My life was great. On March 18, 2019, my wife Merry and I were returning from a fantastic trip overseas.
The following day I got very sick and could only sleep in one-hour cycles. I contacted my doctor and was prescribed some medications. After a few days, I was not feeling any better and set up an appointment with my doctor on March 28. By this time, I had lost 13 pounds and felt terrible. My doctor took some urine samples and a blood draw and said she would follow up with any new medications once they analyzed my results. The next day I received a call from my doctor and was told that I had the respiratory flu but in addition, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer, a form of cancer of the blood. I was alone at home at the time of the call from my doctor and was devastated by the diagnosis.
I did not know much about this cancer but was told that it was treatable but not curable. By the time my wife got home, I could not talk about the diagnosis but somehow conveyed the bad news to her. My life was in a downward spiral, I was still very sick from the flu and now this. I could not talk about this with anyone and now Merry had the task of informing our family.
We had known about the great reputation of the Siteman Cancer Center and had met Dr. Tim Eberlein at some social and charitable functions we were involved with. Merry called Tim for advice, I still could not talk about it. Tim was very understanding and reassuring and told Merry to tell me “Jim will be fine” and he would arrange for a doctor’s office to contact me and set an appointment. This call with Tim took place on a Saturday and on Monday we were called and had an appointment set with Dr Vij. Wow was that quick and reassuring.
We met with Dr Vij that Friday and he explained what multiple myeloma was and wanted to run additional tests to confirm the initial diagnosis. Dr Vij and his team were very reassuring and caring.
I knew that I had a great team in place and now I needed a coping mechanism to get through my long journey. This is when “Team Moze” was created. My nickname is Moze and I decided that all of these caring doctors, nurses, and staff were all a part of my team and they were all important to me because they cared for me and about me. Merry ordered stickers with my picture on them and Team Moze across the top. Every doctor, nurse, aide or staff member that I came across became a part of Team Moze and my story. I’ve never had so much compassion and help shown to me before. I became confident in the team and my attitude was positive throughout my journey. My wife and I asked a lot of questions so we could understand what issues faced us and at times I felt like I was the only patient, that was the compassion they conveyed to us.
Now my journey of treatments began. Four months of chemo, followed by the stem cell extraction, more chemo and finally a stem cell transplant. While this was a lot to take on, I was confident that the results would be positive. After the stem cell transplant in September, my recovery process began. My weight during the flu had dropped by over 20 pounds, my hair now was falling out, I felt sick, but I knew that I was in the recovery phase. My 100 days of isolation/recovery led to a meeting in December where it was determined that my cancer was in check and I started my maintenance drug and monthly monitoring of my condition.
My story is not so different from many other cancer patients, but I have come to realize that my attitude and strength of conviction came from my wife Merry and the wonderful staff at Siteman Cancer Center. Team Moze worked together as a unit and we overcame cancer.
Small connections in life make a big difference, meeting Dr. Tim Eberlein and Dr. Vij were some of the biggest differences in my life and for this, I will be forever grateful. Thanks to the entire Siteman/ Team Moze group for getting me to this stage.