Ralph Petingalo is no stranger to cancer.
With two of his sons having battled the disease, the Sault man was himself diagnosed this month with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer which attacks the bone marrow.
Ralph told SooToday there is no cure, but the disease is treatable, the married father of four facing a lifetime of treatment, having received his first chemotherapy treatment at Sault Area Hospital (SAH) Monday.
“Since last August I hadn’t been walking well, and the pain was getting worse in my legs and then into my torso. In December I had my hip checked because I had a hip replacement four years ago and I thought I had broken something in my hip, but an x-ray showed everything was fine.”
With his family doctor out of town until March, Ralph went to a chiropractor for several treatments, with another x-ray showing vertebrae damage.
Upon his family doctor’s return in late March, Ralph was referred for care to a SAH hematologist who conducted more tests, including a biopsy, a CT scan, bone scan, more x-rays and multiple blood tests.
Officially diagnosed with multiple myeloma April 12, Ralph said there are lesions in the bones in his legs, pelvis, hips, ribs, one shoulder, lower back and the top of his spine.
Employed as a technician at Christie’s RV, Ralph soldiered on at work as long as he could before having to go on sick leave March 26.
“They were worried about me falling. The last two weeks I was going up the stairs at work using my hands, and there was a guy at work picking me up off the floor when I was working on RVs.”
Ralph now faces 16 weeks of chemotherapy as well as five radiation treatments targeting the disease in his legs.
“I keep saying if they get the pain out of my legs I’ll go back to work but the doctors have told me it’s not that easy.”
He will also have to travel to Sudbury in four to five months time for a stem cell transplant, then to Ottawa for two to four weeks for harvesting of stem cells.
“I didn’t think it (cancer) would ever get me,” said Ralph, who has devoted much of his life to raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society.
He and his wife Lisa have been on Relay-For-Life teams for 17 years and have raised approximately $130,000 in that timespan, Ralph having also spent three months of each year making countless phone calls on his way to and from work, during lunch breaks and from home in the evenings requesting pledges to help others who are fighting cancer.
“When they told me I had cancer I couldn’t believe it.”
One of Ralph’s sons first suffered a brain tumour at age three, and was more recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, another son diagnosed with leukemia at age six, both sons coping but with serious medical problems and taking frequent trips to out of town hospitals for checkups.
“They’ve all taken it hard, but they help me” said Ralph of his family, one of his sons on hand to help him get in and out of bed (Ralph currently in a wheelchair).
From who and where does Ralph gather mental and emotional strength as he faces this ordeal?
“I’ve got a lot of support, a lot of family.”
Ralph’s co-workers at Christie’s RV have set up a GoFundMe page to help him with travel costs associated with his ongoing treatment.
“We appreciate it. It’s so overwhelming. It occupies my time because I go on the computer and keep clicking on that site and now I know how many people are out there to help,” said Ralph, adding he appreciates the daily help he receives from his wife, son and a neighbour.
Despite the struggle he’s going through, Ralph said “I’m in pain...but I’m stubborn.”