[Health] The good news is that you're not paralyzed...

DD* · Post by DD* » Mon May 30, 2016 4:23 pm

Thanks all, and I will definitely be tapping the hive mind. Already learned some things today:). Definitely ready to be done with the back issues - one more day!

KKBlue · Post by **KKBlue** » Mon May 30, 2016 5:37 pm

DD!

MHS · Post by **MHS** » Mon May 30, 2016 10:40 pm

Um, holy crap. Sending the best of thoughts your way.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Mon May 30, 2016 10:57 pm

Damn, DD*. Best of luck, kick its ass!

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon May 30, 2016 11:44 pm

Kasey Chang wrote:Next time, go straight to ortho or real med.

I can't stop wondering if DD*'s back was broken before his "extremely painful" chiro adjustments.

Remus West · Post by **Remus West** » Tue May 31, 2016 7:13 am

Prayers coming your way. Good luck.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Tue May 31, 2016 7:31 am

I hope you come through completely, if not a little stiffer and more liable to ask someone else to pick up your dropped pens.

If it's a compression issue, can't they hang you upside-down like (Micheal Keaton) Batman?

McNutt · Post by **McNutt** » Tue May 31, 2016 9:11 am

Fight the good fight, DD. Best of luck and keep us posted.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue May 31, 2016 9:28 am

Yay?

Kick cancer's ass... And get better. Back pain is teh suck. If you lived near me I would I highly recommend Plymouth Physical Therapy for PT. My PT was everything a Chiro ever promised to me without delivering and more. If I were retired and independently wealthy. I would schedule 3 days in PT for directed exercise that is intervened with by a PT every day. There is nothing like 200 pound finding where your back locks up and using the full force of his weight to unlock it.

Dramatist · Post by **Dramatist** » Tue May 31, 2016 11:36 am

I'll join with the others sending thoughts and prayers your way. Cancer sucks but at least you know what your up against now.

DD* · Post by DD* » Tue May 31, 2016 10:42 pm

Woooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

Just stood up, vertical, for the first time in a month and there was no pain!! I cannot tell how good that feels!

All the usual caveats apply, I'm in pain meds, etc, but it appears that 4+ hour surgery was successful. No nerve pain ATM, no aches, no vague feeling of uggh - the only pain I'm getting right now is from watching the Tigers play Anaheim.

Thanks for all the good mojo!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MHS · Post by **MHS** » Tue May 31, 2016 10:45 pm

DD* wrote:Woooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

Just stood up, vertical, for the first time in a month and there was no pain!! I cannot tell how good that feels!

All the usual caveats apply, I'm in pain meds, etc, but it appears that 4+ hour surgery was successful. No nerve pain ATM, no aches, no vague feeling of uggh - the only pain I'm getting right now is from watching the Tigers play Anaheim.

Thanks for all the good mojo!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yay! May all the news continue to be this good throughout your healing process!

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Tue May 31, 2016 10:51 pm

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 1:31 am

Outstanding!

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 2:35 am

Wow, I just ran across this thread, and I am stunned by this. Two months you've been sitting on this?!? My memories are not great, but I'm amazed that you appear to have still kept your sense of humor in your posts all of this time (I haven't done an actual search, but just going by my overall impression).

Anyway, all of my very best wishes to you.

I can't even imagine the back problem being the least of your worries. I'm afraid I would lose my sense of humor entirely if your situation happened to me. You've got my respect, dude.

Keep that chin up! Even if it may not be physically possible.

Edit: I posted that not knowing the thread had gone to page 2 with an awesome update, so I'll add a big congrats on being able to physically keep that chin up now! Way to go!

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 7:51 am

DD* wrote:Woooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

Just stood up, vertical, for the first time in a month and there was no pain!! I cannot tell how good that feels!

Thanks for all the good mojo!

Mojo rising?

Awesome news. Needed some good news today...the friend I mentioned earlier in the thread just found out the back pain that he thought was caused by playing bagpipes in the cold weather was his cancer spreading to his spine and ribs. Next up for him is another round of chemo...he's going to preemptively shave his head, but is trying to come up with an excuse to give his employer (he's in a contract-to-hire gig and would like to be hired by them).

KKBlue · Post by **KKBlue** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:14 am

Yay surgeon and team!
Yay medications!
Yay family (all family)!
Yay DD!

Very happy you have relief. Dealing w pain and having to think/act/live is very difficult. So glad to read your post!

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:19 pm

DD, I missed it if you already mentioned it, but was the cancer caught relatively early? If so, it's actually probably good that your back popped when it did. Otherwise, you wouldn't have caught the cancer until (possibly) much later.

