Mike Howard's Story by his wife Debi - Update on Mike's condition!
Mike Howard, a retired police officer & jazz guitarist was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in Nov. '07. After one month of cancer treatment, he began having severe circulation problems (again) in both of his legs. He also has Periphial Vascular Disease & high blood pressure. The problem centered in his feet, they had turned blue & purple with extreme pain. We had to stop cancer treatment and he had by-passes (again from 5 yrs ago) on both legs, lost his right leg above the knee and left toe and after 9 surgeries this year, he is finally able to receive Multiple Myeleoma treatment with Valcade IV chemo, Dexamethasone, Cyclophosphamide and antiviral meds. Thanks to Barbara Kavanagh, she referred us personally to Dr. Rafael Fonseca at the Mayo Clinic. We began treatment July 21 and go every Monday for labs, dr. consultation & IV treatment. In just 2 treatments Mike's blood tests showed an increase in his hemoglobin count up 2.3 points! He usually needs transfusions every 2 weeks or so.
In the meantime there has been 2 jazz benefits in Mike's honor hosted by our wonderful musician friends. One was at the Gaslight Inn on April 20 and the second one was at The West Valley Art Museum on June 13 of this year.
We greatly appreciate our long time reunited friends, Alan & Eileen Roth. Alan is a 3 years successful Multiple Myeloma bone marrow transplant survivor who led us to meet Barbara Kavanagh at the Multiple Myeloma monthly support group meeting at the Wellness Center on June 5th.
We encourage any of you out there to join us in networking, sharing fundraising ideas and receive support that has been such a relief and comfort to have supportive & understanding friendships in our lives, that have the same health situation.
Mike's health update as of Wed 9/17/08
Well, here's the best news for all time since last year on Oct. 26, 2007 when Mike ended up in the hospital for a severe headache and temporary loss of sight in his right eye and a severe loss of blood:
Mike goes to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ for chemotherapy every Monday for labwork, dr. visit & chemotherapy. His treatment began July 21,'08. After a thorough blood workup that day, we then met with Dr. Peter Bergsegal and he told us that Mike's chemotheraphy has made an outstanding improvement in his bone marrow cancer condition in just 8 weeks. The cancer is just about all gone, with just a little trace showing. We are recommended to finish 2 more months of weekly chemo and we will be planning for a bone marrow transplant possibly by Jan '09, including a little break during Dec. for Christmas with family, therapy rest & to prepare for the next level of treatment.
We are soooooo happy & relieved! The Multiple Myeloma Research doctors & staff are also amazed how fast this treatment has helped Mike recuperate from a very grave health situation that was diagnosed in Nov. '07. We were unable to treat him for cancer since the diagnosis last November because of the 8 surgeries he needed even more importantly due to his Peripheral Vascular Disease that has mainly affected both of his legs and the combined severe blood anemia caused by Multiple Myeloma.
And, for more fabulous news.......Last week, Mike began physical therapy for his right leg amputation prosthesis. I will send pix a.s.a.p.to Mike's blog at: www.mikehowardjazz.com Of course this process will take a while, but, since Feb. 6, '08 was the last time he could walk with both legs. His first right leg amputation was that day and a further above the rt. knee amputation was done June 28, 2008.
When we were driving out of the parking lot at Mayo Clinic, Mike said, "IT WAS THE PRAYERS!!!!" Please know that again, we appreciate with the utmost gratitude and love for all of your powerful, mighty prayers for this miraculous recovery and to continue for us to see more miracles in healing and restoration in our health, mind & soul purpose. We continue to do the same for all of you. Pls. pass the good words on for those of our friends & family that do not have email.
ALL OF OUR LOVE & BEST TO YOU & YOURS FOR CONTINUED DEEPEST LOVE EVER FELT, MIRACLES & THE MOST SERENDIPITIES YOU CAN HANDLE!!! OUR FAMILY HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING THEM SO MUCH THIS PAST YEAR.
"""Our God is an Awesome God!!!!!"""
hugs,
Deb, Mike, Anson, Preston, Derrick & Michelle Howard & Sons.
Deb cell 602 510-0536
One Patient’s Story … by Mickey Gulli
My incredible husband, Nick, never complains. When asked, he is always “Fan-tastic!!!” So last November when he began complaining about significant pain in his right shoulder that began radiating down his arm, I knew that it was not something to be ignored.
Our first stop was to see a chiropractor. He had two manipulations and the pain escalated. Then we were off to see his primary care physician. X-rays indicated that it could be bursitis. The concern was that the discomfort was too intense to be bursitis. The next test was a dopler to check for a blood clot. For weeks the findings were inconclusive. After numerous blood tests, more X-rays and a PET scan the next step was for a CT scan.
I was alarmed when his doctor called personally just two hours after the CT. She began to explain the results and when she said the word cancer I could hear myself gasp. Nick had metastatic lesions on C5 and C6 of the upper spine and his spinal column was being compressed by a tumor. We were then scheduled to see a neurosurgeon. He would need to do surgery to remove the tumor and to replace the bones with plastic pieces similar to Lego’s. Pathology determined the tumor to be a plasmacytoma and Nick was given a diagnosis of multiple myeloma. He would require radiation therapy to kill the remainder of the tumor cells.
At that point we met with an oncologist. Nick had a bone marrow biopsy that indicated there were 18% malignant plasma cells. The oncologist suggested a “wait and see” stance and set an appointment for us to return in three months. To us, even 1% sounded like too much. We opted for a second opinion. We met with another physician in the practice. This doctor diagnosed Nick with a rare and aggressive type of myeloma that comprised only 2% of all myeloma patients. She contacted the radiologist personally to discuss intensifying each radiation session to lessen the duration of treatments so that chemotherapy could begin as soon as possible.
As a manager of psychiatric offices for twenty years, I knew firsthand the benefit of counseling in a crisis. We were facing a medical crisis in our lives that I never imagined. Because we were going to Sun City daily for Nick’s treatments, I called Banner Thunderbird Hospital which is close to our home, in the hopes of finding a support group for caregivers. I spoke with a social worker and she offered complimentary one on one sessions. The time we shared was extremely helpful to me.
Currently, Nick is doing well and experiencing very few side effects. We have been advised to take it day by day. We have discovered that we often take it hour by hour.
We have learned a lot on this journey: you have to follow your gut feelings, even when they differ from a physician’s recommendation; it is necessary to ask questions and repeat the questions if you don’t understand the answer; there is a considerable amount of financial and emotional help in the community, the difficulty is knowing where it is and how to access it.
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