Keith and I have been married since May of 1990. We were high school sweethearts. We have 2 crazy kids, benjamin grayson, 5yrs and bella grace 1yr. They are the lollipops and rainbows in our lives.
Keith was diagnosed with Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Signifigance (MGUS) in December of 2008 after routine labwork showed some abnormal amounts of protein in his blood. He was referred to an oncologist/hematologist just to be monitored. Actually, Dr. Wehbie was my mom's hematologist several years ago and he is very kind, funny, smart and we fell in love with him, so that is who we asked to go to.
He diagnosed Keith in March of 2010 with Multiple Myeloma after being monitored with routine visits and labwork. Multiple Myeloma is a blood cancer that attacks the bone marrow. It is NOT a bone cancer, but does effect the bones. It is primarily a disease that mostly effects older people in their 50s and up, but is starting to be diagnosed in younger people.
He had had some severe back pain months before then, but with his history of wrestling and being a police officer, we just figured it was an old injury. After going to the ER and his regular doc, a back specialist and a neurosurgeon, they all ultimately referred him back to his oncologist. He did have 2 fractures in his back, which appeared to be old and healing, so there was nothing to do. Dr. Wehbie diagnosed him with Multiple Myeloma basically because coupled with his rising number of myeloma cells and his back pain, he had reason to believe we needed to start treatment right away.
Keith has taken 4 cycles of chemotherapy and some high doses of steroids, neither of which was any fun for anyone in my house! Fortunately, he has responded very well and we are now awaiting news on getting a stem cell transplant. They will basically take stems cells from keith, give him high doses of chemo (which will make his previous doses at home seem like tic tacs) and hospitalize him during that time. They will give him that chemo 1 day and the next he gets his hopefully clean stem cells back. He will then be observed in the hospital at UNC for about 2 weeks to make sure his white cells are up high enough to come home.
We hope to hear Monday (7/26) from UNC. Keith had to have another bone marrow biopsy to check to see what his counts were. If they are too high, the stem cell transplant will be put on hold for now. We have the results, but have no idea what they mean! The next step is to get a port put in his chest to retrieve the stem cells and give chemo. Thanks to everyone for all of the prayers and the support everyone has given us. The next few months will be difficult no doubt, but we will get thru it and on to a brighter future! There is currently no cure for Multiple Myeloma, but it is getting a lot of attention (thank God!) and lots of breakthru research making it very promising to have a very long survival rate. Stem cell transplants are one of the best options in making remission last a very long time.