Gotta count your blessings, I guess.

Lassr · Post by **Lassr** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:29 pm

DD* wrote:Woooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

Just stood up, vertical, for the first time in a month and there was no pain!! I cannot tell how good that feels!

All the usual caveats apply, I'm in pain meds, etc, but it appears that 4+ hour surgery was successful. No nerve pain ATM, no aches, no vague feeling of uggh - the only pain I'm getting right now is from watching the Tigers play Anaheim.

Thanks for all the good mojo!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Moat_Man · Post by **Moat_Man** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:13 pm

Giles Habibula wrote:DD, I missed it if you already mentioned it, but was the cancer caught relatively early? If so, it's actually probably good that your back popped when it did. Otherwise, you wouldn't have caught the cancer until (possibly) much later.

Gotta count your blessings, I guess.

This is what I'm thinking. Not the most awesome way to find out but better to find out early.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:36 pm

Moat_Man wrote:
Giles Habibula wrote:DD, I missed it if you already mentioned it, but was the cancer caught relatively early? If so, it's actually probably good that your back popped when it did. Otherwise, you wouldn't have caught the cancer until (possibly) much later.

Gotta count your blessings, I guess.
This is what I'm thinking. Not the most awesome way to find out but better to find out early.

Friend of mine learned he had cancer when a kidney stone sent him to the hospital. Thanks to early detection he's still alive and mostly well. He calls it his lucky stone and kept it in a jar as a memento. It's much better to find out that way than waiting until you feel cancerous.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:52 pm

Giles Habibula wrote:DD, I missed it if you already mentioned it, but was the cancer caught relatively early? If so, it's actually probably good that your back popped when it did. Otherwise, you wouldn't have caught the cancer until (possibly) much later.

Gotta count your blessings, I guess.

FWIW, the back problems DD described are actually fairly typical of how multiple myeloma is first discovered and diagnosed. e.g. The friend I mentioned only discovered his multiple myeloma after seriously injuring his back while attempting to move a hefty old-fashioned big screen TV. The Freelite test is what will provide a baseline risk estimation. So let's all hope for the very best as far as that goes.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:34 am

Great news DD! So glad you are able to be up and about again and pain free. Pain meds are wonderful stuff too for the most part. Congrats on it working out.

To the others with friends sick and hurting I hope the best for them and you guys. I know how it is. When I was a kid I couldn't understand the feelings and such. Now that Im 47 Ive seen my share of sickness and Ive gone through stuff myself so I get it now.

DD* · Post by DD* » Thu Jun 02, 2016 2:08 pm

Thursday update...

Oncology took me for a "full body bone scan" today, which was about 25 or 30 X-rays of every bone in my body. This found cancerous lesions in my lumbar and sacral vertebrae (which we knew about) as well as in my skull, which was new but not entirely unexpected, as it seems that this is a pretty typical spread pattern for this cancer.

The plan now is to zap the L1 vertebrae (or what is left of it) to ensure there is no cancer left there. In the mean time, they are doing another biopsy on my bone marrow to get a better view of the cancer. Assuming nothing is out of sorts, I will likely doing a stem cell/chemo program in partnership with the Karmanos cancer center that has shown very positive results for this type of cancer.

All of the docs, nurses, and therapists can't believe how well I'm healing from the surgery - I've been up and around today and am kicking ass on the exercises they are running me through. So other than the whole cancer thing, I am apparently one healthy motherfucker

Should be going home tomorrow.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 2:40 pm

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 3:28 pm

DD* wrote:Assuming nothing is out of sorts, I will likely doing a stem cell/chemo program in partnership with the Karmanos cancer center that has shown very positive results for this type of cancer.

I don't know how much you've been told about what that entails, but make no mistake, that can be an incredibly gruelling ordeal. My friend had the autologous stem cell procedure done in SF (i.e. a stem cell transplant from his own blood/bone marrow), and it basically entailed such massive doses of chemo and radiation that while it destroys all the diseased cells in the bone marrow and the rest of the body, it simultaneously completely eliminates the immune system. At the stem cell facility, upon completion, they gave patients a new "birthday" (with birthday cake and requisite celebration); as from that day onwards, patients were immunologically-equivalent to newborns. My friend also told me that the stem cell extraction was the single most excuciating pain he'd ever experienced in his entire life (and this was from a guy that was absolutely tough as nails, and in his late fifties).

That's why, if at all possible, I'd strongly encourage you to pursue immunotherapy treatment (such as Darzalax AKA daratumumab) instead. Because, from my layman's perspective, it's almost the polar opposite of the stem cell procedure, as it essentially dials up your own immune system sufficiently to attack the diseased cells (instead of nuking everything, including the immune system, as in the stem cell procedure).

