@gamecockoperator

Wow, you have had a tough week. So happy to hear that you will be discharged soon.

Praying for your continued recovery and healing.

God bless

Mark thanks so much for the prayers and kind words.  I was lucky and was discharged on that friday.  I went home however on oxygen tanks.  Then they came and delivered the Trilogy machine, and the oxyen concentrator, and all 7 tanks of oxygen.  I basically have to be on oxygen now for an unknown time period.  they had it set up that i'd have this little cart that carried 2 oxygen tanks (E style, the bgger of the 2 styles) and i'd be pulling the cart around behind me everywhere i go. talk about a drag.  it was a quality of life thing, i had a boat anchor it felt like tied around my neck and i couldnt go anywhere with them without a whole production of step having friends help me load the o2 tanks into the truck or car, me getting comfortable, and hooking up the o2 to me once everythings loaded in the car, and then when we got to where we going having to get them all out and pull the tank wherever i go... then wash and repeat, until im ready to go home or to the next stop..  And then at home every night i have a trilogy machine (like a super c-pap machine) that i have to be on all night long every night while i sleep. I can handle the night time machine and the oxygen concentrator when im awake i plug up to it instead of the trilogy machine and wear it while im home. i then only use the tanks when i go mobile.e.

Last week i had an appointment with my pulmanologist and i told them i was going out of town monday for my 20th wedding anniversary.  I told them it would be so much nicer if i didnit have to lug around tanks of 02 but rather had one of those backpack/shoulder pack machines that produced o2 for you on battery while you walk around.  It was like pulling teeth to get the company to even admit they hd them but finally they were set to bring it by monday (today) first thing which to them was 1100.. because i had told them i was going to my anniversary vacation, at 12.  they had to evidently do a test to make sure the backpack can support me or not.  well they didnt show up until 1215, but by the time it was all said and done, I got the backpack machine!!! NO MORE OXYGEN TANKS TO CARRY!! thank goodness... now i feel like i am nw half a man at least as i can get mobile somewhat more easily now. Im so thankful for that. So we left the house for our trip / vacation 2 hours late, didnt leave till 2 pm, but its been great so far, as i nowh have the portable pack ccharging, and all is going good with it. So far im very tankful that its working out. hopefully i'll get healthy and not need the 02 at all, but for now its a victory.  

thanks again for all your prayers and kind words.. i'll keep yall updated.

Just stopped in to see how you are doing @GamecockOperator


Hope all is well as can be.

Sigking,

thanks for dropping by here and asking about my well being.  As of late, I'm truly blessed.  I am a full believer that the prayers and support that you, and the rest of the folks here on ArfCom, as well at other locations really helped me, and still do honestly help me, in this fight against cancer.  My physicians as of late are very pleased with where i am regarding the cancer.  While Multiple Myeloma does not ever go into remission, I'm as close as can be to what would be a remission.  They call this with my cancer as being "well managed" because while I have cancer still, it is at a point where we've beaten it down low enough to barely be detectable.  This has happened because of all that I went through originally.  The Radiation, the chemo (various types and levels) and lastly the Bone marrow and stem cell transplants.  All of those got me to a point that I was on the downward slope for the cancer being in control, and now I'm on a daily Chemo regimen that helps keep the cancer at bay, which is how they consider it to be "well managed".  

All of that is wonderful, however during the treatment due to my vertebrae, (7 compression fractures) sternum, and rib fractures all at the same time contributed along with the severe osteoporosis (brought on by the cancer) has had me loose 7 inches roughly in height and we wont even talk about teeth and the dental side of things.  and then there is the fact that im now on Oxygen too :(   side effects to the medicines I think, mostly the chemo i think has caused me to have to have the oxygen pack system for everywhere I go.  it is a drag, but it is a necessary fact of life.  

so in a  nutshel thats all that has been going on these last few years since i was real real sick and in the hospital for that long period..  I cannot stress how much i am thankful for the support I received from you guys here at arfcom, and especially the support from Palmetto State Armory.  ya'lls support made it mentally possible for me to physically survive and fight hard even through the darkest of days with the cancer when i felt it was winning the fight against me... but anyways.... thats about where we're at n ow, I have an appointment every 3 months now with my Oncologist instead of weekly or monthly I'm thankful that im as well managed as i am with the cancer, even though i am still not able to do most things and run out of breath quickly, im still soooo thankful that i am not worse off than i am.   Anyways, thank you so much for asking about me. it really meant alot.

Thanks for the update and I'm glad to hear of your progress.  I met you in person once right after your broken rib from bending over the desk chair to pickup something you had dropped.   At that point the doctors didn't know exactly what was going on with you, if I remember correctly.  I had told you about the problems my brother was also having with his spine and brittle bones and you mentioned a possible gluten allergy.   I don't know if you remember that or not, it was many years ago (2018ish I think).  

Anyway, glad you're still in the fight and you are an inspiration to those that follow you here.  

God bless.

you're very welcome on the update.  I'm thankful that you care enough to ask  how im doing still.  I vaguely remember that, and i apologize for not remembering more, but unfortunately Chemo has really messed with my memory.  i do remember the times of just the broken ribs, and the thoughts that it was celiac's disease, and gluten allergies.  I'm thankful that it was not that in a way as i truly enjoy foods that have gluten in them lol, although i think i'd rather have a gluten allergy than cancer.  lol.  believe it or not my bones got worse after breaking just ribs, and well during that time i also was having severe back pains, because i had been having compression fractures of my back/spine.  this has made me now today to have lost a total of 6.5 or so inches in my height, where i was 5 foot 11, im now 5 foot 4 inches.  Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done to regain my height according to the doctors at this time.  Oh and another issue i had around that time, right before i was diagnosed with it being cancer i had been going back to my bed from the bathroom... turned from my dresser to my bed, and snapped my sternum.  now THAT hurt.  it of course was another pathological fracture due to the cancer.   so when they admitted me to the hospital once i was diagnosed with cancer they started radiation treatments that was increasingly more painful because of the positions they made me get into with all that broken.  

