How to follow my Journey
October 5, 2019
I’d originally posted an announcement of my diagnosis on a GoFundMe page on the advice of a friend who had gone through cancer and is still fighting now, praise God. (It’s toward the bottom of this post) He rightly claimed that it would help offset the many unanticipated costs of dealing with it. He is so right. There are a lot of things I like about the GoFundMe platform, one that I didn’t was the associated fees – and the social sharing, it was a little pushy. I guess that’s the idea, but it’s not me personally, so there is a provision to help out on the sidebar if you feel led. I’ll still update the page when it makes sense, but the best info on my condition will be on this site. Here are the main links – and if you like what you see and want a weekly email digest, there’s a subscription box at the bottom.
- https://kenivey.com/category/personal/cancer/ (cool timeline of update posts, this will have the most updated information)
- https://kenivey.com/category/personal/cancer/transplant/ (timeline of stem cell transplant posts while in Nashville late 2017 to early 2018.)
UPDATE: September 28, 2019
So, I was talking to a client the other day who mentioned that he used to follow my updates pretty regularly but was kind of ‘in the dark’ lately. Truth is, I haven’t posted a lot since I’ve enjoyed quite a long remission. Well, that’s over – and fodder for another update that’s coming soon, I promise.
And after careful consideration, I’m moving all posts from the GoFundMe site and MyLifeLine site here for safekeeping, and all future posts except for required administrative info for GoFundMe will be here. I’ve created Timeline pages for the Cancer and Transplant posts. I get a lot of questions from other MM patients, so I can now refer them here. You can subscribe to my health updates at the bottom of these pages.
It also occurs to me that current (or prospective) clients might want to keep up to date on how things are going. After all, “What happens to my website/marketing/ etc., if you should prematurely kick the bucket, Ken?” 🙂 . That’s what I’d be thinking too, lol. (No, for real.)
UPDATE: 10/02/2017
— I started this page while hospitalized, and was in a hurry to get it ‘out there’. For those who care to know more, I’m adding more detail.
I’d had some issues with my right hip since the start of the new year (2017) – pain I’d associated with weather changes, etc. that I’d had before. Didn’t really think much of it as it’d come and go just like always, right? Then I pulled something in my back while trying to help drag some radio equipment upstairs for my ham radio club. Again, this happens from time to time right? Especially as we get a little older and try to do the things we did when we were 25.
Well, after a few months – when things weren’t getting better with my back, I decided to visit a chiropractor. Usually, they’re able to work the kinks out and get you back up to speed. It seemed like it was taking longer than usual this time.
Now April, and still in pain, I had a class to attend in Tennessee – so I packed the Ibuprofen and hit the road. Things were getting worse quickly. It was extraordinarily difficult to stand up. It was all I could do to maintain a seated posture during class over the weekend. If not for the help of a few of my classmates, I don’t know what I’d have done. I could barely carry anything, and riding in a vehicle was sheer torture. Something was seriously wrong.
Somehow, I was able to drive back to Wisconsin – no doubt God had a hand in this. Once home, I pretty much crashed & burned. I don’t remember much of the next week or so, except the pain and not wanting to move. Next thing I know, an ambulance is coming to take me away.
Turns out I was in bad shape, kidneys shutting down, dehydrated, etc., so they were worried I might need dialysis. Anyway, I was more or less stabilized here in Manitowoc, lots of tests, and shipped out to the VA in Milwaukee. A lot happened in between and before the first ‘Update’ on this page, and maybe I’ll tell you about that later.
Also, wanted to clarify – Multiple Myeloma is treatable, but there is no cure. The plan is to suppress it with chemo, get a transplant of my own marrow/stem cells, and try not to break or blow anything out in the meantime.
P.S. I’m adjusting the campaign amount occasionally to reflect actual and anticipated near-term costs.
Original Announcement – The News
So what I thought was a back issue that’s bothered me for the past few months turned out to be much more serious.
It seems I have Multiple Myeloma, a type of bone marrow cancer. The good – it’s treatable. The bad – it’s destroyed a good bit of my hip joints, and there is no cure. Yet.
