My Understanding of Myeloma Myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells of the blood and it affects the bone. The blood is made in the bone marrow and that’s where all the action is. If I understand my doctor correctly, there are thousands of different types of gammaglobulins in our blood, and each type produces a specific protein used to fight a specific type of infection. A bunch of fancy testing on my blood has revealed that one specific type of my gammaglobulins is stuck in the “on” position, and keeps on making one specific protein, even though there is apparently no infection for it to fight. It is not cranking out proteins like crazy, but more like a persistently dripping faucet, rather than a wide-open fire hydrant. A little research shows my protein levels have been slightly elevated for many years, and now they are slightly elevated over slightly elevated, which prompted the additional testing. At least in my case, it is a very slowly progressing disease, and that is good. It is more like walking down a gentle slope than rushing over an abrupt cliff. In progressed stages it does deteriorate the bone, and causes other problems I've forgotten about. Myeloma cannot be cured by medical science, but it can be treated to delay it effects, and prolong the period of time a person maintains a "normal" life and lifestyle. Unless God chooses to intervene, I am in for a very long battle. There are too many factors to reasonably predict how long it will take the disease to progress, but it appears to be progressing very slowly in me, and we are looking for years and years of additional service. For authoritative information, here’s a good web site: http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/about_myeloma/index.php www.myeloma.org |