J. Michael Jones

Summary:

My follow up labs are stable. I’m still waiting on my appointment with my cancer doctor for our next strategy.

Longer Version:

I know that some people are interested in what’s happening with my cancer. I shared on Jan 4th that some of my lab values were surging. I made an appointment with my cancer doctor and the next available was the last week in February, so that hasn’t happened yet.

Without getting to far into the boring nitty-gritty, there are a dozen or so labs that give us feedback on the state of my cancer, a handful of most importance. One of those measures the amount of lambda light chain proteins. That protein is used to create antibodies. My cancer is of the bone marrow that makes that protein. In a normal person, it should not be above 26 mgs per liter. When I was diagnosed, two years ago, mine was 3,000. Those proteins were so thick that they gummed up and killed 90% of my kidneys. Most of my suffering as been from renal failure (and the chemo).

While most of the labs that measure my cancer have been elevated but stable, my lambda light chains went from 40 to 60 and then surged in January to 131. That frightens me because I am barely off dialysis and no one knows how far above normal the proteins have to be before they cause trouble. To suddenly surge tells us that either the cancer is becoming more active, or the chemo is not working so well.

Whew! With all of that said, I had my latest labs this week. I always have to brace myself that the proteins could still be surging. If so, it would mean an emergent visit to the cancer center before what’s left of my kidneys is destroyed. These labs came back with the lambda light chains at 126, so roughly the same. Certainly not higher. While this rise is concerning, it is not a medical emergency.

The good news is that my renal function test shows that my beat up kidneys are continuing to improve. My GFR has risen to 25.4. Normal is above 60. But mine started at 4. Dialysis starts at roughly 15-16.

Thanks for your interest and prayers.

Mike