| My Odyssey |
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| Written by Dr. Mel | |||||||||||
| Tuesday, 28 February 2006 | |||||||||||
Page 3 of 9 The myeloma, itself, could have had some very early origins. As you can see, my early environment was not exactly pristine, and I always had some level of back pain. But two years before my “official” diagnosis, I was involved in a traffic accident when picking up some takeout Chinese food with my co-anchor, Keith Kountz. We were between newscasts when I was working one weekend. I slowed down toward an intersection. The intoxicated, or drugged out driver, in back of us did not. He slammed the rear of my car, and he was knocked out. Both Keith and I had some serious jolts, and went into the emergency room of Yale-New Haven Hospital. The X-rays were typically uninformative for me, and we both went back to the studio – on at 11, right on time. But I was in some serious pain. O yeah. I should mention that I was mugged before the ambulance came. For two years, I went to physical therapists, chiropractors, orthopedic specialists, and nothing seemed to make me feel better, and in late 1996, I simply collapsed in pain with excruciating back spasms. At that time, one of my chiropractors ordered some blood work, an MRI and bone scan. Never in my life did I think that I had cancer. I thought that I might need an operation for a herniated disc, or something related to that – but not cancer. In fact, when he received some results from the tests, he had a very serious and pale, worried look on his face. I joked with him…I said, “Well, it can’t be cancer.” He didn’t say anything at first, went on to tell me that I needed more tests and that I should see a hematologist – oncologist, and that I could have multiple myeloma. Hardly any of us who have this disease every heard of it before diagnosis. It affects a relatively small number of people – 15,000 are diagnosed with it in the US each year, but it is deadly with 10,000 dying every year. At any one time, about 50,000 are alive with myeloma. Compared to the millions with other forms of cancer, this number, while significant is small. The disease is not rare, it is just less common than others. Arlene went to the library and looked up the disease, the prognosis said something about 33. I first thought 33 years as being the length of survival, but I read more deeply only to realize that the median length of survival was just 33 months. I could not relate to that at all. I loved life….weather, teaching, music, the ocean. I wasn’t in denial, but from the very first day I denied that I was going to make that number be a focus of my thought. Each day is a gift from God, and I was going to make the best of it, and I did not think about what might happen in 33 days, 33 months, even 33 years. Besides, I was a weather forecaster. Can I by temperament really think seriously about long range predictions? But in November 1996, I was rushed to the hospital in a complete collapse. The pain was beyond anything I ever had before, and it was at Yale that I met up with my Doctor, Dennis Cooper. He wasn’t my first doctor. Arlene had to fire the others, but Dennis and I hit it off, and for 10 years we have had a wonderful patient, doctor, and friendly relationship. He has been very perceptive, and willing to take risks. I love trial and error – again part of what I do for a living. I remember asking him on the first visit how I would “go” from this disease. I wondered if my kidneys would fail, my heart fail, or if my immune system would just break down. His comment: “Where are you going?” I knew we were on the right page, and this really is so important for all patients. You should have doctors with whom you feel confident and with whom you can develop a special relationship. If you don’t have that, then you need to find another doctor. And another thing. Make sure that you find a center which specializes with the disease. I have met wonderful, knowledgeable doctors along the way, but only a limited number have the experience and tools at their readiness to help us battle this less common disease. You need to seek out the best, and let your significant other be the bad cop, if necessary. Any good doctor would welcome at least a second opinion about treatment. Great doctors learn from others, and appreciate what you can bring back to them. You want a great doctor. Life demands that you find that right treatment. |
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