So this odd thing happened... Hurt my lower back in November cutting firewood and it would get better, then worse, better....etc. And then in Feb got really bad with sciatic pain down the right leg and I couldn't work.

Had a x-ray...nothing.... I live in a small town of 20k people and you have to fly or take a ferry to get to larger hospitial so we had to take a ferry south to Sechelt for a CT Scan. It goes like any xray "you can get dressed, we will send the result to your doctor".....BUT as I am getting dressed the tech/doc asks "were you in a bad car accident?" Ah... No.

By the time we get home, I have a call from my Doc to come in first thing..... I have never had a doctor call me to set up a appointment, so I assume serious. But I am thinking chipped bone or spur touching the nerve. Something like that.

Next day my Doc - "you have a collapsed vertebrae and we are sending the image to a nerologist to see if we have to fly you to Vancouver for emergancy surjury to protect the spinal cord.....and the big question is why is the bone colllapsed?" Hints at cancer and sends me to emerg for tests. At this point I am a bit freaked and go tell the the gf who is in the waiting room.

2 minutes of hugging and crying in the car....and you get on with it.. OK Doc says we are likely going to spend 4 hours in emerg so....... Starbucks?

Go have a Venti Mocha and cookie by the beach and then wander into the hosptial making jokes about "maybe we should do a will"

Aww Merek , i'm a little distressed to read this. And if I'm getting distressed I can only imagine what it's doing to you!

I'm impressed that it was only 2 minutes of crying and hugging. I really want to give you a hug right now.

I like your shirt.

Damn, Merek. Sounds like you've got a good attitude. Kick that cancer's ass.

My mom had breast cancer almost 30 years ago, and she's still going strong at 73 and counting.

so wait, do you know what the problem is yet?? And what's the prognosis??

Keep us informed, we're more important than real life.

And good luck.

gl man

Back to the story

When we left our hero he was wandering the halls of the Powell River hospital having every single bone xrayed, vampires disguised as nurses sucking his blood every ten minutes and doctors repeatedly asking if he could still get a hard-on.

After 3 hrs of this the doctors announce “Multiple Myeloma” like the final blood test from the magic decision box suddenly brought them to this decision. Turns out the CT scan tech wrote it on the report the day before after a 30 second look. Of course they have to do the final test to be sure. A bone marrow sample. They give you as much freezing as your dentist does for filling and grind a giant needle into your back and suck out the marrow...and then use the needle to grind off a chuck as they need bone too.

So WTF is this Multiple Myeloma? Basicly some of your white blood cells, the plasma ones, become delusional and believe they are rabbits. They breed like crazy and soon there are too many. Your red blood cells get crowded out and you get anemic and tired. Your other whites get pushed aside and can’t fight disease. And the racist bone thing. ... Plasma cells apparently only like to talk to the bones cells that tear down the old bone and refuse to talk to the "build new bone" guys. Therefore your bones get eaten away at and you break a arm or have a back problem. And if this goes on too long, you really do become a spineless wimp.

All this disolved bone in the blood is appartently not good for you. It makes you go pee every two hrs and backs up the plumbing. I thought that was all from the stoner painkillers I was on for the back pain.

So to end my 8 hrs in emerg on a high note... I got a IV to remove the Calcium and more importantly.....the Canadian Olympic Hockey team crushed the Russians 7-3..... I missed the game for this crap.... damn

And a few days later I got the bad news. They would not fix the back til after I dealt with the cancer. F..... The cancer doesn't bug me but the back stops me from doing anything. Laying around is driving me nuts.

That sucks. Did they give you any restrictions in diet, or movement, or whatever?

Jebus, that mist be the worst feeling. So, what are they doing about the cancer?

On the back... no bending.. Don't pick anything up. Stay home. No sitting for long..

On the Cancer - I go to see the Blood Cancer people Monday to figure out bone marrow transplant and such, but I am already on a treatment. A steriod called Dexemethisone. Some people get this as a antiinflamitory for dental surgery and such but at doses of 1.5mg. I am on 40 mg a day. The nice thing is it is used as a antiinflamatory for spinal surgery so my leg and back have been the best in 3 months. The bad is you are a bit manic, heart races, and you have to be careful, as just cause it makes the back feel good, doesn't fix the bone.

They give you the stuff 4 days on, 4 off and you go through mini-withdrawal with shakes and stuff.. But I feel almost like I am faking. I don't feel sick enough to be home all the time and be talking cancer.

