Riding the Wave - Multiple Myeloma

10/04/2026

YAY! Dave gets to come home this afternoon. We’ve been FaceTiming and decided for me to stay put at home and not bring my germie self into the hospital. He didn’t need anything and was doing well.

Anyway, he said his sinus drip has been significantly minimized as he’s so happy about that. Me too! It’s been brutal. He’s still coughing up mucous, but other than that he feels great. They did some cultures to see how he’s doing, and barring any weird things, he’ll come home this afternoon. They did a good job of taking care of him.

(Our Maui trip a few years ago on a whale watching catamaran. I wanna go back!)

09/04/2026

Well, we have had an eventful few weeks around here! Three weeks or so ago little Savannah ended up with pneumonia! Because her mom is very diligent, she wanted to take her into the ER and it was a good call.

Then Dave has continued to struggle with the cough and sinus drip. It’s quite debilitating. He was in with the local oncologist for a regular sit down and he didn’t like what he was hearing or seeing. So he ordered a CT of Dave’s chest. A couple days later we got an urgent call to take Dave to the ER straight away for admission. He had pneumonia in both lungs. The ER ran their own full battery of tests and discovered he also had a Covid type virus, RSV, and a bacteria! The doc said he’s never seen someone with so much! Dave was admitted and they started IV antibiotics and breathing treatments. He’s feeling so much better and will come home tomorrow after a 2 night stay.

Because I had a chronic cough over 10 days and was not feeling myself, I decided to stop at urgent care on my way in to see him. I have pneumonia! Good grief!

We leave soon for our checkup in Little Rock. I’m glad we’ll both be on the mend before that!

It really is mostly dull around here until it’s not. Then we make up for it bigly! LOL

(I’m guessing Dave has been shirking on his use of Nozin! Angelica and I remind him often, but he either complies or he chooses not to.)

25/03/2026

Remember when you were young and one of your siblings would put an empty ice cream container back in the freezer?

Dave had treatment yesterday. The emerging pattern is that in the evening or following morning he experiences chills. So he climbed back in bed this morning with the heating pad while I was making the bed. Asked me if I could make him some theraflu. We have found he gets some modest relief if he takes it.

So I head downstairs to get that rolling. And this is what I found in his kitchen designated med cabinet. 🤦‍♀️

So off to the local drug store I went. 🤪

Keeping it real!

08/03/2026

FDA has approved the combination therapy that our insurance denied as “experimental”. Exploring how we proceed since we were denied with multiple levels of appeal.

Tec-Dara for the treatment of RRMM is the third FDA drug approval under the Commissioner's National Priority Voucher (CNPV) Pilot Program. On Thursday, March 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved teclistamab in combination with daratumumab hyaluronidase-fihj (Tec-Dara) for the trea...

21/02/2026

Many of you might enjoy seeing and hearing Dave. Over 10 yrs ago he decided to dedicate serious effort into playing craps. I encouraged his efforts. Anything to bring him some joy and fun. A few years ago he got pulled into a small and growing group of likeminded peeps regarding the game of craps in Vegas. Again I encouraged him to go for it.

Anyway, last night he was invited to be on their podcast and share his experiences and show his craps practice table.

He did a great job. He comes on at 1:25.

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03/02/2026

We know these stories. Either from our own experience or listening to others. It’s rare that a doctor diagnoses a patient very early with MM. Especially if they are outside the typical patient demographics. My own husband complained for over a year of symptoms and the doctor didn’t think much of his symptoms or dig further. He had a bone event that sent him into a small town ER.

https://people.com/mom-diagnosed-with-incurable-cancer-after-doc-dismissed-symptoms-11882303?fbclid=IwRlRTSAPvBXVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeLRlqXLlr_RHJ8Gpe2DVGXCErlaZVMJBkbE0-ilecH3pBlonFDERwS28dCos_aem_P827tuhrEYRn7CgvQsUscg

Shortly after giving birth to her second daughter, Corinne Torney started experiencing symptoms that her doctor dismissed as postpartum issues. After a second opinion, the Florida teacher was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer.

02/01/2026

In this flu season here is another thing I’ve been using for about 5 years. I got in it when it was still being developed. It is now available on Amazon.

