[stenogrl]

First diagnosed 21 years ago, currently relapsing

by stenogrl on Fri Aug 12, 2016 11:36 pm

My name is Cheryl. I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1989 and in 1995 I was diagnosed with very advanced multiple myeloma at the age of 37. They gave me the ole six months. Tandem transplants, interferon, Zometa, femur break in 2009. Zometa stopped and relapse in 2013.

Light chain going up and I must have been living in denial all those years. I never did any re­search and thought it would never come back.

So here I am now, researching, scared, and grateful I found this site.

I am a court reporter, own my own business, and race mountain bikes.

Looking forward to meeting new friends here.

[moonscape]

Re: First diagnosed 21 years ago, currently relapsing

by moonscape on Sat Aug 13, 2016 12:36 am

Welcome, Cheryl. Wow, a worry-free intermission from myeloma for 21 years. That's quite wonderful. Very sorry it's visiting you again. It does that, but it left you alone to lead a normal life for decades. Relapsing now versus 20 years ago is certainly fortunate as there are so many options now that weren't available then.

There are amazingly knowledgeable and smart people here. I'm not one of them, not with myeloma anyway, but being here has helped enormously with my steep learning curve. You've come to a great place.

[dogmom]

Re: First diagnosed 21 years ago, currently relapsing

by dogmom on Sat Aug 13, 2016 7:03 am

Cheryl,

You have found a great place, but I am sorry you find yourself needing it after all these years. Your long remission gives great hope here, though.

I am a breast cancer survivor of 11 years, and in December of 2015 my husband was diagnosed with myeloma. He had four months of induction therapy and is just over 2 months past a st em cell transplant. We are waiting to see how well he has responded to the transplant. He did very well with the induction achieving no detectable disease.

Wishing you another great luck with whatever course you take to achieve remission again.

[JPC]

Re: First diagnosed 21 years ago, currently relapsing

by JPC on Sat Aug 13, 2016 7:19 am

Amazing story, Stenogirl. A lot has happened in the field in the last 20 years (actually a lot in the last two or three years).

My first question to you would be: Are you comfortable that you have a top myeloma specialist on your team that is up to speed on all of the latest developments in the field??

Good luck to you.

[Mark11]

Re: First diagnosed 21 years ago, currently relapsing

by Mark11 on Thu Aug 18, 2016 9:51 am

Hi Stenogirl,

You wrote:

Light chain going up and I must have been living in denial all those years.

Sounds to me like you are living your life to the fullest, not living in denial. Mountain biking sounds like a challenging hobby!

Mark

[Ron Harvot]

Re: First diagnosed 21 years ago, currently relapsing

by Ron Harvot on Tue Aug 23, 2016 5:55 pm

Cheryl,

I have thread on biking with multiple myeloma. Would love for you to contribute your story about your mountain biking.