As my onc had previously planned, in January he started his application to get me into the Northside Hospital (Atlanta) Blood & Marrow Transplant Group. "Application" is an accurate word because they obviously can't take anyone who can't stand the process, even though I've seen several little old ladies there. (Maybe they weren't little and old when they started...h-m-m.) I had my first visit in mid-February finally, when they did the usual history, quick physical, and then explained the process to us. It was a little overwhelming but Margie and I were ready to get started and agreed for them to start the process.
Unfortunately it took until late March for them to get all the preliminary tests lined up. The tests lasted all day (on no breakfast or lunch of course), including skeletal x-rays galore, the always fun CTs with barium, heart tests, some other tests, and the dreaded bone marrow biopsy.
In spite of what I had been told, the biopsy hurt like hell. They pull samples of marrow out of each side of the pelvis and there's no way to stop pain in bones. But they can deaden the general area with Lidocaine, which they first told me would sting like a bee for a minute, then later when I was face down on the table and there were four people in the room they admitted it was more like a hornet sting. Actually it was like a nest of hornets all hitting at the same place. But it was over in a few seconds thank goodness, and it worked. I couldn't feel anything but pressure when they stuck into the first bone. Then they pulled the marrow sample out which sent a shot of pain down my leg that took my breath away. Again it lasted only a few seconds and I almost lived through it. The best news of the day was that they couldn't find a soft spot in the other side of my pelvis (in spite of poking around for a while) so they couldn't pull another sample. What a shame...
At this point I still had not been formally approved for the program, so we went back the next week to get the final approval and sign all kinds of papers. All the tests were ok so I was accepted. We were on the way finally.
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A description and reports of my fight against Multiple Myeloma.
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A Little Background
- Allen in Decatur, Georgia
- Although this is a Myeloma-focused blog, you may be interested in knowing that this is not my first battle with the Monster. In 2001, at age 55, I was diagnosed with Advanced Prostate Cancer. That means metastatic, incurable but not untreatable, quality of life damaging, potentially fatal Prostate Cancer. So I've already been through the shock of figuring out that life will end, it's just a matter of when. Now the battle is on, facing two fronts. The PC has been under control although it's starting to reemerge a little recently. The MM is harder to control. If you're taking bets, I'd go with the MM. Just don't expect a payoff anytime soon...
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