UPDATE: This turns out to be a lab screwup. Ignore it. Actual results here.
Today brings some very good news indeed—I think:
According to my latest lab tests, I no longer have any detectable level of M-protein. This is unexpected, since in June it seemed as if my CAR-T response had plateaued. But no. I'm just a slowpoke. Instead of the usual six weeks to a complete cure, it took me five months.
But I'm not quite ready to celebrate yet. When the test results came back, there was no report of M-protein at all. After some annoying back-and-forth with my doctor's office, I finally got a note saying that the lab doesn't return a result if no M-protein is detected. I'm just a little bit dubious of this, so I'm going to wait for next month's results before I feel absolutely sure that the cancer is gone.
That said: I'm apparently cancer free! No more multiple myeloma. I've had a "complete" response to the CAR-T, and further tests down the road related to something called kappa and lambda light free chains will tell me if I've had a "stringent complete" response—the best possible.
This is not likely to be a permanent remission, since "undetectable" doesn't actually mean zero, but it should keep me free of multiple myeloma for at least two or three years without chemotherapy. Hooray!
Congrats on the excellent news. No report if not detectable is idiotic. You'd think they would understand that a report of "the M-protein level is so low that we couldn't detect it" would be much more valuable to a patient than silence.
Great news!
Fantastic news! And best of luck on any and all follow-ups. I'm delighted to join the gang here in the comments section in pulling for you.
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Wonderful news!
Excellent news - congratulations!