We try to spend one month of the year in San Diego for our Family and friends there. Since we spent most of our life there, we also do our annual physicals while there. This year was no exception. We did our physical there including blood work and moved on in January to attend a FMCA Rally in Indio, California. Then the to Parker, Arizona for a shot time before going to the Quartzsite RV show. When we were in Indio we received a phone call from our San Diego doctor asking Carol to go to a local blood lab and get another blood test. She took the test and we got another call in Parker asking for another blood test. She again complied with the request and we got another call a few days later from the doctor saying her protein levels were in the upper range and that it could indicate possible blood cancer. We were advised to seek a oncologist ASAP. After careful prayer and thought, we narrowed it down to Saint George, Utah or San Diego, California because of the excellent cancer doctors there. Because Saint George was still cold this time of year, we chose San Diego. We called Santee Lakes Campground for a campsite and were told at first that they did not have one. After some looking around they found one that would accommodate us for only one month max. Not knowing what to expect or how long we would have to stay if she needed treatments, we took a chance and moved to San Diego to be tested.
We made an appointment with a great cancer doctor, Dr Zu and had a consultation. Dr. Zu had all of the prior blood tests along with the newest ones he took and based on them, his opinion was that Carol might have what they call "Smoldering Myeloma" which is somewhat of a dormant or stable form of Multiple Myeloma. With this type of cancer, there would be no treatment, just another blood test every six months to monitor the levels. To confirm this, he scheduled Carol for a major bone scan where they take about thirty xrays of the bones, and then a Bone Marrow Biopsy. This all took almost three weeks.
During our stay at Santee Lakes, Gary would walk in the mornings with his HAM Radio buddies. Turned out that one of his friends not only was diagnosed with full blown Multiple Myeloma a year and a half ago, he also had the same doctor as Carol. He was a wealth of information for us and had nothing but good to say about Dr. Zu. He gave us a lot of hope that we could live with this cancer even though there was no known cure at this time.
Finely, we had our appointment with Dr. Zu to go over the results of the tests and further blood work. We were hoping that Dr. Zu was right and that it would only be the Smoldering Myeloma. Much to our amazement and defiantly an answer to our prayers and the prayers of many of our friends and fellow missionaries, Carol was diagnosed with MGUS. Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS , unknown or uncertain may be substituted for undetermined), formerly benign monoclonal gammopathy, MGUS develops at the rate of about 1-2% a year towards Multiple Myeloma. Dr. Zu is recommending monitoring Carol every six months to monitor her levels
With this great news we back on the move again and moved back to Parker, Arizona on the Colorado River. We will leave here on the 14th of March and head up to Provo, Utah to see Cassie and her family for a month before we have to report to Heber Valley Camp to continue our Mission with the Church. To all of you that kept us in your prayers and thoughts, a very special thank you. We will try to keep this blog updated a little better than we have in the past.
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