At least between the Canadian Med system and my extra work insurance money is not a issue. Work insurnace is basicly paying 66% of wages tax free and the drugs. Med system pays for hospital and docs. So far it has cost me $20 in gas and a few stamps for insurance claims.

Next steps with be the nasty. Chemo. Bone Marrow transplant and staying a month or more near the Cancer clinic.

get well soon OP

Best of luck, Merek. And let as many people as offer lend you their support.

While this sucks, Merek, I am glad that you have such a good attitude and feel a little bit honored that you would share something like this with all of us in the Lounge.

I think this will be a fascinating story to follow (with hopefully a good outcome) and I am sure there will be plenty of folks here who will follow and will care about how you are doing. I know I will.

Hang in there and keep up the good attitude. I do believe that a persons mental outlook can effect how they do with recovery from things like this and it sure looks like you have that part whipped.

Wow. GL Merek. Put a bad beat on that cancer!

Also lol you are quite a funny guy.

Thanks Fish

It least it finally gave me a Thread idea to meet the high lounge standards. Seems better than "worst hair band of all time"

There are some interesting bits.

Like Bone Marrow transplants... I can use my own. And they don't take it from my bones.

The old way was, find a bone marrow match(which was hard), suck their marrow with 2 ft long needles in a very painful way, inject marrow into donor and add rejection drugs by the bucket.... pray it works.

With this cancer. They give you drugs to make your stem cells leave the marrow and go to the blood. Then they filter your blood for 2-4 hrs a day for a week or so. Need to collect 9 million or so. Treat the stem cells and freeze for later use. They usually collect enough for two or three treatments just in case you learn to like it. This cancer is incurable, but treatable so many people go for round two, years later.

And with using your own stem cells, rejection is not a issue.

The nasty bit is between the chemo and when the re-added stem cells graft. They take a couple of week to wander around and find a bone that meets their high accomadation standards. Until then you produce no blood cells of any kind. I think I will sleep through these 2 weeks, as they do not sound fun.

The shirt is actually a Spamalot Shirt I bought a few years ago. I wore it to work the day I told my co-workers. Got some abuse for that.

Thanks for the Hug

I do not have much to add other than good luck.

Think it would be over the line to let Jewel Staite know you have cancer and your dying wish is to see her eat a strawberry in person?

Jesus, you got a battle ahead of you. Hang in there - it's tough having to be lethargic all the time. The internet is your friend - keep your mind stimulated while you let your body rest. Good luck.

I'm on it...called my old agent and told her I needed Jewel Staite's number STAT.

...The avatar will have to do for now, I'm afraid.

I have full confidence in Merek's eventual victory over this.

Good luck.

A guy I trained with had a bone marrow transplant for Multiple Myeloma three
years ago - he's doing great, feels great, looks great.

Hang in there.

MM MD

Is this strictly a white blod cell problem (which white blood cell?), or is it related to osteo-blasts/clasts/cytes as well?

I hope you are not kidding. Because if you are I am not. It's easy to meet Jewel. She attends basically every Sci-fi convention and loves to talk to people. Even if you can't find her outside the conferences we could go up to the microphone during a Q&A and tell her the situation. No way with her fans waiting for her decision that she will say no!

Very interesting thread, and well written. I'll be praying for you.

gl merek.
keep us updated, and hope 2p2 provides some comic relief.

merek-
My mom was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2002.She is about to celebrate her 73rd birthday, and was declared cancer-free in 2005. She had the stem-cell transplant/treatment you described.

She is a very spiritual woman, and you can take from that what you will. You may or may not be. Spiritual, I mean. Not a woman. Unless, you know, you want to be one. That will require further surgery. And I'll support you then, too. But that does not matter right now. What is of utmost ****ing importance (if I may quote Christopher Walken from "True Romance") is to maintain the positive mindset you have shown here, and keep in mind that the things they can do for you now, that they would not have been able to do even a decade ago, are nothing short of astounding, and you are going to be given the weapons to kick this thing squarely in balls, and leave it shriveled and groveling while you go on, eventually dying from a gunshot wound, killed at the age of 134 by a jealous husband.

Seriously, the survival rates from multiple myeloma have climbed due to this process. When my mom was diagnosed, I did some research, and it was somewhat less than heartening. But the strides that have been made are ridiculously encouraging.

You are going to be fine. Consider prayers and good vibes sent.