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Giving thanks
On the weekend, no rx I was wandering through the forest as the magic hour (final hour of the day) approached. I took a variety of self-portraits for about 50 minutes, buy but didn’t feel I was getting the photo I wanted. Then I noticed a ray of sunlight falling on a tree. It looked beautiful and I paused for a moment.
I thought about how lucky I was not to be in bed with chronic pain due to my multiple myeloma or chronic fatigue due to chemo. I felt fortunate that I had not become blind due to previous glaucoma scares and that I had friends that cared about me. I also felt happy that I had a working camera for my creative expression.
Last week was a good week as I found out from my monthly blood test that my cancer levels (igG) had dropped again [see blogpost]. I’m continuing to focus on healthy living, positive thinking, and creative self-portraits to help me cope and remain happy.
| Date | Albumin | Beta Globulin 2 | Gamma Globulin | igG | igA | igM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reference Range | 34.0-53.0 | 1.8 – 4.8 | 5.1 – 15.0 | 6.7 – 15.2 | .70 – 4.00 | .40 – 2.30 |
| Apr | 44.4 | 19.2 | 1.5 | 21.4 | .29 | .41 |
| Mar | 39.1 | 27.1 | 2.6 | 27.5 | .26 | .50 |
| Feb | 38.9 | 33.9 | 3.0 | 36.1 | .33 | .53 |
| Jan | 39.3 | 30.6 | 3.7 | 33.4 | .29 | .22 |
To recap: I have multiple myeloma and anemia, a rare blood cancer. It is incurable, but treatable. From February to November 2013, I received Velcade chemo through weekly in-hospital injections as an outpatient. From February 9th 2015, I am on Pomalyst and dexamethasone chemo treatment (Pom/dex). On April 6th I began Cycle 3 for 4 weeks.
Photos related to my Pomalyst chemo treatment can be viewed in my flickr album.
May 2014: Little Free Library, Granville Island
