For me, specifically as relates to my life with cancer, it's all about the numbers. There is much data associated with the myriad malfunctions going on inside my carcinogenic physiology. They are too numerous and complicated for me to keep track of them all. I suppose that if I tried harder, paid more attention, and kept records of all of those test results (and explanations) I could understand them better, but then I would need to be an oncologist and the white coats make me look fat.
When I first presented with MM back in August 2017, there were a bunch of levels that FAR exceeded normal. All of those are well under control, but I do keep an eye on a few key markers that I have latched on to like hemoglobin, creatinine, and kappa/lambda ratio levels. There are two types of light chains: kappa and lambda. This balance of kappa and lambda together is called the kappa/lambda ratio which can also indicate a change in levels of disease. The ratio or proportion between the kappa and lambda light chains indicates an excess production of one chain over the other, and therefore can be used as an indication of disease progression or remission -- see, I told you it was complicated.
Regardless, it may seem sterile and impersonal to boil my disease down to a bunch of numbers and graphs, but that's really how it works. Monitoring the results of my lab work to determine if there is a rise in the bad myeloma cells in my body, which would trigger a change in my treatment regimen. That's really the bottom-line: keep those numbers as low as possible for as long as possible, until such time as they are able to "cure" me of the MM and set the "number" at 0, and keep it there.
There are numbers associated with various pieces and parts of my DNA (particularly as relates to my MM). There are numbers associated with the results of my lab work which indicate how my body is reacting and coping with the cancer. And there are numbers associated with the Multiple Myeloma itself, which give the Onc Team a minute-by-minute overview of disease progression. The Onc Team provides the humanity and the compassion, but the numbers are the answer. Answers I can't live without.
