A close family member received word today that they need to show up at hospital tomorrow for cancer surgery. It appears to be fairly aggressive.

Sorry to hear....our prayers are with the family

Hoping for a good outcome to your family member's surgery, Uncwilly. Every good wish.

[QUOTE=Brian-E;388491]Hoping for a good outcome to your family member's surgery, Uncwilly. Every good wish.[/QUOTE]
It was decided to change the surgery from a general excision to [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_surgery"]Mohs[/URL] and early next week. I suspect, based upon the family history, someday I will likely have to undergo this or something similar. Those at the Dr. office don't quite understand why I want to go immediately to the dermatologist if I notice something.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;388519]It was decided to change the surgery from a general excision to [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_surgery"]Mohs[/URL] and early next week. I suspect, based upon the family history, someday I will likely have to undergo this or something similar. Those at the Dr. office don't quite understand why I want to go immediately to the dermatologist if I notice something.[/QUOTE]

I had Mohs used to take out a basal cell carcinoma. It turned out to be a good thing. The surgeon came back for more at least twice, after examining the tissue he just taken. It had run out a tendril from down near the corner of my jaw, up my cheek to just below the latitude of the lower edge of my ear lobe.

EDIT: It's a good procedure, I think, in that it tries to track the edges of the malignancy in near-real time. The intent is to see a layer of normal cells at the edges of excised tissue.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;388421]A close family member received word today that they need to show up at hospital tomorrow for cancer surgery. It appears to be fairly aggressive.[/QUOTE]

God bless. Just after we finished the flood recovery of the house in Maine in early September, my mother began having extreme weakness in her legs to the point where she was falling and could not stand or walk. After she broke her ankle (distal fibula), the doctors in Maine sent her to rehab to recover. Instead, she grew weaker and more delirious over the next three weeks, to the point where we paid $4,000 for an emergency medical transport van to the best hospital in the Washington, D. C. area. Upon arrival, the ER doctors informed my sister and I that she had all of the symptoms of multiple myeloma: extreme calcium levels in the blood (from withering bone), renal failure, anemia, and extensive lytic bone lesions throughout her body. In particular, the pain in her shoulder that she had been nursing for the last two years, and which the doctors in Maine had dismissed as a "sprained rotator cuff", had in fact been caused by three pathological fractures of the brittled bones in her arm and shoulder. An L1 compression fracture was also identified. She had so many different acute medical problems that I thought sure I was going to lose her at only 61.

Fast forward to today: She has had six of eight targeted chemotherapy treatments (CyBorD), at least 70% of the telltale urinary protein excretion is gone, and her kidneys are functioning better than 50% (and better than even the nephrologists had expected). The next stage is rebuilding her leg muscles to support her weight so that she can return to walking.

As if this were not enough of an adventure, a colonoscopy (to check for potential causes of anemia) revealed a malignant polyp in the sigmoid; surgery for that (which should completely eliminate the cancer) happens around the first of 2015.

My father had a basal cell carcinoma removed a few years ago without further issues. Both my sister and I have been informed we have a 50/50 shot at melanoma from his side of the family.

Multiple myeloma occurs in about 6 in 100,000 people in the United States. Heredity doubles the risk to 12 in 100,000. Surprisingly, it is a good candidate for being the first "curable" cancer with much successful research and new targeted therapies. Tom Brokaw is a famous sufferer of multiple myeloma.

After being thrown into the world of having a loved one with cancer, and doing hours of research and reading on the subject, it is truly inspiring to see how much more hope a cancer sufferer has today than they might have had twenty or even five years ago.

.[QUOTE]Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.

-- Desmond Tutu[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;388519]It was decided to change the surgery from a general excision to [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_surgery"]Mohs[/URL] and early next week.[/QUOTE]It seems that Mohs will not be the complete answer. General surgery and radiation are likely courses. :rant:

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;388955]It seems that Mohs will not be the complete answer. General surgery and radiation are likely courses. :rant:[/QUOTE]

I am very sorry to hear that. It is a much more difficult regime.

A good friend of ours was diagnosed with breast cancer last month. She had family history and was a carrier of the gene so she had a double mastectomy on Monday. It will be month before she will know if there will be any chemo or radiation as well.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;388421]A close family member received word today that they need to show up at hospital tomorrow for cancer surgery. It appears to be fairly aggressive.[/QUOTE]

I am sorry to hear this. I hope your family member tolerates the radiation and surgery as well as can be expected. Your family will be in my thoughts!

[QUOTE=NBtarheel_33;388533]

Multiple myeloma occurs in about 6 in 100,000 people in the United States. Heredity doubles the risk to 12 in 100,000. Surprisingly, it is a good candidate for being the first "curable" cancer with much successful research and new targeted therapies. Tom Brokaw is a famous sufferer of multiple myeloma.

After being thrown into the world of having a loved one with cancer, and doing hours of research and reading on the subject, it is truly inspiring to see how much more hope a cancer sufferer has today than they might have had twenty or even five years ago.[/QUOTE]

How inane of your mother's original physicians. As you said- those are telltale signs that would at least warrant further investigation. A simple blood count or urine test could indicate something was wrong or even provide the diagnosis. I'm glad to hear she is doing well with treatment. Do you know if it was the kappa or lambda form?