another surgery is necessary.  I'm kicking myself for having this done locally in Newburyport rather than going into Boston as I did last March.  Now I have to go back into Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and have Dr. Schmults do a Mohs surgery to get the rest of it, which I should have done in the first place.  Live and learn.  Sigh!

Thanksgiving was a really special time this year.  We had the whole family here for a change.  Brian, Pam, and Logan drove up from New Jersey, Holly and Ryan flew in from San Francisco, Jason came from Hartford, and Jeff and Christine came along with her mother and sister.  As an added bonus, Gretchen's God daughter, Stephanie, joined us from Beacon, New York.  We had a delicious turkey dinner with all the fixin's for the 13 of us.  I must modestly admit that I did an admirable job roasting the 20 pound turkey on the grill.  Gretchen did a great job with the spinach pie and other goodies.  I have a lot to be thankful for!  Who knows how many more times we can gather the whole clan together again?

Now for the big news.  Considering our advancing ages and health issues, we recently decided to seize the day and travel while we both can.  Fortunately, Gretchen has been recovering nicely from her surgeries, so she should be able to manage the stress of an extended vacation.  We have wanted to travel to Southeast Asia for a long time now, so in September, I tried to find a Viking Cruise in that region.  Almost everything was sold out for the entire winter season, but there was only one slot available for the entire season that I grabbed immediately.  On December 28, Gretchen and I are headed to Southeast Asia for a Viking Cruise on the Mekong River!  Our itinerary includes 3 nights in Bangkok, then we fly to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) for 3 nights.  We then board a river boat to cruise up the Mekong River for the next 7 days, stopping in various Vietnamese and Cambodian villages, including Phnom Penh.  We then go by bus to Siem Reap, where we spend the next 3 days exploring the Angkor Wat area.  Then we fly to Hanoi to spend the last 3 days of our trip.  We fly back to Boston on January 15.  What an exciting adventure this should be!

Now for the kicker.  I had a birthday lunch with best friend and business partner, Bahar, last week.  (Yes, I just turned 75.)  We both talked about our travel plans, and Bahar said he and Katherine are headed to South Vietnam after Christmas.  Really?  As it turns out, they are taking the exact same Viking Mekong River Cruise that we are!  Almost as astounding, their stateroom is #307, right next to ours #305.  Now what are the chances of that?  Come on, really!  Bahar and I have shared many coincidental experiences in our lives, such as our sons, Brian and Jason, being born a day apart in the same hospital with the same doctor, with their mothers sharing the same room.  That was pretty weird.  But this one takes the cake!  This should be a lot of fun!

Maybe I'll update this blog when we return.  But then again, with my history, maybe I won't.

Happy Holidays!!!




13 comments:

  1. Hi.. my husband was diagnosed the fall of 2014 at the age of 70.. so please know that your blogs continue to give us hope and encouragement as we continue on this journey.. so yes I am listening and rejoicing in your ability to travel and celebrate with friends and family. Merry Christmas. Happy healthy New year and safe travels.. Karen O'Brien

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Karen. Thank you for your warm response to my blog post. I appreciate it very much. How is your husband doing these days? I hope his therapy has helped bring it under control. I wish you and your husband all the best. Have a wonderful Christmas, and I hope your New Year is a healthy, happy one. All the best, Bill

      Delete
  2. it all sounds good Bill. happy new year and enjoy your travels!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loved reading this, just ran across it. I have MM too, 62 and in remission since July asct. It's been really really hard, I couldn't have imagined the full spectrum I've been through. I feel really good now though. I decided to not take any post treatment meds, just couldn't take any more. Mine was very advanced and unresponsive to the novel drugs so I got a lot of old style chemo and just want to give my body mind and spirit a chance to heal and detox. I was got with horrible anxiety and depression after treatment, it really wopped me, but it's much better now. I love that it's going well for you and wish you a GREAT time on your vacay. These blogs and testimonies from people like you have been life giving to me. 🤗

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Wendy, for your good wishes. I'm so sorry the novel drugs haven't worked for you, but I'm so glad you're in remission now and feeling better. There is so much happening now in new therapy options that should give you great hope for the future. You have a great attitude, and I think that's half the battle. Good luck to you!

      Delete
  4. Yes we are still listening! I hope you had a fabulous trip. My husband and I have been doing trips we never expected to do because of the MM. Seize the day!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sheri! I agree with you. Carpe Diem! Our trip was awesome, and we've decided that we are going to keep traveling and see the world while we still can. Great advice!

