Hello to everyone wherever you are.
To go back, when I reached 67 I had decided to retire and do all the things I had been planning for years. In early 2015 my wife was diagnosed with MS, luckily it was not affecting her too much but I will not go into that. In January 2015 I was a couple of months short of retirement and was feeling pretty tired and suffering from extreme backache, but, as we men do, just passed it off as old age creeping on and put up with it. I retired in March and by then was feeling exhausted most of the time, was going off my food and was starting to have trouble walking any distance. To cut a long story short, in July I passed out in the kitchen and when I regained my senses phoned the doctor and, after an examination he got me immediately to A&E where it was found that I was on the brink of kidney failure and had lost over 3 stone in weight over the last few months. It was here that I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. I was four weeks in hospital where I received fabulous treatment.
I have had two courses of velcade one of thalidomide and one trial so far.
I would like to say how grateful I am not only to my marvellous wife but also the palliative care team, my oncologist and his fantastic support staff at Southampton General Hospital.
Until these things happen you never realise the drastic changes it makes on everyday life and more importantly, the way it affects your loved ones, when cancer rears its head it affects not just you, it changes everybody’s life which can at times make me feel very guilty, for example, when I see my wife doing my tasks, such as mowing the lawn.
I will not go into my particular medical condition, all I can say is thank goodness for fentanyl patches, pregabalin and all the other stuff.
Over the course of two years I have gone from a pretty fit fellow to someone who can barely stand long enough to wash up, it can be very depressing and difficult to keep positive, again, my wife is my rock.
I think the lesson here is to get to the doctor a lot earlier, especially us fellows, it is always worth getting things checked out rather than soldering bravely on.
davidainsdale 8 years, 5 months ago.
