anyone with mgus?this is what my drs think i have i go to a hemotologist on aug1st.what should i expect from this type of dr,what will the exam include
Answer by jewells_40
Hi,
This is short for:
monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance
He is talking MGUS because you have an elevated amount of protien in your blood and he does not know the reason and is sending you there to find out why:
You could be lucky and you do have MGUS - elevated protien in the blood for some reason and they can't find out, just that you do.
Or you could be "unlucky" and the elevated protien is because you have Multiple Myeloma (sorry; but that's cancer).
I had this discussion about 3 years ago and when I went to the appointment, I was shocked (because the doc didn't warn me) that the hemotologist was in the Oncology wing at the local hospital.
They will run a ton of blood test and a 24 hour urine test (you pee in a bottle for (literally) 24 hours and turn it in). This is to check for "light chain protiens" in the blood.
One of the blood test with be a SPEP - type of protein test to see if you have one specific protien or a lot of them causing the spike.
They also may do a bone marrow biopsy [BMB} - this is an out patient procedure where they push a needle into your hip bone and take a sample of the marrow and check for cancer cells. It is VERY !!! painful - so make sure you get some good pain killers to take before the procedure and during. It will not be done on first visit - but after they get the initial results in - it is really a "to be sure" test.
The best place to get a LOT more info is from :
www.myeloma.org
-they also have a great hotline to call in if you need mere direct help.
==>> if it is Myeloma, that is not the end of the world; I have had it for 28 months and I know people who are on their 10th year after disagnosis, so don't worry too much right now.
Sorry, I hope you already knew a lot of this and I am not the first person to use the "C" word.
Good luck and let us know what happened.
Jewells
28 months and still here
Orignal From: anyone with mgus?
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