They say “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” No one talks about how hard that lemonade is to make! This year, as I sit down to write about my experiences with multiple myeloma and why I participate in Defeat Myeloma I keep thinking about all the people who have added sugar as I squeezed the lemons. It is to you that I dedicate my fundraising efforts this year along with so, so much heartfelt gratitude.
When you’re newly diagnosed with an incurable cancer it feels as if you are on a boat being tossed in a storm. Your body has deceived you, and you find the decisions in life you thought you had control over are definitely not in your control. You enter a place where there is no past, there is no future, just this terrible moment. Everything you did and thought you were prior to diagnosis feels minuscule in comparison to cancer, and with that one word “incurable” the future you imagined is erased.
To be on this storm-tossed boat is extremely hard. To willingly jump aboard—despite unknown outcomes—is heroic. THAT is what my friends and family did for me. At age 22, having just graduated college, my friends showed up, waited in waiting rooms as I got my Hickman catheter placed, held my hand (and almost passed out 😂) when I had a lumbar puncture, squished with me into my hospital bed during long chemo infusions, and brought me endless chatter and laughter. My friends did their own research on myeloma, on their own they registered on the bone marrow donor registry, and they kept up an endless stream of calls, messages, letters and packages. Through them I was able to regain a little of my past and my future and not feel quite so adrift in the terrible moments.
One of the most helpful has been my sister. In spite of everything Jess never stopped being my annoying younger sister. Not once did she make me feel breakable or in any way treat me differently. She didn’t ignore the fact that I had cancer, she just never let it change how she treated me. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift.
My mom became my caregiver during my transplant and as such was air traffic control. She took the brunt of my frustrations, anxieties and moodiness in a way only a mother would dream of tolerating.
12 years after my initial diagnosis when I needed surgery and 5 weeks of daily radiation on a plasmacytoma (tumor), my high school friends flew in from all over the country to be me in person for moral support. Despite full-time jobs and families of their own they made me feel like there was nowhere they’d rather be.
As the years go by, my friends and family have continually helped calm the storm. What would have been bitter lemons has been sweetened into lemonade. My journey with myeloma—this incurable disease—is far from over. But thanks to the amazing women in my life I know it is a journey I am not taking alone. In supporting myeloma research I am doing everything possible to find a cure faster. Until then, I am forever grateful.
Please join me in this fight and increase our impact by making a donation to my page today; 100% of all funds raised will go directly to advancing multiple myeloma cancer research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
What is Multiple Myeloma?
Multiple Myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells found in bone marrow. Normal plasma cells help the immune system fight disease, but when plasma cells become cancerous they grow out of control and can produce a tumor called a plasmacytoma. If someone has more than one plasmacytoma, they have multiple myeloma.
Why support this event?
Defeat Multiple Myeloma’s mission is to raise awareness of multiple myeloma while supporting research that seeks to discover new treatments, improve the quality of life for myeloma patients, and ultimately find a cure for this devastating form of cancer. Funds from the 2024 Defeat Multiple Myeloma event will continue to support immunotherapy research and clinical trials at Fred Hutch which are using CAR-T cells and have shown very promising early results for patients.
