I have an appointment at UNC with Dr. Orlowski on June 11th at 8:30 am. I’m glad that’s been rescheduled and look forward to having someone knowledgable about MM to work with who’s closer than Boston. Dr. Richardson at Dana-Farber worked with Dr. Orlowski on a clinical trial before - Velcade, I think. [...]
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If you ever watched one of those Craftmatic adjustable bed commercials and thought they looked cool, but wondered how much they cost, I can tell you. I went to their web site, looking for prices, and found none. I submitted my contact info online, and asked for pricing. Here’s what happened. [...]
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I had an acupuncture session yesterday afternoon. It does help me feel better. It’s very relaxing, and does alleviate some of my back pain. I fall asleep sometimes while I’m there. The acupuncturist says that endorphins are released and that’s why I feel so relaxed. Since I’ll be in Boston [...]
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I had a CBC done today. Everything normal! I like when I see that.
Click for labs
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I had an appointment with my Pinehurst oncologist this morning. I called in to say I wouldn’t make it, and they gave me a later appointment time. I’ll be seeing Dr. R. in Boston in less than a week, and I’ll have an appointment with Dr. O. in Chapel Hill after I get [...]
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Jon Siegel is going to be having his stem cell transplant at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital when I’m in Boston, which is right next to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, so I’m going to see if I can stop by to say hello. He said he could have visitors, which is nice!
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Monday was my dex day (down to 40mg once a week now). I was able to fall alseep at midnight, which was great! But I was awake at 3 am. This may have been due to two factors. Dex causes sleeplessnes and it also causes (in me) really severe indigestion. [...]
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Here’s some information about Dr. Orlowski at UNC:
Robert Z. Orlowski, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology
Molecular Therapeutics Program; Clinical Research Program
Clinical Interests
Dr. Orlowski’s clinical areas of focus include the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies, including multiple myeloma, acute and chronic leukemias, and Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, and also Phase [...]
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I just wanted to post a reminder to always check your medications prior to administration. It’s not impossible for mistakes to be made. Thanks to MM list members, I have made it a habit to check everything. Recently I had an Aredia infusion that was ordered to be given over 4 hours. [...]
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I have all my xray/MRI/CT scan films in my possession to take along with me to my appointments with various doctors. Today I pulled out some xrays done in March in Pinehurst to see what I could see. I was just curious. I have a great deal of pain in the [...]
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If you’re reading this and don’t have cancer, I recommend the AFLAC cancer policy. I don’t know what possessed me to get this for myself, but I’m glad I did. AFLAC pays money to help cover costs by sending checks for chemo and trips you might make to get a second opinion. [...]
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I sent my water off to a national testing lab for a complete analysis (bacterial, mineral, etc). The results came back, and the only abnormality detected was low pH. I’ll be getting a water treatment system to resolve that. I’ll also get a countertop distiller to use for cooking and washing vegetables. [...]
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All along I’ve thought that I need to hang in here for a few years until researchers find a way to manage MM as a chronic disease or there’s a cure. Bob Meyer just posted something on the MM list that is encouraging. There are many of us who have the same optimism [...]
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If you have a Palm Pilot, you can download a free version of ePocrates, which can be quite handy. It’s like a mini PDR, containing all the pertinent information about drugs. You can select all the drugs you’re taking, and it will display the drug interaction precautions as well. Another nice feature is [...]
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I called the University of North Carolina (UNC) for an appointment with Dr. Robert Orlowski and left a voicemail message, but nobody ever called me back. In today’s mail was an appointment card! I’m curious about how they got my address. All I did when I called was leave my name and [...]
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I just had my first serum immonufixation and protein electropheresis done since I started dex and thal on April 4th. The results are encouraging. My local onc says much improved and we’ll stay with current rx.
I have the lab report posted at LABS. You can compare the January test to the May [...]
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Monday was my dex day. I got mad at my kitchen utensils and put them all in the dishwasher, washed the dividers and cleaned out the drawers. One of the utensils was too long, hitting the top rack of the dishwasher, so I was wishing I had a saw. Good thing I [...]
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Good news - bloodwork from today has my creatinine back in normal range. Dr. Allen is switching me to Aredia anyway though. I’m glad for that. I was really upset about having a kidney problem. I’m glad it was transient. Who knows? It could have been a lab error [...]
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My local oncologist’s nurse just called and asked me to come in to have some more blood drawn today. My labs last Thursday showed an increase in serum creatinine. When you have a normal baseline, and the level increases by 1.0 mg/dL, the manufacturer of Zometa (Novartis) says that treatment should be withheld. [...]
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I spent the day recovering from a GI virus. It started last night and, of course, kept me up all night. I violated my no sugar rule and had some ginger ale. I still don’t feel normal yet, but anything’s an improvement over how I felt all night and this morning.Now I’m [...]
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I have an appointment at Duke on the 21st at 10 am to be evaluated for an autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant. I am tempted to cancel the appointment and not think about it again. At this point in time, I just don’t want to have one. I don’t know how [...]
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I ordered a box of mixed citrus from Starr Organic last week, and they arrived in good shape. The trouble is, it’s more fruit than I can consume. Some of it has gone bad already, unfortunately. This morning I made juice from a grapefruit, 2 oranges and 1 tangerine. It was [...]
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I called in to my local oncologist’s office this morning to have them call me when they got the results of yesterday’s bloodwork. I’ve been waiting for a call back all day. I don’t even know if they’re in today. All I can do is wait. One time I called [...]
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My dentist is going to have me come for cleanings three times a year now. She said that she wants to keep the bacteria levels down in my mouth. Sounds like a good idea to me. She also said that she will have me take some antibiotics prior to cleanings. When they’re [...]
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