In February 2014, my father-in-law was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. His hemoglobin had been hovering around 7 for over 6 months prior to diagnosis. He was immediately given several blood transfusions and started on Velcade and Revlimid. On top of the myeloma, he has Type 2 diabetes, emphysema, and COPD.
In April, he contracted MRSA that, in less than 24 hours, went from being a small pimple on his pinky to his arm being swollen and red past his wrist, which led to a two-week stay in the hospital and a surgery.
In June, his pulmonary doctor found a lesion of some sort on or around his lung during a routine x-ray. CT and PET scans confirmed that something was definitely there. Follow up CT scans were done in August and the mass seems to be unchanged. His hematologist / oncologist didn't seem at all worried about it, but did make changes in his diagnosis. The doctor added "secondary neoplasm of the bone and bone marrow". No one seems to be able to explain to me what this means.
Can anyone help?
In the past 3 weeks my FIL has also injured his toe, causing a wound, had multiple stomach issues and is having trouble urinating. After 3 different antibiotics and a change in his prostate meds, some of this has gotten better, but he is still having low grade fevers.
I am unsure of what else I can do to help him!
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thenicnac - Name: NicNac
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Father-in-Law
- When were you/they diagnosed?: February 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 75
Re: 75 year old father-in-law with multiple myeloma
Nicnac,
Sounds like your poor FIL is going through hell. Sorry to hear about this.
A secondary neoplasm (tumor) refers to an offshoot of a primary tumor. So, I am assuming from a diagnosis of "secondary neoplasm of the bone and bone marrow", that the onc thinks this tumor was a result of your FIL's multiple myeloma (I'm not a doc, but this is my best guess ... please confirm all this with a doc). So, I am wondering if this could mean that your onc thinks this is an extramedullary (outside of the bone) plasmacytoma (tumor) due to multiple myeloma?
Has there been any discussion of doing a biopsy of this tumor to confirm the exact nature of the tumor?
Again, I'm not a doc, so I'm just guessing at what this means based on this limited info.
Sounds like your poor FIL is going through hell. Sorry to hear about this.
A secondary neoplasm (tumor) refers to an offshoot of a primary tumor. So, I am assuming from a diagnosis of "secondary neoplasm of the bone and bone marrow", that the onc thinks this tumor was a result of your FIL's multiple myeloma (I'm not a doc, but this is my best guess ... please confirm all this with a doc). So, I am wondering if this could mean that your onc thinks this is an extramedullary (outside of the bone) plasmacytoma (tumor) due to multiple myeloma?
Has there been any discussion of doing a biopsy of this tumor to confirm the exact nature of the tumor?
Again, I'm not a doc, so I'm just guessing at what this means based on this limited info.
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Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: 75 year old father-in-law with multiple myeloma
Thanks!
His pulmonary doctor has discussed a biopsy. His oncologist doesn't want to do it unless there is some change in the tumor. From what the onc has said, he doesn't want to introduce any more trauma than necessary due to all of his existing medical conditions. It's soooooo frustrating!
Our primary care doctor waited 6 months to do the test for a myeloma diagnosis for the same reasons. It makes me crazy!! I'm very upfront and want to know everything possible. My fear is that they will be too conservative and when they do take action it will be too late.
His pulmonary doctor has discussed a biopsy. His oncologist doesn't want to do it unless there is some change in the tumor. From what the onc has said, he doesn't want to introduce any more trauma than necessary due to all of his existing medical conditions. It's soooooo frustrating!
Our primary care doctor waited 6 months to do the test for a myeloma diagnosis for the same reasons. It makes me crazy!! I'm very upfront and want to know everything possible. My fear is that they will be too conservative and when they do take action it will be too late.
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thenicnac - Name: NicNac
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Father-in-Law
- When were you/they diagnosed?: February 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 75
Re: 75 year old father-in-law diagnosed with multiple myelom
Does your FIL's onc specialize in multiple myeloma? I can certainly understand the balance between wanting to know about the nature of the tumor and the risk of the biopsy procedure to a patient in poor health. But I think I would want a multiple myeloma specialist to make the call or at least weigh in. There is a difference between a general hematologist/oncologist who works with many blood cancers and one who specializes in multiple myeloma.
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Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: 75 year old father-in-law diagnosed with multiple myelom
Our oncologist was also my mother-in-law's oncologist when she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the early 90s. He has been around for years and both my FIL and husband have the utmost respect and trust in him.
We have had many discussions family about future procedures and have come to decide that if things have changed in November we will seek a second opinion from another oncologist.
We have had many discussions family about future procedures and have come to decide that if things have changed in November we will seek a second opinion from another oncologist.
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thenicnac - Name: NicNac
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Father-in-Law
- When were you/they diagnosed?: February 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 75
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