Hi Martin,
I did a copy and paste on my last post, which did not seem to work so here goes again.
Thank you for your response as it’s nice to hear from someone in a similar situation to myself.
At my last meeting with my haematologist, I actually said that if there had been a mix up with various individuals, then I would not have been surprised, as I don’t feel any different to what I have felt previously.
I don’t drink (but maybe now is the time to start…), have never smoked and have a really good diet, and take moderate exercise. My weight is good and have a BMI just above what is considered to be normal, so even more of a shock to me when I was told the news.
With your Paraprotein levels as they are, I would not worry too much as I am told 30 is the cut off point from being considered as smouldering, to the next stage of Myeloma. Like you, my kappa light chains are pretty high at around 260ml/L however, because my lambda light chain are so low at around 1.95ml/L, my kappa/lambda ration is very high at 133, which supposedly indicates that the Myeloma is active.
I also have a low haemoglobin, red blood cell and white blood cell count. What concerns me here, is that these leave me with a lower than normal immune system and I may be vulnerable to picking up an infection. I have therefore started to take some supplements to try and boost my immune system. I am also taking some other stuff in order to try and stay at the smouldering level, which as we know is then a “watch and wait” scenario.
I am actually 62 and retired around 18 months ago so have far more time on my hands than if I was working. I have done quite a lot of research on the whole issue of Myeloma, in order to make more sense and to try and understand what drives it. There are some interesting blogs out there for people who are interested in doing this, but I can also understand other who may not wish to. If you are interested, check out “Margaret’s Blog” at the below link where she has been smouldering for many years:
http://Margaret.healthblogs.org/
I too have a fantastic wife who has been so helpful and supportive over the past 5-6 week. I have managed to keep my head up so far and think positive, but there are times when I start to slip to the dark side, but fortunately, this is not for long.
To “celebrate” my news, the first think that we did was to book a holiday, as we intend to carry on with our lives while we can and enjoy our time.
As I mentioned in my first post, I see my haematologist next Tuesday, so will be interesting to say the least, to see what has moved on my numbers etc.
Thanks once again for your comments and may I also wish you well going forward.
Regards,
Robert
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