Scott Hagelberger

On May 13 Dad and Grandpa were out in the woods with Dad's log truck.  Dad was up on the trailer and fell off head first with his feet hung up on the trailer.  He had alot of back pain and went to the chiropractor a few times without much relief.  He also was on prescription pain medicine and sometimes that wouldn't even help the pain.  About 5 weeks later he was still in pain and his doctor said he would need to have a MRI done on his back before she would prescribe more pain medicine.  They were thinking he would maybe need to have back surgery and Dad was not enthused about back surgery!  So Dad got a MRI and also had bloodwork done.  On June 21 he went in to see Dr. Annkarlo to hear the results and he got the shock of his life!  He was told he had cancer!  Oh the horror and heartache to hear that kind of news......  Up until the time that Dad fell off the trailer he had felt fine and so he was not expecting  to hear such bad news!  At that point Dr. Annkarlo said his proteins were slightly elevated and his calcium was normal so she was quite confident it was in the beginning stages.  The MRI showed he had a fractured vertebrae, a tumor pressing 6 mm into his spinal cord, and spurs on his spine.  Dr. Annkarlo wanted Dad to get to Mayo as soon as possible and did a wonderful job of making sure he did! The waiting in between of finding out the bad news and until he went to Rochester was very hard as we didn't know what to expect but finally on June 30 he had an appointment with Dr. Gertz and he gave Dad hope of leading a normal life again.  After meeting with Dr. Gertz he had a few tests to do that day and also the next day.  July 14 folks headed down to Rochester together with Brandons, Arlos, Tyler, and Grandpas to meet with Dr. Gertz and hear the test results and find out the treatment plan.  It was verified that he had stage 1 multiple myeloma.  Multiple myeloma is a blood and bone marrow cancer which weakens the bones.  Dad will be taking chemo pills along with getting chemo shots for 4 months followed by a stem cell transplant.