This is what they thought I had, at first

And it is no joke.

Medical people will draw a quick breath when you tell them.  My mom was a nurse for 30 years, and a good one.  She's the only one that I told it might be multiple myeloma, and I had no idea what it was.  She got real quiet on the phone. 

They thought I had this because I had back pain.  They assumed that meant I had tumors in my spine marrow.  Because that's a feature of myeloma.  I bet it hurts more and more as it progresses.

Poor bastard.