February 22, 2023

After two days of testing, it was good to get home last night about 1:00 a.m. I wish I could say the trip home was as uneventful as the trip was going.

In the span of about 10 minutes Tuesday evening, Larry’s car was struck and I lost a credit card.

Yesterday’s tests went far better than I anticipated and were a bit earlier than scheduled. We scooted out of Rochester ASAP before what was predicted to be as much as 18 inches of snow.

Dealing with cancer often brings tremendous emotional swings. Yesterday was one of those. We finally got the results from the bone marrow biopsy.

The initial results indicate that I possibly have “smoldering multiple myeloma” (SMM) which would be marvelous news. SMM means that I may have the “precursors” (might not be the right medical term) to the disease, but not have the active disease. If I have SMM there would be no treatments needed now and it might not manifest as MM in the next five years, if ever.

With that welcome news we rode the emotional roller coaster up.

It didn’t take long before the coaster came back down. The results of the biopsy are indictive but are not conclusive. The only way to know for sure is to have a bone biopsy on one of the lesions. And the results on from the MRI yesterday indicated some additional concern about the marrow lesions.

So we really don’t know anything more for sure than we have from the beginning of the testing. We do, however, have considerably more hope than at other points in this journey.

I return to Mayo on March 5th for two weeks of radiation. We are hoping to have the bone biopsy during that time and some conclusive news by March 16th. The waiting continues.

We live in an amazing day when it comes to medical treatments. In the previous blog I shared a “question” in my mind about how a small dose from an injection could have bearing on hormones for months.

The injection was in my abdomen and now at the sight of the injection is a small “lump” that I can feel. It contains the medicine that will destroy the hormones that feed the prostate cancer. As that lump dissipates over the next 4-5 months, the medicine will go into my system. Instead of needing multiple injections I had just one. Wow.

Yesterday I was wearing a Kentucky pullover, which I often do when I am in Rochester. I met a couple from Russell Springs. The wife started radiation treatments on Monday. Sure looked to me like Dorothy could use some of the prayers that you have been sending for me.

To complete the opening teaser. Larry and I were sitting in the DQ drive thru waiting to order when we felt a rather strong whack. A lady with two kids apparently was more concerned about getting her money ready than seeing the SUV in front of her. Some damage to Larry’s car but not extensive.

And within two hours someone tried to use the already canceled credit card.

He rang the bell! I shared with you about the young boy with a patch on his eye who brought in cookies and candy for the staff. I had hoped that he was finishing his radiation treatments. My perception was correct. Yesterday was his final of 30 treatments for cancer.

When you complete your last radiation treatment, there is a bell in the hallway that you get to ring. I had already gone back for my procedure on Monday and I missed the celebration of his family, the staff, and everyone in the waiting area. He rang the bell.

When you hear a bell in the next few days, a prayer for the complete healing of a young boy would be a great thing. God knows his name and his circumstance.

Looking forward to ringing the bell in about three weeks.