Rudy Bouhuys RudyFliesKites

Welcome to our CaringBridge website.  I originally had a CarePages website for Rudy, but that site has closed so I transferred all of my Journal Entries and Visitor Messages to this site.  Below is Rudy's Story that I posted on August 11, 2017.    Thank you for visiting.



Last fall, Rudy went to a dermatologist to have some skin rashes checked, and also went to see our family doctor for fatigue and difficulty breathing.  Two different blood tests showed elevated protein levels.  This led Rudy to an Oncologist who ordered many more tests.  The results of these tests confirmed the diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma.   
In a nutshell - Multiple Myeloma is a cancer formed by malignant plasma cells. Normal plasma cells are found in the bone marrow and are an important part of the immune system.  In multiple myeloma, the overgrowth of plasma cells in the bone marrow can crowd out normal blood-forming cells, leading to low blood counts.  Multiple Myeloma can also cause the level of platelets in the blood to become low (called thrombocytopenia). This can lead to increased bleeding and bruising. Another condition that can develop is leukopenia – a shortage of normal white blood cells. This can lead to problems fighting infections. 
As the name of this page suggests, Rudy loves to fly kites!  Unfortunately, he hasn't had the opportunity to fly recently, for various reasons.  He also enjoys spending time with family and keeping up with his children, Dorian, Matthew, and Sarah.