Cancer chronicles: an update

For those of you who have been following along at home regarding the trials and tribulations of my husband being diagnosed with blood plasma cancer (myeloma) and the subsequent joys of tandem stem cell transplants, I have an update for you. I know many of you are curious and want to know what's going on and have asked or are afraid to ask and I don't blame you. I think most people regret asking what's going on because I firehose them with far too much medico-babble and detailed descriptions of all the medical procedures I've witnessed.

I also have been keeping fairly mum on all the ups and downs of the latest stem cell transplant not only because it's been hell on wheels but also because, when I look back on previous posts written during the emotional times, it seems (to me) like I'm either whining or just posting about it to garner pity. So, while things may have appeared to be just humming along over here, they really haven't been. At all. But things have quieted down now and here is the latest report.

Back in July my husband had his first stem cell transplant using his own stem cells that they collected. They never were able to get a clean stem cell collection, meaning the stem cells still had small amounts of cancer in them even after blasting him with shitloads of chemotherapy from all angles. But "little cancer" is better than "big cancer" so they went ahead with this transplant, mostly as a conditioning treatment for the second transplant. This is where the tandem part comes in. They kick you while you're already down.

In September, they found a matching donor and did the second stem cell transplant. Since they didn't completely obliterate his immune system like they did with the first one, it's called a "mini" transplant. But, there's nothing mini about it. After heavy doses of chemotherapy and total body irradiation, just for good measure, he received his new immune system, which rapidly took over his "old" one.

Magically (or at least it certainly seems that way), he now has a new blood type and his blood DNA is that of his donor's even though his skin DNA is still his own. I'm thinking a life of crime is definitely in the works here. Or, at the very least, a very badly written novel.

The problem with donor immune cells is that they don't discriminate between cancer cells and those cells you actually want to keep. Like your eyes, lungs, liver. Things like that. So, he's on pretty hefty doses of immunosuppressants to keep things in check until his body adjusts to the donor cells. He's been having problems with the donor cells attacking his digestive tract and his skin, but these are fairly common reactions to have and they have treatments for it, although they come with increased risk and only add to the huge litany of medications he takes throughout the day.

To make a long story short, on Friday he completes his 100 days post transplant, when they set him free. Well, not really, but the amount of monitoring will hopefully go down and we just may see some semblance of normalcy in the future. We still don't know if the transplant was effective yet - it will take months for the donor cells to do their thing. At this point, his cancer numbers are very low (less than .5% compared to 95% last year), which gives the new immune system a fighting chance to mop up the remaining cells.

So, keep your fingers crossed for us, or whatever works for you. I'd like to keep the catastrophes down, at least for a few months, since we've been on this heinous Ferris wheel for 8 months and I'd really like to get off and use the bathroom. I've got plants to fertilize, for christsakes.