This morning I went to see my family doctor. I had made this appointment last month merely to wish him and his family a happy holiday and give him a few gifts, mainly a big batch of my “famous” Xmas cookies and a few bottles of curcumin. But since I still have a bit of a cough, he listened to my lungs. All clear. No signs of pneumonia. So I will continue to take the antibiotic for a few more days, a total of 10 days, and that should be it.
I then showed him my recent bone density tests (see my “Bones of steel” post). I wish I had brought my camera with me. The look on his face was priceless. He was absolutely thunderstruck. A translation of what he said runs more or less as follows: I can’t believe this. I have never seen results like these.
When I asked him to elaborate, he told me that we begin losing bone mass after age 20…after that age, the best that one can hope for is for a T-score of ZERO, which would mean that one’s bones are as strong as they were at age 20 (if I recall correctly). But my score, for both my femur and neck, is not a mere zero. It is a positive number, a very positive number. Bones of steel…indeed.
But there is more good news. When I returned home, I found my November blood test results in my mailbox. A few results, such as the usual graph, are missing, so I must call the lab tomorrow morning to see what happened and have them send me another copy. But I have most of my results. And I was stunned. Simply stunned. Still am…
I will compare the November results to my July ones. I will concentrate on the more interesting results. From now on, J = July; N = November.
1. White cell count. J = 3.88; N = 5.05. (NR: 4-10) Back in the NR.
2. Red cell count. J = 4.12; N = 4.41. (NR: 4.20-5.40) Ditto.
3. Hemoglobin. J= 12-2; N =13.2. (normal range: 12-16 g/dL) Even more within the NR.
4. Hematocrit. J = 35.8; N = 38.3 (NR: 36-46). Back inside the NR!
5. Iron. J = 57; N = 100. (NR: 60-140 mcg/dL) Finally, finally!!!
6. LDH. J = 163; N = 151. Still within the NR, but an even better result.
7. Total protein. J = 8.9; N = 8.6. (NR: 6-8.6 g/dL) Back to the NR!!!
But the best is yet to come. My IgA and IgM have finally reversed their negative downward trend. At least for these tests. My IgA has gone up a fraction of a fraction, from 0.0667 to 0.07, but my IgM has gone from 0.08 to a whopping 0.12!!! Okay, so these are teeny tiny percentages, but every little bit counts (tutto fa brodo, as we say in Italian). And hey, my IgM has made quite a comeback–more than 30%! I think my haematologist will be pleased.
Let’s see, what else? My total IgG has gone from 33.20 down to 32.80 (luckily, it’s been on a steady downward trend ever since my high result of 35.3 in February 2008, after the failed Biocurcumax/BCM-95 experiment), and my M-spike has also gone down a bit: from 2.46 (July) to 2.33 (November). 
More good news: my parathyroid hormone level has also gone down quite a bit. Indeed, it’s almost normal, now. This is amazing. I wonder what the endocrinologist will think of that!
I suppose I should mention again what supplements I took between the end of July and November. Not much, actually: my usual 8 grams of curcumin with bioperine, 1 gram of quercetin/bromelain and 1 gram of fish oil. All in capsule form.
Stefano and I are going to celebrate my results this evening. When I called him at work earlier, he told me to put a bottle of spumante (Ferrari Brut, our favourite!) in the fridge. I will go do that now…