I'll take an extra prayer or two

Anointed1

It's the pills I swear
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Minuteman
  • Mar 13, 2021
    361
    345
    Pacific Northwest
    So three pre-ops today and surgery day after tomorrow. Extremely nervous yes...very apprehensive because it's been so long that I've been in this condition. The surgery they're going to do is a 3 level Bilateral Laminectomy with Discectomy. That's a lot of words, I've never had surgery in my life except my tonsils getting yarded out =/

    How I got here. I've had a back going bad on me for years...in 2014 I was medically laid off from Boeing because of it. I couldnt climb around the flight deck troubleshooting stuff any longer, to tight of quarters. I was able to make do and avoid surgery but then at the end of 2019 I got diagnosed with cancer, it was in my blood. To say I was lucky the way it was found is a gross understatement. It was a yearly physical and the piss test that goes along with it revealed an elevated BUN number. All you medical types can follow along. This physical was kinda being forced on me by my primary care provider because I hadn't had one in a few years and to get my Toprol prescription filled she wanted me in for a physical. Pffft...like I cared that much about taking the Toprol...it's a common blood pressure medicine they talked me in to taking some years back because they said I was slightly hypertensive...I said no...I'm half fricken German and this is how we roll lol. I lost that argument back then and have been taking it every since. To me it's been a hook to force me into physicals...they blackmail me by holding the script refills until I come in. It used to really piss me off because I was super active and in excellent shape except for my little back issue. This physical changed all that though as it saved my life.

    So my BUN number was little high...still within parameters but elevated a bit. My primary care Dr being proactive as heck I guess got suspicious...she made made me an appt with a Nephrologist. After some test and on Thanksgiving Day 2019 I got a phone call. Healthy as a horse...almost sixty and could still outwork most 30 and 40 year olds..."we think you have cancer, possibly in your blood which really means in your bones because that's where your blood is made". Dinner didn't go so well.

    I started treatment on Jan 3rd 2020 in the worst possible way. I had a endoscopy and a colonoscopy scheduled as part of the physical...I didnt want to blow them off so I was trying to squeeze them in before the chemo crap started...i succeeded in getting them both done the same day on Jan 2nd 2020...my first chemo was the next day on jan 3rd...and on Jan 5th I almost died...literally. The cancer I had was Multiple Myeloma with Amyloidosis...that Amyloidosis part means there's possibilities of protein deposits called Amyloid in various places...i guess I had one in the area of my colonoscopy and during the procedure they tried to snare it to remove it thinking it was a normal polyp. It wasn't. It didn't react right to them once they snared it for removal so they stopped and left it alone. No mention of any of that during recovery before I went home. The next day I had my first chemo treatment...and a day after that I almost bled to death.

    The Polyp they snared that didnt act right was actually an Amyloid...a protein deposit caused by the type of cancer I had. It started bleeding a few days after they messed with it with the snare. By the time I realized in the middle of the night on the weekend that I had an issue...I had already bled out a considerable amount. At the hospital my hemoglobin was just above 6 and dropping...I had been bleeding out and was about to finish it in the hospital =/...they transfused me right away to try and keep blood in me while it was literally pouring out the other end...then of course I had a reaction to the transfusion and coded right there in the room...talk about a ride lol...finally emergency surgery found the source and cauterized it and they did something else to it that I cant remember...they figured out that the antibodies in the blood they were giving me was the reason for the reaction...so after that was fixed they started filling me back up while giving me a crap ton of morphine and main lining benadryl.

