Maintenance Journey begins....

Hello All,

I have not written in a very long time. I guess it could mean one of two things… In my case, it means that I am still here, alive and simply really busy with life. I guess that is a good thing. I am nearing one year anniversary since I was diagnosed – it was Oct 16th last year. There were many uncertainties at the time… there still are but one I can cross off the list. I found the best doctor ever and gone through an amazing experience over the last eight months of active treatment. I survived! There were up and downs… frankly, probably more ups thanks to all the people who supported me both in Little Rock and back home. The biggest thank you is to my mom who marched down this path with me. I said this before, but I think it was much harder on her than me. Thank you also to all the wonderful folks I met through the internet, all over the world who are also battling this disease. I continue to be inspired and amazed by all of you. Special thank you goes to Nick V. – you paved a roadmap not just for me but for many who followed your footsteps… things seemed and felt less scary after reading your first hand experience. Thank you! I will be always truly grateful for everything you have done for us, fellow MMs…
I had a great check up at Little Rock at in Sept and yesterday started my maintenance. Thank you to Dr. Martin at UCSF who found a local oncologist who will administer Valcade/Dex weekly for the next three years. This is huge for me as this doctor is 5 mins away. The first treatment yesterday was uneventful and lasted around 15 mins. I am loading up on the neuropathy preventive mediation… For others on the MM journey, here is what UCSF recommends: 200-400mg of alpha-lipoic acid daily, 500-1000mg L-Carnatine daily, 50 mg of vitamin B6 daily. I have started taking all that about one month ago – so far so good.

That is it for now…

Love,
Lina