S/V Matilda had a pretty uneventful trip down to the Canaries and is now resting in Las Palmas while Andy B pops home for Christmas.

Meanwhile on S/V Myeloma we have had a more eventful month. Andy has just finished his 2nd cycle of treatment of Dexamethasone, Cyclophosphamide and Thalidomide. At the end of each cycle, he has bloods tested to assess how the treatment is doing and whether they need to tweak his medications.
His myeloma is measured by the amount of light chain paraproteins in his blood. There should be none but his first blood test showed 722 mgs/l which was one of the ways they diagnosed myeloma. His level needs to be below 90 mgs/l before he can be considered for a stem cell transplant and they expect that to take 4-6 cycles of treatment.

At the end of his first 28-day cycle of drugs, his paraprotein level was 203 mgs/l, a staggering 72% reduction which was, to say the least, an incredible thrill for us.

Today, at his second cycle review, his paraprotein was ..... 62 mg/lt! An unbelievable result!

An added bonus is that he has had his steroids reduced to once a month. These have been giving him some miserable side effects so we're hoping he might start having more good days than bad now. A very welcome Christmas present.

We hope you all have the best Christmas and a very Happy, Healthy New Year.