[HopefulSD]

Re: Rare case of multiple myeloma causing paralysis

by HopefulSD on Thu Aug 13, 2015 10:51 pm

So this happened to my sister 3 weeks ago. She was diag­nosed with myeloma, was having radiation done on a tumor by her T3 and then started having excruciating pain, weakness in the legs, and tingling. The ER doctors said she needed surgery immediately, so they performed a corpectomy cage reconstruction procedure. Immediately after surgery, she was left paralyzed from the breast bone down (she is 47 years old). The doctors are perplexed. They don't know if it's trauma or swelling from the surgery. They don't know if this is temporary or permanent damage.

Three weeks into this, she is trying to recover from the surgery and they are pumping her with large dosages of the dex steroid to get her numbers up. Her M protein is at 6 g/dL (60 g/L), her hemoglobin is at 11, so they want to start her on chemo starting tomorrow; for the next 21 days (they don't want to give her the chemo injections at this time).

Is there any hope for this woman, who is majorly depressed? After her surgery, I'm not sure she really wants to fight for this.

Thank you all in advance.

[NStewart]

Re: Rare case of multiple myeloma causing paralysis

by NStewart on Fri Aug 14, 2015 2:24 pm

In addition to Ian's suggestions, your father should probably be at one of the major myeloma research centers, or your father's doctors should be consulting with them. Another thought is that the doctor's should also be consulting with a major spinal cord injury center and be consulting with infectious disease. There are so many things that could be going on to confuse the picture of what the actual origin of your father's decline is.

Continued love to your father and the hope that he is getting the best medical intervention possible. Stay strong for whatever the outcome may be.

Nancy in Phila

[Little Monkey]

Re: Rare case of multiple myeloma causing paralysis

by Little Monkey on Mon Aug 17, 2015 9:26 pm

HopefulSD,

Dex is used for two reasons after a plasmacytoma surgery, from what I remember

1 - Myeloma cells don't like dex.
2 - Dex relieves has some of the inflammation away from the spinal area.

Spinal cord injury recovery is a tricky thing to predict and to what extent the recovery will be; it is frustrating to hear from a neurosurgeon "I don't know", but sometime it is genuinely an "I don't know" when it comes to spinal cord injury time and extent of recovery.

There is always a risk of damage to the spinal code from the surgery itself as well.

I hope the best for your sister.

[HopefulSD]

Re: Rare case of multiple myeloma causing paralysis

by HopefulSD on Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:59 pm

Thank you very much, Little Monkey,

I know everyone is busy, so that you took the time to reply is very much appreciated. She will be started on Revlimid tonight at 9 p.m.(I guess it makes you sleepy), so we'll see if it takes. At this point, we're obviously working on the cancer; her paralysis will have to take a back seat at this time.

I completely understand what you say about the neurosurgeon. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Was it the myeloma or the surgery that caused her paralysis – we'll never know. Maybe, just maybe, one day she'll start regaining sensitivity. Anything is possible.

Thanks