October 28, 2018

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.

11 comments:

Julie said...

Kristine! You are a Legend! I am sooooooooooo happy for your Good Health, fantastic news, and all the Wonderful things in your life! Incredible what you went thru years ago, and now you've had a reprieve! I am so very happy for all the wonderful family, career, and good health news in your life! Just remarkable, as I remember how your treatments were so tough on you, and now look at you, super healthy lady!!! Amazing how myeloma morphs so differently for all of us. I had "CR" after my July 2010 SCT, with Revlimid maintenance for 2 years. Then when we tried no meds, no maintenance, myeloma came back mid 2013, and I've been in treatment ever since. But I am so grateful for my 9 years.
I have your blog linked on mine, so I was thrilled to see your update!
Enjoy every second with your beautiful family, you are so deserving of this amazing 10 year anniversary! x0x0 Julie :))

Anonymous said...

Thanks for finally writing about >"10th Cancerversary!" <Loved it!

Anonymous said...

Very nice article, exactly what I needed.

Anonymous said...

Hello, I enjoy reading all of your post. I like to write a little comment to
support you.

Anonymous said...

Hi there, I log on to your blogs on a regular basis. Your story-telling style is witty, keep it
up!

Anonymous said...

Pretty! This has been an extremely wonderful post.
Many thanks for supplying this info.

Anonymous said...

I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your sites really nice, keep
it up! I'll go ahead and bookmark your website to come
back down the road. All the best

Anonymous said...

We stumbled over here by a different website and thought I should check things
out. I like what I see so now i am following you. Look forward to exploring your web page again.

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed looking through this, very good stuff, regards.

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed reading this, very good stuff, thank you.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I
will be waiting for your next write ups thanks once again.

Fourteenth Year Cancerversary

              My husband and I at my 40th High School Reunion.                                                    Am I seriously that old?! ...