~ Poems of Love ~

The following poems have been written by me, for my husband Hamada, who suffered from Multiple Myeloma [IgG Kappa] a cancer of the plasma cells, which are found in the bone marrow. After many months of chemotherapy, contracting pneumonia twice, once given only twelve hours to live and having three bad fractures to his spine and also showing in his Pelvis, he made it to four years seven months. The Multiple Myeloma attacked his Kidneys first showing at diagnosis in May 2006 leaving Hamada only a small percentage of kidney function. He never complained, using his most amazing smile even when I knew he had severe pain. Hamada underwent a Stem Cell Transplant using his own 'harvested stem cells' . During October 2007 he spent seventeen days in the "Centre For Clinical Haematology" at Nottingham City Hospital UK. where he achieved this transplant. We had a scare at six months after transplant, when told 'the beast was back' but subsequent tests showed a partial remission. Again in early 2009 it was confirmed that Hamada was out of remission He fought again during 2010 with newer chemo type drugs. First with Velcade and then with Revlimid but to no avail. His Kidneys were failing further and Hamada chose not to have dialysis. This blog contains poems and updates, written for Hamada, telling of our life together.
Now a beautiful book has been published, see http://www.susiehemingway.com/books/
showing Hamada's personal fight against Multiple Myeloma in the first fifty 'poems of love' written by me his wife. I hope you like these poems of love and also 'our story' dedicated to Hamada, who passed away peacefully at home on 23 November 2010 after a most courageous fight against Multiple Myeloma.

24 April, 2009

Hamada Update - 24 April 2009

Some awaited tests came back yesterday for those who understand and like to follow Hamada's journey.
The Skeletal Scan clearly shows the L1, L2 and T8 collapse and now there is a small area showing in the pelvic area,which is to be expected but of course still very worrying.
The Bence Jones is holding at 0.03 but the Para Protein (M-Spike ) is up again, now at 8.4 but not at the speed of the past 3 Months.

The Bone Marrow returned at 5%. better than we had hoped for - was 80% at diagnosis in May 2006 - Stem Cell Transplant achieved to good partial remission in October 2007.
Still, there is to be no further treatment at the moment apart from the massive amounts of maintenance drugs daily, even though the M-Spike is rising...the consultants view is to watch and wait.
I would welcome any comments on these readings from those who understand. Thank you.

Our very best and heartfelt thoughts to all our friends and carers who read this blog, and are making with courage, the same journey as Hamada.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It appears that the mm is progressing very slowly, so doing nothing may be the way to go, especially if his quality of life is good.

Has Hamada had Revlimid previously?

best to both of you,

Teresa

Susie Hemingway said...

Hi Teresa,
Do hope this finds you managing ok ..it must be awful for you but you are always in my thoughts and prayers and thanks for your reply. As to the Revlimid, no H has not had this yet or Velcade..they seem not to favour Velcade for H maybe further along but they did mentioned Revlimid, but not yet.. although not yet licensed completly here, we would get it with a struggle and they do feel this would be the next drug of choice...hate this watching and waiting bit specially with the PP ascending but I have nagged and asked all the right questions, well I hope I have. I am starting to wonder if I am doing enough. Best Regards and take care of yourself x

Sandy said...

It is so hard to know what roads to take when they all take sharp corners so that you cannot see beyond the first curve... your guiding light must be the love you have for your beloved and be assured that you are doing the best you can with the information available. I pray for you and H ...

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