Billy Bob's Wild Ride: Turns out Lester was a baaad lesion. A PLASMACYTOMA

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Turns out Lester was a baaad lesion. A PLASMACYTOMA

Turns out, Lester was a baaaad lesion. He was the result of an extremely rare malignant plasma cell tumor called a Plasmacytoma.

It was a CANCER after all.

The phone call came around noon yesterday. It was the Highly talented and well known thoracic surgeon, and he had the report in his hand. Was this a good time? He encouraged Notbillybob to get a pen and paper and write down the words, even spelled them out for him. P-L-A-S-M-A-C-Y-T-O-M-A....
M-Y-E-L-O-M-A...

After reading about these words all day, Notbillybob finally sat down at his computer to post this on the Facebook group. There are way more questions now than answers. Multiple myloma is well known, being the second most prevalent form of   hematological malignancy in the U.S.

So, click the links. Read all about it. Remember, Notbillybob HAD a lytic lesion in his left seventh anterior (front) rib. Last Tuesday it was yanked out. He might still HAVE a multiple myloma present. "The rib tumor could be a MARKER of more disease..." said the Thoracic surgeon. Myloma usually has three major clues that it is present.
#1 Kidney failure. Well, we don't have that.
#2 high serum calcium reading. Well, we don't have that either.
#3 Aplastic anemia. Well, no one has said for sure, but Notbillybob can read, and followed every morning blood draw while in the hospital. (They have a thing called "My Health Connection". There's even an Android app in the Play Store for it. Seriously!!) The problems plagueing him when he went in-namely low platelets, low hemoglobin, low hematocrit, low white blood cells, and low red blood cells...all point to aplastic anemia. Google search these readings all being low and the answer you get is an exquisite little inconvienince known as...
STINKFOOT! No, wait, that's a Frank Zappa song. You get aplastic anemia. They are all low at the same time.

The Hematology and or Oncology departments might call soon to make a follow up appointment.

Here is a short list of the recent ailments Notbillybob sought medical treatment for, which are directly related to this cancer.

Dequervain's syndrom of the wrist    - related

Dry eyes                  -related

headaches            -related

fatigue-related

shortness of breath     -related

nausea                -related

Dizzyness causing falls     -related

Severe drop in platelets thought to be liver related-now believed to be related to plasmacytoma.

Petchae/purpura rash      -related

Who'd uh thunk, huh? Well, off they go back to the U this rainy morning. The chest tube dressing is draining, so they want to see him.

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Solitary plasmacytoma

Solitary plasmacytoma is a large solitary focus of plasma cell proliferation.

This tumor has a median patient age of approximately 10 years younger than multiple myeloma.

Pain is the most common symptom. However, if the myeloma occurs in the spine, it will usually present with fast developing paraplegia and gibbous deformity due to the vertebral collapse.

Complete Information on this Tumor

Introduction and Definition:

Solitary plasmacytoma is a large solitary focus of plasma cell proliferation. This tumor is extremely rare and is found in the proximal femur, vertebral bodies, and pelvis in order of descending frequency. Solitary plasmacytoma occurs 70% of the time as an osseous lesion, and the rest of the cases are non-osseous lesions usually found in the upper respiratory tract. Approximately 70% of the patients with solitary plasmacytoma develop multiple myeloma.

Incidence and Demographics:

This tumor has a median patient age of approximately 10 years younger than multiple myeloma, and affects men more than women.

Symptoms and Presentation:

Pain is the most common symptom. However, if the myeloma occurs in the spine, it will usually present with fast developing paraplegia and gibbous deformity due to the vertebral collapse.

X-Ray Appearance and Advanced Imaging Findings:

Radiologically, solitary plasmacytoma appears identical to multiple myeloma.

Differential Diagnosis:

Most authors agree on a strict diagnostic criteria for solitary plasmacytoma. There may be no other radiological identifiable lesions, and bone marrow at another site must have no abnormal plasma cells. There may be no serum abnormalities and no Bence-Jones proteins in the urine. Some authors believe that the diagnosis can only be made if no other lesion is found for a period greater than 1 year.

Preferred Biopsy Technique for this Tumor:

Bone marrow biopsy

Histopathology findings:

Microscopically, solitary plasmacytoma appears as well to poorly differentiated sheets of plasma cells. These cells produce the same osteoclast stimulating factors found in multiple myeloma.

Treatment Options for this Tumor:

Treatment of solitary plasmacytoma includes radiation or en-bloc surgical resection. If abnormal serum or urine findings are present then the patient must be treated as if they have multiple myeloma with chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant 2.

Outcomes of Treatment and Prognosis:

Patients with solitary plasmacytoma have a better prognosis than patients with multiple myeloma, but 70% of solitary plasmacytoma patients develop multiple myeloma, and usually die within 5 years.

Graduation Day

LINAC U

You'd think that 25 radiation treatments wouldn't amount to much of anything. It doesn't sound like a lot.

...25 trips to the hospital. We were wrong. We started the week before Thanksgiving after a month long delay because of a bad bad flu like cold I developed. They wanted a commitment, with as few absences as possible, so we waited. The coughing up blood and fevers subsided, then we started, and got our groove. I say WE because Notbillybob's wife, Sharon drove most days. I was just along for the ride. Well, after 10 treatments, the tiredness set in. Especially for her. Like a new part time job. Notbillybob feeling like a roast ham most days. Kind of like a sun burn inside your guts. He made a big mistake in eating jalapenos one night. Ooh, the burn. So, they asked the doc if the stomach was getting radiation. They said "lets pull up your treatment plan... Yes, see here, inside this red line. The treatment plan showed that it was. The innermost red line is the most radiation, the outer one is the least. The green one is in the middle. A good part of the stomach is even inside the blue line.

The pain was accounted for. They told us that they were also concerned with his platelet count. It was going down again. Down to 37! (Low is 150) It has since stabilized at 40. The thing is that the white cells, red cells, hematocrit are all low. Way low. Bilirubin is elevated. INR is elevated. Not billybob began wearing a mask to treatments. Don't need cooties at a time like this.

Then the really cold weather set in. I know, I know- it doesn't really cause colds and "death of pneumonia" like our moms used to say, but when you have cancer of the immune cells, and then your white cell count goes in the toilet as well...

Notbillybob is going to stay a hermit for the foreseeable future.

But SMILE!

New Years eve was treatment number 25. Graduation day! Graduation from LINAC U!

(LINAC is a Linear Accelerator, an IMRT radiation therapy machine)