As cycle 8 of the myeloma drug trial ends, and we head into the maintenance phase, I am #thankful for a very noticeable improvement that has taken place since I relapsed in January. Along with that thankfulness there is significant disappointment that the clinical trial, after a very hopeful start, will most likely result in only a partial remission. We need to find out more next week about what partial means and whether or not a partial remission can last. Thankfulness side by side with significant disappointment. We had hoped and prayed for more. That puts us in the company of just about any human and more importantly, in the company of Jesus who experienced and who knows both celebration and tears, joy and sorrow, thankfulness and disappointment, life and death. In each of those things we pray that we will cling to Christ's constant presence.
Brian’s diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma was in May 2018. The initial treatment was a stem cell transplant. After 30 months there was a relapse, followed by chemo, another relapse, new chemo and yet another relapse. In January 2024, the 4th treatment began. Brian currently gets weekly injections of an immunotherapy drug. Sometimes we keep the faith and sometimes we need family and friends around us to keep the faith for us. This blog is about enabling us all to be kept in the faith.