by JPC on Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:33 am
Hello Amber:
The natural reaction for someone with multiple myeloma (and most any other type of cancer, as well) is to worry that the cancer is coming back with a vengeance at the first sign of any pain.
As your Dad crosses 50 years old, however, he also is naturally subject to the same aging process as anyone else. There are many other causes as well. My wife got the scan results for constant low level back pain a while back. The "good" news was that it was seen to be the onset of arthritis.
My wild guess is that for most instances of general back pain that crop up, go away, and maybe comes back (possibly in a slightly different place) is that they might be most likely something like a muscle or nerve, maybe arthritis, but most likely not the myeloma. He should be getting his scans periodically. That of course should be looked for onset of bone problems.
For colds and infections, as well, the same applies. A "healthy" person will get something like two to four instances per year of a cold, a flu, or related illness. A myeloma patient on treatment or in remission would be expected to get at least that amount. The immune system is compromised to some degree, and some patients will naturally get a little bit more frequency of colds and flus (or the same frequency and a little more severe), and it does not necessarily mean that the myeloma is advancing or getting any worse.
Due to the nature of the illness, however, all these issues should be reported to the medical team.
I hope this allays your worry a bit for a while, and keep up the great work in supporting your Dad.