    So 3 months later and deeper into the cancer treatment...from the crazy amount of steroids they had me on...the three different types of chemo they were pumping me full of...I had edema going on and I had shot up from 215 lbs to 245 lbs...I had to do something to try and counteract the weight gain. I found a decent medical type treadmill I could walk on so I bought it and started using it. 1 mile the first day, then two the second, then three, then four, then five, then 6, sweeet dropped a couple pounds already...this is going to work...next day I couldnt even get out of bed literally. Not even realizing it...the steroids they had me on...which was basically a weekly rollercoaster type cycle that always started on a Monday to coincide with the chemo cocktail they were infusing me with...3 days on 4 days off...3 days on 4 days off...was masking the fact that all that time initially I was aggravating my back issue tremendously...I just didn't know it because of the steroids...until the down cycle hit and they wore off enough where I realized that morning what I had done. I read the steroids they had me on were about 20 times stronger than prednisone...and I'll tell you...those weekly cycles with the three different chemos at the same time they were giving me...i knew why some people who have been thru it choose death over chemo treatment the second time around. Little did I know how dark the road was still going to get from around this point on. But right now my issue was I cant stand up...my lower back was screaming louder than it ever had before and the sciatica pain down both of my legs made standing or walking almost impossible.

    So that was a year ago this past March...March 15th 2020 to be exact...I haven't been able to walk since...or stand for more than a minute or so...my hemoglobin has never been past 9 yet...and I had one choice for surgery along the way...it was either a surgery for my back...or a stem cell transplant to try and beat the cancer...I chose the transplant...even though as super early as my cancer was caught...because of the Amyloidosis part of it...they only gave me about 3 to 5 years to live without the transplant or if the transplant didn't work...that was about a 50/50 chance and if it didnt no more trying it again.

    So here I am...I beat the cancer with Gods help...he certainly got me thru it...I pray I'll never have to go down that road again...but I've got a surgery in a couple more days that will determine pretty much everything as far as how my life will be from here on out. By that I mean it will effect everything one way or another...good or bad. I haven't felt my feet for over a year, been able to walk or stand for more than a minute for that long either. I'm hoping there's no permanent nerve damage done due to the compression of my nerves for so long. I'm on Oxycontin 40's twice a day and 5 to 10 mg of Oxycodone every 3 to 4 hours for breakthru pain...and a bunch of Gabapentin to go along with it. My feet go from feeling like they're on fire...to frostbitten...to being repeatedly being jabbed hard and deep with an ice pick...then feeling like they're crushed from being run over by a semi...it's totally ridiculous...I could never get the surgery to help because they killed my immune system to kill the cancer...then the stem cell transplant literally left me without one all together...they rescued me from the last chemo they gave me that was designed to kill everything including me...by harvesting some of my own stem cells before they gave it to me....then once they did and my immune system was killed...along with the cancer in my bones...and as it was killing me they rescued me by giving me back my own previously harvested stem cells that were cancer free...that was the second time I almost bought the farm.

    So I'm seeking some prayers...from those that feel inclined...that the surgery will work and I'll be able to feel my feet and eventually with a lot of rehab walk again. That the surgery will go ok and no damage to my spinal cord exists or will happen during it all. That all my issues are related to the surgery I need and not neuropathy, and that in the end I'll be able to taper down and get off these pain pills.

    Yeah it's a long post and sorry for that...I even kept it short if you can believe that. Please get your yearly physicals as mine saved my life...and if all goes well I hope to meet as many of you as I can...standing on my feet while I shake your hand at some event in the future. God Bless !!
     
    Last edited:
    Injured my back at work in 1976 had surgery 1/8/2002, overall the average number of bad back days was reduced 50% as was the severity of pain.

    Best of luck.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: HiDesertELR
    I pray God will lift you from fear and give you nothing but a positive focus. If you can survive what you’ve been through this should be a cakewalk. Trust in Him and focus on the good.
    Amen...and thank you...yeah after the treadmill incident because then I couldn't even walk...i shot up to 285...talk about miserable...70 lb weight gain in 5 months =(...trying to walk then with my back pfft...i was a mess...back to 235 now...super careful what I eat and most of the edema is gone 👍
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Familydude
    So three pre-ops today and surgery day after tomorrow. Extremely nervous yes...very apprehensive because it's been so long that I've been in this condition. The surgery they're going to do is a 3 level Bilateral Laminectomy with Discectomy. That's a lot of words, I've never had surgery in my life except my tonsils getting yarded out =/

