Tom Courbat's Update Site

Welcome to my update Web Page. It has been provided to keep friends and relatives apprised of my progress. Please be sure to sign the guestbook and check out the photos. ALSO CLICK ON "PAST JOURNAL ENTRIES" OR "HISTORY" FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

Journal

Friday, September 30, 2005 7:49 PM CDT

Fall 2005 Update

September 30, 2005

Four-Year Anniversary

Can you believe it, Monday, September 26, 2005 marked four years of survival since my initial diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma! To add some pizzazz to the celebration, I went and had spine surgery on the anniversary, Monday, September 26, 2005 to remove a part of a bulging disk that was pushing inward toward my spinal column. The operation went well, and within about an hour, they had removed the offending piece, and “glued” me back together. Yes, “glued”, no stitches. And later that evening, they had me up and walking (with a walker, to start). I was released the next morning from the hospital, and have been home now for three days. While I am certainly sore from the incision, I AM walking around, sitting, and trying to stay horizontal to get some rest, but you know how that goes.

I have had no chemotherapy since the end of November, 2004, approaching one year now. My numbers only recently started to inch out of the “range”, so that if they continue to go up, I may restart chemo in November this year. That all remains to be seen. The chemo, Velcade, was so powerful, that it seemed to have stopped the myeloma in its tracks. We figured if I got a year of chemo-free time, that would be a good thing. Looks like I am well on my way to making that goal.

There continues to be great strides made in the research for a cure, or at least a remission drug for Multiple Myeloma. Even though it is a rare (1% of all cancers) disease, the dedication of the researchers and doctors is incredible. I feel so fortunate to be alive in a time when such progress is being made.

In May I started a Multiple Myeloma Support Group with another gentleman, and we already have nearly fifty people (patients and caregivers) who have expressed an interest. We meet in Riverside, considerably closer than the groups that meet in Los Angeles or San Diego. We get very strong support from the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) www.myeloma.org and I recently attended a retreat for group leaders at Duke University where we discussed multiple ways to be of help to others. October 16-22 is Multiple Myeloma Awareness Week, so hopefully you will see some press on it during the month of October.

I will keep you all posted on how things progress, but I just wanted to take a few minutes to let everyone know that overall, things are going pretty well, and I thank all of you for your kind thoughts and prayers.

Tom

Hospital Information:

Patient Room: varies!

Menifee Valley Medical Center
28400 McCall Boulevard
Sun City, CA 92585
951-679-8888

Email address  : tom68-69korea@comcast.net