In July of 2021, my husband and I were getting ready to celebrate the July 4th holiday with our little town. We had gone to dinner when the first twinge of pain occurred. I didn’t think much about it until it continued and hurt more. Over the next several months, I experienced several moments of pain in and around my chest area. I finally went and talked with my primary care physician (PCP), who took me through several possibilities. We spent the next several weeks trying different medications for those different possibilities; nothing worked. Finally, in September of that same year, as I was getting ready to fly out to California, I hurt so bad I could hardly move. My husband took me to the Urgent Care that was affiliated with my doctor’s office. They took an X-ray of my chest. The doctor came back in and asked if I had been in a car accident; I told him I had not. He then proceeded to tell me that my ribs looked as if they had fractures all through them. He gave me some pain medication and told me to follow up with my PCP, which I did once I returned from California.
I contacted my PCP when I returned, and he ordered a CT scan for me. I knew something was up when he phoned me that same evening and asked if I’d been in a car accident! I told him that I had not. He then told me that he wanted me to get a PET scan. Knowing what PET scans are for, I began to get a little agitated. By December, I’d had the scan and was awaiting the results. A week before Christmas, the call came. It was cancer – multiple myeloma (MM). I was shocked. As far as I knew, there was no history of cancer in my family.
The next few weeks, my husband and I were on an emotional roller coaster. Was there a cure? Was I going to die? If so, how long did I have? Any and every question rolled through our minds. Our family decided we needed to get away before all the treatments of chemo and radiation began, so they bought us tickets to fly down to South Florida to be with our middle son and his family. We had two glorious weeks with them. Once back in the airport, getting ready to head home, we got disoriented in the airport because there was remodeling going on. We ended up on the basement floor. We saw an escalator with signage for the parking lot. My husband went ahead of me with our two pieces of luggage. Halfway up, he lost his balance and fell back onto me along with the luggage. We slid down to the bottom of the escalator, and it rode us back up. My husband struggled to get to his feet and encouraged me to get up. I told him I couldn’t; I believed I had broken my right femur. I was correct. Once he reached the top, he hit the emergency button that stopped the escalator and called 911. When the ambulance attendant arrived, he came to me and told me that he normally doesn’t like to give medication to someone on the ground, but by the look and position of my leg, he felt like I was in a tremendous amount of pain, which, of course, he was correct in thinking. They got me to the hospital and confirmed that I had broken my right femur due to the MM, but that wasn’t all. In a matter of urgency, the ER doctor also informed me that the MM had begun eating away at one of my cervical discs, and if radiation didn’t start immediately, I was in jeopardy of being paralyzed.
I was in the hospital for two weeks, during which time they put a rod in my right leg to make up for the broken bone. I had radiation on my cervical discs every day for four days and had an additional CT and MRI. During this time, I can say I was probably still in shock and didn’t spend a whole lot of time contemplating my future. I just wanted to get out of that hospital!
The months that followed my hospital stay included weekly visits to my oncologist, primary care physician, and radiologist. I had to have further radiation on the leg that broke. My radiologist told me that my MM was aggressive, and they needed to get me treated right away. My oncologist started me on weekly IV chemo treatments and blood tests. I felt like a pin cushion, but there was more to come. My oncologist began talking to me about a stem cell transplant. She felt this would be a viable choice for me as it would kill off all the affected cells and give my body time to regenerate new ones; however, it was not a cure. The path towards this was not easy. It meant several trips to the Ohio State James Cancer Center and classes on what to expect. They wanted to use my own blood, so I had to have a procedure where they took out my blood, separated out what they needed, and put it back into my body. They didn’t get the amount of what they needed on the first day, so I had to stay the night and go through the procedure again the next day.
In August 2022, I had my stem cell transplant. I was in the hospital for another two weeks. This was a very trying time for me and my husband. The effect of the transplant was very difficult on my body, and eventually I had to shave my head because the medication they gave me caused my hair to start falling out. I told my husband I needed him to come with his “shears” so he could shave my head. He said he would, but that he wanted to shave his head, too, in support of me. So, that night, we shaved each other’s heads! I couldn’t believe what I saw when I looked in the mirror. I always thought I looked a lot like my mom, but in the mirror staring back at me was my dad! He had gone bald early in life, and that’s the only way I’d known him. Without hair, I looked just like him! After being released from the hospital, my path was still difficult. It took another two weeks for me to even be able to drink water or anything at all. It was a very difficult and trying time. My husband was with me along every step. Recovery came, but it took several more months to finally begin to feel better. By Christmas, I was able to stop wearing wigs because my hair had finally gotten to a point where I didn’t need to cover my head anymore; it was wonderful!
Three years later, my oncologist has me in remission but still on medication. She said I will need to be on this medication for the rest of my life because, as of now, there is no cure for MM. Every blood test I have had shows my numbers are where they need to be. The specific tests they look at fluctuate but remain within acceptable ranges. This has been an extremely hard path for me to walk. It has been a path of tears, anger, pain, depression; you name it, I’ve probably experienced it. However, the medical science for MM is ongoing, and new treatments are being released for use. I have also had a wonderful team of doctors behind me. Most importantly, though, is my faith; I have a strong faith in the Lord. It is that faith in Him that has brought me through, and it is that same faith that keeps me going every day. He has never, and will never, fail to be with me. Whatever my future holds, He will be at the center of it all!
Eydie
multiple myeloma (MM)
