The whole idea of whether John is in remission or not is just plain confusing. Technically if John was diagnosed with MM right now with an M-Spike of .4 he would have been considered Stage One which is considered indolent or dormant. The amount of cancer in his blood right now is small enough that the Dr. said they would not treat someone coming in with his levels...they would just sit back waiting and watching for that M-Spike to begin to spike up high. But having a .4 M-Spike is not REALLY remission - and even if he gets to .3 - that number merely represents a 90% reduction in the cancer cells. So obviously there is still some cancer present, so maybe it's like a semi-remission. Is true remission the same as being cancer free with a 0 M-Spike? I know, I know, all questions I should ask the Dr. but this is what happens - you go to the Dr. and you write crap down and you think you understand everything. And then a few hours pass and you realize, you really don't have a friggen clue what just happened. At least I know the exact dates of what pills he takes and when. I am becoming whiz with pills.
Moral of this story: Remission for MM is an equally confusing concept and just another thing that sucks about cancer.
Keep with it, you're doing great. I went through this ordeal with my mother 4 years ago. Keep your chin up. Day by day. Much aloha Kahlua
ReplyDeleteStay strong ! There are a lot of us "back home" thinking about you and praying for you !
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