Personal stories of myeloma

I would like to share my experiences with you as a Black African 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. patient, the series of battles I fought against cancer, the barrage of treatments I underwent, the notions people in our community still have about cancer, the Art of Caregiving to ca

What makes some so compelling are their depictions of heroism, struggle, stamina and courage often in the face of impossible odds or dangerous situations. (Think Amelia Earhart flying solo across the Atlantic, the Prophet Moses leading the Exodus of the I

April 26 will mark 7 years since I first heard the words ‘multiple myeloma’, and the shock that came with it! While it will soon be 7 years since my diagnosisThe process of identifying a disease by its signs and symptoms., it still feels like it was yesterday. Fortunately, with time, the first anxieties and fears I

I walked out to my bike in front of St. Michael’s Hospital, where I had been working since 1995. It was just after 5:00 pm on a lovely Monday evening in late August 2015. I was catching up with a colleague, telling him about how much fun last week’s campi

It was 2011, I was 42 years old. I had just started kickboxing. A couple of weeks in I had a pain in my back. I thought I had pulled a muscle. Over the next 2 weeks the pain in my back was getting worse. I went to my family doctor who prescribed painkille

My journey with multiple myeloma began 23 years ago in 2000. I had blood work done when I had my physical two or three months earlier and results came back showing a low hemoglobin with a comment by the lab, “sticky cells.”

I was completely shocked when I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in February of 2019. I was 35 years old.

My mom Lorraine was diagnosed in 2001 with smouldering myeloma (SMM) when she was 68 years old. Of course, we had never heard of multiple myeloma, much less this smouldering business.

Paul and I have been married for 57 years, and we’ve been living in Wasaga Beach, Ontario since 2004. In May of 2021, while playing with our ‘Covid puppy’ at a local dog park, Paul took an awkward fall when he stepped into a hidden hole. He hit his head

My husband Richard was diagnosed with myeloma in the spring of 2008. He was 54 years old. At the time of his diagnosis, we knew absolutely nothing about myeloma.