This has been my week off. After 4 weeks of infusions every Monday along with chemo every day, I was given a break from taking both drugs for a week. Although I still have to take a weekly steroid, I welcomed the change.

The initial four weeks of treatment are considered my first cycle of treatment. The next cycle will shift from weekly infusions to every other week. There may be additional tweaking of the treatment but, for the most part, this cycles will go on and on, likely changing to a different drug after a couple years. I now have charts and several pill boxes that I redo each time there’s a change in which drugs I need to take on which days. When the oncology pharmacist reviewed upcoming changes to my treatment plan, he said, “You know, these myeloma regimes can get pretty complicated.” I marvel at how my dad kept track of all the weekly changes in my mom’s heart meds over several years.

This week off wasn’t as carefree as I might have liked. The recent surge in COVID cases in Berkeley has risen to its second highest level since the pandemic began. For me: masks, social distancing, no indoor shopping or eating, no crowds. Been there. Still there…

The other development that put a damper on on my week's break was getting my latest lab results. I told my oncologist that they looked like everything is going in the wrong direction. The results I’d want to increase have significantly decreased. The few things I’d want to decrease, have crept upwards. One of the results (my neutrophil count) indicates a significant lack of these white blood cells that fight infections. That said, I’m still managing to get out and about – gardening, walking or biking. Water aerobics is on hold for a few months while Berkeley remodels its two city pools. Although there are other pools in nearby towns, I’d have to drive – instead of just walking a block to the pool like I'd been doing. Because I have still bone pain from lesions in my left clavicle and shoulder, it’s probably just as well to hold off flailing around in the pool for now.

On Thursday, I had a video visit with my oncologist to review where things were at. He's been terrific about getting back to me via text or phone call about any questions I send his way. While he generally agrees with my reading of the lab results, he reminded me that this is early in my treatment. These downward trends are expected as part of my cancer treatment. At some point, the numbers should start increasing or decreasing in the right direction. Now that I'll be having infusions every other week, he also recommended I reduce my blood work to once-a-month labs instead of weekly. This should free me up a bit.

My garden continues to bloom. The other evening a rather large raccoon tried sneaking into the garden and down to the pond. Around here, raccoons can grow to 25-35 lbs. I happened to be sitting on my deck and shooed it away. The raccoon lumbered away, in no particular hurry to move along. I’ve battled raccoons before with a broom many times over the years. They're often very aggressive and don’t back down from an encounter. When the raccoon finally left, I made sure all my koi and goldfish were accounted for.

Thanks again for all your continued support. For now, I'll settle into this new treatment plan so I won’t plan to blog as often.

*My back garden today, May 21.