This topic contains 8 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by 
mhnevill 11 years, 10 months ago.
Hello everyone,
I am here for my dad who has recently been diagnosed with myeloma at the age of 80. He had acute back pain in the summer which didn't respond to painkillers or physio. Bless his physiotherapist who referred him for an X-ray, and bless the radiologist who sent him straight to A&E where he had the blood tests which showed poor kidney function and got haemotology interested.
He has 2 crushed vertebrae – so the back pain was no surprise. What was a surprise was that he was admitted to hospital at his diagnosis appointment in December, so that they could sort out his kidney function and get his pain under control. He's been in hospital ever since.
I need to be able to support my mum (79) and do what I can to help them both practically and emotionally, from 100+ miles away. These forums seem so positive and yet realistic! Best wishes to everyone for 2013,
Sal
Hi Sal
Am sorry your Dad has been Diagnosed with MM. your Dad has done well getting it found out as soon as he did.
What Hospital is your Dad getting his treatment from (some on here might be in same hospital)
What treatment is your Dad on or going on?
Good Luck to your Dad in his treatment and stay strong for your Mum also.
Love Tom Onwards and Upwards xx
Hi Sal,
Your dad's journey to diagnosis sounds very similar to my mum's. She was diagnosed in Oct 2012 after weeks of awful back pain and feeling low. She had a fractured vertebrae and poor kidney function. She stayed in hospital for 2 weeks until her kidneys improved and then had radiotherapy on her back. Her kidneys improved significantly after leaving hospital, she took to drinking 3 ltrs of water a day really well. She's now on CDT and unfortunately been back in hospital over Xmas due to a fall and breaking her hip!
Your dad really is in the best place getting looked after and I'm sure they're working on getting his kidneys back up to scratch. All of the coughs and colds flying around outside at the moment are not what he needs, we all had them over Xmas and mum was glad she was away from us! Lol. Best wishes to your dad and your mum, it's easy to say it but look after yourself too.
Emma. X
Hi Tom and thank you for your good wishes.
Dad is in Derby. He's not able to take thalidomide so was started on Velcade plus 2 other drugs (not 100% sure which). He's had one cycle but unfortunately has a weak heart (heart attack 2 years ago) and we were shocked to learn that he has had 2 more heart attacks since he has been in hospital. So they may not continue with the chemo, it's going to be reviewed.
However he is going to have 5 days of radiotherapy on his back – it's apparently possible that this may help his acute pain, but not guaranteed.
The medical staff have been very helpful but I get the feeling that they are not sure what to do, given his age and state of health. Worrying.
Hi Emma,
Thank you so much for your reply – it's so good to know that there are others out there going through the same things. Glad your mum's kidneys have improved, but sorry about the hip!
My mum reported dad had a better night last night. They have changed his pain medication from morphine which was giving him hallucinations – made him paranoid, poor thing. Now he is on a synthetic morphine and something else that I wrote down somewhere… so many drugs! Anyway fingers crossed that these suit him better.
Sal
Hi Sal,
I hope that the medics get your Dad's (Name?) Kidney function up and running PDQ (I am aware of his age but Kidneys usually respond well).
Regarding the crushed vertebrae, radiotherapy can bring about almost magical results as reported by several people on the board. I had two crushed vertebrae, with one being forced against my spinal cord by the tumour. I had 6 days of Radiotherapy and after 8 months of intermittent (with the last 3 months permanent) chronic pain and spasms, at the end of the course I was instructed to leave my bed and walk. My pain had virtually disappeared after 2 sessions and completely after 4 so, when I was told to leave my bed for the first time in a week and walk I did… with no pain and feeling very good if also very weak. I hope your Dad has a similar experience. 🙂
Being over 70 (the nominal cut-off age with exceptions for the very fit) your Dad will not be offered a Stem Cell Transplant but there are a range and variety of treatments available that can offer your Dad good bouts of remission. Your Dad's heart problems may be the fly in the ointment regarding the choice of treatments but hopefully they will get his heart settled and find a treatment to suit. 😎
Regards and Best Wishes 🙂
Dai.
PS Is your Dad in a Derby hospital or the City Hospital, Nottingham?
Hi Susannah,
I have followed Michael's progress through your posts on various threads and I hope that by now they have found a pain management regime to give him complete freedom from all but the slightest of aches and pains… he deserves that with bells on. 🙂
What is the state of his MM? Are the hospital still measuring?
Lastly, how are you? Coping I know but that can have its toll, especially given the circumstances. Perhaps you could have a word with Gill (Seaward) who had a similar situation with her husband Stephen who passed at home recently. I know she doesn't mind talking about her and Stephen's experiences and what she has to say might well offer some kind of guidance or comfort. 😐
I really feel for you… but you are not completely alone… you can post your coping mechanisms, your fears and realities or just rant and/or rave. We will listen and where appropriate, respond… and regardless of the length of each reply, each comes with loving support. 🙂
Dai.
Hi Sal
Your welcome, sorry to hear Dad had two heart attacks, am sure they will find treatment that will work with your Dads heart problem.many have said that RT helps ease the pain.
Tom Onwards and Upwards xx
Hi Sal
Sorry we have to welcome you to this site on your Dad's behalf. In view of his age, I do hope someone will have agood chat with him about what treatments are realistic and will still give him the best quality of life possible. I am nearly 68 yrs and was diagnosed in 2019. My approach is to have the lguhtest treatment possible while trying to keep this beast at bay. Like dia says, those of us who are older are not usually offered a Stem Cell Transplant. Myself, I would not want to go down that road and with your Dad's heart condition I am sure it won't be offered. However, there are lots more things out there.
The most important thing is to be as free from pain as possible. I take Oxycodon 30 mg twice a day. For ages this has been really good. I have recently had more arthritis type pain so am back on Diclafenac as wekk. My Pain Nurse says morphine type drugs do not always work with bone pain. I had a course of radiotherepy, in 2010, after having a tumour removed from my back. Athough I hated the actual treatment, (I am a bid lady and found it difficult to fit on the radiotherepy table!) it di help the pain.
All best wishes to you. My daughter is 240 miles away so I knoe the problems distance causes, but we have just started to Skype which means i can get to see the grandsons. Best wishes to your Dad too.
Mavis
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