*The* number

 

Yeah, yeah, it’s still a little high. But I’m thrilled. (I think that “F“ is for “final,” not editorial commentary.)

In the realm of “muscle-wasting” diseases, there's one indicator of muscle health that stands above the rest: the amount of creatine kinase (CK) that’s in the blood.

CK is an enzyme found in the heart, brain, skeletal muscle, and other tissues. When there is muscle damage — including the “good” kind, like when you're working out — increased amounts of CK are released out into the blood. 

Normal range is generally 20-200 u/l (units per liter). But when someone works out or has a heart attack or has a baby, that number goes up — sixfold, in the case of childbirth! With a disease like immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy, and as was the case with me, the CK level will skyrocket, often before full onset of weakness in the muscles.

Back in May, when I first sensed that something was wrong with my muscles and went to see the doctor, my CK level was 6869.  So my August 6 “score” of 341 makes me very happy. This new number seems to indicate that the carnage has stopped, which makes the outlook for muscle rebuilding much more optimistic.

Nobody has told me as much, but I think this means that the intravenous immunoglobulin infusions I had in the hospital in July have been doing what they were supposed to, halting my immune system’s attack on my muscles. (As I understand it, steroids might be contributing to this, since they help to keep my body from producing antibodies. Methotrexate might also be helping, though I’ve not been on it very long.) 

In any event, I’ll take it!