Hello everyone!
Again today I Blog from a Question I got in my emails.
So about my Myeloma
Well it all started after a trip to India in 2000. Came back with Sepsis! Not a good thing. But I used to live in Florida without any health insurance so
I didn’t investigate any further. I was on Antibiotics for 1 1/2 month! Never felt the same after that but still didn’t know I had MM.
2 Years later I was getting more and more tired, grouchy, nervous, anxious memory loss you name it. So it was kindly suggested to me to take a Sabbatical year off.
So, off to France! What a beautiful country. 2 months after being there I woke up in the middle of the night with a very high fever. Tried to stand up but both of my ankles gave out!
So I ended up a the local “Village” Doctor who sent me for Blood work. So I went for my Blood work in the morning on my own a few miles away and went back home.
Got a call I the same afternoon from the Doctor telling me to get my butt to the Hospital ASAP. The Lab had called him and said that I was such in bad shape that they could not believe I made it to the Lab on my own.
First Diagnosis, Sepsis again! This time my kidneys were failing. Spent 10 days there thinking (It’s just Sepsis, I’ll be back playing tennis in no time, Ya right!) as if it was nothing! Did not know the dangers of Sepsis back then! On the 11th Day that’s when they told me I had Stage 3 Multiple Myeloma with too many bone lesions to count! My Cranium is full of holes. I had been wondering why I was braking ribs one after the other (18 so far)! That was June 13 2003! 88% of my Bone Marrow was Cancer. So I was told not to lift anything, ride too long in a car in case we hit a bump and brake my spine or whatever.....Gee I was playing Tennis 3 weeks earlier! What a shock! So the next day I had my first Porth a Cath installed (Read earlier posts for info on Port's) and 1 hour later my first round of Chemo called VAD. That’s short for Vincristine, Adriamycin and Dexamethasone. They Plugged in a pump in my Porth that delivers the Chemo drop by drop for 4 days. Did 6 months of that and it was working pretty well The Cancer was down to 11%. I then decided to stop all treatments, had my porth removed and tried Alternative Medicines. You name it, I tried it!
Came back to Canada and in 2005 started to feel tired again and I knew that feeling. So I consulted with an Oncologist in Montreal and the Cancer was back up to 72%. So by then I knew that I had to go through the Chemo and Transplant and all! When I decide I get into something I do it with all my Will and Heart! So I went for it like a Fighter! Had my first “Picc Line” installed for more VAD chemos. The Picc Line was a temporary thing until there was room available for them to install my second Porth. And 4 more rounds of VAD. But they swished me to Thalidomide and Dexamethasone because the VADS were starting to affect my Heart. Did 8 months of Thalidomide with Dex. That was pretty tough. But it worked. Ballooned up to 240 pounds! I was 185 before. Numbers were down to less the 10% of my marrow and M Spike down from 57 to 14. (Now 2,6). So off to the first transplant July 18 2005. 3 Months after the first transplant my M-Spike was down to 4.7 but wasn’t moving up or down.
So I was offered my second transplant right away. I refused it. I wanted to work on myself. On being a better person. 8 months after the first transplant all the markers disappeared completely to my doctors amazement. I was sure I was “Cured”! Then about 4 years later I was in pretty good shape. Playing Tennis again back in the Gym and all. Then in March of 2010....I fell off the roof! Not a good thing when you have MM! A few weeks later I started to feel tired again and yes, it was back! Hit me like a ton of bricks! I was told that any kind of Trauma either emotional or physical can “Wake up” the Cancer. So another good reason to stay positive and have good attitude towards everything in life.
But I was able to lift myself up, dust myself off and off to war we go again! Had 18 rounds of “CyborD” protocol (Again read earlier posts) and as you know by now I am just waiting for the call for the second Transplant! Should be Monday or Tuesday.
Right now I’m feeling pretty good since my last Chemo was 2 months ago. So I’m ready for it. After that my priority is to get back in shape to enjoy life again. I wish I would have started the Blog sooner so I could have more followers. Just wish to help as many people as possible.
Well, I guess that sums it up.
Any Questions?
Keep Fighting!
Yvon
1 comment:
keep fighting!
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