    How I got here. I've had a back going bad on me for years...in 2014 was medically laid off from Boeing because of it. I couldnt climb around the flight deck troubleshooting stuff any longer, to tight of quarters. I was able to make do and avoid surgery but then at the end of 2019 I got diagnosed with cancer, it was in my blood. To say I was lucky the way it was found is a gross understatement. It was a yearly physical and the piss test that goes along with it revealed an elevated BUN number. All you medical types can follow along. This physical was kinda being forced on me by my primary care provider because I hadn't had one in a few years and to get my Toprol prescription filled she wanted me in for a physical. Pffft...like I cared that much about taking the Toprol...it's a common blood pressure medicine they talked me in to taking some years back because they said I was slightly hypertensive...I said no...I'm half fricken German and this is how we roll lol. I lost that argument back then and have been taking it every since. To me it's been a hook to force me into physicals...they blackmail me by holding the script refills until I come in. It used to really piss me off because I was super active and in excellent shape except for my little back issue. This physical changed all that though as it saved my life.

    So my BUN number was little high...still within parameters but elevated a bit. My primary care Dr being proactive as hell I guess got suspicious...she made made me an appt with a Nephrologist. After some test and on Thanksgiving Day 2019 I got a phone call. Healthy as a horse...almost sixty and could still outwork most 30 and 40 year olds..."we think you have cancer, possibly in your blood which really means in your bones because that's where your blood is made". Dinner didn't go so well.

    I started treatment on Jan 3rd 2020 in the worst possible way. I had a endoscopy and a colonoscopy scheduled as part of the physical...I didnt want to blow them off so I was trying to squeeze them in before the chemo crap started...i succeeded in getting them both done the same day on Jan 2nd 2020...my first chemo was the next day on jan 3rd...and on Jan 5th I almost died...literally. the cancer I had was Multiple Myeloma with Amyloidosis...that Amyloidosis part means there's possibilities of protein deposits called Amyloid in various places...i guess I had one in the area of my colonoscopy and during the procedure they tried to snare it to remove it thinking it was a normal polyp. It wasn't. It didn't react right to them once they snared it for removal so they stopped and left it alone. No mention of any of that during recovery before I went home. The next day I had my first chemo treatment...and a day after that I almost bled to death.

    The Polyp they snared that didnt act right was actually an Amyloid...a protein delosit caused by the type of cancer I had. It started bleeding a few days after they messed with it with the snare. By the time I realized in the middle of the night on the weekend that I had an issue I had already bled out a considerable amount. At the hospital my hemoglobin was just above 6 and dropping...I had been bleeding out and was about to finish it in the hospital =/...they transfused me right away to try and keep blood in me while it was literally pouring out the other end...then of course I had a reaction to the transfusion and coded right there in the room...talk about a ride lol...finally emergency surgery found the source and cauterized it and did something else to it that I cant remember...they figured out the antibodies in the blood so no more reactions and started filling me back up while giving me a crap ton of morphine and main lining benadryl.

    So 3 months later and deeper into the cancer treatment...from the crazy amount of steroids they had me on...the three different types of chemo they were pumping me full of...I had edema going on and I had shot up from 215 lbs to 245 lbs...I had to do something to try and counteract the weight gain. I found a decent medical type treadmill I could walk on so I bought it and started using it. 1 mile the first day, then two the second, then three, then four, then five, then 6, sweeet dropped a couple pounds already...this is going to work...next day I couldnt even get out of bed literally. Not even realizing it...the steroids they had me on...which was basically a weekly rollercoaster type cycle that always started on a Monday to coincide with the chemo cocktail they were infusing me with...3 days on 4 days off...3 days on 4 days off...was masking the fact that all that time initially I was aggravating my back issue tremendously...I just didn't know it because of the steroids...until the down cycle hit and they wore off enough where I realized that morning what I had done. I read the steroids they had me on were about 20 times stronger than prednisone...and I'll tell you...those weekly cycles with the three different chemos at the same time they were giving me...i knew why some people who have been thru it choose death over chemo treatment the second time around. Little did I know how dark the road was still going to get from around this point on. But right now my issue was I cant stand up...my lower back was screaming louder than it ever had before and the sciatica pain down both of my legs made standing or walking almost impossible.

