Dear friends, My relatives and a few close friends have heard but the following information has not spread far yet. My family and I have had a very tough month. My husband Dave has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma (bone marrow cancer). I know some of you will want details so I will supply a few. Many of you know he had the hardware taken out of his leg 18 months ago from his femur break in 2010. His blood work checked out fine then. Afterward though he has never bounced back. He had a lot of back problems last summer nearly blowing out a disc picking up a tire and between that and his shorter leg he kept thinking that is why his back was off. He also had less and less energy. This summer we got the flu in June and he never got his appetite back. Then I noticed him losing a lot of weight. It became one thing after another and I finally said I am taking you to the doctor maybe you have pneumonia. (Like many men he doesnt really inform the doctor of what is going on with him unless I go and make him). As it turned out we didnt get our chest x-ray, we got sent straight to emergency as his hemoglobin was 1/2 what it should have been. There we were given the news he was in kidney failure. Several days in the hospital, many, many tests and we were told a couple of weeks ago he has mm. Then, as if that is not enough shock for anyone we were told he has the worst stage and then later told he has unfavorable mutations(meaning do not respond well to treatment) AND it has leaked out into his blood (usually doesnt happen) so he is only 5% away from having plasma cell leukemia. He has started treatment. It is an aggressive chemo plan as they want to jump on this fast. Those of you that know me know I have already researched and have a medical journal started, mm forums I am using, and have tapped my alternative docs. They have been terrific and are in touch with doctors overseas... to help us. It is our goal to be a case study in longevity for this disease. It is our 27th wedding anniversary this Friday and I hope for many more. WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR US: Please understand Dave is still trying to come to terms with this and it is difficult. If you see him do not treat him in any unusual way. Ask him how he is like any other person and if he answers in his usual, If I was any better I would be twins way, let it go. He doesnt want to talk about this much. If he does he will let you know. Please dont ask him how much time he has. I know, this seems obvious but it has already happened more than once. Dave is an extremely smart man so he knows it doesnt look good but he needs his energy focused on healing. If you cant do your own research ask me. I already know all the risks, time lines... and Dave doesnt need specifics, it isnt helping him. Pray for peace for him. He needs to come to terms with God and he needs to learn inner quiet. He is a man of great responsibility and he carries the burden of worry of security for us, his family. I would like him to lay that burden aside, we are fine and we need him to put his energy toward healing. Pray for him to avoid any serious complications from side effects or secondary infections. Pray that his bones not continue to decay. I am gravely concerned about his spine as he has lost several inches in height and I dont want his nerves getting compressed. Our children have handled this extremely well but pray for their peace and emotional stability through this challenge. I am doing my best to balance cancer research with my mental and physical health. I have had to suspend teaching any childbirth classes for awhile as we dont need any exposure to germs in our home. Dave would like me to keep trying to build my new coaching business but I wont have much time or energy. It does bring me joy though so I will continue to blog and I have a speaking engagement on the 25th and working with the couple of clients I have. I pray that God will keep me strong and positive to encourage and help my husband. We have had some positive news. His kidney is fighting back well. He started off with a creatanine level of 7.25 (which means that approximately 70% of his kidney wasnt functioning) and we have dropped it to just below 2 in one month. He doesnt want to lose kidney function so we are grateful for that. He is also tolerating chemo pretty well at this point although I understand that will be more cumulative. I may be starting a Caring Bridge site shortly to keep people more updated and if I do I will post it. Feel free to share this news with mutual friends I may not be friends with on FB. Most of you know I rarely post on FB but I like to comment and encourage my friends. I doubt I will be able to answer all inquiries and responses in the future but I will read your comments. We greatly appreciate your love, support and prayers.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 13:10:21 +0000
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