[sparkyboy]

Wife of multiple myeloma patient

by sparkyboy on Tue May 21, 2013 8:05 pm

We were introduced to multiple myeloma a month after husbands retirement. All our retirement plans suddenly changed to dr visits,surgery, chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, long hospital stay, remission for about a year, out of remission, hospital stay, many transfusions and platelets, and now new medication added to list. New med is Rituxin added with Cytoxin. Still on Velcade. Because of steroids given with meds, now we have added Insulin to mix for Type 2 Diabetes. He is being treated at City of Hope. That has become our new second home. How great retirement is.

[caregivertoo]

Re: Wife of multiple myeloma patient

by caregivertoo on Wed May 22, 2013 12:54 pm

I am sorry to hear about your husband.
1 am also the wife of a multiple myeloma patient. Our retirement plans also have drastically changed. Prior to being diagnosed, by husband's company cut his hours back to half time. He lost all his benefits including health insurance.
He was diagnosed in January of 2012 and after giving up his job, my giving up my job to care for him, a long hospital stay, chemo, severe peripheral neuropathy, he has now been in remission for 13 months and has only minimal PN. However we wiped out our savings and still have some debt from the last year. Thankfully my husband now qualifies for Medicare. Gone are our plans to relax, go to the beach as often as possible and be financially comfortable.
I am thankful for every day I have with my husband. It is not the retirement we had planned, but we try to find ways to enjoy it. I pray the mansion God is preparing for me is beachfront property! I will pray for you and your husband.

[Cheryl G]

Re: Wife of multiple myeloma patient

by Cheryl G on Thu May 23, 2013 1:42 am

I'm very sorry to hear about your husband's situation, sparkyboy. I hope he responds well to his new treatment. City of Hope treats a lot of myeloma patients, so your husband is being seen by doctors who are very familiar with the disease.

There are articles and forum postings relatively regularly here that discuss how challenging it can be to the caregiver for a myeloma patient. One that you may have seen already, but which I'll point out just in case, is this one

https://myelomabeacon.org/headline/2012/07/05/pats-place-tips-for-patients-and-caregivers/

I also came across these articles, which I hadn't seen before, but which also have some useful advice and real-life stories

https://myelomabeacon.org/news/2010/10/01/caring-for-someone-with-multiple-myeloma-part-2-practical-caregiving/

https://myelomabeacon.org/news/2010/10/06/caring-for-someone-with-multiple-myeloma-part-3-the-toll-of-caregiving/

I wish you and your husband all the best.