Riding The Wave – Multiple Myeloma

It was hot and sticky in Little Rock, but a virtual cool down in comparison to the weather they have been having on the East Coast.

We had a great meet up with Bruce & Jan, but additional tests for Bruce prevented us from having dinner a second night and saved the boys’ wallets as Jan and I had grand plans to go to the local Yarn Shop in Little Rock! Oh well, another time.  Bruce looks so handsome and wonderful and Jan looks beautiful and relaxed. It was great to see them. We met some new folks and said hello to many of the staff we have met over the course of our experience here.

Today UAMS opened their brand new Cancer Center. We have watched it being built over the last couple of years and some of the Myeloma services will be moved there. The campus was a buzz with all the festivities and the stress of moving while still delivering services. If anyone is up for it, its the UAMS Staff!

Dave continues in Complete Remission (CR), although our doc was pretty hard on Dave and funny… let me explain…

Dave, as with all Myeloma patients in LR, is supposed to do a monthly 24 hour urine collection, accompanying blood draw, and overnight them to LR for analysis. They look for a protein spike in the urine screening among other things. This has been a very arduous task for us for some reason. Partly due to California rules and/or the people we have to deal with. I have worked it out, its doable, we’re all set, and Dave doesn’t do it, month after month after month. The only thing left is for me to pee in the jug and have my blood drawn and send it. I’m at my wits end. So last month I sent our nurse an email and said, I don’t know what more I can do, you’ll have to take it up with Dave, I’m done. She responded that she would leave it up to the doc.

OMG! He was PERFECT. He has a great sense of humor and a bit of a mischievous personality. He admires Dave greatly and they get along well. Really well. I mean I don’t even have to come. Anyway… he walks in with a complete poker face, dead serious, “Dave! I don’t know if you are in remission anymore!!!! I didn’t receive any blood/urine from you in four months and the one you did yesterday isn’t completed yet!”  Dave’s color drained and then he got red. I had already told him that if he tried to pawn this mess off on me in any way I would THROW HIM UNDER THE BUS! So he stood up and took it like a man. We all had a great laugh but the doc continued needling him about it throughout our hour with him looking over tests and checking to see if it was back yet. It was precious. Finally, at the end, he leans forward and says, “Dave.  I have patients who are complete rednecks, who don’t read, don’t know why its important and they manage to send it to me every month. Its not rocket science buddy.”  Dave got very red and the three of us laughed and laughed until we cried. “Ok, ok,”  Dave says. Then the doc says we don’t have to come back for 6 months and I say, “unless he doesn’t send in his blood and urine!” The doc says, “RIGHT! Otherwise I need to see you every month! You decide!”

Dave and the nurse asked me if I have the “kits” to send it back in and I’m like, “PLEASE, NO MORE KITS!  I could open a STORE!”  More laughter.