Summary: I just finished my last labs on Monday (1/20/20) and met with my nephrologist yesterday of the University of Washington.

• Kidneys: My renal labs remain terrible, but stable. Last month I slightly relaxed my strict diet, eating one tablespoons of tomato sauce for the month, a few raisins in my, otherwise plain, morning oatmeal. Despite that loosening of the diet, the renal labs (particularly the potassium) was not worse, but slightly better. This is a big help in allowing me to have more food choices.
• Feeling: I am feeling far better than I was even in October. Most of that has to do with my anemia improving. It is still present and appears to be stuck where it is (Hemoglobin of 12) but is far better than September when my hemoglobin was 8. I can’t imagine how good I would feel if my hemoglobin was normal (14+) again, I think I would be able to fly like Superman. My side effects from chemo (stomach flu type) are still present, constant, but milder. I’m only having diarrhea a few days a week.
• Neurological: My twitching has always gone through unexplained cycles (while never going away). The good cycles have been so low (3-4 places twitching rather than 10+) that I think this whole horrible neurological syndrome might be getting better, very, very slowly.
• Cancer: I was expecting to announce this morning that my cancer was in remission (based on the indirect measurement of the bad proteins). My decline in protein had been steady (see the graph below) and based on the result last month, we were expecting them to be normal this morning (which would be below 26). However, to my great disappointment, the trend was bucked and the bad proteins are slightly worse. That is very discouraging after having high hopes for days. In two weeks we will do a direct measurement of the cancer via a blood test. We do this every 3-6 months. Please pray that the cancer load would be low.
• Career: I am attempting to return to work, although this decision is not in my hands completely but will be made in the next couple of weeks. That could be me working part time back at the Island Hospital headache clinic, or, I also have an opportunity to work for Peace Health neurology, which would mean a drive to Bellingham or Sedro Woolley.
• Writing: There is so much I would love to write here in my blog. However, I have been working on a novel for three years (with a working title of Rock Harbor, It is a semi-romance novel). The manuscript was put on the back burner when I got sick. I restarted the novel in September and finished my first writing of it about three weeks ago. I am now going back through and editing (I write in layers, fixing typos, adding narrative color, etc.). This is a labor of love and is all-consuming my writing at this time.