In summer 2014 I posted about my myeloma experience since December 2013 and my stem cell transplant in July 2014. My thanks to the hundreds of people who have read my story. Since then I have offered comments and encouragement in these forums, but I haven't had the heart to discuss what has happened to me.
Basically, the mutation event that gave me myeloma also gave me Stage 4 lung cancer, an awful diagnosis – incurable, fatal, and likely to kill me before the myeloma returns. So now my myeloma is "still gone", but I am on lung cancer chemo. I have joined a lung cancer forum, and this is how I introduced myself:
One mutation event gave me two different cancers
Hi everyone. I am Dana - male, age 69, with Stage 4 adenocarcinoma of the left lung that spread to the abdominal cavity. In December 2013 I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (bone marrow cancer). I also had a benign pleural effusion, something not found with a new case of myeloma. My myeloma chemo stopped the further growth of the effusion. The chemo and a subsequent stem cell transplant in summer of 2014 put a stop to the myeloma, and I stopped getting chemo.
Then in December 2014 I began to get abdominal pain, which was misdiagnosed (via CT scan) as diverticulitis (infection of the colon). Finally in April 2015 I learned that the pain was due to metastatic cancer on the outside of my colon and in the omentum. The original source is a malignant nodule where the effusion had been sixteen months earlier. So now I am a lung cancer patient on a different chemo. A lung cancer expert at Mayo Clinic explained to me how the same mutation event could have caused two types of cancer at the same time in 2013 or earlier.
Forums
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Mister Dana - Name: Mister Dana
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: December 2013
- Age at diagnosis: 66
Re: What I haven't been telling you (lung cancer)
Mister Dana,
I am sorry to hear of your predicament. How is your lung cancer responding to your current chemo regimen, and how are you responding to it? I hope, well. Keep us posted on your situation. Maybe the double shot of chemo will keep both your cancers at bay.
I am sorry to hear of your predicament. How is your lung cancer responding to your current chemo regimen, and how are you responding to it? I hope, well. Keep us posted on your situation. Maybe the double shot of chemo will keep both your cancers at bay.
Re: What I haven't been telling you (lung cancer)
Mister Dana,
So sorry to hear about this dual diagnosis. Having one cancer is more than enough to deal with in one's life.
You have been surprisingly cool and calm on the forum in light of dealing with this complex situation. Wishing you all the best in your continued fight.
So sorry to hear about this dual diagnosis. Having one cancer is more than enough to deal with in one's life.
You have been surprisingly cool and calm on the forum in light of dealing with this complex situation. Wishing you all the best in your continued fight.
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Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: What I haven't been telling you (lung cancer)
Wow, sorry Mister Dana.
Not sure what else to say, except I am wishing you the best
Not sure what else to say, except I am wishing you the best
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Little Monkey - Name: Little Monkey
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Father-stage 1 multiple myeloma
- When were you/they diagnosed?: March/April of 2015
Re: What I haven't been telling you (lung cancer)
Hi Mister Dana,
Wow! I'm so sorry to hear about the lung cancer diagnosis. What cruddy luck to have the same mutation event cause two different, and especially nasty, forms of cancer for you. Life is not fair.
You've done what you need to do to deal with the myeloma. Now you need to do the same with the lung cancer. From your posts, I have no doubt that you are a (mentally) strong individual. Hang in there.
You are an important member of this myeloma community. I just want you to know that I'm rooting for you. And I'm sure many other folks here are too.
Mike
Wow! I'm so sorry to hear about the lung cancer diagnosis. What cruddy luck to have the same mutation event cause two different, and especially nasty, forms of cancer for you. Life is not fair.
You've done what you need to do to deal with the myeloma. Now you need to do the same with the lung cancer. From your posts, I have no doubt that you are a (mentally) strong individual. Hang in there.
You are an important member of this myeloma community. I just want you to know that I'm rooting for you. And I'm sure many other folks here are too.
