J. Michael Jones

In late 2019, after completing the brutal bone marrow transplant process, living in Seattle for three months, Denise asked, “Can we just pretend you don’t have cancer or a while.” I nodded, although for me it is impossible to do such because I have constant reminders in the way I feel.

After being in partial remission since that transplant, my labs began showing that I was coming out of remission last April and continued until August. We had “plan B” chemo in place with a monoclonal anti-body (daratumumab). But then in August my cancer numbers went down, slightly. Then, oddly they did again in September. Not by a lot, but the direction was clear. So my local oncologist decided to skip three months for follow up. I was doing follow ups weekly for a year, then monthly. Skipping three months seemed risky to me.

While I do have my share of symptoms, and I realize that many people in their sixties live in some sort of constant pain, it was a period of time that I could almost forget I had cancer. No hospital visits. No labs. Staying busy and you might say pretending I will be on earth for a while, God willing.

Today, the three months were up and my labs (drawn yesterday) are in. In summary, they are the same as they were in September, maybe slightly better. My cancer numbers (lambda light chains), while four times normal, are relatively stable and indicate that I’m still in remission. My kidneys sitting at (eGFR 29) near half normal, but a hell lot better than 5% of normal, where I started.

So, thanks for your interest, prayers, and support. We will continue the fight against the great nemesis. You folks stay safe and healthy. I will let you know here if anything changes.

Mike