Cindy’s Multiple Myeloma Blog

First, I saw Dr. W yesterday morning.  He looked inside my bladder with some scope and all looks well.  He’s ordered another test for next Monday where they put a catheter in me, fill my bladder to the rim, and have me move around and watch how my bladder expels, etc.  The whole thing will take about 2 hours.  I’m not looking forward to it, but I’ll get through it.

I also had my little lesson on how to SC (self-catheter).  Guess which nurse helped me? You got it, I’ll refer to her as SF.  Anyway, she was extremely nice and caring to me.  She couldn’t help me enough.  She even gave me the rest of the lubricant tube.  I’m moving forward on this and I hope that she learned a lesson here. 

I was scared at first, though, when she was the one to show me how to do this.  I was afraid she might hurt me! But, they have the patient do it themself.  She just stood there and instructed. 

Oh goodness, I never thought I could do such a thing, but I’ve found you just do what you got to do, when you got to do it. 

I did it again last night at home but I accidentally knocked over the container I’d released in.  Yuck. No harm done, tile floor.  I cleaned everything up very good.  Still, yuck. 

I’ve done two other SC’s.  The first one this morning I thought I’d done so well.  Nothing came out, but I thought that I’d emptied real good.  It wasn’t until I did my 3:00PM SC that I realized that I’d made an anatomical mistake this morning.  I think I didn’t realize I was in the wrong neighborhood because of the slant I’d taken and that I went so slow.  Oh well.  I know now.  This is a new experience, that is for sure!

I have one more SC today.  I wonder if I’m going to look at it like this the rest of my life?  Maybe I will eventually only have to do this 1 or 2 times a day versus 3.  Each “less” one is better.  But, it’s doable and there are worse things to have to do. 

I saw Dr. D, oncologist later in the day yesterday.  My MM is down a bit. Well, my M-spike is down, though my IGG serum is up a bit.  Dr. D reall focuses on the M-spike the most.  I think the steroids may have done that.  So, MM wise, I’m still doing OK and not needing treatment yet.

However, the spot in the back didn’t fade as we’d thought.  Some swelling has gone down (probably due to the steroids), but the spot is there. 

Dr. D re-explained how I had the stroke in the cord and it caused the T8 nerve damage  I don’t know what a “stroke” in the spinal cord really is.  I might try to google and see if it explains it.  While it’s not direct radiation damage, it is a result of what radiation, MM, and age had done to my spine.  I have lots of funny areas in my spine, so maybe the MM is doing its thing on me. 

Dr. D also explained that the numbness in my legs/feet is typical of T8 damage.  I have mild to moderate bulging in my S1, L4, and L5.  This would be typical of my private area numbness and weakness.  She showed the MRI that showed the bulging against the nerves.

So, I understand now.  Dr. D. explained it better.  She broke it down for me.  Gosh I’m so glad I didn’t give up on her.  My sister suggested that at first she may have just been getting to know me and so she was more intense and into the computer - just undertsanding what all is going on with me.  I think I’m in great hands.

Dr. D. also started me on Lyrica for my neuropathy.  I had to stop the Gabapentin (neuropathy) because first, it wasn’t helping and secondly, it was causing swelling in my ankles, especially my left.

She started me out at 50mg Lyrica, 2 times a day.  I took my first last night and not only was my numbness more tolerable, but I slept so well.  I was dizzy and sleepy upon first waking up.  I didn’t take the AM pill because I was thinking about going to the store. I decided to just stay in, but I think I will just take one pill a day for 3 to 5 days before I go up to 2 pills a day. 

I’m low on iron still, which means I’m losing blood somewhere.  The endoscopy & colonoscopy I had showed normal.  I’d had a GI capsule endoscopy where you swallow a pill and wear a belt and it takes pictures of the capsule.  I think it’s for your upper intestine.  The capsule malfunctioned.  So, Dr. D. is sending me to a GI doctor.  Wouldn’t it be something if we found out something going on in my intestines that somehow caused this numbness…like some growth squeezing off…ohhh, I’m just hoping.

I’m going to get through this numbness, tingling, and bathroom stuff.  It’s not easy, but it’s doable.  Shame on me when I think of all the others that have it so much worse than me. 

Filed under: Doctor Appointments, Multiple Myeloma and