      Delete
  5. Hiv disease for the last 3 years and had pain hard to eat and cough are nightmares,especially the first year At this stage, the immune system is severely weakened, and the risk of contracting opportunistic infections is much greater. However, not everyone with HIV will go on to develop AIDS. The earlier you receive treatment, the better your outcome will be.I started taking ARV to avoid early death but I had faith in God that i would be healed someday.As a Hiv patent we are advise to be taking antiretroviral treatments to reduce our chance of transmitting the virus to others , few weeks ago i came on search on the internet if i could get any information on Hiv treatment with herbal medicine, on my search i saw a testimony of someone who has been healed from Hiv her name was Achima Abelard and other Herpes Virus patent Tasha Moore also giving testimony about this same man,Called Dr Itua Herbal Center.I was moved by the testimony and i contacted him by his Email.drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com We chatted and he send me a bottle of herbal medicine I drank it as he instructed me to.After drinking it he ask me to go for a test that how i ended my suffering life of Hiv patent,I'm cured and free of Arv Pills.I'm forever grateful to him Drituaherbalcenter.Here his contact Number +2348149277967...He assure me he can cure the following disease..Hiv,Cancer,Herpes Virus,Lyme Disease,Epilepsy, ,Bladder Cancer,Colorectal Cancer,Breast Cancer,Kidney Cancer,Leukemia,Lung Cancer,Non Hodgkin Lymphoma,Skin Cancer,Uterine Cancer,Prostate Cancer, fibromyalgia ,ALS,Hepatitis,Copd,Parkinson disease.Genetic disease,Fibrodysplasia disease,Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva,Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome,Inflammatory bowel disease ,Huntington's disease ,Diabetes,Fibroid...

    ReplyDelete
  6. ALL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS
    I was diagnosed of myeloma in 2011, I have tried all possible means to get cure but all my effort proved abortive, until a friend of mine introduced me to a herbal doctor , who prepare herbal medicine to cure different kind of diseases including myeloma , when i contacted this herbal doctor via his email, he sent me the myeloma herbal medicine via courier service, when i received the herbal medicine he gave me step by step instructions on how to apply it, when i applied it as instructed by Dr Williams i was totally cured from this disease within 1 months of usage. any body with similar problem can Contact this great herbal doctor via his email drwilliams098675@gmail.com for advice and for his product,and thanks to you admin for such an informative blog.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I found out that I had multiple myeloma when I was 35 years old. I was always tried and just could not get enough energy to do much of anything. When I fell and could not walk for more than a month is when my family found out something was wrong. During this time, I almost lost my life because my kidney was shutting down, and I still could not walk. My husband then took me to another hospital where they found out that I had MM. After already going through one bone marrow transplant, 17 treatments of radiation, a blood transfusion, and chemo. We have been dealing with this for four years with minimal side affects. I have to find a new treatment. I searched the internet every day, Reading and Bookmarking blogs, following comments of people with (MM) and blogs they shared. My breakthrough came the day I read a testimony about someone who was cured from multiple myeloma through HERBAL Medication. I read another multiple myeloma patient testimony being cured through the doctor’s herbal medication. During my research, his name popped up a couple times. I contacted the doctor Fabian and used the medication. My multiple myeloma became a story after 6 months of use the medicine and with his supervision. I'm cured, I did not die. I am here, I have my family always by my side. So much to live for. Trust in a cure. Contact him at whatsApp +1 (936) 242-0157 or dr.fabienconstantin@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Although therapy has become more tolerable and once daily FDC tables have made it easier to adhere to prescribed treatment, it still requires that patients take their medication regularly to achieve sustained viral suppression. When treatment adherence is inadequate and replication is therefore not suppressed, But dr itua promised and fulfilled his promised to me as he said I will share his work to people that are suffering from Infertility, Herpes, Hepatitis A/B, Fibroid, HIV/ Aids, Alzheimer's disease, Arthritis, Copd, Diabetes, Liver/Kidney Inflamotry, Fibromyalgia, Parkinson's disease, I have read a lot of testimony online from Jesus McKinney,Achima Abelard and Tara Omar on how dr itua heal them with his herbal medicine I contacted him on Email drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com then we talk on whatsapp +2348149277967 he gave me instruction on how to drink it for two weeks then after drinking it for two weeks I went for test then I find out I was cured of HIV, I thank him allot i also send him some money for appreciation, Contact this great herbal doctor if you are a sick person.

    ReplyDelete
  9. ALL THANKS TO DR WILLIAMS
    I was diagnosed of myeloma in 2011, I have tried all possible means to get cure but all my effort proved abortive, until a friend of mine introduced me to a herbal doctor , who prepare herbal medicine to cure different kind of diseases including myeloma , when i contacted this herbal doctor via his email, he sent me the myeloma herbal medicine via courier service, when i received the herbal medicine he gave me step by step instructions on how to apply it, when i applied it as instructed by Dr Williams i was totally cured from this disease within 1 months of usage. any body with similar problem can Contact this great herbal doctor via his email drwilliams098675@gmail.com for advice and for his product,and thanks to you admin for such an informative blog.

    ReplyDelete