Larry Bergo wants to see his grandchildren grow up.

“When you have cancer, life takes on a new meaning. Time takes on a new meaning,” he said.

As someone who has been battling multiple myeloma — or cancer of the plasma — since May of 2003, Bergo looks at life a little differently than he did seven years ago.

“All we can do is try to control the growth of the cancer and manage its side effects to maintain quality of life,” he said.

Bergo had been battling continual pain when his wife and daughter decided to take him to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester. The pain had gotten so bad, he couldn’t even support himself.

Doctors diagnosed him with Stage 4 multiple myeloma. They said it had been smoldering in his body for years when it was found.

“I spent two weeks in the hospital and can recall very little of it,” he said.

Then he was told to go home and prepare himself to come back for an extended stay, during which time he’d be getting a stem cell transplant.

In the middle of September, Bergo and his wife moved into the Gift of Life Transplant House where they lived for 40 days. Staying at Gift of Life requires a caretaker 24 hours a day.

“My wife and daughters took turns caring for me before and after the transplant, Bergo said. He received the transplant on Sept. 30 and was able to return home at the end of October.

“I met so many nice people there,” he said. In fact, he still gets together with two of them.

The remission brought about by the stem cell transplant lasted only 10 months.

So he was put back on oral chemotherapy, and different chemotherapy combinations. The drugs help for a time, then the cancer finds a way around them, he said.

“The cancer has multiplied, even though I’ve been on chemotherapy,” he said. “It’s crafty. After being on a drug for so long, the cancer figures it out and the drug is no longer effective.”

Cancer probably should have been a four-letter word, but it isn’t, he said.

“Over the last five years, we’ve tried all different types of things. Every time it comes back, it’s here we go again.”

Now, he’s taking part in a clinical trial. He’s in the second phase of the trial. He’s hoping he has a positive response to it. They’re just trying to figure out the dosage and are watching for side effects, he said.

He believes what’s helped him more than anything else is prayer.

“The people I see on the street, who tell me they’re praying for me, that’s what helps,” Bergo said. “The power of prayer is overwhelming.”

His family keeps him going, too. Bergo and his wife, Jean, have a son and daughter living in the Twin Cities area and a daughter in Albert Lea. They also have six grandsons and one granddaughter.

“I’ve always said, ‘It’ll be OK,’” he added.

Cancer of the plasma has to be treated, he said. Cancer of the plasma can take the calcium out of the bones and cause lesions. “I required a procedure called vertebroplasty due to compressed vertebra,” he said.
Spring is in the air. Daffodil Days will be held in Freeborn County Thursday and Friday, March 18 and 19. The daffodil is the American Cancer Society’s symbol of hope in the fight against cancer.

Daffodils will be available for purchase at several area banks, at grocery stores and at the Naeve Hospital Gift Shop.

Daffodils are $10 per bunch. A specially designed Boyds Bear, called a Bear and a Bunch, costs $25 while supplies last.

Donations will also be accepted.

For cancer questions or concerns, call (800) ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.

Still, it has deteriorated Bergo’s skeletal frame. “I’m a good 6 inches shorter than I used to be,” he said.

There is no cure for Bergo’s cancer, but with clinical trials, made possible by research, he remains hopeful. There are medications available today that weren’t available 20 years ago, he said.

Another stem cell transplant might be an option, he said, but he’s been told the second one only lasts about half as long as the first, so he’s skeptical. Staying in a transplant house for 40 days when the transplant may only last for five months doesn’t sound too appealing, he said.

Still, he remains hopeful and said he’s in good hands. “My transplant doctor is still my doctor,” Bergo said. “She has become my friend. I’ve seen her nearly every month for the last seven years.”

He’s taken some of his chemotherapy at the Albert Lea Cancer Center and is always amazed at the people he sees from Albert Lea who have cancer. It truly touches everyone, he said.

He said the community is fortunate to have the Albert Lea Cancer Center, and acknowledges the staff there. “They are wonderful people who take such good care of you while you are receiving treatment,” he said.

Because of his cancer, he has renewed many old friendships while also making new friends.

“When people say they want to help, they truly do,” he said. “They want you to call them.”

He served as the Freeborn County Relay for Life co-chairman in 2007. He said he’s always amazed by the way the community supports events like this.

“Albert Lea always pulls through,” he said of his hometown.