I’d set a doctor’s appointment for June 26, 2019. This happened to be the day of my 15th wedding anniversary, but that wasn’t a big deal to either of us since we didn’t have any plans the day of. My wife and I both had the week off, and I’d not been feeling well, so I wanted to make sure to get checked out before I went back to work the following week.
In the weeks prior, I’d noticed that my energy for anything beyond basic getting around was trash. Also, my appetite had gone to nothing and whatever I did eat would go right through me. Because of that, I was losing a lot of weight. It seemed like it might be a simple GI type of problem, but I wanted to be sure.
I went to my appointment and my doc agreed that something was up and had me do some blood work. My last labs from the previous October were great, so we didn’t expect any major change there. Boy were we wrong.
You know something is up when the doc is the one calling you back about lab work. And there I was later that same day taking his call. The labs showed that I was anemic (which explained why I couldn’t do much physically), and on top of that my creatinine levels were high, indicating that my kidneys weren’t working very well. He recommended that I go to the ER for further testing to avoid more damage if there was indeed a problem with my kidneys.
So I follow instructions and go to the ER. I just mentioned that my doc sent over my labs, and wanted them to run more tests for anemia and possible kidney issues. The ER doc raised an eyebrow like “huh” at first, not seeming to get the need for me to be there. He left to check the labs that my doc sent over, and when he returned his demeanor was totally different. “Your kidneys aren’t working!!! You’re not going anywhere, we’re admitting you!” A bit exaggerated, I was still urinating just fine but my kidney functionality was indeed quite low… but that’s just the start of things.
At this point I figured I’d better call my wife since they’re going to admit me, and she came to the hospital. Meanwhile. the ER doc ordered all the things… blood tests galore, full body X-rays, and a CT scan. The latter two is what revealed the root of the issue… bone lesions indicative of Multiple Myeloma. Biopsies of my kidney and bone marrow were were being ordered to confirm something that I didn’t even know was being suspected, or for that matter haven’t even heard of.
As so the whirlwind of medical terms began, and I was practically being treated before really understanding what was really going on. Myeloma? Transfusions? Dialysis? What? In spit of the frantic nature of things, I was pretty chill about it, as was my family, and we remained that way as we began to really learn the nuts and bolts of how things were unfolding.
Cancer? Cancer. Well… no worrying, no tears. Let’s fight.