My grandmother was diagnosed a little under two months ago of stage 3 multiple myeloma. She was in hospital for about a month or slightly under. She got out of hospital about 2 1/2 weeks ago. She was on full chemo.
The chemo has made her so weak. She's lost so much weight and can barely move. She cannot even get up. She has gone back to the hospital today. I am scared so badly.
I feel from past experience with dying grandparents that multiple hospital stays just leads to being transported to a hospice where you die in a week.
I am just wondering, has anyone else been so weak that you've had multiple hospital stays?
Is this the end of the line? I mean she's very weak, and with my last grandmother who died, she was weak and she was put in a hospice and died there quickly.
Also, are there alternate chemo or things she can do to help fight the cancer so she's not so weak? Because, at this point it looks like we'll be in / out of hospital until she dies.
Most important, is it possible to go from an inch away from death and then up to remission? It better bloody well be possible.
She is only 66 and, quite frankly, after losing 2 other grandparents at ages 70 and 76, I'm not prepared to lose another so young.
Any help, or if you can relate to this, is appreciated.
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enieweler - Name: Erik
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Grandmother
- When were you/they diagnosed?: July 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 66
Re: Multiple hospital stays in short time - is it common?
I understand your feelings. And feel with you and your family.
But answering you would be guesswork, I am afraid.
Did your parents or someone else attend and support your grandmother throughout the consultations with the multiple myeloma specialists.
You need to sit with them and listen, or maybe, depending on your relation even better, sit and talk closely with your grandmother. Maybe she is very well informed.
Best of luck
But answering you would be guesswork, I am afraid.
Did your parents or someone else attend and support your grandmother throughout the consultations with the multiple myeloma specialists.
You need to sit with them and listen, or maybe, depending on your relation even better, sit and talk closely with your grandmother. Maybe she is very well informed.
Best of luck
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Lev - Name: Lev
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: June 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 57
Re: Multiple hospital stays in short time - is it common?
Thank you for your reply.
I should give an update. She now actually has an infection. It goes from bad to worse. I have no clue what to expect.
Is an infection common with multiple myeloma?
Does the infection kill? Meaning, is it the final straw in which it's the end?
And if it's not, how long usually does an infection usually last and would it get in the way of any chemo or other things?
I haven't been at the hospital today, only my aunt, so I don't know the details.
I should give an update. She now actually has an infection. It goes from bad to worse. I have no clue what to expect.
Is an infection common with multiple myeloma?
Does the infection kill? Meaning, is it the final straw in which it's the end?
And if it's not, how long usually does an infection usually last and would it get in the way of any chemo or other things?
I haven't been at the hospital today, only my aunt, so I don't know the details.
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enieweler - Name: Erik
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Grandmother
- When were you/they diagnosed?: July 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 66
Re: Multiple hospital stays in short time - is it common?
Erik,
My heart and prayers go out to you and your family. When my Mother was diagnosed in late March, I had never even heard of multiple myeloma. She also was diagnosed with Stage III and had multiple lesions on all her bones.
What I did was research the internet and that's how I found this site. There are many people on here that know a lot more than I do and can help you figure out the answers you need.
I do know that with multiple myeloma, it is very common to get infections, and one infection that can wreck havoc is pneumonia.
I hope for the best for you and your family. Please know that you are not alone.
My heart and prayers go out to you and your family. When my Mother was diagnosed in late March, I had never even heard of multiple myeloma. She also was diagnosed with Stage III and had multiple lesions on all her bones.
What I did was research the internet and that's how I found this site. There are many people on here that know a lot more than I do and can help you figure out the answers you need.
I do know that with multiple myeloma, it is very common to get infections, and one infection that can wreck havoc is pneumonia.
I hope for the best for you and your family. Please know that you are not alone.
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sandy57 - Name: sandy57
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Mother
- When were you/they diagnosed?: March 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 78
Re: Multiple hospital stays in short time - is it common?
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support. It means so much. I hope its not pneumonia. She actually had it a few months before her actual cancer diagnosis. But it was controlled and ultimately gotten rid of.
