Rick here .... I am new at communicating through Caring Bridge. I will give it a try and if anyone who has had more experience has a suggestion, please let me know.
On Thursday, January 5th, Susie had her annual physical with Dr. McLinn. On Monday, January 9th, we received a call from Dr. McLinn indicating that there was something wrong with Susie’s blood count, and we should see an oncologist right away. On Tuesday, we met with our good friends, Jack and Linda Hoeschler. They urged us to call the Mayo Clinic and get an appointment.
I then did a nationwide search to find out where the top rated treatment centers were for Susie’s disorder which is called Myeloma. (Myeloma is cancer of the blood cells that affects bone structure and internal organs.) I learned that Mayo is the leading clinic for doing research on and treating Myeloma. I called, and we were fortunate to get an appointment with Dr. Morie Gertz who is the head of the department.
We left for Mayo on Wednesday, January 11th. We met with Dr. Gertz on Thursday morning. Susie was then scheduled for eight tests over a two day period, including a bone marrow test. We got all of the results on Friday, the 13th, except the bone marrow test. Susie was diagnosed as being Stage One Myeloma, which is a low level. Dr. Gertz suggested monitoring Susie every three months with no treatment plan at this time.
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