    So that was a year ago this past March...March 15th 2020 to be exact...I haven't been able to walk since...or stand for more than a minute or so...my hemoglobin has never been past 9 yet...and I had one choice for surgery along the way...it was either a surgery for my back...or a stem cell transplant to try and beat the cancer...I chose the transplant...even though as super early my cancer was caught...because of the Amyloidosis part of it...they only gave me about 3 to 5 years to live without the transllant or if the transplant didn't work...that was about a 50/50 chance and if it didnt no more trying it again.

    So here I am...I beat the cancer with Gods help...he certainly got me thru it...I pray I'll never have to go down that road again...but I've got a surgery in a couple more days that will determine pretty much everything as far as how my life will be from here on out. By that I mean it will effect everything one way or another...good or bad. I haven't felt my feet for over a year, been able to walk or stand for more than a minute for that long either. I'm hoping there's no permanent nerve damage done due to the compression for so long. I'm on Oxycontin 40's twice a day and 5 to 10 mg of Oxycodone every 3 to 4 hours for breakthru pain...and a bunch of Gabapentin to go along with it. My feet go from feeling like they're on fire...to frostbitten...to being repeatedly being jabbed hard and deep with an ice pick...then feeling like they're crushed from being run over by a semi...it's totally ridiculous...I could never get the surgery to help because they killed my immune system to kill the cancer...then the stem cell transplant literally left me without one all together...they rescued me from the last chemo they gave me that was designed to kill everything including me...by harvesting some of my own stem cells before they gave it to me....then once they did and my immune system was killed...along with the cancer in my bones...and as it was killing me they rescued me by giving me back my own previously harvested stem cells that were cancer free...that was the second time I almost bought the farm.

    So I'm seeking some prayers...from those that feel inclined...that the surgery will work and I'll be able to feel my feet and eventually with a lot of rehab walk again. That the surgery will go ok and no damage to my spinal cord exists or will happen during it all. That all my issues are related to the surgery I need and not neuropathy, and that in the end I'll be able to taper down and get off these pain pills.

    Yeah it's a long post and sorry for that...I even kept it short if you can believe that. Please get your yearly physicals as mine saved my life...and if all goes well I hope to meet as many of you as I can...standing on my feet while I shake your hand at some event in the future. God Bless !!
    Prayers with some good healing ju ju is headed your way 👍
     
    So three pre-ops today and surgery day after tomorrow. Extremely nervous yes...very apprehensive because it's been so long that I've been in this condition. The surgery they're going to do is a 3 level Bilateral Laminectomy with Discectomy. That's a lot of words, I've never had surgery in my life except my tonsils getting yarded out =/
    Prayers for you⚡
    How I got here. I've had a back going bad on me for years...in 2014 was medically laid off from Boeing because of it. I couldnt climb around the flight deck troubleshooting stuff any longer, to tight of quarters. I was able to make do and avoid surgery but then at the end of 2019 I got diagnosed with cancer, it was in my blood. To say I was lucky the way it was found is a gross understatement. It was a yearly physical and the piss test that goes along with it revealed an elevated BUN number. All you medical types can follow along. This physical was kinda being forced on me by my primary care provider because I hadn't had one in a few years and to get my Toprol prescription filled she wanted me in for a physical. Pffft...like I cared that much about taking the Toprol...it's a common blood pressure medicine they talked me in to taking some years back because they said I was slightly hypertensive...I said no...I'm half fricken German and this is how we roll lol. I lost that argument back then and have been taking it every since. To me it's been a hook to force me into physicals...they blackmail me by holding the script refills until I come in. It used to really piss me off because I was super active and in excellent shape except for my little back issue. This physical changed all that though as it saved my life.

    So my BUN number was little high...still within parameters but elevated a bit. My primary care Dr being proactive as hell I guess got suspicious...she made made me an appt with a Nephrologist. After some test and on Thanksgiving Day 2019 I got a phone call. Healthy as a horse...almost sixty and could still outwork most 30 and 40 year olds..."we think you have cancer, possibly in your blood which really means in your bones because that's where your blood is made". Dinner didn't go so well.

