Spoiler Alert...

Part 3: DECISIONS MADE "FOR" US?

This next episode is somewhat late, but in my defense, I wasn’t procrastinating - I was waiting for updated medical tests - however, I got a great deal more.

I don’t know about other people, but there have been times in my life when I couldn’t seem to make an important decision or it was time for a change and move on, but I was ‘stuck’. Then Fate and the Universe ‘stepped-in’ metaphorically speaking - and appeared to cause specific events that made the change or decision for me. And this week something like that seemed to occur.

Still not sure about diving into a CAR-T treatment program to deal with my Multiple Myeloma [bone marrow cancer] I went ahead with an updated lab appointment, the results of which were mixed. Then I met with Dr. Wannapahown a new member of Dr. Fonseca’s [Mayo] oncology team, who specializes in allergies and immunity. It seems that in many of our medications pharma in their questionable wisdom may also include such fillers and/or capsule composite from the wheat family or dairy family or peanut family or berry family… You get the idea.

The problem with that is, IF you have a wheat, dairy, peanut or berry allergy - or have developed an age-related sensitivity to any of those groups, taking any medication orally or intravenously can cause an adverse patent reaction. Naturally… This is the reason Mayo Oncology began working with Mayo Allergy and Immunology. The outcome is to find any latent allergies that not even the cancer patient is aware of then either avoid that medication, find an alternate or reduce the dosage during treatment - thus reducing adverse treatment reactions! Voila! Much better successes.

After spending at least 30 minutes explaining the addition of this new program for likely CAR-T patients Dr. Wannapahown unwound the stethoscope from his neck so he could listen to my lungs and my heart. After listening to my heart, the very methodical specialist asked ever so politely if anyone had ever mentioned hearing a slight heart-murmur? Ahhh, hmmm, no they hadn’t.

Oh swell - something else I don’t need.

Though heart murmurs can develop during pregnancy they typically go away after delivery. They can develop as part of the natural aging process or be genetic, they may also develop due to medications. Or, in my case because my Lambda Free Light Chain numbers have taken a leap in the wrong direction the cancer cells could be starting to affect a few vital organs [I kind’a need] like kidneys, heart, lungs, etc… So - where to from here? I have an echocardiogram in a few weeks.

This new development brings our Heroine/me back to her original CAR-T decision-dilemma. If my heart has weakened, then I’ll no longer be a viable CAR-T treatment candidate. Decision made for me. So…we’ll see. Never a dull moment on Planet Earth.

Though in this process I did find a very helpful website—Smart Patients: multiple myeloma | Smart Patients — This is actually a chatroom set up for actual patient experiences shared by actual patients, for not only Multiple Myeloma, but other medical issues as well.