Happy New Year

I've very little to report this month !

Christmas proved to be most enjoyable with visits from both our sons, their partners, and of course our grandson. No sooner than the festive holiday had arrived that it was time to dismantle the decorations and pack them away until needed again.

Enough waffle!

I visited my consultant this week and, again, my paraprotein was undetectable. My kappa reading was again slightly raised but I was assured that the numbers were so low as to be of no consequence. I'm thus still fit and well and ready to get on with 2015.

With that in mind I now must look for a suitable saying:

It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease

than to know what sort of disease a person has.    (Hippocrates)

Keep healthy and KBO

Stephen

Firstly, a very happy Christmas.

Secondly, I attended routine consultant's clinic on the Tuesday before Christmas and, again, my blood tests were good. Accordingly I was prescribed medication for my next cycle. This is cycle number 29 ! Excellent.

I continue to feel well and Margaret and I managed two concerts during the last month; both at the Colston Hall in Bristol. The first was Elgar's Dream of Gerontius; a truly inspirational work which was beautifully performed. The second concert  was Handel's Messiah performed by the Bristol Choral Society. Utterly faultless and  really got us into the Christmas mood. We are now booked to see the world-famous War Horse which will shortly be coming to Bristol. Good health certainly allows me to derive so much enjoyment from these events.

This is a short post with only two intentions: to update details of my health (which is excellent) and to wish everyone a very happy, and healthy, new year.

We recognise pain but we rarely acknowledge being pain-free

Keep well and KBO

Stephen

A Time of Reflection

Today saw me travel up to Bristol for my routine consultant's appointment. Yet again the news was excellent. My paraprotein remains undetectable and my LITEs continue to show improvement. In simple terms Light Chains (LITEs) are a more sensitive measure of the myeloma plasma cell fragments. There are two types; Kappa and Lambda. Since my cancer is IgG kappa myeloma, the actual quantity of kappa and its ratio to lambda is of interest. When last tested my kappa level had fallen to 22.2. This puts it into the normal range of 5.71 to 26.3. My ratio was 2.74 which almost puts it into the normal range of 0.26 to 1.65. If my LITEs continue to fall then I will potentially be considered to have entered Complete Remission.

In simpler terms, I feel very well indeed with only minor back pain (for which I'm prescribed paracetamol!). Being on the Myeloma XI trial I take a drug called Revlimid. It may be this which has brought my cancer under control. Like so many such drugs, there is a risk of side-effects. Without going into details, I only get one and it is entirely tolerable.

Given my current excellent health, I am beginning to question whether this can still be a "myeloma blog". Only time will tell. Certainly it is right to report the good as well as the bad.

It is perhaps inevitable that in visiting my consultant, who is based at the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre (BHOC), I will encounter patients whose health is far worse than my own. It is humbling to see some of them. When I was admitted for high dose therapy in July 2012, I met two patients who were end-of-life. It was heart rending to speak to them and to witness their courage. Even now in clinic, I see so many patients in very poor state of health. Unlike the ward, the clinic waiting room is not appropriate for conversation. I can only remind myself just how fortunate I am.

I am a living example of someone who has an incurable cancer but never-the-less has responded favourably to treatment and has an excellent quality of life.

Last month I reported my appointment to be a Magistrate. What I then discovered was a civic aspect of this role. I was invited, as a JP, to attend the Remembrance ceremony in Bristol. Margaret and I mark Remembrance every year so my decision to attend was an easy one. The day was clear and bright and there was a significant public attendance at the city Cenotaph. I found myself with around 60 of my colleagues alongside the Lord-Lieutenant, the Lord Mayor, the elected Mayor, and the city Aldermen. Of note were the many medals worn by young and junior service personnel - an indication of the service they have already seen.

The month seems to have been very much service related. Margaret and I took the opportunity to visit the RAF Museum at Cosford where the Wellington bomber is currently undergoing a major restoration which will take several years. It is only rarely possible for the public to be admitted into the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre. I thoroughly recommend a visit to the RAF Museum at Cosford.

We've also had the very enjoyable experience of attending a concert by the RAF Central Band to mark the 50th anniversary of the Red Arrows. And to think that a certain government considered disbanding them!

Finally I've had word from our Italian host and friend who showed us so much hospitality last year that he has placed a poppy I sent to him on the plaque I presented.

The poppy I left last year has now faded. Some unknown person has added a rose alongside the poppy I provided this year.

This month's saying:

When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry,

show life you have a thousand reasons to smile

Keep well and KBO

Stephen

Reasons to be Happy

Firstly, more good news about my myeloma. I saw the consultant this week and, yet again, my paraprotein is not detectable. I'm extremely fortunate to receive my treatment in Bristol as the senior consultant is Dr Jenny Bird. She is one of the leading specialists in this field and chair of the United Kingdom Myeloma Forum. The UKMF sets the guidelines that are used throughout the country in the treatment of this cancer.

Next is the fact that Margaret and I have just returned from 2 weeks holiday in Cyprus. There was, as usual, lots of work (Gardening) to be done but it is always worthwhile.

The bougainvillea set against a clear blue sky always produces a cheerful sight.

Finally I have at last achieved an ambition I've held for a very long time. Last week I was appointed as a Magistrate (or Justice of the Peace, JP) and will sit in the Bristol Court. Many years ago, and aware that an uncle had been a JP, I heard a radio program about the selection and training procedure. When I retired in 2011 I decided that I would apply. I attended our local court and observed the proceedings. Having talked to some of the staff I was encouraged to return for an "open day". On this occasion I had the guidance of a serving JP who explained what was happening - I was hooked! At that time there were no vacancies but my name was added to a list of potential applicants.

It was a further year before I was invited to make a formal application. There then followed a long process which included attending two very searching interviews. The panel seemed only mildly concerned about my cancer and took my word that it was under control. I was then told that I had not been selected to sit on my local court but that my name would be kept on a waiting list which had a "life" of 18 months. After a further year, I was invited to become a JP to serve in the court in Bristol.

The court in Bristol is modern, highly efficient and surprisingly friendly (at least from my perspective!). Last week, and along with the other new JPs I attended a ceremony in Bristol's Crown Court where we each had to swear allegiance to the Queen and then to take the Judicial Oath. Over the next few weeks I will start to sit (as one of a three person team called a Bench). It is our role to decide guilt, or innocence, and then to award sentence by interpretation of guidelines. For someone who has not, perhaps, experienced the court process it must be difficult to understand why I would want to become a JP. For a very long time I have been interested in justice.

In the same year that I first observed in my local court, I was diagnosed with Myeloma. In July 2012 I was admitted to hospital for High Dose Therapy and Stem Cell Transplant. I can only hope that my current good health will continue for the next 5 years until, by virtue of age, I will have to retire from the Bench.

In the musical South Pacific is the song "Happy Talk" the memorable line from which is

"You gotta have a dream, if you don't have a dream,

How you gonna have a dream come true?"

My dream has come true.

Keep well and KBO

Stephen