    I started treatment on Jan 3rd 2020 in the worst possible way. I had a endoscopy and a colonoscopy scheduled as part of the physical...I didnt want to blow them off so I was trying to squeeze them in before the chemo crap started...i succeeded in getting them both done the same day on Jan 2nd 2020...my first chemo was the next day on jan 3rd...and on Jan 5th I almost died...literally. the cancer I had was Multiple Myeloma with Amyloidosis...that Amyloidosis part means there's possibilities of protein deposits called Amyloid in various places...i guess I had one in the area of my colonoscopy and during the procedure they tried to snare it to remove it thinking it was a normal polyp. It wasn't. It didn't react right to them once they snared it for removal so they stopped and left it alone. No mention of any of that during recovery before I went home. The next day I had my first chemo treatment...and a day after that I almost bled to death.

    The Polyp they snared that didnt act right was actually an Amyloid...a protein delosit caused by the type of cancer I had. It started bleeding a few days after they messed with it with the snare. By the time I realized in the middle of the night on the weekend that I had an issue I had already bled out a considerable amount. At the hospital my hemoglobin was just above 6 and dropping...I had been bleeding out and was about to finish it in the hospital =/...they transfused me right away to try and keep blood in me while it was literally pouring out the other end...then of course I had a reaction to the transfusion and coded right there in the room...talk about a ride lol...finally emergency surgery found the source and cauterized it and did something else to it that I cant remember...they figured out the antibodies in the blood so no more reactions and started filling me back up while giving me a crap ton of morphine and main lining benadryl.

    So 3 months later and deeper into the cancer treatment...from the crazy amount of steroids they had me on...the three different types of chemo they were pumping me full of...I had edema going on and I had shot up from 215 lbs to 245 lbs...I had to do something to try and counteract the weight gain. I found a decent medical type treadmill I could walk on so I bought it and started using it. 1 mile the first day, then two the second, then three, then four, then five, then 6, sweeet dropped a couple pounds already...this is going to work...next day I couldnt even get out of bed literally. Not even realizing it...the steroids they had me on...which was basically a weekly rollercoaster type cycle that always started on a Monday to coincide with the chemo cocktail they were infusing me with...3 days on 4 days off...3 days on 4 days off...was masking the fact that all that time initially I was aggravating my back issue tremendously...I just didn't know it because of the steroids...until the down cycle hit and they wore off enough where I realized that morning what I had done. I read the steroids they had me on were about 20 times stronger than prednisone...and I'll tell you...those weekly cycles with the three different chemos at the same time they were giving me...i knew why some people who have been thru it choose death over chemo treatment the second time around. Little did I know how dark the road was still going to get from around this point on. But right now my issue was I cant stand up...my lower back was screaming louder than it ever had before and the sciatica pain down both of my legs made standing or walking almost impossible.

    So that was a year ago this past March...March 15th 2020 to be exact...I haven't been able to walk since...or stand for more than a minute or so...my hemoglobin has never been past 9 yet...and I had one choice for surgery along the way...it was either a surgery for my back...or a stem cell transplant to try and beat the cancer...I chose the transplant...even though as super early my cancer was caught...because of the Amyloidosis part of it...they only gave me about 3 to 5 years to live without the transllant or if the transplant didn't work...that was about a 50/50 chance and if it didnt no more trying it again.

