My test results didn’t quite set a new record low last week, so I decided to wait to post them until I got this week’s results. This one comes after a Darzalex infusion, which only happens one out of every four weeks, and my M-protein level is now at 0.24, the lowest it’s been since I was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2014. I don’t know if we’ll get it down to zero by December,¹ but it sure looks like we’re going to get close.

The real question, of course, is how low it stays after the second round treatment is finished. But one thing’s for sure: this is good news, and it’s now almost a certainty that I’ll stay alive long enough to see Donald Trump booted out of the White House. That’s enough to keep me going.

¹This is a special medical use of the word “zero,” which means that it’s below the level that the test can detect. It will never get to a mathematical zero unless and until someone invents an actual cure.

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We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

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