I relapsed six or seven months ago. That fact was made painfully clear when I broke a rib getting into my wife’s car; several new lesions had weakened the ribs on my right side.

I assumed the acute pain was caused by the fracture. While I’m sure the break contributed to my discomfort, it turns out that one of the lesions was pressing on a nerve that runs along the underside of my rib cage. My medical oncologist immediately consulted with my radiation oncologist. I started radiation therapy the next day.

My pain began to improve after three sessions. Much to the frustration of the doctor, my insurance would only approve ten visits. But that’s all it took. The pain was practically gone by then; after another week, it had dis­appeared entirely.

That was my third experience with radiation therapy. Each worked remarkably well.

For multiple myeloma patients, radiation therapy is considered to be palliative care. In other words, while it may help reduce acute pain, it isn’t necessarily going to knock a patient’s monoclonal protein numbers down, or help us live longer.

Once considered to be innovative and cutting edge, my impression is that radiation therapy isn’t taken very seriously these days. But I think that’s a mistake.

As I mentioned earlier, I have responded remarkably well to radiation. So much so that when my latest PET scan confirmed the pain along my belt line was caused by active lesions in both hip bones, I suggested we try radiation.

Having recently moved to a small town in northeastern Florida, my new medical oncologist here was more than happy to refer me to the local radiation oncology practice. It took a week for them to get my medical records and a treatment plan together. But once treatment started, the pain started to subside almost im­me­di­ate­ly.

This past Monday, I completed my tenth and last session. The pain in my left hip is gone. It has improved in my right hip, although that hip is still sore. Like with my ribs, I’ve been told that radiation continues to do its thing for another couple of weeks. And if the pain hasn’t improved enough by then, my doctor said he could radiate the right hip five more times if necessary.

There are a few limitations to radiation therapy. Plasmacytomas or lesions located close to vital organs may not be safe targets to radiate. Additionally, radiation oncologists don’t like to radiate the same spot more than once, even years apart. When I asked about that, I was told that repeated exposure could destroy the bone’s ability to repair itself. “We don’t want to kill the bone,” my radiation oncologist explained.

Hard to argue with that! Even so, that leaves most of our body open to therapy if needed. Why live with painful lesions when radiation can zap them into submission?

But what about side effects?

I always seem to feel dizzy and out-of-sorts following my first couple appointments, but that fades away by the third or fourth day. Before my latest round of radiation therapy, I was warned that I might experience diarrhea, since I was being hit with radiation on both hips, which flank the lower gastrointestinal tract. For­tu­nate­ly, that didn’t happen.

I know patients who have become fatigued after undergoing 15 sessions or more. I experienced debilitating vertigo and nausea when my back and neck were radiated following my diagnosis in 2007. Looking back, those side effects were most likely caused by the fact that one of the beams was close to my head and that I was on daily dexamethasone ^[1] (Decadron). One thing I have learned: radiation and dexamethasone don’t mix!

Overall, I won’t hesitate to suggest trying radiation therapy again in the future. And considering how sus­cep­ti­ble my bones are to developing new lesions, my guess is this won’t be the last time I visit my new friends at the local radiation therapy clinic.

For now, I’m able to walk and exercise with a lot less pain. That’s important. Staying active is something we can do to help keep our bodies strong and healthy.

Radiation therapy has been an important tool to help improve my quality of life. Maybe it can help you some­day, too.

Feel good and keep smiling!