2009

2009 Was a hard year I can surely say that... Here is a bit more about what happened then...

February 2009- after we found out dad diagnoses the first thing we did was to search it only... oh boy... not sure that was the best idea at all... As a friend have said- the Internet can be a scary place. Sure you can find things in the click of a button, but sometimes things are better left unknown...

So here is the general definition of multiple myeloma according to the Mayo Clinic:


Multiple myeloma is a cancer of your plasma cells, a type of white blood cell present in your bone marrow. Plasma cells normally make proteins called antibodies to help you fight infections.
In multiple myeloma, a group of abnormal plasma cells (myeloma cells) multiplies, raising the number of plasma cells to a higher than normal level. Since these cells normally make proteins, the level of abnormal proteins in your blood also may go up. Health problems caused by multiple myeloma can affect your bones, immune system, kidneys and red blood cell count(anemia).

There are several ways to treat the condition which include:

*Bortezomib (Velcade). (dad started out with velcade and he is still on velcade since his diagnoses)
*Thalidomide (Thalomid). (he was taking this along with velcade for sometime, it was responding well, but then his body became immune to it.)
*Lenalidomide (Revlimid). (this drove his little naughty cells crazy and lots died, but it is no longer working for him)
*Chemotherapy (even tho all the above are chemotherapy as well, this one refers to a mix of different medicines. Right now he is gonna start next week with mix of velcade, doxil, and dexamethadone(steroids).)
*Corticosteroids. (the steroids... they can really alter someones state of mind and well being... dad is funny when he's on it.. he talks so much, i think he may talk to walls at times...lol... Now its become an inside joke in the family, if one is talking too much we ask if they have been popping dads "Decadron"--- sometimes you have to laugh at things in life!)
*Stem cell transplantation (this is where we are trying to get, so he may achieve remission)
*Radiation therapy (has not done any radiation so far)

To this day there is no cure for multiple myeloma. Some people have achieved partial and complete remission. Complete remission only means that the cells are not detectable by the standard tests, but doesn't mean they aren't there ready to start working again.

Our ultimate goal for now is to achieve complete remission. In order to get there we will have to fight for a few more months doing chemo to lower cancer cells in order to proceed to have an auto bone marrow transplant. (auto transplant, means they will harvest my dad's good plasma cells, freeze it, then reintroduce it to him after a massive chemotherapy. It has less risk then from a donor.)

One more thing doctors came across was that my dad has a genetic problem as well, making his type of multiple myeloma extra hard to treat. his cells become more resistant to chemotherapy. He has a genetic mutation of chromosome 13... I won't get into that because quite honestly I don't understand it myself...

BUT.... We will not let those factors scare us. Because we are here to fight. We are here to prove this can be beaten. We will score that GOAL! We have achieved more then doctors have expected form the geico. Don't doubt the power of a Couldrey! ;)