Hello! I’ve just completed my second infusion of the second cycle. It was actually the easiest one yet. Every infusion has caused challenges. They give me approximately 10 pills 30 minutes before the infusion to prevent reactions to the chemo. They help, but I wait 45 minutes after the infusions to watch and be certain I don’t have a reaction. The reactions have the potential to be quite dangerous so we want to ensure that I am safe before leaving the clinic. Today was the first day that I barely had a rash. A win for us! My body is adjusting and responding well to the chemo. My lab results are where they should be and this is great news. There will be a time that the results slow down and drugs may need to be adjusted to be more aggressive, but for now it’s good. 

Our family has found some odd ‘humor’ in my oncologists referring to me as ‘weird.’ We all already knew this, of course. This is a good and bad reference. They say this because of my Myeloma being a very rare variety. This a high risk type, which means it’s not a good ‘weird’. The other weird factor is good - It is very rare, if not barely heard of, for someone to find out they have Multiple Myeloma and not have symptoms present. Usually it’s found when a bone is broken, kidney and/or liver damage, or significant pain. Every time I go to the clinic, they first ask how my pain is. I don’t have any pain, again ‘weird’. This is when we pay attention to the blessings in this process. I am considered extremely healthy, which means I am able to respond well to the treatments since I’m not fighting other symptoms. This is where we sit with gratitude. All of this sucks, is scary, is infuriating, but it gives a new perspective of what we are grateful for and to take a win when we get one. 

Thank you for all your support, thoughts, prayers and love. It means the world to me and my family! 

Lindsay