Thursday, January 31, 2013

Another great result

Yesterday, I went for my semi-annual visit with Dr. Hema to discuss my progress and review the results of my regularly scheduled blood tests. As regular readers of this blog will remember, I get my blood tests locally well before the doctor's office visits. I have a copy of the test mailed to me so I can note the progress of my lymphoma and have an informed discussion with the doctor.

As a friend of mine says, "A little bit of a control freak, are we?"

My tests results are excellent! My M-spike number, the primary indicator of cancer cells in the body, is 0.26, or just about where it has been for the last several visits. That tells us that the disease is getting no worse over time. Since it can never be absolutely, positively cured, that is the best result I could expect. Woo hoo!!!

We had a frank discussion of the possibilities in the future. Lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma usually returns after a period. It may be six months or six years or sixteen years or, as in a few cases, never. We will wait and see. Even if it does return, it may progress very slowly with no urgent need for immediate treatment. Accordingly, my adorable wife and I shall work hard to enjoy life to the very fullest.

As usual, we celebrated with a nice long lunch and a respectable Chianti Classico. We shall start planning our next trip. I hope we see you soon!