After being under the care of the LDS Hospital Blood and Marrow Transplant unit for the past three to four months, I was officially transferred back to the care of my primary oncologist for ongoing monitoring and treatment. We--that is Laraine, Emily, and I--met with Dr. Nibley today. Emily comes along to many of my appointments when her works schedule allows it. I am exceedingly grateful for her dedicated interest and support; her passionate advocacy and medical training have been encouraging and insightful.
We always like to see Dr. Nibley; he is always lighthearted and upbeat, while saying what needs to be said. As expected, today he proposed a maintenance regimen composed of a small, daily, oral dose of a medicine called Revlimid, along with monthly testing to make sure the myeloma is staying away. Revlimid has only mild side effects, and is a modern cousin to thalidomide, which some of you may remember caused a horrifying rash of deformed babies back in the sixties.
Revlimid is highly controlled, so the Dr. actually has to apply for it, and the drug company will call and interview us before it can actually be prescribed and used, so we'll keep you posted on that. It is also highly expensive, as is everything related to this illness, so we're mighty grateful to Medicare and my insurance company for picking up the tab.
There really wasn't much else. We just asked about being able to serve a mission away from Salt Lake, and Dr. Nibley recommended we wait until the year mark and make sure everything is stable and I'm back to full strength, and then I could probably go anywhere where I could get hooked up with an oncologist who could monitor my medication and condition. Meanwhile, we could probably do something here in the valley that would fit within my energy limits; I'm still pretty anemic, and tire easily. However, the Church no doubt has its own restrictions on where members in our situation can serve, and we still have to check that out.
