Papa and GabrielHappy Father’s Day to all the Fathers out there! For those of you who take time to read our blog, I want to thank you. I know it’s because you care about us and want to know how Steve is doing. It’s been harder and harder to keep the blog updated since I returned to work fulltime. Plus I we have been busy getting our home back in shape. It seems like every weekend there are more and more chores to do!
In late May Steve saw his oncologist at UCLA, the one who oversaw his stem cell transplant. He was pleased with the bone marrow biopsy results. He just wants to see the protein level in his blood to go to zero (m-spike). He feels strongly that it will now that Steve is taking revlimid. If it does, he will be in full-remission! Praise God!
Steve just completed the second cycle of revlimid and we we’ll find out this Friday if it is working. (Pray for great results!). The not so good news is that there have been some new findings on the long term use of revlimid in myeloma patients. There appears to be a high probability that it can cause secondary cancers. (I hear this about most blood cancer treatments.) The doctor only wants him to take it for 2 years. Hopefully by that time there will be some new drugs available.
So how is he feeling? He has some bad days and bad moments, where he doesn’t feel well and/or has some pain. The worst is when the he gets a foot or leg cramp in the middle of the night. Fortunately they are not very often. We think most of this is due to all the medication he is taking. But it could also be his body is still recovering from the transplant. It’s hard to say. He keeps himself busy and his overall health is good. Right now our greatest concern is for some very dear people we know and love, they all have cancer. Their situations are not as promising at the moment. Please, please pray for them and their families; Rosemary, my sister, Hayden, my boss’s 5 year old son and Julie, our Pastor’s wife. Continue to pray for Tim, Natalie and Dave.
