Our journey with Curt's cancer began in 2013 when a routine check- up revealed a blood abnormality. Further tests showed he had a blood cancer, multiple myeloma. A cancer that eventually attacks the bones. It is not curable, but many treatments succeed in putting it into remission. The cancer, diagnosed in MD, was called smoldering, by the oncologist. It was dormant but doctor told us it would increase rapidly and Curt would be lucky to survive 5 years. I was devastated, but he continued to get the painful tests to check progress of the cancer. It stayed dormant for years and he promised me he would beat it. He was certain it would never increase. We retired, drove the 3000 miles to WA state. Put our belongings in storage stayed with good friends for a month. Left for a well planned 4 month retirement celebration in Europe. Visited about 19 countries and had the time of out lives. Back home to WA, we enjoyed exploring WA and OR, while renting and deciding where to settle down. Curt refused to endure the painful tests and get his blood work done. Finally, July 3rd, 2018, he agreed to get it checked. We were headed to our friend's home, early on the 4th, when we got the call. His cancer had gone from zero to high stages. They told us if we didn't go to urgent care in Tacoma, Curt may die. His blood numbers were dangerously low. We spent 9 hours that day getting him transfused with 2 units of blood. Since then, he has had countless transfusions. And over half dozen different chemo treatments in WA and OR. The goal was to get his numbers to improve enough to have a stem cell transplant, a favorite treatment for this type of cancer. But they never did. He ended up at OHSU, here in Portland, where they have an extensive cancer treatment facility . He spent a week in May and June, in hospital undergoing harsh chemo treatments. That didn't slow down cancer but took a severe toll on his health. They were considering stem cell but tests revealed too much cancer in the bones. So they recommended this clinical trial of having a car "T" cell transplant, more later.
