Cancer Report

Cancer Report
for Wed, 19 Nov 2008 @ 1700

I was initially diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma on 14 June 2008. The
diagnosis was confirmed on 20 June 2008. X-ray and MRI located the
tumor in my pelvic girdle and lower spine. Over a two-week period X-
ray therapy was used to kill as much of the tumor as possible without
damaging the adjacent healthy bone & tissue. Following the X-ray
therapy I was put on an aggressive regime of chemotherapy which was
adjusted from week to week based on data provided by periodic blood
tests.

The blood tests indicated I was doing quite well with regard to the
tumor but I was wracked by a constantly increasing level of pain in my
lower back. On 22 October a series of X-rays revealed I'd suffered a
compression fracture of the #3 lumbar vertebrae.

On 30 October I underwent vertebroplasty, a surgical procedure in
which the crushed vertebrae is first returned to its original length
and configuration then fixed in that position by injecting a fast-
setting cement into the voids the tumor had created INSIDE of the
vertebrae. The procedure was successful. The cessation of pain
allowed me to devote more time to the exercises needed to restore the
musculature that had been destroyed by the tumor... and by the
chemotherapy.

Today, the 19th of November, 2008, the aggressive regime was deemed a
success and was replaced with a more benign regime using drugs that do
not have the side-effects of the original regime.

I still have cancer. I'm still as weak as a cat. But the cancer has
been reduced to a manageable state that may lead to remission. The
weakness now depends on my determination to overcome it.

--R.S.Hoover