Sandra’s Story

Site created on June 21, 2018


Well fuck cancer.  There's no better way to put it.  I will start at the beginning.



In early 2015 I was skiing into Peter Estin Hut, which is a grunt.  I was having more problems than I thought I should.  I scheduled a physical as I hadn't had one in a few years.  Fortunately my doctor noticed some elevated protein levels.  I was directed to an oncologist and after several procedures (including a bone marrow biopsy -- don't look it up) I was diagnosed with Smoldering Multiple Myeloma.   I didn't tell a whole lot of folks.  One it sucked to talk about it, and two, I was not being treated, so not really a big deal.  Every 3 months I had to go in for a blood test and once a year a PET or Bone Density Scan.  Sadly the last checkup, today, I passed the line into Multiple Myeloma.  So I start treatment within the month.  I have another biopsy next week which will see if I'm eligible for a clinical trial.   Figured I'd start documenting...

Newest Update

Journal entry by Sandra Svoboda

Whoohoo!  Saw the transplant doc yesterday and was given the green light to do whatever I wanted.  I could, as she put it "Lick a toilet bowl or swim in a fish pond".  Not keen on either one of those, but it means I can also do pottery, gardening, travel by plane, be in a crowd, use a humidifier, hug a sniffly toddler (not that I'm around too many of those, just nice to know I can), ride a crowded bus, fish (not that I do, but I could, if I wanted to) and loads of other activities.  I can even get a cold and not panic about it. I still have to be wary of things like the flu, measles, whooping cough and such as I don't have all my vaccines yet, and won't until September of next year, but I can just be a little cautious (Clorox wipes for plane trays, for example, yeah, I'll be THAT person).  As a friend of mine so aptly put it, I can now garden on a train with a humidifier.

I have been running around the house and the yard, trimming plants, removing debris, getting dirt under my nails.  I will be signing up for pottery as soon as I can and, hey, any one need a mug?  Teapot?  Bowls?  I will ride the ski train next week, and I ordered seeds for the garden!  Yes!

Oh, and the best part is she said, as she was assessing my latest blood work, that I have achieved "Stringent Complete Remission" which is sort of like "Uber Complete Remission".  It's pretty much the best you can get with MM, so I am very happy.  I have to take Revlimid for the rest of my life, but I think I can handle that.  Gotta have a party sometime...this spring maybe...
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