Late last year, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson noticed an unusual soreness in his left ribs, which he chalked up to a pulled muscle.
But he became concerned when the other side of his rib cage inexplicably began aching, too.
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.
“It was certainly devastating to me and my family and co-workers and friends, the old punch-in-the-gut analogy,” he said last week. “I’ve come a long ways since then.”
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 FoundationIF YOU GO* What: Blood drive in honor of Sheriff Steve Wilson* When: 3:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday* Where: Oakwood Baptist Church, 115 Oakwood St., Chickamauga, Ga.* To make an appointment: Call 706-375-5760; walk-ins also welcome.
In honor of Sheriff Wilson, whose cancer is now in remission after months of chemotherapy treatments, members of his church have organized a blood drive on Wednesday at Oakwood Baptist Church.
Multiple myeloma occurs when plasma cells, a type of white blood cell, reproduce abnormally and become cancerous, forming tumors in patients’ bone marrow. The tumors weaken bone structures, leading to pain and breaks, and release proteins into the blood stream that have other toxic effects.
Myeloma is an incurable but treatable disease, according to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, which works to find a cure for the disease.
Although there are about 20,000 new cases of myeloma in the United States every year, awareness is very low, said Larry Simon, who heads the Chattanooga Area Multiple Myeloma Support Group.
Mr. Simon, a 68-year-old Catoosa County resident, was diagnosed with the disease in 2007. The condition can be misdiagnosed as osteoporosis or rheumatoid arthritis, he said.
“I can’t remember anyone who said they’d heard of it before they found out they had it,” he said.
At the blood drive, participants can sign up to be part of the bone marrow transplant registry, said Lacey Wilson, public relations representative for Blood Assurance who is married to Sheriff Wilson’s son, Adam.
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, Ms. Wilson said.
Many myeloma patients — including Sheriff Wilson — can use their own stem cells for the transplant, but some require donated stem cells, she said.
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.
Sheriff Wilson said his first round of chemotherapy will be done next week, and he will get a stem cell transplant in the spring.
The sheriff, a member of the North Georgia Advisory Board for Blood Assurance, said he’s been a blood donor for years and hopes the blood drive will be well-attended.
“This will be a way for them to do something, through me, to help many other people in the community,” he said.