In 2022 my husband complained of a back ache. He saw our family physician. He was given a Celebrex prescription and a pat on the back to feel better soon. I had quit my job and we were traveling. Our first grandchild was just born. We had a definite set of plans for our life and future.
A few weeks after the doctor appointment, Richard came to me and asked how long would it take for the medication to begin working. That was concerning, but his back seemed to go out every ten years and he was overdue. My husband was active, and had never really been sick. He was 52 and accomplished more before sunrise than most people did all day.
We were out of town, in another state when he lost strength. I told him not to worry. I knew of an internal medicine doctor that would find what was wrong. It was Thursday night and the next morning I had made an appointment for him on Monday. Soon we’d find what was wrong and resume living.
He’d caught a cold at the beginning of the year. It hung on for a while. The coughing was tough to beat. He had a cough drop in his mouth constantly, even four months later.
We returned home, had a family dinner planned, but he didn’t feel up to going. I was fine with canceling if he didn’t go. He ended up agreeing to it, but didn’t even hold our brand new grandbaby. That showed the intensity of the pain.
That night his ribs were hurting. I had some cardiac issues and fell asleep. He wrapped an extra wide ace bandage around his midsection. In the middle of the night he woke up to check on me and coughed and sneezed at the same time. The sound startled me, and as I awoke I saw my husband fall to the floor.
A few hours later he barely was able to sit on the exam table. The nurse turned the bed into a chair! Within the first minute, the doctor asked what my husband’s family history of cancer was. Cancer? We were stunned.
The doctor gave us his personal cell phone number and said he’d be in touch. My husband had blood taken as well as some x-rays. We left stunned.
He had two broken ribs. The doc said enough that a quick Google search revealed a name of a cancer I had never heard. Multiple Myeloma.
An hour later the doctor called and delivered news that would forever change our world. My husband was harboring two huge tumors around his ribs. There were lesions. Lesions? Yes, holes in his bones. The doctor called in a favor with a local oncologist to get him in soon, ordered more blood tests from an outside lab and so his cancer journey began.
20 Years For Richard 