Confidence Returns

Last month I reported an increase in my Kappa level to 51.3 that might have been an early indication of relapse. I attended my clinic appointment today and happily my Kappa has reduced to 47.9 thus I'm still OK. This of course comes as something of a relief. It is possible that the rise was due to the bad cold I had over the Christmas period. As I mentioned, there is still some debate about the interpretation of Free Light Chain Assay results.

On Sunday both our sons, our daughter in law, future daughter in law, our grandson, and a springer spaniel all arrived. Except for the spaniel the others have gone off to Val d'Isere for a week's skiing.  Brown in colour the dog has the apt name of Cocoa ! Apparently does not refer to her colour and should be "Coco" after Coco Chanel !

I have to confess that Cocoa has now calmed down somewhat since her puppy days and now represents an ideal reason for me to go for a walk. She also entertained us today by nearly catching our dinner - a pheasant that had foolishly wandered into our garden !

Another source of amusement today was a Shaun the Sheep:

These colourful creations had been displayed through Bristol and London before being auctioned for charity. It would seem that this one has found its way to this location just outside Bristol Childrens' Hospital.

Each month my blog takes a theme. This month it is perhaps appropriate for me to choose confidence and thus this quotation:

When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun.

And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.

Joe Namath

Keep well, and remember YOLO

Stephen

Potential Change ?

Firstly, Happy New Year !

In the last blog post I mentioned our intention to spend Christmas in a luxury hotel in Bath and also that we both had colds.

This picture shows the superb view from our room out over the city and towards Bath Abbey. Our stay was somewhat spoilt by both of us having those filthy colds. Staying in a hotel at Christmas has been something of an experiment, and one which we don't plan to repeat. The best place for us, unwell or not, is at home over Christmas. Still, we needed to try it.

Margaret recovered from her cold fairly quickly but the same could not be said for me and on the 4th January I saw my GP who prescribed an antibiotic to clear up my cough. Only now, some 4 weeks after the wretched thing started, am I beginning to feel better.

This week I saw my consultant. All news was much the same as usual including the fact that my paraprotein remains undetectable. My kappa result, however, caused some discussion. There are two main types of myeloma - those which produce free lite chains (fragments) known as lambda and those known as kappa. I'm in the second category. Doctors are still learning to interpret free lite chains but they are recognised to be a more sensitive measure of cancer activity than paraprotein. For much of the time that I've been in remission, my kappa has hovered at a low reading in the mid twenties. The blood tested after my appointment in December shows the first real increase to a reading of 51.3. Most patients would truly love to have such a low reading but for me this might indicate change. It seems that it could be caused by the virus that resulted in my cold. Equally it could be the first indication of relapse.

Ever since I went into remission I have known that, at some stage, I would relapse. It is important that it does not come as a shock but simply the need to have further treatment. If the kappa reading returns to my normal or even seems to plateau then there will be no cause for concern. If, however, the reading shows a rising trend then I can expect my paraprotein to return thus signifying relapse. I would then need to plan my life accordingly.

Right now I'm aware that I have hardly exercised because of my virus and the cold weather. As soon as it warms a little, I'll be out walking again.

Walking is man's best medicine

Hippocrates

Keep well, and remember YOLO

Stephen

A Different Christmas

Only a quick update this month. I saw my consultant again and, smiles all round, my paraprotein remains undetectable and my LITEs almost normal.

Since Margaret and I intended to spend Christmas in a hotel (for the first time) this year, we had an early family get-together before the main event. The combination of a two year old grandson and a spaniel might have seemed crazy but all went very well indeed. It was great for everyone to get together. We even took the trouble to walk around the village scoring each lighting display - the more tacky the display, the greater the score !

I had a court sitting the next week and then we traveled to Bath for our planned four day stay in a luxury hotel. In the event some of the gloss was lost on us as by then we both had filthy colds. We were both coughing badly and I developed blocked sinuses leading to deafness. As you will no doubt be agree, the best place to be when feeling less well, is at home. At least we weren't entertaining over this period and Margaret didn't have to cook. We came home on Sunday and little by little we are both beginning to recover.

I'd almost forgotten what is is like to be ill - and I don't like it !

Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it's not luxury

Coco Chanel

Keep well, YOLO

Stephen

A Busy Month

November has proved to be something of a busy and satisfying month.

Again my role as a JP enabled me to participate in the Bristol Remembrance ceremony.

Despite a poor forecast, the rain held off and the sun came out. It seems that this is the 30th year that the weather has been kind to the ceremony. That very same evening we treated ourselves to a meal out to celebrate our 40th (Ruby) wedding anniversary.

We then spent just ten days in Cyprus for our autumn visit. Again the weather was kind to us. Although I needed to spend much of our time working on the house, we did manage to see our friends, to eat out every evening and had an enjoyable trip north to Latchi; a fishing village in the north west of the island. Lunch in a water-side restaurant and then a walk around the harbour in the warm autumn sunshine was just perfect.

Another very enjoyable lunch was had at oiur favourite beach restaurant at Avdimou. For me, and as if to prove my good health, this always involves a bracing walk of over 3 miles from our home to a waiting glass of shandy!

And, of course, I attended my consultant's appointment this week. My results remain most satisfactory.

Happy is the man who finds a true friend

and far happier is he that finds his true friend in his wife.

Franz Schubert

Keep well and YOLO

Stephen