As a result of my extensive/regular monthly blood work, I am exposed to a lot of test results numbers/values that are admittedly often more than I can track or comprehend. Since being diagnosed, I have chosen to keep an eye on a few levels that I have decided are key indicators (though medically they are not necessarily the key key indicators of the progression or regression of my disease - I'll leave that results-prioritization to the experts on my Onc team). Some of the indicators that I have decided to follow (or perhaps the ones easiest for me to comprehend their significance) are my: Creatinine (how are my kidneys doing - they were pretty beat up when I was first diagnosed); Hemoglobin (that was an early sign of trouble that I wasn't aware was symbolic - more on this in a moment); and Glucose (totally unrelated to my cancer, I just want to make sure I'm not leaning toward being pre-diabetic - I likes the candy).
I've mentioned that one of the things I miss most since contracting Multiple Myeloma is that I am no longer able to donate blood (because of the chemo-cals in my system, not because of the previous deficiencies caused by my MM). I used to donate blood on a regular basis, and then in early 2017 I was rejected at a blood drive because my hemoglobin level was reading at 10 (average is 14-18 for a healthy/normal male, 12-16 for a healthy/normal female level) - but I didn't really think anything of it (should have). Then a few months later, during another attempt to donate blood, the quick finger stick reading came back with a hemoglobin level of 9.8. A combination of ignorance and disbelief (how accurate could a reading like this be?) kept me from even checking about what could be the origin of these results; the reason for the rejection.
By the time later in the Summer of 2017 when I finally went to my GP for a checkup and blood work (driven primarily by a persistent back ache, and no other real suspected factor - I sure as heck didn't think I had cancer !), among other revealing "numbers" of interest, my hemoglobin level was clocking in at a seriously anemic 7.6
The rest as they say is history, and that journey through time has brought me to today. My most recently-tested hemoglobin level is now at 15.2. I suspect it will continue to fluctuate, but I am much more aware of how important of a number this is and will keep an eye on it (as does my Onc team) to make sure that my red stays in the green.
