Radiation Treatment

I found out I had Multiple Myeloma when my shoulder pain from a basketball injury wouldn't go away (Andy Boyce was right, I am too old for that youngsters game. But I will probably be playing again as soon as I can, Andy). Three months passed before I had it checked by a orthopedic specialist. He looked at the x-ray and thought I either had a torn rotator cuff, or some kind of legion. A legion is basically a tumor, but at the time I thought he just meant I might have a small benign growth of some kind on my bone. When the MRI that he ordered came back, he told me I had cancer as he directed me to an oncologist he had setup for me to see that day. Mary had just moved to Idaho. I didn't want to tell her the first day she had moved in. I toyed with the idea of waiting until I knew more. But I couldn't keep anything from her. I never could. She sees right through me, and knew something was wrong. So I told her at lunch the day I found out, so she could accompany me to the first appointment. She was awesome as a patient advocate. She basically grilled the oncologist, and even had him acting quite defensive at times. He started to rattle off his credentials and detailed history of experience in various studies related to my cancer. Mary was skeptical that these Idaho oncologists had even seen patients with my cancer. I thought we were going to spend the hour talking about him instead of me, so I interrupted and tried to pull the conversation back to my cancer, asking Mary to stop grilling the nice Doctor. She had him on the ropes and I had to save him. We discussed my treatment and testing. They spend a lot of time testing Multiple Myeloma cases before treating the disease, because the treatments can destroy important information that is critical to a lasting remission. There is no cure for Multiple Myeloma. Remission is simply a state of retreat, but the cancer will eventually regroup and attack again in most cases. The best scenario is to get a deep remission with Valcade (special chemo for this cancer), followed by a stem cell transplant, and monitoring for when it returns. There are huge advances, and there might be a cure in the future. I am lucky that there are multiple new drugs and treatments that I can use to extend my life until there is a cure. In that sense, Addison, who has type 1 Diabetes, and I are fighting a similar battle. She is one of my greatest examples of patience and perseverance against huge odds.

Since I was in serious pain in my shoulder, and they wanted to do something to harden my C2 vertebrea, they recommended radiology oncology in the shoulder and neck area first. After I returned from a trip to Hawaii, they fitted me for a mesh cover that would make me perfectly still while targeted radiation killed the tumors in my upper humerus, clavicle, and C2 vertebrea. The legions in my left hip, right ribs, and larynx would have to be treated with chemo. I could only take so much radiation, and the only way to get a lasting remission is through chemo anyway. Radiation is for comfort, ironically. Above is a picture of me getting fitted for the mask that stabilized everything so the radiation didn't miss. After a week of radiation, they started the chemo. Valcade is targeted chemotherapy. I have some risk of nerve damage, which they monitor carefully. But I personally didn't experience very harsh reactions. I did however, get a rough reaction to the bone hardening medicine called Zometa, which happens to about 10% of patients. I had fever, chills, and bone pain all over my body for a couple of days. I took claritin, as an antihistamine the next month, and it minimized the reaction. Here is a pic of my Zometa reaction.

The radiation gave me a monster sore throat. It makes me wonder what it was doing to my brain or at least my brain stem. But they assured me it was OK. It made my throat bleed and hurt for a couple of weeks. But it wasn't too bad. I could show you pics, but they are kind of gross (like any picture of a person's mouth). I will share pics of the tan and rash I got after the radiation. They say I will have darker skin where the radiation was for about a year. It is nice to have that part finished, and it feels much better. I can exercise again, pick up a gallon of milk, and function with my shoulder like a regular person.