In late May of 2017 I was in the busiest part of my business cycle with everything headed full steam ahead in the right direction. My health was great and I was in my second year of a 7 year business plan getting ready for a active retirement of running, biking, hiking, and travel. Well, you know what they say about plans? On May 25, 2017, my and my family’s worlds fell apart. I started getting extreme back pain. It had been an active day, but nothing I hadn’t ever experienced. Fast forward 3 months; 7 serious vertebral compression fractures, 3 broken ribs, 3 back operations, 2 kidney procedures, and a diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma. I was now preparing for chemo, radiation, a stem cell transplant and more back operations, with no end in sight. Well, somehow I made it. It is now a little over a year later. I have had ample chance to read, pray, laugh, cry, scream, think, write, and throw up…..
I didn’t write a lot during this time, I was having such a hard time making sense of the pain, loss of a lot of my physical capabilities, having to sell my business, and wondering what retirement would now be like; if I survived that long. I have survived to this point and feel like I do have a lot to say in retrospect. I want people in a similar situation to hear a truthful and heartfelt account of some of the things they will deal with. I hope it makes you laugh, cry, scream, think, and let you know there are other people to help carry you through.