Personal stories of myeloma

Just over two years ago, in April of 2020, I woke up one morning with a soreness in my left side, in my lower ribcage. I’m a mariner and I was 56 at the time. I like working hard and I like riding my bike, sailing, snowshoeing, and hiking. At my age, bein

In the fall of 2017, life was looking pretty good! I was 41 years old, happily single and living it up in Toronto. I was just getting into running, and I had landed a dream job as a Digital Literacy Consultant with the YRDSB after 18 years as a music teac

My husband Jean Guy was chief of the Emergency Medical Services in our district of Nipissing, Ontario for 20 years. By profession, I was a registered nurse and spent 35 years working in the ER. When Jean Guy retired in August of 2019 at the age of 62, he

I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2015 when I was 39 years old. I suffered excruciating back pain for months and the doctors could not figure out why. I thought I had pulled a muscle. I had been doing a lot of running training for a half marathon a

When I was only three years old, my mother was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and although I do not remember much about that time, I know that I was deeply impacted and the concern for her health has been with me for all these years. 

In 2006 at the age of 52, my family doctor sent me for what I thought was routine blood work. When he received the results, he referred me to a hematologistA doctor who specializes in the problems of blood and bone marrow. at The Ottawa Hospital because of what he saw. I subsequently met with the hematologist, had more b

I am my husband’s caregiver! I am his strength, his courage and his hope…It all started with Catalino napping for too long after work, missing workouts and complaining of a nagging pain in his shoulder. This was seven (7) months prior to hearing the dread

When I was asked to come into the doctor’s office on August 27, 2020, I knew that the news was not what I expected. As I listened to the oncologistA doctor who specializes in treating cancer. Some oncologists specialize in a particular type of cancer treatment. and the word 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., I began to spiral but the denial was short-lived as I bolted back to reality hearing t

When North Vancouver’s Ryan Matches was met with a myeloma diagnosisThe process of identifying a disease by its signs and symptoms. in 2015 at the age of 49, he was left with the feeling that “it’s always supposed to happen to someone else”, a sentiment all too familiar that comes with a cancer diagnosis. Digesting t

I have twice competed in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship, at Mont-Tremblant in 2014 with my daughter and son-in-law (what a great feeling!), and at Henderson Lake, Nevada in 2013. Before my myeloma diagnosis, I was the Eastern Canada Sales Manager at