10th Cancerversary!

Happy Canceversary to me!  It has been 10 years today since I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma!
My treatment included high doses of chemotherapy,  Melphalan, Velcade, Thalidomide, Revelomid, and two stem cell transplants.  This kicked me down to "barely breathing," but kicked Myeloma into a "Complete Response."   I was on Maintenance medication for about 4 years and have slowly regained my strength since then.  I continue to do blood tests and lab work every three months and scans and a bone marrow biopsy once a year.

To celebrate 10 years my family gathered in Salt Lake City with the LLS "Light the Night" event.
It was wonderful to have my whole family (minus two babies) together reflecting on this journey and rejoicing in LIFE!

34 years together and counting!!!!

                                           

We wore stickers saying, "Kelly's Kicking Cancer since 2008"

                       
                     

                                                               

I feel healthy and strong and try to keep cancer on the "back burner," where it can't take over my thoughts or negatively affect the day to day decisions I make.  I am a full-time teacher, wife, mother, and grandmother and I have so much to be thankful for!
So the big question is, am I cured?  Unfortunately there is no cure YET for Myeloma but good things are happening in the Myeloma research field and also in patient research.
                    Life is Good!

  Healthtree.org is a website and patient research platform that was created by a Myeloma patient and her husband right here in Utah.  Through patients sharing their specific types of mm and treatments with other myeloma patients and doctors around the world, researchers are able to find what works and why it works and then treat patients with the right treatment for their specific type of Myeloma.  This simple, free website uses the power of the internet to share useful information with each other instead of trying to reinvent the wheel with each new patient.

 I don't know why I have been so lucky at this point to be celebrating 10 years with no maintenance medications beyond my initial treatment but if others can learn from my experiences, I am glad to help.  Please check out this website and see what can be possible by sharing information.