We had the worst Christmas ever when my dad had to be taken to the hospital. On the second day of Christmas he had the attack of a terrible pain in his back. We called the ambulance and they said it might be the kidneys, but when he got some painkillers in the hospital, they did not really help to alleviate the pain. Now it turns out some bones in his spine simply broke, which explains why he was in so much pain. Earlier he complained about pain in his side, and it turned out there were broken ribs there.
Now dad (75) is at hospital, his results are very poor, and the doctors suppose he may have multiple myeloma, I have read about this cancer online and the symptoms described there fit him perfectly. We do not have the results of all the examinations yet, but I do not have much hope that the diagnosis would be different than the myeloma. His spine is in a terrible state, kidneys are also devastated by the illness, and he has anaemia and high creatinine.
The problem is he has had this anaemia for quite a long time, and his doctor did nothing with this anaemia. She did not send him to take additional tests, and the sickness (myeloma as we guess) was free to develop as it pleased. He has had the anaemia from 2011 at least, if not earlier. It was when he went to the hospital because of the anaemia. He used to eat a lot of flax seed and we thought the anaemia was because of it, and his doctor also believed that the anaemia was because he did not have enough iron, while it now turns out that the anaemia was rather the result of myeloma than a "normal" kind of anaemia caused by iron deficiency.
Now I am worried we could have done something earlier, but until now we had no idea that such as thing as myeloma existed. I fear how long dad would be still with us. From what I've read his symptoms look like the third stage of myeloma. I am afraid of losing him soon and I have no idea how to help and support him if I am so sad and depressed because of it, I guess it would be better not to show tears etc. in front of dad and give him hope instead, but how if I have so little hope myself?
I was reading a lot about this illness and its symptoms, and I wonder whether it is possible that I may also have it, I know it is not a hereditary disease, but I've read that it may be more frequent in some families especially when there is a close affinity.
I am relatively young as I would be 32 this March, and I am female so I guess outside the most common demographic of the disease, but as I was reading about it, I noticed I have some symptoms. Of course it may be because I have been reading so much about it, but I am worried and I cannot talk about it with my Mum who is already heart-broken because of dad's condition.
In 2012 I had a strange neurological problem, I caught a cold ( I have allergy and catch colds quite easily, and it takes a lot of time for me to be cured of a common cold), and as I was getting better, I lost my eyesight temporarily. It was very strange as I could not see anything for a moment and then I could see again, and the time passing between each cycle was shorter and shorter. I went to the hospital and quickly got better. The doctors don't really know what it was but it did not return.
However, after this event I started to have some delicate bone pains in my right leg in the calf, they were like a piercing arrow, but the pain was not very intense and it usually lasted only for a second or a couple of seconds and disappeared. I told my neurologist about it but she did not worry about it, so I guess it was nothing. I also used to have these "lightning bolts" or arrows in my head, a sudden pain when I was for example listening to a lecture, which passed after a couple of seconds (it was very small pain). Now I have more pains in this leg, not only in the calf but also in the knee and above. When I am lying in bed it feels as if it was paralysed, but I can move it quite all right.
I also get these strange pains in forearms and fingers, in the other leg and its toes. They last no longer than a few seconds and are very delicate, but now I've read about myeloma I am a bit worried. There are also some small pains in the back which we associated with uncomfortable bed, but from what I've read this is where the sickness is usually located and it is also where my dad has it.
Also, dad has been complaining about having a parched mouth for some time, and now I know this is one of the symptoms of myeloma. I noticed my mouth is also parched more often than earlier, but it may be because I drink less now that I visit dad in hospital, I don't want to use the toilet in the hospital so usually I drink very little before leaving.
I also had to take over some physical work which my dad used to do until now, such as bringing the firewood to the fireplace, and I am not really used to this kind of work, so maybe that is why I noticed these pains.
Of course, I don't have any anaemia or other symptoms, though to be honest, I haven't had any blood or urine testing for some time. I am healthy except for the allergy, and of course I cannot do any tests now so as not to make Mum annoyed. She is already terribly afraid about dad and depressed as well. She is not sure whether we would handle living without dad and she is of course worried about him.
Sorry for writing so much about myself, but I do not want to worry my Mum unnecessarily, so I decided to share it here. I also apologise for my bad English as it is not my native language (I am from Poland) and I am particularly unfamiliar with medical terminology. Thanks
