🌀 Mood: Worn down but hopeful

Some weeks bring setbacks, others bring blessings. Week 6 gave me both.

After the roughest week yet, I went into my oncologist appointment both anxious and desperate for answers. What I left with was more than I ever imagined.

I gave him the full rundown of my Week 5 reactions: the chills, the skin sensitivity, the pain in my leg, the tingling in my hands and feet that seemed to grow worse every day. He listened carefully and said it sounded like the side effects had simply “caught up with me.” It’s cumulative, he explained.

I didn’t love that answer, but I understood it. And honestly, he was right — the tingling has become constant now, an uncomfortable reminder that my body is in the thick of battle. Because of all the reactions, he decided to lower my Velcade dosage a bit. I appreciated that adjustment.

But the leg pain still lingers — enough that when I was driving, I struggled to push down the gas pedal. My first fear was a blood clot, but he assured me it wasn’t. Still, he’s concerned about the pain and weakness, so he’s ordered an MRI of my leg and hip bones to make sure everything is okay.

As we do every week, we hovered over his computer screen while he walked me through the numbers in my bloodwork. My red blood cells had only gone up .2 this week, which was disappointing after watching them improve more in earlier weeks.

But then came the big news.

After just six weeks of treatment, my kidney function is now back to normal. From Stage 3 Kidney Damage to normal in a month and a half. I couldn’t believe it. I never thought it would happen that quickly.

What an incredible blessing — especially after such a hard week. This is proof that the treatment is working. A turning point I can hold on to. And I have to thank God for it — because this is happening much faster than the doctors expected.

This news has given me hope for the road ahead.