Stupid lesions have not yet resolved. : (

I am currently awaiting my bone marrow procedures, which will include three pulls, I think -- the standard bone marrow, the gene array (which I may yet veto) and a new test for Minimal Residual Disease.

Since I make them knock me out for this with propofol (the Michael Jackson sleep drug) I was getting a pre-op consult with one of the physician assistants here.  He was kind enough to pull up my MRI -- they have new software which allows you to scroll through your body bit by bit -- it was fascinating to see!

Less fascinating was the tech's write-up, that indicated "stable small lesions are observed in the thoracic spine and pelvis."  I'd never seen one in the pelvis before -- that was troublesome.  However since it's characterized as "stable" it must have been there before.  Perhaps just not on the last MRI for some reason?  I didn't recognize the name of the tech so it may have been somebody new...generally they like to have the same tech read the scan to ensure it's done consistently but it's now been five years of coming here, just about, and personnel change.

I saw BB at dinner last night and he noted that he has new talent coming in...he's lost some doctors who have moved on to private practice but he's retained his research specialist and one of his former doctors who moved on to work for doctor GT in Utah is coming back here, which is nice.  I mused that he's a bit like a Head Coach for a top football team whose assistant coaches are constantly being poached or lured away by other jobs.  Talent recruitment and retention is a big part of his job.

At any rate, there will be more to review and discuss about these persistent lesions tomorrow.  It does mean there's probably no end in sight for the Velcade.  And depending on what the MRD test shows, I'll either view it as an inconvenience or a critical necessity.  Or perhaps I might even need to switch to new drugs if there is residual disease.