[ctruett1234]

New to MGUS

by ctruett1234 on Sun Nov 15, 2015 7:41 pm

I am new to MGUS. Went to the rheumatologist who drew blood and found the abnormal protein IgG. It was 1.2 g/dL (12 g/L). I am 36 years old, which has me nervous. She sent me to the hematologist and did more blood work, a bone biopsy, and a skeletal survey. All of them came back normal except the blood work. My immunoglobulin G is 1653, lambda serum free light chain is 29.6, and my abnormal protein is still 1.2. They say it is not bad but it is elevated.

I worry because of my age and the 1-2%. It seems like a lot with my age. They say that 1.2 is higher, but not until 3 will they get worried. The oncologist basically said it is pre-cancer. I am an anxious person by nature and this just makes it worse.

Should I worry?

I have to get checked every 3 months but all the doctors seemed like it was no big deal.

[Little Monkey]

Re: New to MGUS

by Little Monkey on Sun Nov 15, 2015 10:46 pm

One percent of persons with MGUS will develope myeloma per year (I hope I expressed that figure correctly); it's hard to tell people not to worry when they are told they have a pre-cancerous condition, but I would not be overly worried at this point; but If I were in your shoes, I would hesitate finding work in a sawmill, pesticide/petrochemical factory, rubber factory or applying herbicides to farms if ever had a burning desire to work in any of those industries.

[Multibilly]

Re: New to MGUS

by Multibilly on Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:02 am

Hi ctruett1234,

These are indeed pretty low numbers, so I would also suggest to try not to worry . The things you want to keep tracking over time are:

M-spike
Lambda free light chain
Free light chain ratio
Creatinine from metabolic panel
Calcium from metabolic panel
Hemoglobin from CBC

I always like to suggest that folks keep a log and graph these figures over time as they get their new lab tests. That makes it really easy to see if any trends are developing.

If you just got diagnosed with MGUS, your doc will probably ask to re-test you every 3 months for a a couple of sessions, and will then likely back off and instead do the testing biannually or annually, assuming your numbers continue to hold steady over the next couple of testing sessions.

Little Monkey is right in that the risk of MGUS developing into multiple myeloma is only about 1%/year. So I would try not to fret about this and instead enjoy your life given these very low numbers.