Art’s Fight with Multiple Myeloma

My hubby Art was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in May 2018. It’s a blood cancer that is treatable but doesn’t have a cure.  It’s a silent killer disease because unless you understand your blood test numbers, you can go on with it until it has affected your organs. Thinking back I realize there were signs for a while but the doctors thought it was other causes. You see, he started experiencing symptoms of pre-diabetes and stress, such as fatigue and itchy skin. Another symptom was a pain on his ribs. This was due to a lesion in his ribs. In March of 2017 the doctor said that he was borderline anemic. Men don’t get anemia unless they’re losing blood or have cancer but we didn’t know that. In April 2018, during his routine checkup, the doctor discovered he was anemic and his protein levels were high. We went back for a retest to make sure it was correct.  A week later I found myself trying to setup an appointment with a hematologist/oncologist.  

Currently we’re getting ready for the toughest part of his journey. The transplant. We both thought it would be a three week hospital stay and he would go home. All done let’s get back to normal. We just found out that after the transplant Art will have to live in a controlled environment for at least 2-3 months to avoid infections or other illnesses.  This has been like a bad dream because my husband never got sick. He works hard and takes pride to get his job done right. Never makes excuses. A great role model to his family. 

If you cannot make monetary donations, prayers are also appreciated. As I mentioned before, multiple myeloma is not curable. The transplant is to give him 5-10 years more years of life. Thank you! 

Sincerely,
Elizabeth