Roy Scheider Dies of Multiple Myeloma at 75

Roy Scheider, a popular actor who was best known for his award winning portrayal of a police chief in the thriller, Jaws, has died at the early age of 75. Mr. Scheider suffered from Multiple Myeloma, a cancer that begins in the body's plasma cells.

A painful cancer, Myeloma begins in the cells of the bone marrow and spreads to the bones. According to MedicineNet.com "myeloma begins when a plasma cell becomes abnormal. The abnormal cell divides to make copies of itself. The new cells divide again and again, making more and more abnormal cells. The abnormal plasma cells are myeloma cells. Myeloma cells make antibodies called M proteins.In time, myeloma cells collect in the bone marrow. They may crowd out normal blood cells. Myeloma cells also collect in the solid part of the bone. The disease is called "multiple myeloma" because it affects many bones. (If myeloma cells collect in only one bone, the single mass is called a plasmacytoma.)"

Multiple Myeloma is sneaky. They say that if you catch it early it is a curable cancer. The problem is, it is hard to "catch early". At least it was in our case. My Father was bedridden for several years with complications of Diabetes, and my Mother was his primary caregiver for all of those years. He was a big man, and being bedridden, required total care. My Mother is the one that turned him in bed. Very often several times a day. It is hard work caring for someone, so when she complained to her doctor of achy bones, he and she both assumed that it was just from the stress and challenges of caring for my father. He prescribed medication and sent her home.

This continued for a few months, her pain was getting more severe, but thinking it was from taking care of my dad, she hired someone to help, rather than heading back to the doctor. So often we make excuses for our aches and pains, when often it is a warning that there is something going on, and this is what she did. Until her arm broke.

I was there when my Mother's arms broke. They broke three days apart. Her left upper arm was the first to break. I sat in the small examining room of the doctor's office with her and waited for the doctor to come tell us what he saw in the x-rays. Thinking that this was Osteoporosis or something like that, something that caused bone weakness, but was treatable, we were dumbfounded when the doctor walked into the room and said, "Ruth, you have Multiple Myeloma. You are in the end stage and have about six months. I cannot set your arm, it is too far-gone. There is nothing I can do." Then the SOB turned and left the room. He walked in, delivered a death sentence and walked out. No compassion what so ever. We sat there for several minutes just looking at each other. Without a word, we got up and left. We did not speak until we got home. I think that both of us were trying to filter what the doctor had said, trying to find another explanation for what had happened.

I had no alternative but take my Mother back home. I contacted several other Doctors, and for days she went through all of the usual tests. She went through a Bone marrow aspiration. This is when they use a needle to remove samples of bone marrow. She had a CT scan, an MRI and countless blood tests. We got the same results. Nothing they can do. Multiple Myeloma. Stage Four. Six months. Two days later, the second arm broke. It was a mirror break of the first. They were both complete breaks in approximately the middle of the Humerus of each arm.

This happened in Jacksonville, Florida. I was in Florida for the summer and I had to return to Northern Michigan. I decided to fly my Mother home with me so that I could locate help for her, and could be with her. Our local hospital had just formed an Oncology Group and a partnership with Detroit Medical Center's Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, which was one of the top 40 cancer centers in the nation based on quality of care, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Using large Ace bandages, I wrapped my Mother's upper torso, securing the arms to her chest to restrict movement. It has been about 12 days since her first arm broke.The first thing that the Doctors in Michigan did was remove the upper bone in her arm and replace it with a rod. This was a huge improvement in the level of pain she was suffering, and allowed her to eventually regain some movement in her arms. She could feed herself again and managed to crochet the most beautiful afghan for me. She was elated that she could finally scratch her own nose again!

This began a journey into the world of Cancer that was all new to me. I came out the other side knowing far more about this disease, this monster, than I ever wanted to know. I learned about the severe anemia caused by Multiple Myeloma. Because of this severe anemia, we made the journey every three days for an injection that would help my Mother's body fight the anemia. Eventually the injections were not enough and she needed a transfusion every three days. Because she needed so many injections, a port was installed in her chest to reduce the discomfort caused by so many injections. She began a mild chemotherapy treatment, that while it would not cure the disese, perhaps they thought, it would buy her some time.

There are many choices of treatment for Multiple Myeloma, You can receive a stem cell transplantation or radiation therapy. Both of these are common treatments for Multiple Myeloma. Sometimes the standard treatments available may not control your myeloma. If this is the case, you may want to take part in a clinical trial. My Mother's Multiple Myeloma was too advanced for treatment. The only thing that could be done was work to maintain my Mother's comfort and quality of life.

My Mother slept most of each day. Because the pain was so extreme, she was on high dose medication for pain and Cancer of any type also makes the patient very tired. I will always treasure the minutes of each day that we had together.

Six months later, to the very day, at the age of 63, my Mother left me. That SOB was right.