Today is May 2. It is 12 years since I received my Myeloma diagnosis. Crazy, right? In the past, I've done something special to celebrate/acknowledge the occasion. I can honestly say I never thought I'd live with myeloma this long. What am I doing today? Well, I just had a bowl of oatmeal and soon we're driving into LA to see a urologist. I have something called a Staghorn Calculus in my right kidney. It's basically a stone over 2 cm with a hook in it. Too large to pass. It showed up on a CT Scan that was done of my lower back. And with my already damaged kidneys, it needs to come out. My nephrologist thinks it needs to be surgically removed and he sent us to this urologist. What is interesting to note, is we've been babying my kidneys for 12 years now and have avoided dialysis. I've told myself that if I had to do dialysis, well, that's where I draw the line...if you get my drift. So I want that thing out! I've put myself back on a kidney friendly diet, to give them some relief. For the past few years, basically since starting Darzalex in 2016, my kidneys have been humming along and I've eaten anything I wanted to. And although Darzalex is still keeping my myeloma in check, my creatinine has inched up ever so slightly. My non-educated medical opinion is the staghorn is the cause. Who knows. But can't hurt to be safe.
Meanwhile I've got a horrendous back. There is no disk between the L5 and S1. We've tried everything to minimize pain, but it's looking like surgery is the only remaining option. I've got two different back doctor follow up appointments coming up, to identify the path forward. Remember a couple of years ago when I was walking about 45 miles a week? Now, walking to my car causes pain. Life comes at you fast.
And what else? That's about it. It's a very uneventful 12 year cancerversary. But key is that I'm still alive and kicking and still waiting on the Vikings Super Bowl victory. This year?
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