    So here I am...I beat the cancer with Gods help...he certainly got me thru it...I pray I'll never have to go down that road again...but I've got a surgery in a couple more days that will determine pretty much everything as far as how my life will be from here on out. By that I mean it will effect everything one way or another...good or bad. I haven't felt my feet for over a year, been able to walk or stand for more than a minute for that long either. I'm hoping there's no permanent nerve damage done due to the compression for so long. I'm on Oxycontin 40's twice a day and 5 to 10 mg of Oxycodone every 3 to 4 hours for breakthru pain...and a bunch of Gabapentin to go along with it. My feet go from feeling like they're on fire...to frostbitten...to being repeatedly being jabbed hard and deep with an ice pick...then feeling like they're crushed from being run over by a semi...it's totally ridiculous...I could never get the surgery to help because they killed my immune system to kill the cancer...then the stem cell transplant literally left me without one all together...they rescued me from the last chemo they gave me that was designed to kill everything including me...by harvesting some of my own stem cells before they gave it to me....then once they did and my immune system was killed...along with the cancer in my bones...and as it was killing me they rescued me by giving me back my own previously harvested stem cells that were cancer free...that was the second time I almost bought the farm.

    So I'm seeking some prayers...from those that feel inclined...that the surgery will work and I'll be able to feel my feet and eventually with a lot of rehab walk again. That the surgery will go ok and no damage to my spinal cord exists or will happen during it all. That all my issues are related to the surgery I need and not neuropathy, and that in the end I'll be able to taper down and get off these pain pills.

    Yeah it's a long post and sorry for that...I even kept it short if you can believe that. Please get your yearly physicals as mine saved my life...and if all goes well I hope to meet as many of you as I can...standing on my feet while I shake your hand at some event in the future. God Bless !!
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Anointed1
    So three pre-ops today and surgery day after tomorrow. Extremely nervous yes...very apprehensive because it's been so long that I've been in this condition. The surgery they're going to do is a 3 level Bilateral Laminectomy with Discectomy. That's a lot of words, I've never had surgery in my life except my tonsils getting yarded out =/

    How I got here. I've had a back going bad on me for years...in 2014 was medically laid off from Boeing because of it. I couldnt climb around the flight deck troubleshooting stuff any longer, to tight of quarters. I was able to make do and avoid surgery but then at the end of 2019 I got diagnosed with cancer, it was in my blood. To say I was lucky the way it was found is a gross understatement. It was a yearly physical and the piss test that goes along with it revealed an elevated BUN number. All you medical types can follow along. This physical was kinda being forced on me by my primary care provider because I hadn't had one in a few years and to get my Toprol prescription filled she wanted me in for a physical. Pffft...like I cared that much about taking the Toprol...it's a common blood pressure medicine they talked me in to taking some years back because they said I was slightly hypertensive...I said no...I'm half fricken German and this is how we roll lol. I lost that argument back then and have been taking it every since. To me it's been a hook to force me into physicals...they blackmail me by holding the script refills until I come in. It used to really piss me off because I was super active and in excellent shape except for my little back issue. This physical changed all that though as it saved my life.

    So my BUN number was little high...still within parameters but elevated a bit. My primary care Dr being proactive as hell I guess got suspicious...she made made me an appt with a Nephrologist. After some test and on Thanksgiving Day 2019 I got a phone call. Healthy as a horse...almost sixty and could still outwork most 30 and 40 year olds..."we think you have cancer, possibly in your blood which really means in your bones because that's where your blood is made". Dinner didn't go so well.

    I started treatment on Jan 3rd 2020 in the worst possible way. I had a endoscopy and a colonoscopy scheduled as part of the physical...I didnt want to blow them off so I was trying to squeeze them in before the chemo crap started...i succeeded in getting them both done the same day on Jan 2nd 2020...my first chemo was the next day on jan 3rd...and on Jan 5th I almost died...literally. the cancer I had was Multiple Myeloma with Amyloidosis...that Amyloidosis part means there's possibilities of protein deposits called Amyloid in various places...i guess I had one in the area of my colonoscopy and during the procedure they tried to snare it to remove it thinking it was a normal polyp. It wasn't. It didn't react right to them once they snared it for removal so they stopped and left it alone. No mention of any of that during recovery before I went home. The next day I had my first chemo treatment...and a day after that I almost bled to death.

