On March 14, we went for our weekly testing and to assess the prior week's tests with Dr. Nibley. This time my white cell counts were down slightly, which is the main expected side effect of Revlimid. The decline wasn't out of the normal range, but Dr. Nibley decided to cut the dosage anyway, to 15 mg., since studies show that the lower dose is just as effective. I also received my monthly infusion of Zometa, which helps to heal the bone damage caused by the cancer last year.
On St. Patrick's Day we had another great luncheon with friends from Springville High. Get-togethers like this are frequent among our class alums, but this one was again specifically to show support for Laraine and me. There were more in attendance than last time, some who I hadn't seen for a few years. The instigator of these meetings was my good friend Lee Taylor, who has appointed himself our class den mother, and over the past few years has gone to great lengths--literally traveling thousands of miles--to keep in touch with all the members of our class and to keep us in touch with each other. We have a very special class, and it continues to be that way in large part because of Lee.
On Monday the 19th, we returned to the Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit at LDS Hospital for 100-day post-transplant testing. They did many of the same tests they had run just before and just after the transplant to see how I'm doing against those benchmarks. There was a full battery of blood tests, a chest x-ray, a pulmonary function test, and an analysis of urine collected over the prior 24 hours. We won't get the results until next week.
Meanwhile, I feel pretty good. The neuropathy in my feet isn't as bad these days; either it is gradually healing by itself, or the pain medicine, Lyrica, is doing its job. Either way, I'm grateful. I'm still quite anemic and continue to be tired and lack energy, so my productivity is not great. It doesn't seem to matter much what I do or don't do during they day, by early evening I'm pretty drained. But life is good and I count my blessings every single day.
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