Personal stories of myeloma

Hello, my name is Vasilios Sotiropoulos, aged 57, from Scarborough, Ontario. My friends know me as Billy.  

I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in July 2023 at the age of 56.

In May of 2017, I was diagnosed with two rare auto immune diseases: Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis (MPGN) in conjunction with MonoclonalA clone or duplicate of a single cell. Myeloma develops from a single malignant plasma cell (monoclone). The type of myeloma protein produced is also monoclonal; a single form rather than many forms (polyclonal). The important practical aspect of a monoclonal protein is that it shows up as a sharp spike (M spike) in the serum electrophoresis test. Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance (MGUS).

It started in the summer of 2019, nearly five years ago, after having spent a night on a wooden plank in the emergency room for a broken rib.

On January 11, 2020, after months of medical consultations and tests, two doctors, courteous but not exactly “white glove service”, told my wife Annie and I that I had cancerA term for diseases in which malignant cells divide without control. Cancer cells can invade nearby tissues and spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to other parts of the body..

It was the first time I’d heard the term ‘myeloma’. I was 44 years old. 

I remember looking at Annie, seeing the fear in her eyes, but also her determination as she said: ‘Come on, Jé, we’re going to war’.

Hello! I am Gisèle Fournier and I live with multiple myeloma.

Let’s travel back to spring 2020 for a short moment. What was happening at that time? Amongst other things, the beginnings of a pandemic…

After having worked for 20 years in France and Switzerland, I was in the midst of preparing my move back to Quebec when the first shutdown occurred in Switzerland.

Hi, my name is Nancy Bies, and I am living with multiple myeloma (MM). I’m originally from Victoria, BC but my husband and I live in Yellowknife, NWT.

In May 2019, at the age of 48, I was diagnosed with MM when doctors discovered abnormal protein levels in my blood while investigating why my heart was malfunctioning. This diagnosisThe process of identifying a disease by its signs and symptoms. was overwhelming, and initially, I struggled with the term “cancer,” so my doctor described it as a blood disorder.

My name is Ashely Taker and our story starts in October 2017. 

After a summer where my mom, Carolyn, wasn’t feeling herself and had some pain, and test after test came back negative, we all assumed she was just getting older and finally slowing down a bit. 

Boy, were we wrong.

Good day everyone. My name is Kevin Jacobs.

My journey with multiple myeloma began when I was diagnosed in March 2023. I was 53 years of age and up until then my life was full.

Married, 2 grown up children, a long and active career in law enforcement, firstly in England and now in Ottawa, Canada. I was a sporty person and played rugby well into my early 40’s. I was a football coach, active in my children’s lives and enjoyed many vacations with my very understanding wife!

My name is Yolande Paine and I was diagnosed with myeloma at age 58. In June 2012, while waiting to board a plane at Vancouver International Airport, I received a phone call that would forever change my life.  The hematologistA doctor who specializes in the problems of blood and bone marrow. wanted to see me the next morning to perform a bone marrow biopsyRemoval of bone marrow tissue for examination under a microscope. for suspected multiple myeloma. I did get him to agree to wait until the following Monday and, in a daze, I boarded that plane to Montreal.

In 2016, my personal cancer journey started during a routine doctor’s visit. I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. At the time, I had never heard of multiple myeloma. After my diagnosis, I learned that multiple myeloma is the second most common form of blood cancer in Canada, and it has no cure.

My name is Jessica Slack. In February 2023, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma at the age of 43. My journey to diagnosis began the previous summer. I was feeling perfectly healthy and living a busy life as a full-time working mom to two teenagers, completely unaware of the danger lurking within. 

When immigrating to Canada in December 2007, my mother Lilowtie Ramdass’s arm suddenly broke while packing the suitcases. We managed to get her arm casted so that she could get on the flight with some degree of comfort. We hail from Guyana, South America and at this point, mom had spent her entire lifetime working on the immigration application to Canada for a better life and long-term conditions of her 6 daughters.