2008: Diagnosis

Hi, and thanks for visiting!

Several years ago someone with cancer said that identifying himself as a "cancer survivor" sounded passive, as if he had lived through a tornado or shipwreck through blind luck. Instead he referred to himself as a "cancer warrior", fighting a determined killer in a lifetime battle. I agree with his point of view, so this is called "A Myeloma Battle."

Actually this blog is for my benefit as much as for anyone else because I know that memories get fuzzy and fade away, especially for me. I want to record what led to the discovery of my multiple myeloma in 2008 and the battle with the disease that will likely go on for several years (if all goes well). But if anyone else gets something out of it, that's even better. Also, this blog will let friends and family check up on the day to day happenings as the battle intensifies and then we're victorious.

Multiple Myeloma is a cancer of the bone marrow, more accurately of the plasma cells found in bone marrow. It causes thinning of bones, anemia, an impaired immune system, and other problems. Somewhere I read that it's very rare, accounting for about 1% of all cancers. There's no proven cause and no quick and easy screening process. The typical symptom is an unexpected bone fracture.

You may already know what led to my diagnosis in 2008, but for others and for my record I'm going to try to remember the main points. It may have actually first appeared in January 2008, when I my back hurt after a long day of standing and bending. The pain lasted for weeks, but I've had back pain before and this seemed just another strain to live through. Then in April, I was on my hands and knees working on a door repair when I got a terrific shot of pain across the middle of my back. This too seemed to be another strain to endure, although it was so painful that my doctor did give me some really nice painkillers.

But a couple of months later, when I had another snap in my back and sharp pain while just sitting in a restaurant, the doctor sent me for spinal x-rays and lab tests, and referred me to an orthopedist. The orthopedist could spot the problem on the x-ray from across the room: I had two vertebrae that had fractured and compressed, affecting the nerves across my back. He performed two outpatient back operations called kyphoplasty where he expanded the vertebrae back to their proper sizes and repaired the fractures.

The first back operation in September was actually to biopsy a vertebra and its bone marrow. During the same period of time, my doctor sent my lab results, which were suspicious, to my oncologist, who ordered even more lab tests. With the lab results, he could rule out most cancers except myeloma. So it wasn't a complete surprise when the marrow biopsy results from the operation came back with the finding of myeloma. And the battle began.