    The Polyp they snared that didnt act right was actually an Amyloid...a protein delosit caused by the type of cancer I had. It started bleeding a few days after they messed with it with the snare. By the time I realized in the middle of the night on the weekend that I had an issue I had already bled out a considerable amount. At the hospital my hemoglobin was just above 6 and dropping...I had been bleeding out and was about to finish it in the hospital =/...they transfused me right away to try and keep blood in me while it was literally pouring out the other end...then of course I had a reaction to the transfusion and coded right there in the room...talk about a ride lol...finally emergency surgery found the source and cauterized it and did something else to it that I cant remember...they figured out the antibodies in the blood so no more reactions and started filling me back up while giving me a crap ton of morphine and main lining benadryl.

    So 3 months later and deeper into the cancer treatment...from the crazy amount of steroids they had me on...the three different types of chemo they were pumping me full of...I had edema going on and I had shot up from 215 lbs to 245 lbs...I had to do something to try and counteract the weight gain. I found a decent medical type treadmill I could walk on so I bought it and started using it. 1 mile the first day, then two the second, then three, then four, then five, then 6, sweeet dropped a couple pounds already...this is going to work...next day I couldnt even get out of bed literally. Not even realizing it...the steroids they had me on...which was basically a weekly rollercoaster type cycle that always started on a Monday to coincide with the chemo cocktail they were infusing me with...3 days on 4 days off...3 days on 4 days off...was masking the fact that all that time initially I was aggravating my back issue tremendously...I just didn't know it because of the steroids...until the down cycle hit and they wore off enough where I realized that morning what I had done. I read the steroids they had me on were about 20 times stronger than prednisone...and I'll tell you...those weekly cycles with the three different chemos at the same time they were giving me...i knew why some people who have been thru it choose death over chemo treatment the second time around. Little did I know how dark the road was still going to get from around this point on. But right now my issue was I cant stand up...my lower back was screaming louder than it ever had before and the sciatica pain down both of my legs made standing or walking almost impossible.

    So that was a year ago this past March...March 15th 2020 to be exact...I haven't been able to walk since...or stand for more than a minute or so...my hemoglobin has never been past 9 yet...and I had one choice for surgery along the way...it was either a surgery for my back...or a stem cell transplant to try and beat the cancer...I chose the transplant...even though as super early my cancer was caught...because of the Amyloidosis part of it...they only gave me about 3 to 5 years to live without the transllant or if the transplant didn't work...that was about a 50/50 chance and if it didnt no more trying it again.

    So here I am...I beat the cancer with Gods help...he certainly got me thru it...I pray I'll never have to go down that road again...but I've got a surgery in a couple more days that will determine pretty much everything as far as how my life will be from here on out. By that I mean it will effect everything one way or another...good or bad. I haven't felt my feet for over a year, been able to walk or stand for more than a minute for that long either. I'm hoping there's no permanent nerve damage done due to the compression for so long. I'm on Oxycontin 40's twice a day and 5 to 10 mg of Oxycodone every 3 to 4 hours for breakthru pain...and a bunch of Gabapentin to go along with it. My feet go from feeling like they're on fire...to frostbitten...to being repeatedly being jabbed hard and deep with an ice pick...then feeling like they're crushed from being run over by a semi...it's totally ridiculous...I could never get the surgery to help because they killed my immune system to kill the cancer...then the stem cell transplant literally left me without one all together...they rescued me from the last chemo they gave me that was designed to kill everything including me...by harvesting some of my own stem cells before they gave it to me....then once they did and my immune system was killed...along with the cancer in my bones...and as it was killing me they rescued me by giving me back my own previously harvested stem cells that were cancer free...that was the second time I almost bought the farm.

    So I'm seeking some prayers...from those that feel inclined...that the surgery will work and I'll be able to feel my feet and eventually with a lot of rehab walk again. That the surgery will go ok and no damage to my spinal cord exists or will happen during it all. That all my issues are related to the surgery I need and not neuropathy, and that in the end I'll be able to taper down and get off these pain pills.

    Yeah it's a long post and sorry for that...I even kept it short if you can believe that. Please get your yearly physicals as mine saved my life...and if all goes well I hope to meet as many of you as I can...standing on my feet while I shake your hand at some event in the future. God Bless !!
    Prayers sent.
     
