Knowing is half the battle

I just borrowed a line from GI Joe. Now we know. The news from the doctor is promising. We need to do a few more tests next week but treatment started TODAY! (Lots and lots of pills).

I am going to post my brother Joe's email to the family earlier today:

Hey All,

I just got a text from Buffy; she is with Dad at the Doctor's office today.
Here is the deal from her.

Plasmacytoma multiple myloma
more later
Very treatable.
Radiation on big growths on chest and pelvis mixture of meds for small growths

That is some good news for us all!
I am stuck in the Seattle airport for the next 4 hours, so I have ample time to research this disease.
I may have a cure ready by the time my plane leaves.
I will highlight the positive news, because I think everyone is already very aware of the negative possibilities.
It is still a question of when and how long, but maybe not as soon as we have been saying.

According to this website, that is some really good news.
(Reallly Good News follows)
Phil Brown has a better than 50 percent chance of living more than 3 more years with this treatment.

See below for more details about how, and what is involved.

The correct spelling is:

Multiple Myeloma/Plasmacytoma

Multiple myeloma is the most common primary bone cancer. It accounts for 1 percent of all cancers. It occurs in about 4 out of every 100,000 people (lucky Dad!) in the United States each year. Multiple myeloma is responsible for the deaths of 10,000 Americans each year.

This disease generally occurs in older adults. Fewer than 3 percent of cases occur in people younger than 40 years of age. Multiple myeloma tends to be more common in men than women. It is twice as common in African Americans as it is in Caucasians.

Cause

Multiple myeloma occurs spontaneously (he has long been a spontaneous guy). Patients exposed to ionizing radiation and the pesticide dioxin may develop the disease (Tacna, St. Johns...).
Infection with some viruses (HIV and human herpes 8) (Any comment, Dad?) has also been associated with multiple myeloma. No known risk factors are inherited.

Symptoms

Patients usually complain of bone pain. Other symptoms include:

• Fatigue
• Feeling ill
• Fever
• Night sweats

Weight loss is not common in the early stages.

Physically, patients are pale with diffuse bone tenderness, especially around the sternum (breastbone) and pelvis (hips).

Pathologic fractures (fractures caused by tumors) occur frequently. Thirty percent of patients will have their multiple myeloma first discovered when they develop this kind of fracture. The spine is the most common location for a pathological fracture. It can also happen in the ribs and pelvis. Compression of the spinal cord occurs in 10 percent to 15 percent of patients. This causes pain in the back and legs and numbness and weakness in the legs.

Patients who have high levels of calcium in the blood may experience nausea, fatigue, confusion, constipation, and frequent urination.

Patients with anemia may experience fatigue, weakness, and shortness of breath with exercise.

In advanced cases, patients typically have recurrent infections and can have kidney failure. Multiple myeloma is not confined to a specific bone or location within a bone. It tends to involve the entire skeleton. When only one lesion is found it is called a plasmacytoma. Most doctors believe that plasmacytoma is simply an early, isolated form of multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma is currently not curable. Chemotherapy may prolong life expectancy and decrease symptoms.

Chemotherapy

The standard treatment medications are melphalan and prednisone. The median survival rate is three years with this treatment alone. For patients in whom this therapy is ineffective, alternatives include:

• VBMCP (vincristine, carmustine, melphalan, cyclophosphamide and prednisone)
• VAD (vincristine, adriamycin and dexamethasone)

These treatments may cause severe muscle weakness. They may also increase the chance of infections. Thalidomide and interferon are also sometimes used.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is reserved for decreasing the size of symptomatic bone lesions.

Fortunately, a recent advancement in the treatment of multiple myeloma has increased response rates and survival. This treatment consists of high-dose chemotherapy, followed by autologous stem cell transplantation. With this treatment, patients have a 20 percent chance of living longer than 10 years.
Dad may not be or probably isn't young or healthy enough to try something so radical, so I guess this one is out.

FYI, Median means that exactly half of the people live 3 years, so another way to state that is that Phil Brown has a better than 50 percent chance of living more than 3 more years with this treatment.
I rely on my more numerically oriented brothers and brothers-in-law to explain if there is more to a median value, but I think that is correct..

I am trying to learn how painful/sick this chemo treatment makes the patient; I will let you know what I find out.

Joe

**** If you want to know more - there is a great synopsis on wikipedia.

Thank you to everyone for all of your prayers - we know they helped!