In the fall of 2018, I began experiencing acute back pain and muscle spasms with no clear cause. Over the next several months, tests revealed an infiltrative metastatic process in my spine, hips, ribs, and shoulders. No common cancers or genetic disorders could be immediately identified. So two more months, waiting on biopsy results and more tests, with nothing but palliative care, until the diagnosis: An exceptionally rare cancer. Signet ring cell carcinoma, of unknown origin, metastasized throughout the bone marrow.
There are barely two dozen cases in the entirety of clinical literature featuring signet ring cell carcinomas in the bone marrow. Of those, only two also had no primary identified. Neither of those cases are demographically like me at all. There are no instances of survival among the "closely similar" cases. But there are no exact matches for my situation, and not enough to build any sort of prediction -- and if my cancer is going to be exceptional, I intend to be exceptional as well, and survive it.
This site will serve as an easy access point for friends and family (and, I suppose, the morbidly curious) to follow my journey without being subjected to either intrusive updates and appeals, or trying to reach out to me directly when I may be utterly overwhelmed by tasks at hand. It's also a source for getting in touch with me with advice, assistance, or find out how you can help me make it through.
Hard for me to write well with the neuropathy, so first thing out of the hospital I recorded this over-long, weepy video message. I hope to provide a more detailed medical update soon.
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