Done

This coming week I'm meeting with my Oncologist, which will mark 90 days since my CAR-T procedure.  I haven't seen her or had to go to the clinic for any kind of treatment for the past three months - I used to go monthly.  And I have only needed to get once-monthly blood work (at our local LabCorp) in order to keep the Onc Team apprised of my "numbers."

It's probably hard to fathom how this absence (adjustment to my normal monthly routine for the past 8 years) is an odd combination of disruption and excitement for me.  And frankly, I'm having a little trouble comprehending the change myself.  You would think I'd be overwhelmed with relief, which I am. But a person with cancer can't ever really let go of the feeling of possible relapse (though that doesn't consume me).  In the particular case of my Multiple Myeloma (MM), I really can't have medical closure because a "cure" isn't an expectation when living with MM.  I accept this fact, but based on how well I feel and how encouraging the data is on the efficacy of Carvykti (my CAR-T therapy), it's a bit teasing to think that is the light at the end of the tunnel, and not the oncoming headlight of the Lingering MM Locomotive.

I'm off all chemo (daily pill of Pomalyst) and monoclonal antibodies (monthly shot in the tummy of Darzalex), which is part of the known byproduct of how well the Carvykti is supposed to work.  My other prophylactic meds have also been suspended, as further testimony to the turn I've taken onto the possible path of life "after cancer."  Plus, I'm not a doctor (I just play one at work - kinda literally), but my last two collections of bloodwork manifest that some milestone medical markers of my MM might be at the level of undetectable (the accepted euphemism for subsidence in the parlance of MM management / treatment).

So, it does seem on the surface that this really could be remission - at least for the next 2-3 years, or so.  And, though it may or may NOT apply to me and my particular strain of MM, there are ongoing reports of increasingly good news surrounding the results for some patients after Carvykti Treatment Free Remission for at least 5 years

But am I really done yet? To be continued  . . .  (how about that for a blog cliffhanger?!)