    My prayers are with you. Having gone through multiple spinal surgeries in the last 8 years and having similar problems as yourself I can understand the fear, but it will get better. My last surgery they put 22 screws 2 rods and a plate in my spine. The recovery was a lot easier than the pain leading up to surgery. Hang in there, you already have God on your side.
     
    God does have a plan for you, even though it is hard to see right now. I lost a dear friend to Leukemia just before Easter and he never knew he had it. He was sick for a month and they didn't figure it out until the day after he passed. Only 60 years old and 5 daughters. You have been given the chance to beat it and have done it.

    I had a laminectomy almost two years ago, and it was completly worth it. I do have some numbness down the outside of my left leg, but I can walk without pain. Praying for you and your recovery.
     
    I can't tell you how much I appreciate everything you guys have said...as well as your thoughts and prayers...they mean a lot to me. The pre-ops are done now and all that's left is the surgery. They're thinking about 4 hours total I guess. I know I'm in good hands both here on this earth and spiritually...but it also helps a great deal knowing other people are praying for a good outcome as well. So thank you sincerely !!
     
    Prayers sent Brother.

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    You guys are very kind in your words and of course I can't thank you enough for your prayers...I will tell everybody though that even thru it all I feel super blessed...just to share one of the ways...I live just outside of Seattle...and you may or may not have heard me speak down about this area and their progressive policies...common issues felt by a lot of other people in the areas where they live too...but when I was diagnosed with the cancer I had...come to find out Seattle Cancer Care Alliance was the place that pioneered the best and only treatment that can actually put what I had in remission...I felt so blessed when I realized I lived right next door to the very best place in the US to treat what I had...I'm still amazed...that's Gods hand in my life if you ask me and I'll never feel differently about it...of all the towns and cities and even other countries that I could have lived in...and some I have at different times but...30 minutes away from me was the best place by far for a stem cell transplant...people fly in from all over the world to right here to have SCCA perform that procedure. I even had on my team of Dr's one of the Dr's that pioneered it years ago...there were no better hands in the world to help me get thru this than the ones I had...except Christ himself and I believe he was in my room as well for all of it 👍
     
    "This physical changed all that though as it saved my life"

    Yeah it's a long post and sorry for that...I even kept it short if you can believe that. Please get your yearly physicals as mine saved my life...and if all goes well I hope to meet as many of you as I can...standing on my feet while I shake your hand at some event in the future. God Bless !!
    This was the most important thing I wanted to say other than asking for your prayers. I imagine it's never too early to start getting them once a year...but certainly if you're getting older now...please dont procrastinate and put it off or not have them done at all. Chances are pretty high you've got someone...at least one person who loves you and would have a big hole in their heart and life if you weren't in it. That physical very well could be what saved my life as well as a few other things along the way. Here's the crazy thing about the cancer I had...and other cancers are like this too...a person with Multiple Myeloma usually doesnt even know they have it until they wake up one day and feel a pain...a pretty good one that doesn't go away...they end up going to a Dr or emergency room and an X-ray is done...the X-ray reveals a broken bone and the person is like what ?...I never did anything to break *** whatever bone it is. Further tests reveal the Multiple Myeloma...unfortunately by this point it's usually advanced and your kidneys are in Renal failure to some degree and Dialysis is right around the corner =/ The broken bone is because the cancer is in your bones and it creates soft spots that look like holes on an X-ray...the soft spots are where the break occurs eventually with just normal activity.

    One more time for those that love you...Please Get Your Physicals 👍
     
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    Spent Christmas and newyears in the hospital after open heart surgery. Im early fifties and been very active until a couple years ago when shit went sideways. Now I have more energy than I have in a number of years. Never had back issues but this heart issue threw me for a loop. Surgery whilst daunting can be a positive. If you do what the docs say, do your PT and drink lots of WATER things will heal well. Lay off the booze and processed food, get and stay active soon as you can post op. Ill be thinking about you and praying all goes well.
    Be thankful you are getting this done in the greatest country with the best medical care system that has ever existed. These docs are motivated to do the best job ever. Stay strong and fight like hell!