March proclaimed Multiple Myeloma month
Commissioner Shannon Whitfield designated March as Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month in Walker County during the Commissioner’s Meeting on Thursday, February 28. Multiple Myeloma is the second most common blood cancer in the world. After signing the official proclamation, he presented it to Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson, who has battled this form of cancer for 10 years this summer.
According to the proclamation, Multiple Myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow and, therefore, being carried in and by the blood, can occur in multiple areas of the body.
Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that begins in plasma cells – white blood cells that produce antibodies. Plasma cells usually work in the body’s immune defense system and help produce antibodies. In cases of Multiple Myeloma, however, too many plasma cells build up in the bone marrow and form tumors in many bones of the body.
These tumors may keep the bone marrow from making enough healthy blood cells. Normally, the bone marrow makes stem cells (immature cells) that become three types of mature blood cells: 1 Red blood cells that carry oxygen and other substances to all tissues of the body, 2 White blood cells that fight infection and disease, and 3 Platelets that form blood clots to help prevent bleeding.
As the number of myeloma cells increases, fewer red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are made. Furthermore, the myeloma cells also damage and weaken the bone.
A decade ago when Sheriff Wilson was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, the average age of onset was 6o to 70 years. Now, however, according to the proclamation, the disease “is increasingly being identified in 30, 40, and 50year-olds.
While not much is seen, read, or heard about Multiple Myeloma, it currently affects more that 100,000 people in America — and some sources say up to 400,000 Americans. In 2016, over 30,000 new cases were diagnosed and there were 12,650 deaths from the dis- ease, according to the proclamation.
Myeloma is an incurable but treatable disease, according to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, which works to find a cure for the disease, with treatments including steroids, radiation, chemotherapy, bone marrow transplant, and stem cell treatment.
Sheriff Wilson is not hesitant to relate his own experiences with Multiple Myeloma, as he did again during the Commissioner’s meeting, in the hopes of increasing an awareness of the disease, its symptoms, its treatments and its prognosis.
In the summer of 2009, he felt some discomfort in his right rib cage. He figured it “would just go away,” and it did. A few weeks later, that sharp pain re-emerged in his left rib cage. “That’s when I started to worry,” he says. The unusual pains, combined with fatigue he had once chalked up to “the aging process” led him to the doctor.
It turned out the excruciating pain was three fractured ribs. Worse, the breaks in his weakened bones were caused by a little-known bone marrow cancer called Multiple Myeloma.
Thus, his worst fears were confirmed. “Nobody wants to hear the word cancer, but that’s what the tests revealed,” he says. A series of tests and biopsies revealed the presence of Multiple Myeloma, a rare cancer of the bone marrow that involves plasma cells.
During April and May of 2010, Sheriff Wilson endured several aggressive rounds of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. “I was pretty sick the first two weeks,” he said, “but you know, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” “Don’t get me wrong, it was bad: nausea, lack of appetite, you name it. But I was lifted by the power of prayer from some wonderful people, my family, my staff, friends and strangers.”
People with Multiple Myeloma often require stem cell transplants, in which cancerous bone marrow is removed and replaced with cells that can regenerate into healthy bone marrow, explained Lacey Wilson previously. Mrs. Wilson, who is the sheriff’s daughter-in-law and president of the Walker County Chamber of Commerce, was the pubic relations representative for Blood Assurance when the sheriff was going through his treatments.
She explained than many myeloma patients — including Sheriff Wilson — can use their own stem cells for the transplant, but some require donated stem cells. Additionally, patients who have cancer of all types often require blood transfusions to replenish red blood cells that are killed off during chemotherapy treatments, she said.
While his condition has been relatively stable following his stem cell transplant with frequent monitoring and occasional treatment, Sheriff Wilson says he wants to get an important message across to men over the age of 50. “Get regular check-ups, get your blood work done, and get a colonoscopy,” he said. Unfortu- nately, Multiple Myeloma can be misdiagnosed as osteoporosis or rheumatoid arthritis, and that is why extensive blood work and other tests are sometimes required to diagnose it.
“These are all life-savers,” said the sheriff, “but men are often too stubborn to take care of their own health. But I’m sure glad I did.”
Sheriff Wilson spoke about his treatment experience and strides being made in research during Thursday night’s Commissioner Meeting. You can watch the meeting on our Youtube Channel at: www.youtube.com/c/WalkerCountyGA
WHAT IS MYELOMA? Multiple myeloma is cancer of the bone marrow. A myeloma tumor occurs when the body overproduces abnormal plasma cells, white blood cells that normally create antibodies that help fight off infections. The abnormal cells become a mass in the marrow. Myeloma typically affects marrow of the spine, skull and pelvic bones, rib cage and areas around the shoulders and hips. If untreated, myeloma can cause bone damage, bone pain, elevated blood calcium, low blood counts, predisposition to infection and kidney damage.
Source: Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, International Myeloma Foundation.