How is. your brother doing? did they figure out what what was going on with him?   Thank you for the compliment about being in the fight and being an inspiration.  I dont feel like it much, but i just try to be as positive as possible and try to keep on setting a positive example for people.   I really appreciate the kind words and prayers.

Update :

well guys i had a checkup this week with my oncologist that performed my bone marrow transplant 4.5 years ago, and she said that I'm doing great.. as far as the cancer is concerned.. granted there are side effects from the cancer, and the medications but she was even considering taking me off of my daily chemo to see how i am able to do without it, since the dosage is now so small that there is no data to say it does any good or bad at its current dosage.  we had to have it reduced about 6 months ago because it was effecting my liver negatively since I've been on it for so long.  the physical changes to my bone structure however are permanent, as is the changes to my lung size and capacity, which unfortunately may mean that I'm stuck on oxygen for the foreseeable future.  so I don't know..   Lately I've had good news and that's great.. but sometimes I'll tell you, i get stuck in my own head, and well, that can be a bad place.  A little being down, due to the physical changes permanence and what not.  I miss being able to do things i used to.  but i try to remind myself that I have it not near as bad as many, and i have so very many folks here, and else where pulling for me and rooting for me, and praying for me.   It can be hard at times, but the biggest positive i have is Gods blessing and his help at having made me strong enough to make it through all that I've been through.  Even if i don't understand the reasons in it all, I'm thankful to be here still, and I'm thankful for His blessings, and all of you who have supported me over the years.  Especially PSA, Jamin, Josiah, and the rest of the PSA Family and of course D16man.  Thanks guys.  Anyways, that's the update for now. I hope everyone is doing well.

Thanks for the update Gamecock. I can’t imagine dealing with the issues that you have been through.

Please know that we are all here for you.

Thanks MarkBinSC.  I appreciate it more than you know.  

you're welcome for the update.   it's been quite an ordeal, that i never though i'd be fighting.  but it has taught me a lot of things, so its not all been bad.  It sure has made me aware of what i am thankful for. :)

Just checking in on you. I hope you're doing better. Hang in there.

hey brother.  thanks for checking in on me.  I appreciate you thinking about me.  I'm doing pretty good lately.  My Doctors are pretty happy so far with my numbers overall when it comes to how the cancer is being suppressed or controlled by my daily chemo program.  Overall i still get fatigued easily, am still on oxygen.. and have some days that are better than others.  Nausea is a constant battle some days too. Having the chemo daily messes with me for sure, but i guess that is to be expected, which is why some days are better than others.  I have a telemed appointment with my charleston Doctor on tuesday, and then on the 28th i go back into see my local oncologist in my monthly appointment and blood draw.  Hopefully when i go on the 28th, my bloodwork will still be as good as it has been lately.  so thats about it overall, i could bore you with more but for now i think that sufficed.  anyways, thank you so much for thinking about me and my health.  Its cause of you guys who kept praying and fighting for me on this side that helped keep my spirits up that im still around and i thank you all for that more than you can ever know..  take care.

I'm glad to hear that you're doing better!! I hope the negatives that you're having to endure fade away quickly.  As far as the fatigue, I've been dealing with that for a couple of years.  I got a new doc and I told her about it. She asked if I was taking vitamin B-12 daily.  Nope, just occasionally. Started taking 1000mg every morning and evening and the change was amazing.  It's water soluble, so you can't take too much. You might give it a try.

thank you.. and thank you for the suggestion of b12.. i take many  many pills daily, but none of them are vitimin pills.  perhaps i should start a simple multi vitimin or a straight up 1k b12 as you do. I dont know, but if it made that much improvement in you, maybe theres hope for me.   I seriously dont know if the fatigue and the other issues i have will ever go away.  i know that im fighting them, with all i can physically and mentally... and i use the doctors words as an absolute authority when it comes to waht i must take and do in order to get well, and so far its been doing to keep it all in tact without loosing or forgetting anything pill related.  I'll run the suggestion by  my doctors and see what they say.  It'll probably be a yes if i know them.  I cannot see any negatives to taking it at this time...I truly am thankful that you guys post up and inquire about my current condition from time to time.  It means a lot to me, and i thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Take care, and I'll post again soon if anything changes health wise or otherwise.

Thanks for the update @gamecockoperator. Glad to see that you’re still hanging in there, and going to the Gathering.

We are all pulling for you!

thanks so much brother.  It's been a rough road, and im not without pain, and other issues, but i'm still kicking, and trying to fight this to the very end, lets hope that end is many years away yet.  I couldnt have been able to fight it like i did in the beginning without you guys, when i wwas in the hospital, having you all pulling for me and doing so much for me back then really kept me fighting and trying to do everything i could to keep my spirits up.. it was bad back then... my cancer doc told me the other month that they were so happy with how far i've come and almost couldnt believe it because of how bad i was off... compared to now.  so i'm very very thankful..  thank you for asking about me and thinking and praying for me still... God knows i need all the prayers i can get.