My mother-in-law has been diagnosed with MDS for nearly 5 years. She is 81, and so has not been a candidate for anything but supportive care. She’s been getting transfusions and Procrit injections. She’s currently getting transfusions approximately every two weeks.
She came out to visit us at Christmas, and we hadn’t seen her since May. She has lost considerable weight, down to 90 lbs, and was in a lot of pain while. I called her doctor at home and got Darvon for her until she returned. She has since been put on Duragesic along with Darvon which is not giving her adequate pain relief. There is the question of whether this has converted to AML.
What I want to know, is whether this pain could just be due to end stage MDS, and what we can expect. She has been resistant to knowing specifics before, with an exceptional fear of cancer having lost her mother and sibling to that disease.
Now we are waiting for her to have a CT scan, ordered by her hematologist. Personally I don’t think calling it something else is going to change the course of treatment given her frailty and age.
I just want to have an idea what to expect, and be able to help her in any way we can. I appreciate any information anyone has acquired in dealing with this.
Thanks in advance,
Hilda
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