My latest “Myeloma Mom” column is up on the Myeloma Beacon web site. I hope you’ll go read it when you have a chance, but I suppose I should provide a warning first. The column is about my Aunt Margie, who passed away from myeloma last month. I compare our two cases of myeloma: Mine has always been tame and non-aggressive; hers was wildly aggressive and impossible to stop. In the column, I wonder how the same disease can behave so differently from one person to the next, and it dawns on me that this is why myeloma has proven so impossible to cure.
After the column was posted, I got a comment from the wife of a newly diagnosed patient, telling me the column was disturbing and gave her and her husband nightmares.
I certainly would never, ever want to give a newly diagnosed patient nightmares. I feel bad that I contributed to the stress she’s feeling. The main reason I write this blog is to help newly diagnosed patients, to show them that it is possible to live for a long time with multiple myeloma and to live a good life. On the other hand, not every case of myeloma is like mine, and I think people need to know that, too. What Margie and her family went though was an absolute nightmare and shouldn’t be ignored. I thought her story needed to be told to show why we need to find a cure for this disease immediately.
Anyway, if you’re a newly diagnosed patient or someone who simply doesn’t want to hear a myeloma story with a sad ending you might want to steer clear of this column for now. I totally get it.