Just Checking In . . .

I have been ignoring the blog lately . . . sorry.  Sometimes you just don’t feel like talkin' about it, ya know?

Anyhow, I got through five months of weekly Velcade/Dexamethasone, what a roller coaster ride that was.  That Dex is a humdinger of a drug, it really turns you into an entirely different beast.  I’m finally starting to feel like myself again, after five weeks off it.  The drugs brought the M-spike numbers back down into the MGUS range (yay!) but they are not as far down as Dr W and I would have liked.  Some people get complete remission on this combo in just a couple months, but I guess that was not to be me.  After one month off, he re-checked the M-spike numbers and they had gone from 2.3 back up to 2.6, so close monitoring is going to be needed here.  I’ll see him every six weeks for that, and a Zometa infusion.

Meanwhile, life goes on as best it can.  I’m grateful for what functioning I do have, though have been very tired lately.  I got a far-infrared sauna (www.therasage.com) and have been using that a few times a week, but it makes me feel very tired, sometimes for days afterwards.  So I might have to back off using that quite as often, perhaps once or twice a week instead of three or four times.  Sometimes you can overload your system with too much “detox”, especially if the detox pathways are broken (as is the case with MCS).  An interesting article on the Therasage website tells how/why heat therapy is useful for cancer:  http://therasage.com/blog/cancer-therapy/

My next tactic is to start using Essiac tea on a daily basis.  It’s an ancient Native American recipe known to cure various cancers.  I ran this by Dr. W, who has a very open mind about all things alternative, while maintaining his bemused, skeptical AMA-doctor attitude.  He actually said some of his other patients have had a good response to it, so he was in favor of it.  It’s not difficult or expensive to do, so that is my latest thing to try now that the drugs are done.  Took the very first dose this morning!  It’s supposedly an excellent blood and liver cleanser, so that can’t be a bad thing.  This was recommended to me by someone who has had a 15 year remission from MM using this exclusively.  (Thank you CH!!!!)  I’ll let you all know how I get on with it.