Where I have been and where I am going next.

      Not sure what I am doing so let's hope this works and people can find this. A friend of ours suggested my wife write something for our motorcycle club's newsletter keeping everyone up on what was going on with me. When she told me this she used the word blog so I decided to do this. This blog is primarily for family and friends who have expressed concern for me but feel free to share this with anyone you think may be interested.
   
      First off I have a cancer called Multiple Myeloma. It is a cancer of the blood and bone. There is no cure at this time but it is a highly treatable cancer so I expect to be around a while. This all started sometime in about April or May. I was having some trouble with my appetite and as a result began losing weight. Nothing smelled or tasted right to me so I was gradually eating less and less. This all came to a head in early July. I went to my Doctor and he ordered some blood work. Kathy and I went to a 4th of July picnic at a friends home. By this time I had gone from 325 lbs to about 250 lbs. That day I couldn't eat anything. On sunday the 5th, I got a call from my Dr. Being it was Sunday I knew it wasn't good. He told me get to the hospital so I did. They didn't know what was wrong with me but they knew I was anemic. They admitted me and gave me several units of blood. In all it would eventually total 9 units. They did testing and on I believe Monday morning a lady came to my room and told me what they thought I had which was Multiple Myeloma Cancer. She explained to me what it was and how it could be treated bur said I needed a bone marrow biopsy to confirm it so the next day I had the biopsy and the diagnosis was confirmed. Since then I have been taking lots of pills, had about 6 or 7 plasmapheresis treatments, about 7 or 8 cycles of Chemo and just yesterday (1/26/2016) had stem cells collected for a stem cell transplant scheduled for 2/15/2016.

     So in a nut shell that brings us up to where I am now. There won't be a lot added to this until I go to Christiana Hospital to have my stem cell transplant on 2/15. Posts on here will be both from myself and from my wife. I will be in the hospital 3 to 4 weeks. Due to the high dose chemo and other drugs they will be pumping into me there will be days I will be too sick, tired or both to post so Kathy will post both for me and for what she has to go through on this journey. Just don't read too much into it when she or myself say I am having a bad day. Part of the process is I have to get worse, mostly from the chemo, before I can get better. We will try and between the two of us should be able to post daily. Often we will both post on the same day as what she will be going through will be different than what I will be going through. As I learn to do this I will post photos from time to time. Anyone is welcome to follow and respond to a post anytime you want.

     Guess that's it for tonight. Now let's see if I can get this out so people can see it. If you were able to read this please post a short message to let me know this is out there and people are getting it. A simple "got it" will suffice however post whatever is on your mind. If you read this far then thank you and keep checking back.

Goodnight!
Glenn