Kitchen sponges! A new sponge after its first use starts building up bacteria. This easy gadget with its very affordable solution that you refresh weekly (I do it on Sundays when we put out the trash) will keep your sponges looking and feeling like new for up to 6 months!!! I usually have to get a new one because the scrubber is worn out but the sponge itself still looks, feels, and smells new.

While I use the sanitize cycle on my dishwasher, there are still things that require handwashing. I use to worry about this for Dave and was thrilled when this product came out. I’ve even packed it for our long stays in Little Rock where I’m in a Goodness Village Apartment.

When I first posted about it years ago, peeps were having trouble getting it. They are readily available now.

The world's first sponge holder that stores and cleans your sponge between uses. Using patented technology and a plant-based formula.

02/01/2026

As the fear mongering, yet informative news stories are reporting “Super Flu” cases on the rise, the worry and panic can set in for us in the cancer realm.

The flu shots are very dicey for immunocompromised as they can’t make antibodies to be “effective.” That they may lessen symptoms is a theory and a hope but has no science to validate the claim. So whether you choose to get it or not, these are the precautions we take.

The best protective measures we have taken over these many years is to take our vitamin D (10,000 iu)and other basic vitamins. Wash hands whenever we come back from being out in the world. Monthly IVIG if your insurance will cover it. Our doc made a special plea for us and they have approved for 2 years now. And finally the big game changer is a product that’s affordable called Nozin. Respiratory viruses enter thru the nasal passages where they replicate before moving into the body further. Nozin is used by medical personnel daily in infectious disease wards. It protects and kills viruses at the door so to speak. It’s an easy application. It has made a tremendous difference for Dave and we all use it to protect ourselves and him.

They have handy individual ampules to keep on had when you are out and about or in travel (more expensive). But the little bottle with a q-tip is what we rely on. I order directly from the company and they are quick and free shipping. We typically order 3 or 4 at a time so we have them for the whole family.

TIP: Dave uses it everytime he heads into the hospital for treatment as most of his viruses come from there. (He works from home so is rarely overexposed.)

Nozin® Nasal Sanitizer® antiseptic helps reduce the risk of infection, is clinically proven to reduce nasal bacteria, and is used by hospitals for infection control.

20/12/2025

The therapy combo Dave was recently denied.

Treatment options for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) are evolving rapidly. In this presentation, Rahul Banerjee, MD, FACP, provides...

20/12/2025

Thank you Health Tree for providing updates from ASH.

T-cell exhaustion remains a major challenge in bispecific antibody (BsAb) therapy for multiple myeloma, limiting durability of response and long-term disease...

13/12/2025

Well, after 17+ years we have finally encountered our first major insurance coverage issue. So I’m not complaining about them at all. However, the denial of Dave’s new protocol and dealing with two hospitals and our insurance, all in different time zones, has proved extremely challenging. But mostly it’s the inability to have two-way communication in a timely manner. Add to that, the lack of understanding from our local hospital on how best to proceed. I won’t get into all the details in this post, but suffice to say, it’s been very frustrating for me. The barriers to communication set in stone at our local and our insurance company feels very oppressive. I’ve been stuck home and tied to my phone waiting for them to return my call.

My daughter’s suggestion was to change my voicemail to “If this is A or B, call me back bitches!” 😝

Hopefully it will sort out soon one way or the other and we can get on with it.

Arkansas has been stellar as they always are. It’s our local group and our insurance that makes talking to someone timely very hard. It’s designed that way on purpose. But our local is the worst by far and has done the most damage to this whole appeal process. I know that Arkansas has Plan B, but they wisely want this to play out before we introduce anything else into the mix.

It reminds me of our early days when negotiating medical and insurance was unknown territory for us and we were frustrated and anxious at every turn.

The silver lining in this latest fiasco, is Dave and I are very seasoned now, and know that staying calm, while remaining diligent in our efforts is the best course for us. There is what we have control over and what we simply don’t. In times like this you just have to find those who care about you and your situation and encourage them to do more. Keep your cool and your humor, while letting them know you appreciate them and their efforts.

28/11/2025

Happy Thanksgiving from our fam to yours! We had a thankful Thanksgiving. Lori, Dave, Angelica, and Savannah!