Prayers and Positive Thoughts Please

Carol here ~

Dan got the flower boxes planted along the top of our new retaining wall yesterday.
Going to be beautiful!
I supervised from my chair in the corner of the living room.

**Long post alert ~ you might want to grab a cuppa before you settle in**

I debated sharing this but as we stated when we started this blog, it was to be a journal of our lives here at the pond and well, this is how my life is at this time.

If you have been following along these past few months you will know that I have had issues with my back. After finally being able to get X-rays and a MRI it was deemed that I have two compression fractures in my spine, T12 and L5. I do have osteoporosis so the upper compression is probably from that. The lower compression is caused by Multiple Myeloma ~ a type of blood cancer.

Now to back up a bit ~ in the late 1990’s I was diagnosed with a condition call MGUS. Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is a condition in which an abnormal protein — known as monoclonal protein or M protein — is in your blood. Everyone that ends up with Multiple Myeloma once had MGUS.

My blood work has been monitored every year since the MGUS diagnosis ~ all OK until January 2019 when my yearly blood work started showing signs of an increase in the M Protein cells in my blood.

A bone marrow biopsy and PET scan was ordered so we would have a “baseline” for the future. All good, still in the MGUS stage.

At this point, my blood work is now monitored every three months. Each time, a slight increase in the numbers.

In January 2020 another biopsy and PET scan ~ I am now in the “smoldering” myeloma stage, meaning I have more abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow but have no damage to red blood cells, kidneys or bones. No treatment needed at this time, continue with blood work every three months.

Which brings us to this year and my back pain and finally getting the testing done. I am no longer “smoldering,” I now have Multiple Myeloma. My red blood cells and kidneys are good, at this point the myeloma is only showing up at the L5 section of my spine. The rest of my spine looks good, no soft tissue.

I knew this was coming at some point but still not something you want to hear. It’s been a very stressful few weeks, not helped at all by the intense back pain I am having. I am very fortunate that I have been closely monitored these last few years so am way ahead of many who are diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma at a later stage.

I will be having a T12 and L5 Vertebral augmentation (vertebroplasty) with radio frequency ablation (RFA) for the tumor on L5 as soon as approvals go through, hopefully next week. It is about a 3/4 hour procedure with pain relief almost instant. (Happy dance on this!) Recovery time about a month. No BLT’s ~ bending, lifting, twisting. I have to wear compression socks for two weeks to help prevent blood clots ~ how do you think they will look with my bathing suit? LOL.

Radiation to be determined. PT scheduled for twice a week after the vertebroplasty.

I had my first Chemo treatment on Wednesday. All went fairly well. Remission is the goal, probably in the six month range.

In the interest of my mental health and the lack of desire to talk about this all the time, I don’t need medical advice or “you should be’s” or “you need to be’s” ~ I have a great medical team and truthfully, I'm overwhelmed with their professional advice at this time.

However, Prayers and Positive Thoughts are welcome and appreciated. Both for me and my family as any of you that have been through this before know that it is not just the patient effected but the whole family.

In the meantime, I am just continuing on enjoying each day as it comes ~ resting when needed, walking when able, quilting when able, sitting out front on the patio with my book, watching the activities on the pond, sitting at the fire pit in the evenings and visiting with friends and family.

I got this!

Much love to you all,

Carol