Sharing Mayo Clinic - December 2011 Archives

After this opera singer noticed something on her chin and asked her dentist to take an x-ray, they found an ossifying fibroma that had taken ...

Kari Ulrich, a patient with Fibromuscular Dysplasia (FMD), shares her story of struggles before and after being diagnosed with FMD in 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PPy26amqyc

Personal Background My name is Alfred “Bart” Howe and I am a very lucky guy. I was born 1938 in a small oilfield town in Oklahoma. Mary and I married in 1965 and have two married sons, a grandson and a granddaughter. Mary and I raised our family in Boulder, Colorado and have lived here for over 40 years. I like to think that my family has been, and is, the primary focus of my life. Prior to Amyloidosis, my personal hobbies included gardening, scuba diving, bicycling, downhill skiing, cross country skiing, hiking and climbing the 14,000 foot peaks of Colorado. 2001 - Multiple Myeloma  In Dec, 2001, Dr. Fleagle, of the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center (RMCC) diagnosed me with Multiple Myeloma, Phase 1. I was 63, and was in absolute shock. I got a speeding ticket on the way home. No one in our family had ever had cancer and I was, I thought, very healthy. I immediately started monthly IVs of Aredia, a biophosphonate, to strengthen my bones. I continued to work full time and continued all outdoor activities. 2003 - Amyloidosis In Aug, 2003, I had extreme fatigue after climbing one of the harder 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado. I passed it off to getting a late start and being caught in a severe storm. In Oct, 2003, I went to Nepal for a long planned trek. During this trip I began to have extreme fatigue and had to stop the trek even though I was only at 11,000 feet. After returning to Colorado I continued to feel worse and immediately visited my oncologist, Dr Fleagle at RMCC. After much testing, a GI tract biopsy diagnosed Primary Amyloidosis (AL) in Dec, 2003.