Anyway, best of luck with all of your future treatment, and be sure to get educated and informed on your condition; because nobody will be a better advocate for your best interests as a patient than you.

Z-Corn · Post by **Z-Corn** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:24 pm

Late to the thread here...best wishes man, kick this cancer's ass!

They do good work at Karmanos. My niece works there, she's a nurse.

KKBlue · Post by **KKBlue** » Thu Jun 02, 2016 8:59 pm

DD...

Thanks for the update!

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Fri Jun 03, 2016 1:40 pm

Very late to this thread, wow. I am sending lots of strength and healing thoughts your way DD, glad the early steps are encouraging and thanks to AB for posting the interesting bits on treatment.

DD* · Post by DD* » Fri Jun 03, 2016 2:40 pm

PT in earnest today. Got myself out of bed, mostly dressed myself, did a lap of the floor, a flight of stairs, and an exercise that was up out of a chair, 20 ft with the walker, and sit back down - my time was 31 seconds. Now I have something to shoot for

. Should be going home today.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

McNutt · Post by **McNutt** » Fri Jun 03, 2016 4:26 pm

Kicking ass, DD.

KKBlue · Post by **KKBlue** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:18 am

Hoping familiar walls, sounds, and love typically associated with home has you feeling good today.

DD* · Post by DD* » Wed Jun 08, 2016 11:43 am

Been walking at home, getting a little better every day. I have a bone marrow biopsy on Friday that should give the cancer guys a better look at what is going on. After that I will be looking at different treatment options in earnest.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 4:06 pm

DD* wrote:Been walking at home, getting a little better every day. I have a bone marrow biopsy on Friday that should give the cancer guys a better look at what is going on. After that I will be looking at different treatment options in earnest.

Best wishes for your bone marrow biopsy, DD. I know just having that procedure performed can be a significant hardship, so hang in there.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Wed Jun 08, 2016 4:57 pm

Glad that you're feeling better, DD. Good luck Friday!

In case it's useful, here are press summaries of two prominent studies in multiple myeloma from the big cancer conference that just wrapped up in Chicago:

Stem Cell Transplant Remains Important for Multiple Myeloma, Even in Novel Agent Era

Novel Daratumumab-Based Regimen Slows Multiple Myeloma Progression

DD* · Post by DD* » Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:53 pm

Many thanks for the well wishes and information - definitely helps. Been an up and down couple of weeks. After the initial euphoria of coming home and being able to stand, I started getting increased pain in my right side and hip. It did not help that the drug-induced constipation stayed around, and I was fighting gas build up as well. All in all, I felt worse than I had since coming home.

Monday I got a call from the oncology doc (finally - I had been in limbo about the bone marrow test results for over a week). Can I come in today? Now when the oncologist calls out of the blue and says can you come in today, lots of things go through your mind and few are positive

.

Anyway, the appt went well. His first question was about my pain and who was managing it - that would be "I'm miserable" and "I guess I am in charge since I've not spoken to anyone since I was discharged". He wrote me a number of scripts including a steroid which he promised would make me feel like a new man. Truth in freaking advertising there - I feel like tony stark getting the lithium dioxide at the donut shop after this stuff! Also some GI stuff (also worked, BTW, and that was a blessing in itself).

As for the blood marrow test, it was good news. Based on what they saw, my prognosis is a '1' which is about the best you can get, the whole "you have an incurable disease that is eating your bones" thing aside. They also sent the sample to the Karmonos cancer center here in town and they mapped the cancer to the gene level (I may be mixing some details here). The upshot is that they believe it will respond very well to targeted treatment, based on the test results.

So tomorrow I go to get a radiation blast on what is left of the L1 vertebrae, just to make sure it's not going to get up to any other shenanigans. Then we will look at targeted drug treatment and eventual stem cell replacement. I do have all my test results and will be confirming this treatment path with another doc just to be sure. I did get a warm fuzzy from the oncologist - the guy definitely seemed to know what he was about.

As for the radiation, I'm hoping for the spider bite but will settle for the giant green rage monster if that is the only option.

More to follow....

Moat_Man · Post by **Moat_Man** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 1:06 am

That's very encouraging news DD*. Thanks for the update.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 1:06 am

Outstanding news, DD!

Keep fighting the good fight, and best of luck with the radiation treatment and stem cell replacement down the road.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 2:15 am

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Jun 22, 2016 3:45 am

Keep on truckin DD. Those steroids will make you hungry enough to eat the horns off a billy goat.