jm's Adventure with Multiple Myeloma: 2nd ASCT - Day 32 - June 19 2012

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

2nd ASCT - Day 32 - June 19 2012

Jani drove me to Twin Falls, Idaho to the Magic Valley St. Luke's Hospital Mountain States Tumor Institute (MSTI) for my 1st appointment with my new oncologist, Phatama Padavanija, MD. Twin Falls is 135 miles from Mackay, but an easy drive with little traffic - IN FACT, Jani said we drove 72 miles before we even saw another car traveling in our direction! 


MSTI is a brand new facility having opened just about a year ago.

Dr. Phatama Padavanija, MD aka Dr. P spent a lot of time with Jani and I. UCH (University of Colorado Hospital) had sent her a pile of my records over an inch high. Dr. P seems very in tune with UCH's requests for my care and very willing to share the results with UCH and ME! MSTI does not have a system for sharing lab values with patients, but said they could FAX them to me. I had to have my labs drawn from my arm since I have no central line now, but the lab technician was EXCELLENT and had no trouble getting my blood on the FIRST POKE!


They drew my SPEP (with M-Spike), Immunoglobulins, and Free Light Chains - these tests must be sent to St. Luke's in Boise and I won't have the results for several days.


My CBC continues GREAT. My white blood cell count normal at 4.5 (norms at MSTI 4.5-11); platelets normal at 298 (MSTI norms 140-440); and hemoglobin normal at 13.2 (MSTI norms 12-15). So, I couldn't be happier about this!
My comprehensive metabolic panel had a couple of issues. My creatinine which has always been normal was high today at 1.13 (norms 0.52-1.04). This is a reflection of ones kidney function and mine may have been abnormal because I didn't drink enough today with all the traveling. My phosphorus was high at 6.0 (norms 2.5-4.5) and I don't know why except I ate several TUMS before the blood draw.

My liver enzyme tests were also too high - AST 41 (norms 14-36) and ALT 64 (norms 9-52). I'm going to work on getting better hydrated. My stomach continues to bother me, but eating helps. I'm going to strive to eat a small portion of protein every 3 hours. I didn't have a sinus headache today.

 The bathroom sinks at MSTI are so tiny....

I slept most of the way home to Mackay from Twin Falls in the back of Bart while Jani drove. We didn't get home until around 7:45 PM - a VERY LONG DAY.

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