I just hope it isn't the same thing. I've been reading that, in a lot of cases when pneumonia or other infection hits, most people wind up dead within days or weeks.
My family and myself honestly, emotionally, physically I don't think we can take another hit like this.
All we can do is hope -- hope that the infection can clear. And to think she was close to getting a stem cell transplant. Her only saviour, and it is now out the door.
What else can go wrong at this point?
I just hope it isn't the same thing. I've been reading that, in a lot of cases when pneumonia or other infection hits, most people wind up dead within days or weeks.
My family and myself honestly, emotionally, physically I don't think we can take another hit like this.
All we can do is hope -- hope that the infection can clear. And to think she was close to getting a stem cell transplant. Her only saviour, and it is now out the door.
What else can go wrong at this point?
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enieweler - Name: Erik
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Grandmother
- When were you/they diagnosed?: July 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 66
Re: Multiple hospital stays in short time - is it common?
Myeloma is a very different disease from most others. One of the hallmarks of myeloma at the beginning is infection, since multiple myeloma is a disease of the plasma cells in the bone marrow. The plasma cells make the antibodies to fight infections. So, a person's ability to fight infection is affected until treatment begins to be successful. Your grandmother's infection may not be one that kills her because they will be able to fight it, even if it is pneumonia again.
You don't say what kind of treatment that your grandmother received while she was in the hospital other than to say she was in full chemo treatment. There are lots of different treatments for myeloma. It would be helpful if you would let us know what she was receiving and what treatment regimen she was on when she was discharged from the hospital.
Many people on this forum were close to death when they were diagnosed with myeloma and came back once the proper treatment was started and their blood test numbers came back towards normal. Even people who had major kidney damage at diagnosis and were on dialysis have done well with the proper treatment and were able to eventually come off of dialysis.
You need to speak with your grandmother to find out what she knows about her disease and her current condition. You and your parents should speak with her doctors to find out more about what is going on with your grandmother's condition. Being as sick as she is now doesn't mean that she is at the end of her life. Since you say that your grandmother was so weak when she came home from the hospital the first time, maybe it would be appropriate for her to be admitted to a rehab facility when, and if, she is discharged, this time to work on rebuilding her strength and endurance before she comes home.
Don't despair yet. Gather all of the information that you can from your grandmother, her doctors, and other resources. The more that you understand this disease, the better you will be able to understand what may be happening with your grandmother. I hope that there is a myeloma specialist on her team of doctors. If not, that is a really important person to seek out once she is doing better.
The best to your grandmother, you and your family,
Nancy in Phila
You don't say what kind of treatment that your grandmother received while she was in the hospital other than to say she was in full chemo treatment. There are lots of different treatments for myeloma. It would be helpful if you would let us know what she was receiving and what treatment regimen she was on when she was discharged from the hospital.
Many people on this forum were close to death when they were diagnosed with myeloma and came back once the proper treatment was started and their blood test numbers came back towards normal. Even people who had major kidney damage at diagnosis and were on dialysis have done well with the proper treatment and were able to eventually come off of dialysis.
You need to speak with your grandmother to find out what she knows about her disease and her current condition. You and your parents should speak with her doctors to find out more about what is going on with your grandmother's condition. Being as sick as she is now doesn't mean that she is at the end of her life. Since you say that your grandmother was so weak when she came home from the hospital the first time, maybe it would be appropriate for her to be admitted to a rehab facility when, and if, she is discharged, this time to work on rebuilding her strength and endurance before she comes home.
Don't despair yet. Gather all of the information that you can from your grandmother, her doctors, and other resources. The more that you understand this disease, the better you will be able to understand what may be happening with your grandmother. I hope that there is a myeloma specialist on her team of doctors. If not, that is a really important person to seek out once she is doing better.
The best to your grandmother, you and your family,
Nancy in Phila
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NStewart - Name: Nancy Stewart
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 3/08
- Age at diagnosis: 60
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