J. Michael Jones

Back under the watchful eye of chemo. I started my new chemo capsule first thing this morning and then had a grueling, 9-hour infusing session today and it went well. The monoclonal antibody cocktail has risks of a lot of immediate side effects (cytokine storm the worse). I had one brief episode like the rapid onset of a bad cold. IV Benadryl and additional steroids took care of that. More side effects could come as this goes on, but right now I’m pleased how well I did.

Bone Marrow Results

I also got the results on my bone marrow biopsy. There are two things to look at, percentage of marrow that is cancer and the genetic signature of the cancer.

Genetics: Multiple Myeloma is a complex cancer had has many possible subtypes based on genetics. Think of it as breeds of dogs. Some are vicious, with poor outcomes and some are far less mischievous. My previous bone marrow biopsies have show that mine is more of a lapdog in viciousness. That’s a good thing. But different from dog breeds, Multiple Myeloma subtypes can mutate over time. So, you can start with a lapdog and suddenly mutate into a Pitbull/Saint Bernard hybrid. With that said, my most recent biopsy showed once again that mine is still in the lapdog category. I am thankful for that.

Percentage: My previous bone marrow percentage of cancer was averaged at 8%. My new biopsy was relatively unchanged with two samples, one at 12% and one at 5%, which would yield an average of a little over 8%. I know multiple Myeloma patients who percentage is over 90%. My noncancerous bone marrow looked healthy.

With that said, most of the news today was good news. I will go back in the morning for another grueling day of infusions. We will modify the program over two months, and if I am really lucky, I will back in remission by then and continue on a single injection per month.

Thanks again for your prayer and support. I will probably not do another health update for two months and less there’s a curve in the plan.

Mike