Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place.......Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace......Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste

So I've realised that amongst all of my self centred obsession, I've been neglecting my duties as a friend lately. I've failed to catch up with people and call them to see how they are doing.... my bad. So how are you all :-) ? - <joke> my intention is to be a better friend and get back to normal. Expect a phone call very soon. If you don't get one and you want one, let me know !! For those of us that use Facebook, it's so easy to stay on top of what's happening with everyone. All you do is click on their name and stalk their updates to gain insight into all the news. Check out pictures of parties, birthdays, children, drunkenness (my favourite) etc. and you feel like you were almost there with them. Brilliant !!

Day31..... The Blood Tests

I had another check up and got my blood test results with Dr Ben yesterday. I was prepared with my little pink book full of questions for the month and we went in. The girl on reception is a young Irish girl.... just lovely I'm sure, but we can't understand a bloody word she says !! I think she said something along the lines of "we don't have an appointment for you today" but after some sign language and nodding, we sat down and waited and eventually Dr Ben called us in. Straight to blood test results... brilliant !! Just to explain a little - non-secreatory Multiple Myeloma cannot be detected via the blood and urine so traditionally was hard to detect as it lay within the bone marrow and didn't show in normal type of blood tests. They now have a new test that is run called "serum free light chain" which picks up the protein levels in the blood to detect how things are going.
The normal range that I was being measured on is Kappa: 3.3–19.4 mg/L - my 1st result in Jan was 402mg/l after 10 days of chemo my second result came back at 354mg/L and then yesterday I was down to 175mg/L !! This is great news dropping so quickly. Even quiet Dr Ben appeared slightly happy ! He even smirked (I think - unless he had wind) He also went on to say that I may start the autologous stem cell replacement within a couple of months !(gulp) So I am booked to see another specialist at Royal Perth hospital for mid March to start that process. The other thing that I have to start is an intravenous drug called Zometa this is a sort of calcium booster that helps prevent bone weakness and also assists in slowing down the cancer growth. It can only be given intravenously so off to the hospital next Wednesday morning for this one. I asked him about my shakes and he said they should start to get better as my body becomes more accustomed to the Thalidomide !! Lovely.....

Day 32

Last night Dirk and I had the pleasure of joining our soon-to-be-wed friends for dinner. We went to a fabulous little place on the beach in Fremantle called The Pickled Fig - fabulous food, good bottle of bubbles but the company was the best part of the whole night. I can't say how much I love this couple. Such a pleasure to spend time with. You know when you meet some people and they just lift everything. Always happy, fun to be around and just gorgeous. I am so looking forward to Sunday to see their big day together. I just know its going to be fab. AND Kasey even bought me a gift. from one girl who has just done it all, to another that is about to start..... she bought me a wedding planner !! It is the BEST and I love it.... see what I mean about gorgeous? !!

Day33 - The Pickled Fig, Fremantle

And so today... back to another full on day. I'm a little behind on some work and it just keeps piling up. Now I also have to think about taking time off in a couple of months (for a few months) I'd been planning for around Aug / Sept time. But I guess once I see the stem cell guy from Royal Perth in late March, I'll know a bit more. And also we have a few more cycles of chemo and a fair few more tests before I know anything.
The end of the day was one of Micromine's (in)famous Soiree's - a fabulous event at work and one that I always relish. Open bar, nibbles and an uplifting presentation from our MD. It's always fun and I love the speeches. I might add that they aren't always PC, but they are always honest :-) Today was no exception. Love it. Love that place too.....

So my new day resolution is to be a better friend again. Starting tomorrow :-) Keeping in touch and returning calls. Making sure I take the time to see how they are all going. There'll be plenty of time for me. But I can't neglect them - they are all too special..... VERY special and I love them all..... very much.

Day34 - The Byrneleigh - Micromine Soiree