November 25, 2014.. We successfully made the 620 mile drive home today without any problems. We left at 4:45am and arrived home at 4:15pm. We passed through several road construction areas but we went through, there were no delays. We are very thankful for a safe trip.   

November 24, 2014.. Good news!! No maybe Great news! Dr Jethava said the myeloma is under control and all the test results were good. He is not changing anything at this time and I come back to Little Rock in 4 months for testing and if things look as good as they do now, he will stop my treatments completely. He also said my myeloma is back to smoldering. I had not thought of it this way but my myeloma markers are actually better than when I was first diagnosed. According to the MRI and PET scans, all focal lesions are now gone. He said some patients that reach this point go without treatment for as much as two years. When I stop smoldering, I will have to start treatment again. 

We were disappointed to find out I am going to have to change doctors.  Dr Jethava is taking responsibility for developing an allo stem cell transplant program (allo is using stem cells from a donor most of the time it is a sibling) at UAMS. I will see him on my return visit but I will have to see another doctor after that. I have confidence in him and really hate to change. 

We will leave to head home sometime way before daylight tomorrow morning. Reta has to play piano for a community Thanksgiving service at church Tuesday night. She does not have a backup to take her place.

I want to thank each of you for your prayers. I sincerely appreciate them. This Thanksgiving, we will have something extra special to be thankful for.  

November 23, 2014.. There was rain in Little Rock most of the day and we stayed at the apartment without going anywhere. We just stayed in and recovered from the previous days. There is no news to report today which I think is a good thing. 

Tomorrow, I have see Dr Jethava at 10am. 

I finished with a video I had edited at home and uploaded it today to share with family. Most of it was made at my nephew Gary's house in late October. The opening of the video was made in the Smokies on a camping trip earlier this year. If you want to view the video, click the link below. If it stops often, you will need to download it by clicking the download option and then run it when it is stored on your computer. I highly recommend my sister Audrey view the video.

Click Here to View the Video

November 22, 2014.. I got the final of my tests done today by completion of the PET scan. We got up at 4:00am to make sure we were there by the 6:30am appointment time. Getting to the PET area was not as easy was I thought it would be. We parked in the same parking building where we normally park. This was not the location in the instructions but we didn't know where the parking was located mentioned in the instructions. After we parked and started in the building, we found all doors were locked and not operating. We could not get into the building and didn't know what to do next. We finally saw a woman walking up the street toward the building and I ask her about getting into the building and told her I had a PET scan scheduled. She said I needed to be there on time because they mix the injection and it is good for only a little while after it is mixed. She said she would let me in so I could go to the PET area. We were really grateful for that and finally got to the PET area after winding all through the building. When we got to the PET area, the man on the desk told us he was afraid I was too late to get the test because the injection probably had expired. By then, we were 15 minutes late. He called one of the people in the testing area and found out they had given my injection to another person that had arrived early and I could take his injection. Whew! That was a close call! I filled out a paper form and got the radioactive glucose injection by iv. I had to wait for an hour after that before they could do the scan. The room I was waiting alone in had steel doors about 5 inches thick. They were too heavy to open by hand and had to be opened electrically. I don't know why the doors were so heavy and thick. I assume it was due to the radioactive liquids they inject there. After the wait, I was taken to the scanner. The scan took 45 minutes. I asked if the results would be available for the doctor for my 10am appointment Monday and he said it should be. 
After we finished, we celebrated by going to Cracker Barrel and getting breakfast. I am glad the testing is over. Tomorrow we have the whole day off so we will enjoy not being on a schedule. 

November 21, 2014.. Today was uneventful. We moved from our hotel room at Guest House Inn to the Home Away From Home apartment. It is in a nice location in sort of a country setting. The apartment complex is gated and a pass code is required to get through the gate. Our apartment is very nice. It is the nicest and largest we have ever had here. We feel very fortunate to get it even if it is for only a short time. 
I just got notice that my test results were available online for my bone marrow biopsy. There are so medical terms in it, I can't understand most of what is in the report but the best I can tell, the myeloma is better than it has been. It appears the percent plasma that was 15 percent at one time to 5 percent now. The M spike was over 5 at one time and is now 2.5. The desired result on both of these is zero. The Kyprolis seems to be working. I will know more about my whole situation when I talk to the doctor on Monday. 
We have to be at UAMS in the morning at 6:30 for a PET scan. We plan to get up at 4 in order to get ready, drive there and find the right place in the hospital. I will be injected with the radioactive glucose and then wait for about 45 minutes before the PET scan. I can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight other than water. I am so glad I can have water. That is the only test I have tomorrow so we should have plenty of resting time. 
Today was drizzling rain all day with more rain forecast for tomorrow. 

November 20, 2014.. Today was a hard and long day. We started the day at the hospital at 7am and were able to leave at 4:30. By the time we were able to leave, I was feeling pretty bad. It seemed the bone marrow procedure did not go as well as in the past. I had to wait several hours after I got to the area where they do it before they finally started to actually work on me and then things were just not as smooth as in the past. Just to complain a bit... I had not had any food or liquid of any kind since about 10pm last night and I asked for a drink of water and the person working with me told me she would get it soon but never did get it. When I finally got to the car, I drank about a quart of water. As soon as I got to the hotel, I laid down and I feel somewhat better now. 
One of the bad side effects of the drug I am getting (Kyprolis) to treat the myeloma is congestive heart failure. One of the tests that were run today was ProBNP. I am told this test measures if a person is having congestive heart failure. My test results in the past have always been well within limits but today it was considerably out of limits. My previous results had run in the 70's or so and today it was 369.  The top limit is 125.That brings all kinds of questions to my mind about what the doctor will say about that and what Kyprolis is doing to my body.
This morning when I was getting my blood drawn, I asked if they were collecting a ProBNP sample. She said no because it was not on the list to collect. When I met with the Physician's Assistant later in the day, he said I needed to get that test and sent me again to get another draw. They had to stick me 3 more times to get that one sample. 
Tomorrow, we move from the hotel where we are staying to an apartment for the remainder of our stay. It will be much more comfortable there and not cost as much. Tomorrow, I have no tests scheduled.     

November 19, 2014.. We have once again arrived in Little Rock. We left home this morning a little before 8am when the temperature was 10 degrees. We had a good drive to Little Rock with the sun shining most of the way. The traffic was heavy as usual but not as bad as on some trips we have made here before. We stopped in Memphis at Burger King just a short distance from the Interstate and met my brother Lester who lives in Memphis. We spent about 1.5 hours with him in a nice visit and then continued on to Little Rock. We drove the last 2 hours or so in the dark and we arrived at the hotel about 8:45 local time. Tomorrow will be a really busy day with my first appointment at 7am with other appointments following until the bone marrow procurement at 1pm. I have the preparation for that at 11:30am. The bone marrow procurement procedure will be the last thing for the day. I will not be able to have anything to eat or drink after midnight tonight in preparation for the bone marrow procedure.