[choicey]

Is this myeloma?

by choicey on Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:24 pm

my brother has been having pain in his shins and knees, it came on all of a sudden, he went and had an mri, but they found nothing, then he went back in for x rays and, he said that it looked like he had freckles on both his legs in areas threw out his shin and knee area, doc said it looked like myeloma, my question is could there be anything else that would cause this? he will get his results next week, we have never heard of such a cancer, we are praying that it could be something else. Any input would be gratefully appreciated, thank you

[Cheryl G]

Re: Is this myeloma?

by Cheryl G on Sun Jul 28, 2013 8:10 am

When you say that it looks like your brother had "freckles" on his legs and shins and knees, do you mean that there were things that looked like freckles on the bone that showed up in the xrays?

Just want to make sure I understand your question. When I first read "freckles", I thought you might be mistaking "myeloma" with "melanoma".

I think it's a bit too early to jump to conclusions about what your brother's problem might be. It is true that myeloma often causes bone lesions, which can show up as holes, or "freckles", in xrays of the bone.

However, if you do an Internet search on what can cause bone lesions, you will find lots of different explanations.

If your brother's doctors suspect myeloma, they should be arranging for him to have urine and blood tests to determine whether he has other signs of myeloma -- elevated protein levels, elevated calcium levels, low hemoglobin levels, etc.

Based on those results, and, if necessary, a bone biopsy, the doctors will be able to tell more about what is causing the bone problems your brother is having.

Let us know what you hear from the tests, or have your brother let us know, and we may be able to help some more.

I hope this won't be necessary advice, but, if it does turn out that the diagnosis is myeloma, please make sure your brother gets seen by a myeloma specialist at a cancer center. A specialist will be able to make sure the diagnosis is correct, and also can recommend the best treatment. Myeloma is not a common cancer, so it's definitely one that is best diagnosed and treated by a specialist, rather than a local oncologist or hematologist who may not see more than just a couple of myeloma patients a year.

[Multibilly]

Re: Is this myeloma?

by Multibilly on Sun Jul 28, 2013 12:24 pm

Cheryl is right on the money with her response. I know it is hard to wait for lab results and you must have a lot of angst. Best of luck to you.