Hi all…
…and greetings from Finland. First of all i have to say that my english is not complete but i'll try my best… I would like to share my story and i hope that you all get hope for that.
The first time I met my new "friend" in 1986. In that time after high school I went to army, because it belongs to civic duties here in Finland. Soon after that I felt pain in my right leg always in running and walking. Little by little I felt more pain. Somehow I thought that it was somekind of stress injury. Okay, somehow I try to live 11 monts in army and I reach civilian. In December 1986 I took phonecall my doctor in Lahti. He said that something is wrong. I have to go at once to Helsinki, Töölös hospital. In there, after awful pain in my leg I heard first time after biopsy : propably cancer. Couple weeks after that I heard that its plasmacytoma. Most of patiens with myeloma have vagueor no symptoms that are commonly seen with many other conditions. But in my case I felt pain and on top of that my leg was broken femur. The avererage age at diagnosis is 70. Only 2 % of cases occur in people under 40, and I was under 20 in 1986 !!!
How I felt after that ? I was devastated. I was 20 years old and my life was not even start when someone said me that you have myeloma.!! Doctor told me in Lahti when my my leg was broken femur as soon as I come back to lahti, that I could expect to live three years or something. At that time there was very few effective treatments for myeloma.
Of course, after that I try to find more information about the disease. But as you understand it wasn?t as easy as it is now to get information. There was not all that much on myeloma to read about at the time. Only couple books at hospital and most of them so scientific that I didn?t understand most of facts I read. Only way was make questions for nurses and doctors. After that i went adjustment training course for young cancer patiens, but there was of course one problem: my disease was so rare and most of others have other kind of cancer. Actually in 1987 I live in huge ?ignorance concerning my disease. Im so happy that now situation is different (for example this support group).
I have living now over twenty six years with myeloma. I know that my cancer is going to be bad some day but I hope that i live until im 80..;=) Okay probably not, but I hope that world looks like different in 2020 and im going to get new treatments for my body. The clinical trial may be evaluating a new drug, a new combination of than a standart treatment. Of course I hope expanded use of stem cell transplantation together with new drugs.
I would like to say all of you that never ever give up ! I hope that my messages was not too long..:=). Iam new member of this site (registered today…). Maybe i found some way to add my photo to username. Keep in touch !
Mika
