This past Monday, I was scheduled for the dreaded bone marrow biopsy. Since I had decided to take drugs, Holly drove me in in the morning for my first appointment. When it came time for the biopsy, I was given "conscious sedation", which consisted of an IV of Fentanyl (for pain) and Versed (for relaxation and memory block).
Wow, what a difference! The procedure was a piece of cake. I'm going to go this route from now on with these biopsies. Holly picked me up afterward and we went back to their condo in Boston. I had no aftereffects.
On my last bone marrow biopsy on Oct 13, the results showed "monotypic kappa plasma cells present". Flow cytometry showed 1.8% of aberrant plasma cells in the bone marrow aspirate. I was clearly diagnosed with a plasma cell neoplasm.
On Thursday, I got the results from the latest biopsy. This time, the result was clear: "No monotypic plasma cells detected"! They just disappeared! I'm flabbergasted. I can't believe how well this clinical trial is working right now.
There's only one fly in the ointment. Sunday, I went to a funeral for an old college friend. One of the mourners became sick on Monday, and he tested positive for Covid. Since then almost all of us there have come down with it. I tested positive on Thursday. Being a good doobie, I called Dana Farber to let them know. To my shock and surprise, they told me I couldn't come back there for 20 days! this means I can't go back again until January.
I'm really upset about this. After all the wonderful results I've achieved to date, I have to allow 3 weeks for things to possibly reverse. I realize that in severe cases, Covid can remain infectious for up to 20 days. So they are just going to let their cancer patients twist slowly in the breeze for 3 weeks? It doesn't seem fair.
I'll have to keep my fingers crossed that things will just pick up where they left off in January.
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