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~*~Can you please share your story~*~
Hi. I'm hoping some of you can share your story as to what symptoms you had before being diagnosed with multiple myeloma? We're you Dx with MGUS 1st? Did you have anemia? Blood results? Did you suspect something was wrong? I go through my own changes here with back aches on and off, severe fatigue, anemia, weakness in my legs and foot pain that's mild to moderate.
Re: ~*~Can you please share your story~*~
Hi,
I was diagnosed with smoldering myeloma after a routine blood test during my physical showed my IG-A was low. No related symptoms at all. Feel good, just trying to wrap my head around the news....
I was diagnosed with smoldering myeloma after a routine blood test during my physical showed my IG-A was low. No related symptoms at all. Feel good, just trying to wrap my head around the news....
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mrsv118 - Name: Kate
- Who do you know with myeloma?: ME
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 7/19/12
- Age at diagnosis: 48
Re: ~*~Can you please share your story~*~
was having my artificial knee operated on in Dec 2010. My pre-op check showed a small amount of protein in my urine. I went ahead with the knee operation and told the pre-op doc that i would keep an eye on the protein in my urine. He never said why, just said watch it so i did. I lived 150 miles away so had my general practitioner give me a blood test and urine test every 3 months. I had anemia so that was noted by my dr. In Nov of 2011, my protein levels went through the roof and a bunch of other urine reading were wrong. We redid the test one week later and the results were the same. Finally he came in a told me i needed to see an oncologist as he believed i had multiple myeloma. I went "what the hell is that, i feel great". I quickly got on my smart phone and looked it up. Oh $hit, this isn't good was my first thought.. My next move after regaining my composure and talking to my Dr. was to find an oncologist as i live out in the middle of the Mohave desert in ridgecrest california. I asked my neighbor where he went when he had leukemia as he was 16+ years cancer free. He said USC Norris Cancer Center in LA. I immediately contacted them and they scheduled me an appointment with their specialist in multiple myeloma. They did the bone marrow biopsy and confirmed that i indeed did have multiple myeloma, stage two. So far my treatment has consisted of tons of chemo in prep for a stem Cell transplant, having the stem cell transplant and now after 5 months I'm just starting 10mg Revlimid maintenance chemo. I've had various side effects from the initial chemo, mostly spending a lot of time on he toilet. Bottom line is I felt great, had no indication in my mind i had any illness especially cancer and would have never even found it until later if i didn't have that knee operation in dec 2010. It still blows me away as i feel good, not sickly with cancer....................................
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coop223 - Name: derek cooper
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: November 2011
- Age at diagnosis: 57
Re: ~*~Can you please share your story~*~
Wow Coop....to not feel sick at all is amazing. So the urinalysis caught the protein? So you never experienced back pain or rib pain? Was your anemia considered a symptom to multiple myeloma?
Re: ~*~Can you please share your story~*~
Nope, no pain, no sickness no nothing. Felt fine. The urine tests with protein and the anemia plus other lab results are what convinced my general physician i had multiple myeloma.
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coop223 - Name: derek cooper
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: November 2011
- Age at diagnosis: 57
Re: ~*~Can you please share your story~*~
My husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma with a high risk of relapse back in April this year. He just did the stem cell harvest this past Monday. They told him he needed 2 million and he got 20 million in one sitting! He goes in a week from today for the transplant. How he found it was he was having a lot of lower back pain. He went to massages and chiro docs for months and months and nothing helped. After a very intense massage it got really worse and he almost couldn't walk. He went to Spine Team Texas and they found the multiple myeloma. So far he has undergone 10 sessions of radiation, 4 cycles of chemo with Velcade and he gets Aridia once a month to strengthen his bones. He's had one big dose of Cytoxan and will get a big does of Melphalan next week. He is 53 and in very good health with a great attitude. He's had minimal side effects from the treatments so far. He still works every day (we own a dry cleaners) and he exercises regularly. We are very fortunate to live in the DFW, treatment area because they have awesome health care for multiple myeloma right here. I pray that a cure for this awful life altering disease is found soon.
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Liz R.
Re: ~*~Can you please share your story~*~
My Mom was diagnosed after her yearly physical showed excessive protein in her blood. She had no symptoms and no pain. She was referred to an oncologist for a bone marrow biopsy. She was diagnosed with smoldering myeloma. It was caught very, very, early thanks to the fact that she has a physical every year. That's why I encourage everyone I know to have a yearly checkup. This was eight years ago and the myeloma has been fairly well controlled. The first treatment of Thalidomide and Dex knocked it into remission for almost 3 years. She has also been treated since then with Revlimid and Velcade.
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brownk
Re: ~*~Can you please share your story~*~
Was treated for peptic ulcer disease for 2 years, but as symptoms worsened, multiple myeloma was discovered as my back was always hurting.... So, I had had multiple myeloma for years before it was diagnosed.
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Babs
Re: ~*~Can you please share your story~*~
Liz,
When he first started having back pains were they on and off and was it a dull ache or severe? It's awesome he continues to work. This helps keeps him busy from thinking about the disease. God bless.
When he first started having back pains were they on and off and was it a dull ache or severe? It's awesome he continues to work. This helps keeps him busy from thinking about the disease. God bless.
Re: ~*~Can you please share your story~*~
Hi Yvie,
That's a little hard to answer because he's always been a "working" man so for him to pull his back out of whack and cause pain would happen off and on. So we don't know if all those times were from the multiple myeloma or not. But the few months before he was diagnosed it got to where it was all the time and it was dull at first and then rapidly got severe. And his Oncologist never did really say what stage he was in but she indicated a late stage 1 or an early stage 2. And about a year before he was diagnosed when he went to the chiro doctor they took xrays and could see that "something" was there but they never acted like it was anything. It ended up being the tumor on his L3 vertebrae.
That's a little hard to answer because he's always been a "working" man so for him to pull his back out of whack and cause pain would happen off and on. So we don't know if all those times were from the multiple myeloma or not. But the few months before he was diagnosed it got to where it was all the time and it was dull at first and then rapidly got severe. And his Oncologist never did really say what stage he was in but she indicated a late stage 1 or an early stage 2. And about a year before he was diagnosed when he went to the chiro doctor they took xrays and could see that "something" was there but they never acted like it was anything. It ended up being the tumor on his L3 vertebrae.
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Liz R.