It's just a number & the blessing and a curse...

I got my test results today.  My first focus was on my M-spike... It has become my score of where my myeloma is now and is going.  It has ranged from 1.6 to 1.9.  It came in today at 2.0!  Looking at it logically it is really close to what it has been.  However; it is my first 2. I don't want a 2 in my score.  Now I also know that it varies from test to test and could be back in the 1's in 90 days.  I explained it to Jenni this way.  You have worked hard to get your weight under control.  You get down to 165.00.  You had a hard weekend and you look at your weight and it is 169.9!  Now you don't like that number but at least it didn't go up to the next level.  You get on the scale the next day and now you weigh 170.0.  Only one tenth of a pound but psychologically it is a big difference.  Crazy right???

Now I had some additional tests done.  I really didn't know what they meant.  There were several that were high and I needed to know why and what the test measured.  I went on the internet and found them one by one.  All but one said the reasons that they could be high...add several conditions that could cause it... Multiple Myeloma was always the first reason on the list.  That made total sense.

One was different.  It was a MCH test.  It was also high and I spent about an hour trying to find out what it was all about.  I finally found out when your MCH is high your B12 is low.  One of the symptoms of that was burning feet or hands!  I have been fighting that symptom for about a month now!

I called my oncologist and asked his nurse if it was a problem and should I see the Dr. about it? She said yes, with authority, and transferred me directly to the front office to get me in.  It will be nice if I can just take a B12 shot and go on with life. Myeloma can cause your B12 to get low because the cells that store it are affected by the myeloma... But... Self diagnoses using the web?  That is the curse of all this.  The web doesn't know me, my myeloma or all the stuff this cancer can cause.  They just dump all the reasons, causes and cures out there for you to figure it out on your own!  Maybe I'm right and it will be easy to fix, maybe I'm wrong and it won't be as simple.

The blessing is you can find out some things without the cost of a Dr. visit.  You hear a snip it of information and you get on line to figure it out.  The internet is always there to help. Then for some things it can freak you out!  For those times you just need to put the computer away, try to relax and trust your oncologist, the internet curse.

So I'll go and spend some time with my Dr. ask all the questions about the tests and hopefully go away with a better understanding of where I'm going...on this walk God has put me on!

The body is sick, but thanks to Jesus the soul is alive and well...