Mike
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mikeb - Name: mikeb
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 2009 (MGUS at that time)
- Age at diagnosis: 55
Re: What I haven't been telling you (lung cancer)
Thanks, everyone, for the kind words. Although my myeloma is dormant and I am not getting any treatment for it now (except Zometa), I regard theses forums as my home and will continue to participate and comment.
The good fortune I had in tolerating cyclophosphamide, Velcade, and dexamethasone (CyBorD) extends to lung cancer chemo as well, and I am holding my own better than many lung cancer patients. My new schedule is one treatment with Alimta (pemetrexed) every three weeks. I have a port now, so it is easy, and the drip time is only twenty minutes. Much easier than my induction schedule in 2014. My main side effect, which not everyone has, is an unrelenting mucus drip in my nose and throat.
The first six cycles were a "doublet" of two drugs that worked quickly on the bands of cancer in my belly and a big inflamed blob in my lung. Now it is just a matter of time to see if the chemo can restrain or shrink the "hot" nodule of cancer in the lining of my lung. The odds aren't good, but I have joined a survivor's forum of people who have beaten the odds.
Dana
The good fortune I had in tolerating cyclophosphamide, Velcade, and dexamethasone (CyBorD) extends to lung cancer chemo as well, and I am holding my own better than many lung cancer patients. My new schedule is one treatment with Alimta (pemetrexed) every three weeks. I have a port now, so it is easy, and the drip time is only twenty minutes. Much easier than my induction schedule in 2014. My main side effect, which not everyone has, is an unrelenting mucus drip in my nose and throat.
The first six cycles were a "doublet" of two drugs that worked quickly on the bands of cancer in my belly and a big inflamed blob in my lung. Now it is just a matter of time to see if the chemo can restrain or shrink the "hot" nodule of cancer in the lining of my lung. The odds aren't good, but I have joined a survivor's forum of people who have beaten the odds.
Dana
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Mister Dana - Name: Mister Dana
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: December 2013
- Age at diagnosis: 66
Re: What I haven't been telling you (lung cancer)
I have never mentioned the support I get at Humphrey Cancer Center in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. As you can imagine, the nurses like me because I was the guy who beat myeloma without a problem. They were sad to see me back in the chemo chair a year later. My oncologist turned upbeat when the lung cancer chemo started working right away on the metastatic sites. He said he had a feeling from that that I was going to do better than average. Thank goodness, as the average remaining life expectancy with Stage 4 lung cancer is way too short for my liking.
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Mister Dana - Name: Mister Dana
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: December 2013
- Age at diagnosis: 66
Re: What I haven't been telling you (lung cancer)
I read this forum for support and information. It is comforting to me to see how well you are handling myeloma plus lung cancer.
I am having a lung biopsy procedure 5 hours from now to find whether a nodule in my right lung is cancer. If it is not, I will be happy that the "only" cancer I have to deal with is myeloma. If it is, my doctor says it will be stage one or two lung cancer and very treatable.
It is amazing how much one can take, isn't it?
Gary
I am having a lung biopsy procedure 5 hours from now to find whether a nodule in my right lung is cancer. If it is not, I will be happy that the "only" cancer I have to deal with is myeloma. If it is, my doctor says it will be stage one or two lung cancer and very treatable.
It is amazing how much one can take, isn't it?
Gary
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Gary D - Name: Gary D
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: April 2015
- Age at diagnosis: 67
Re: What I haven't been telling you (lung cancer)
Whew, what a lot to deal with. I'm so sorry you have TWO cancers to cope with. What rotten luck. I'm wishing you strength and peace and good fortune!
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Tracy J - Name: Tracy Jalbuena
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 42
Re: What I haven't been telling you (lung cancer)
Mister Dana
I was saddened by the news of your secondary cancer, but am happy to hear the treatment is working. We will pray it will continue to work for many years to come.
Wishing you all the best,
Rhonda
I was saddened by the news of your secondary cancer, but am happy to hear the treatment is working. We will pray it will continue to work for many years to come.
Wishing you all the best,
Rhonda
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Rhonda - Who do you know with myeloma?: myself
- When were you/they diagnosed?: September 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 54
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