Nick's Myeloma Blog

I created this blog so that I, and others, can track the progress of my Multiple Myeloma and my efforts to combat it. I am blessed to have my family and many good friends to help me defeat this and if you are reading this, you are likely included in that group. Thanks for your support -- with it, I will beat this. So for your edification and perhaps even amusement, read on!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

An idiot's guide to cytogenetic abnormalities.

This will be a curious post in some ways, because it will provide partial answers and half-truths. Not in the sense that I'm keeping an...

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

An update, with help from a fellow patient

I have had the good fortune to connect with two fellow MM sufferers on a couple of different topics recently and would like to acknowledge b...

Monday, September 16, 2013

From the Doctor's mouth...

Every time I think I don't need to worry, I find more to worry about. In the wake of last week's little goof-up with the remission...

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Talk about false alarms! What a day I had yesterday...

Regular readers will know I encourage patients to learn as much as they can about their disease and their treatment. This is, generally, a ...

Monday, September 9, 2013

Ruminations on last weeks' tests

I try not to overthink all this stuff, really, but it's a fine line between wanting to know everything I can about my condition and the ...

Saturday, September 7, 2013

An update: the good, the bad, and the ugly...

Clint Eastwood: * My MRD test (the most sensitive marrow test they have) tested more than twice as many cells as last time, owing to a bet...

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Concern allayed

I had the pleasure of having dinner (and wine!!!) with BB, his lovely wife, his irrepressible chief of staff BJ and a colleague of theirs wh...

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

An unnerving update from Arkansas

I have been in Little Rock for about 16 hours, and already managed to get my pizza fix in from the always-delicious Dam Goode Pies. Sadly,...

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

When does a negative test not feel so negative?

When instead of saying "the original protein cannot be detected", as most of my tests from Arkansas have said, it comes back ...

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Curetalk panel with Dr. Kumar from Mayo Clinic...any questions?

Hello folks. I've participated in a number of panels over the last year with various Myeloma specialists. Thursday of this week at 7P...

Friday, July 19, 2013

Only a false alarm. Immunofixation negative!

So I saw my Dr. GD out here on Tuesday, and explained to him I was uneasy about the immunifixation test. He didn't seem to get the grav...

Monday, July 8, 2013

Incomplete feedback from a couple of doctors on my labs

So in the wake of my alarming little reappearance of the word "monoclonal" on my labs the other day, I did a little inquiring. B...

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Another false alarm?

The Iron Law of Oligarchy. I remember literally nothing else about a class I took in comparative political structures of developing nation...

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

In memory of Hanna Ostrowiecki

Last week I lost a friend to this disease. Hanna Ostrowiecki was a remarkable woman whom contacted me in October of 2011, after the doctor...

Friday, May 31, 2013

Applying for Disability with Multiple Myeloma

Regular readers will know that this blog is really a diary to help share what it's like contending with this disease, and that's the...

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

A contrarian opinion on nutrition and Myeloma

Hello folks. Have been waiting for something noteworthy to post...there are a few things that are percolating but nothing has really broke...

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Hmmmm...a hiatal hernia

So hot of the presses, I called Dr. LJ's office to find the results of the double endoscopy. I'll evidently be getting a letter det...

Friday, April 26, 2013

Well, I made it through.

Anesthesiologist stabbed me four times in the damn port trying to start an IV and had to eventually start on the old fashioned way. Otherwi...

I survived the night, and why I explained Che Guevara to my 10-year old

So, first thing's first, I'm alive. All in all, it was bad but not THAT bad. The reality is, all the "cleansing action...

Thursday, April 25, 2013

And it begins...

So I will keep one blog post to chronicle this mess, rather that clutter the blog with hourly updates. I took a vicodin, anticipating that...

"You're putting WHAT, WHERE?" Also, another CureTalk panel today.

Hello folks. Those easily offended may want to skip this one. With that in mind, the non-offensive part is that I'm participating in ...

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

And the cure for horrific dysentery is...VEGAS?!?

I have just returned from a weekend in Vegas for the Final Four. This trip is a recurring tradition with some friends and was planned long ...

Monday, April 1, 2013

The pain of new BMBs, and the pain of GI issues...

Hello folks. I hope this finds you on the end of a happy holiday week, whether or you celebrate Easter, Passover, the Great Pumpkin or some...

Monday, March 25, 2013

Test results: good, but staying the course

I'm sure you have been waiting with bated breath for the update here...heh heh. :) Seriously, though, particularly for a couple of fa...

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Nick: Los Angeles, CA

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