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From the family, with great sadness

ROBERT WAYNE JERNIGAN (age 66) Bob Jernigan passed away on Tuesday, January 16, 2018  at home with his family. A Florida native, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of South Florida where he met his beloved wife, Rose. The couple moved to D.C. in 1978 when Robert began his accomplished 39-year tenure as a professor of mathematics and statistics at American University. As a productive scholar, he received numerous distinguished awards, including the American University Scholar-Teacher of the Year Award, co-developed an innovative statistical test now known as the Munson-Jernigan Test, collaborated with the EPA and the Smithsonian, provided exceptional service to the university and his field, and generated inventive teaching techniques. He was an avid cyclist, artist (photography, sketching, and watercolors), Orioles fan, lover of all gadgets and gizmos, kayaker, reader, and seeker of knowledge.  His family cherishes his memory: wife, Rose; children, Nick Jernigan (
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Running out of Options

My treatment with Daratumumab has been severe and and yet not working. This blog was supposed to be about the transplant.  It is likely that these drugs, to get my myeloma under control, my not get me to the transplant. We should know more this Tuesday after another appointment with my oncologist.
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Another Postponement

As you may recall from the previous post (August 14). We went to Baltimore today to consult with my myeloma physician. In mid November we received some more unsettling news, and as before tempered with a way forward. It seems that once again my blood test numbers indicated that the level of disease in my marrow was too high for a stem cell transplant to have the best chance of success, at this time. The two newer, and stronger Two of the chemotherapy drugs that I have been taking ( Kyprolis  and  Pomalyst ) have, after three months, stopped working at controlling my disease. My physician advised that we shift to two even newer, stronger medications . These medications are taken for three weeks and then off for a week. This is called a cycle. My stem cell transplant is now postponed until these new medications can get my myeloma more under control. This could mean two or three cycles, making my transplant more likely for mid to late December or early January. Thank all who have r
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The summer chemo , that I had mentioned in August, failed to control my myeloma. I will soon start new chemo, actually a monclonal antibody called Daratumumab , in hopes of controlling the myeloma so that I can proceed towards the stem cell transplant. Too Much Information I had a bone marrow biopsy this past August. It showed a level of disease in my blood that was too great to give the transplant the best chance of success. The transplant was postponed and new chemo prescribed for the next three months in hopes of better controlling my myeloma . From September through November I would be taking Kyrolis , Pomalyst , and Dexamethasone . Kyprolis hit me hard. My wife says it "kicked my butt!" with exhaustion, fatigue, and lack of energy for 2 to 3 days after second of each week's two Kyprolis infusions. In the end it didn't work! After this round of months of Kyrolis, Pomalyst, and Dexamethasone, I again went to Baltimore for another attempt at the b
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Postponement

We went to Baltimore today to consult with my myeloma physician. We received some unsettling news, tempered with a way forward. It seems that my bone marrow biopsy indicated that the level of disease in my marrow is too high for a stem cell transplant to have the best chance of success, at this time. Two of the chemotherapy drugs that I have been taking ( Revlimid and Velcade ) have, for some time, stopped working at controlling my disease. My physician advised that we shift to two newer, stronger medications ( Kyprolis and Pomalyst ). These medications are taken for three weeks and then off for a week. This is called a cycle. My stem cell transplant is now postponed until these new medications can get my myeloma more under control. This could mean two or three cycles, making my transplant more likely for mid to late November. Thank all who have read the blog and offered me their good thoughts. Daily updates to the blog are no longer needed. I will perhaps post monthly betwee
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But Maybe You Knew This Already

No new tests today, just one finding from my head CT: " Limited imaging through the brain is unremarkable".
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I Won't Be Able To Tend My Mushroom Farm

The title above was one piece of advice we learned today at the Transplant Education Class. No, I don't have a mushroom farm. This season we don't even have tomato plants or basil. We do have a thriving fig tree. Of course, the title does brings to mind the comment about the workplace that is said to be like a mushroom farm: it keeps all involved in the dark and feeds them...Well, you know. In addition to the Education Class, I also had a physical. I've got to be healthy enough for the treatment to kill my immune system and restore it! We had a very good lunch at Bagby Pizza on Fleet Street in Fells Point, Baltimore. Too Much Information We learned that the chemotherapy drug cytoxan can have positive benefits by tricking a body into making a lot of stem cells. This process is called mobilization. Cytoxan is used along with the growth factor medicine Neupogen . Together they can sometimes cause short term pain in large bones. To relieve this pain, the allergy
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