These ARE the Good Old Days

Nearly eight years ago, when I was diagnosed with myeloma, the median survival was thought to be five years. As it has turned out, though, my own myeloma grows slowly, and for the last three years it has been controlled by a study drug. I can still run, if slower than before, and can still even do a marathon. I love running, and we certainly do enjoy traveling to other states to run marathons, 48 so far, in 31 states, since the myeloma diagnosis.

Myeloma can sneak up without warning, though. Even with ongoing treatment, it can eat through bones until they break. A full-body PET scan is pretty good at finding those lesions, but it’s expensive, so I haven’t had one in three years. Next week I will. I’m a little apprehensive, of course, because the PET scan could show lesions serious enough to make running inadvisable, but of course I want to know.

Either way, these are good times, with or without running. We’ll deal with whatever comes.

Forty minutes today in the Stillwater Bubble, about four miles. A slight ache in the left hip went away. The erratic pain in the right thigh appeared only a few times and was quite mild. I’m thinking it’s not in the femur, and we’ll know next week. Good run.


Pickled herring from Hagberg's Grocery, on gluten-free toast. Lunch: