velcade - cycle seven

Half way through cycle seven comes the good news that my kappa free light chain count has dropped to 80, down from 96. Since anything below 100 pleases my doctor, I am pleased. Weekly injections of bortezomib (aka Velcade) in conjunction with dexamethasone continues to minimize the activity of myeloma and amyloidosis in my body. The dexamethasone ramps me up with energy each week and then leaves me fatigued for a couple of days when it wears off. Other than that, I continue to live a normal life (or, better put, a newly normal life). Yesterday marked the first anniversary of my return to ministry after receiving an autologous stem cell transplant in September 2011. It has been a year of mostly good health (with the exception of the unexpected hospitalization at Easter because of an allergic reaction to Revlimid). I am receiving these days, weeks, months and - now - this year as gifts and am grateful for the care, concern and prayers of such a wide circle, near and far. In the face of so much ache in the world I am blessed.